Heirot

Emora Deen:

OOC: I don't know why I didn't think of healing Soran a while ago....

Rai climbed down from Siren's arms and walked over to Soran, her limbs were still trembling from everything that had happened. The child seemed distant, having gone through quiet a lot. She knelt down beside Soran and placed her hands on his leg. She wanted to heal him. He had hurt himself to save her...

After a few seconds the light under her hands glowed and she felt a searing pain in her own leg that made her eyes water a little... but it was not as bad as what he had felt. She smiled at him and stood up. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

Rai looked at the child in Mizuki's mother's arms. She seemed in awed by him, looking him over with wide blue eyes. She smiled slightly, but her eyes watered for some reason. Rai looked up at the woman holding the baby. "Can I go let Mizuki know I'm back?" she asked softly.

Rai felt an aching in her heart. It was from the sight she had seen. From watching her parents die so brutally. Rai was so horrified that she couldn't even cry at the moment. She was angry too. So very angry.

[/color]

Soran:

Soran looked at Rai blurrily as she came to his side. He wouldn't have approved of being healed, but was too agitated to realize what the child was doing until it was too late. A wave of dizzy relief swept over him as the agony in his leg suddenly abated and he looked down at Rai's pained eyes in shocked gratitude.

She leaned toward him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you" she said, though her voice sounded empty of its usual tone. Something was wrong. Only then did he remember what had happened to the child's parents. Soran reached his hand out and placed it on the child's head, messing up her hair gently. He could think of nothing to say to her. "Go see Mizuki," he said, standing up and following the child and Gwendolyn to Mizuki's room.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn nodded to Rai and dissmissed herself to led Rai into Mizuki's room. Mizuki laided on the bed in cold perspiration. Recently she tossed, disturbed from dreams of everyone's death.

"Go, but be quiet." Gwendolyn said smiling sadly. Rai was suffering. She could feel it.

In the bed Mizuki wore a thin, sleeveless nightgown. Now she rests in dreamless slumber but she felt the presence of a small child near her. At first she thought it was her baby but the presence was more of a young child who's suffered form a lot.

"....Rai...." was the first strained words from her lips to greet the girl.

Siren:

Siren moved towards the baby gingerly, in a mix of confusion and awe.

"Gabriel's?" She smiled as she reached out to touch its cheek. Then a sudden look of pained reasoning crossed her face and she pulled her hand away quickly.

"But that is impossible. Even if he were to marry her as they planned... he couldn't mix with her. He knew this." She was muttering quietly to herself now. "There's no way he would have..." His image appeared in front of her, mixing with that of the baby. "No..."

She slumped to the floor on her knees. "But the child won't be raised propeprly here... And what if he can't fly when he grows... The reppercussions..."

Had her master really commited this sin? To mate with a non-angel was highly illegal, and not for the parent's sake. Then another reality hit her. Who was her master now? Soran, or this child? She felt sick.

She spoke in a voice almost too quiet to hear. "True, I had never seen a half-angel before. Perhapps it is possible to live a normal life... but if so, why are there rules against it? Against being brought up by your own parents alone as well?" She slumped against the end of the couch in confusion and fell silent.

Soran:

Soran stood in the doorway and watched in silence, letting Rai and Mizuki have their time alone. He heard her voice, dangerously weak, speak Rai's name. She was alive. He supposed that was all he should need to know. He stepped back out into the hallway and leaned against the wall, his expression stern and blank.

Emora:


Rai walked to Mizuki’s side and climbed onto the bed. Her hand held Mizuki’s and Rai looked down at her with out her cheerful eyes or her happy bright face. The glow that had once been there was gone. Maybe not forever… But gone for a while. Rai forced a smile, looking down at Mizuki. “I’m back…” she said softly and laid down next to Mizuki, hugging her. “I’m alright… I really am… I’m alright…”

Rai wanted to hold it back. She was tried of crying. She hated crying and she wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t! She was tired of the attention, tired of crying, of being hit, of being kidnapped. She hugged Mizuki, not wanting to hurt her.

Darkrose:

Tora watched from the corner. Only Rai knew who she really was… she still had to explain everything to everyone else. Prehaps Gwendolyn knew already, but that’s not important now.

They escaped the Witch Queen. The Witch Queen. This was something worth bragging about. The fact Tora didn't even think they would get out of there alive…<br>
But what troubled her was Akisu. Ever since he visited Soran he was gone. Where could he have possibly gone off too?

She caught eye of the baby, the half angel half human fourth elf… it was an interesting combination. Tora wanted to observe the child more.

But for now she leaned against the wall, watching the reunion. Time for questions can come later.

Mizuki:

Grye dived into a deep, and losing side of the conversation he was having with his father about his bethroal to Mizuki. Lorel wouldn't give up the pact he made with his friend long ago.

In the room with Mizuki and Rai, Mizuki reacted to Rai's touch with a smile and Gwendolyn gasped. "That's the first smile I've seen on her face since her pregnanacy started." she said happily. Gwendolyn's mind went back to what Siren was saying in the other room, but they weren't living with the Dark Angels. Everything would be okay. "Siren, if you are afraid for the child... would you like to help raise him? I think Mizuki would like the idea of having one of his own kind help out with him..."

Naoki smiled and nodded, agreeing with the idea. Her eyes shifted to Soran standing alone and she smirked walking up to him. "Always have to be a loner? Go in there, Mizuki's smile would probably grow if she could hear you in the room." she urged him to go in by pulling gently on his sleeve and into the room. The baby open it's eyes and watched Soran. His eyes were green, matching Soran's just perfectly. They held much wonder and awe in them as he stared at Soran. Soran was the first man he's seen since his birth and he smileda small smile at Soran before closing his eyes to sleep again.

Soran:

As hard as he was trying not to notice the child, Soran's eyes locked onto his as he was pulled into Mizuki's room. Green, faultless eyes that seemed infinitely deep gazed back at him before closing sleepily, awakening a nameless instinct in the rogue. It was one of the strangest feelings Soran had ever had and due to its unfamiliarity he distrusted it, turning it from his mind.

His attention turned to Mizuki as he entered her room. Soran crossed to her bedside and looked her over critically, as though making sure she wasn't really dead. Then he realized she was awake and watching him and stiffened. For some reason he could not find his voice. He took a seat next to her bed and studied a spot on the wall awkwardly, scorning himself for the strange mood he was in and for avoiding her eyes.

Mizuki:

Mizuki's eyes fluttered for an instant as if to awaken but then they closed frightening Naoki for a moment before she saw Mizuki's chest rise and fall gently. The smile was still played on Mizuki's lips but for an added excitment she spoke again. Strained... but it was strong enough to tell everyone she lived.

"Soran...... Rai...." her dreams now were bliss since she could feel the familiar presence of the two she considered family. Gwendolyn approached the bed with the baby boy in arms, she kneeled a bit as if to show Mizuki her son.

"Oh Mizuki, look at your strong and healthy baby boy." she smiled then turned around to put the baby in the white cradel lined with white linen. "Talk to her." Gwendolyn urged Soran to do, just as Rai had done. "maybe even tell her about your journey...." Gwendolyn paused for a second before leaving the room. "But, leave Luc out of the tale." then she exited the room.

Soran:

The rogue felt his normal confidence return to him, the solemn atmosphere lessened by Gwendolyn’s maternal charisma.

“How do you feel?” Soran asked seriously, removing his gaze from the wall and facing Mizuki.

Mizuki:

Mizuki's lips formed into a smile at Soran's words. She was awake, oh yes... she was very happy too.

"You.... finally get home.... and you ask me... how I feel?" She said in her strained voice.. but with humor in it. Mizuki perferred to keep her eyes closed for now. Everything seemed too bright for her. "I should.... be asking you questions..." Her happy smile faded somewhat. "Rai... has suffered much.... everyone... must have... suffered.... something... i am... just so happy... you're all alive...you came home... I was so afraid...."

Truth was, Mizuki's body may have been occupied with the pain of pregnancy and birthing, but her mind never left them. Mizuki's hand moved to find his. She had know idea how close he could be or how far. She felt like she was on her death bed even though she wasn't.... far from it. Something inside of her vanished, and for those with the second sight or just ability to see, could see the cloud that used to loom over her was gone. One of the many reasons Gwendolyn was so happy.

"No... I wasn't afraid..." Mizuki tried to continue. "I was brave... I had to be brave... for you all... Our truest horrors... can be our best strengths..." Mizuki said that for Rai. "My horror... was the chance of... losing you all... but you appeare in front... of me now... and I am... overjoyed..." crystal like tears were forming at the corners of her eyes.

Siren:

Siren smiled up at Gwendolyn meekly before she rushed off to check on her daughter again. Siren stood up, recovering from her inital shock, and moved towards the door to Mizuki's room. She glanced at the baby as she passed Gwendolyn, taking a moment to caress the delicate wings of the infant before moving on.

She stood in the doorway to the room, leaning against the doorframe with arms crossed in front of her and one ankle over the other, her large black wings pulled up behind her. She absently stroked a loose strand of silver hair behind her ear as she watched the group's reunion.

After all that had just been made known to her, she finally began to understand why Mizuki seemed to hate her so last time they met. She wouldn't do anything that would steal her joyous moment now, such as intrude on her territory unbidden.

Emora:



Rai closed her eyes and blinked back tears. She didn’t know if she could stay in the room any longer. She wanted to spend time with Mizuki, though, some part of her just wanted to crawl into a corner and never wake. The images of the death of her parents flashed through her mind. She hugged Mizuki tighter, but stopped and pushed away, climbing off the bed. She didn’t want to hurt Mizuki if she was in pain.

“I’ll let you rest…” Rai said and left the room to go to her own…<br>
She walked in and sat on the bed facing the broken window where Tora had grabbed her and jumped out. The cold air blew in filling to room with a chill. She shivered, but didn’t leave. She just sat there staring outside. She wondered where Toby was… She really missed him. She missed how happy he made her at bad times.

Rai’s sparkle was gone from her bright blue eyes and glow of a carefree child was missing for now. She could get it back, it was a sure thing. She just needed some time. She also needed to let out what was building inside of her. It was like a massive storm raging under the surface that she wanted to keep down.

When she had seen her parents hope beyond hope had swelled in her that when she was saved they could be saved to and everything would be alright. Then, Shea had grabbed them both by the hair and slit there throats… She watched reluctantly as they blood spilled forth and covered the stone. She watched as her parents gasped, but found no air. She watched as they died.

Rai’s child like ways were replaced by a deathly morbid coldness from keep the wailing and crying her body wished her to do from coming out. She wouldn’t either. Not now.

Soran:

Soran listened to Mizuki’s weakened voice and suspected he’d been selfish for prompting her to speak. The shallow rise and fall of her chest worried him, but at the same time her spirits seemed high. He leaned forward on his elbows, crossing his arms on the bed so he could make out her faint words.

"No... I wasn't afraid..." Mizuki tried to continue. "I was brave... I had to be brave... for you all... Our truest horrors... can be our best strengths..." Mizuki said that for Rai. "My horror... was the chance of... losing you all... but you appeare in front... of me now... and I am... overjoyed..."

Soran saw tears forming in her eyes, and was perplexed. Why was she crying? He didn’t understand, and it bothered him. He noticed her hand reaching out blindly toward him on the blanket, as though not sure whether he was there. “You should be thinking about your own safety,” Soran reprimanded quietly. He looked up as Rai excused herself and left the room. One glance at the child told him she wasn’t well. The rogue wasn’t used to having people to take care of, let alone multiple people at once. He came close to flinching as a tear escaped down Mizuki’s cheek and landed on the bed.

The rogue moved his hand and placed it decisively on Mizuki’s. The nervous tension he’d anticipated swept over him, but he kept his palm against hers. He could do this much, at least, for her.

“We are back now, and aren’t likely to leave any time soon. Everyone’s alive, so calm down now and rest.” His choice of words was slightly callous, but the uncharacteristically soft tone he spoke them in betrayed that there was much behind it. He realized he was holding her hand too tightly and loosened his fingers awkwardly.

Mizuki:

"You should be thinking about your own safety," Soran said quietly. Mizuki smiled faintly. She wished she could see him. "We are back now, and aren't likely to leave any time soon. Everyone's alive, so calm down now and rest." Mizuki felt his hand tighten then loosen on hers. She wished he didn't loosen them, his tight hold reassured her that he was actually there.

"Rai... is gone?" she felt the absence of the child. Mizuki was sad that she left but... things may have happened... and Rai might need to think. "What... happened.... to Rai?" she asked Soran quietly.

Soran:

Mizuki apparently sensed that something was wrong, but the rogue doubted that now was a good time to tell her. She was in good spirits and poor health: exciting her could hardly be to her benefit. Still, she probably had a right to know. "We made it as far as Aerros without interference," he started, choosing his words carefully, "but were separated quickly after we entered the castle. I was engaged with an...opponent, and did not meet up with the others again until the ceremony, which obviously failed. The wizard and Siren brought us part way back, and we were teleported from there."

He looked down absently at her hand curled in his, knowing that he'd omitted almost everything relevant about the mission - Luc's return and probable death, the murder of Rai's parents, the news that Shea knew the key to his past, Tora's unfamiliar new form and near-deadly attempt to save Rai, The fact that Soran had almost become part of the ceremony, and the unfamiliar demon who had pursued them, whose potential as a future threat Soran was uncertain of.

"At any rate, the witch queen should have no further use for Rai. And...Rai has no further concern with her either." His tone was enough to suggest what had happened to Rai's parents.


Mizuki:

Mizuki didn't understand... something was missing. She turned her head to his and parcialy opened her eyes. She was welcomed to bright lights, her sensitive eyes stung but she kept them open to just see his blurry form.

"Something.... did happened to Rai...?" Mizuki grimaced at what it could be. She remember Shea had Rai's parents and--- "No...." she gave a quiet sob in realization. "That's.... not fair... but then.... nothing seems to be... when war is about... curse the Fates... curse Shea..." Mizuki wanted to change the subject badly. She looked the other way and saw the blurry form of a cradel and remember her baby. "My... baby..." she breathed. "I haven't.... seen him since the birth...." She turned back to Soran... her vision was slowly clearing, but not enough. "Could you... bring him to me...?"

Mizuki knew it was an acqkward request for the rouge to carry a baby to her but, she had yet to see him and Gwendolyn would not allow her to get up...Mizuki knew that much. She also knew that maybe it was best to not talk too much about Soran's mission to Aeores just yet...

Soran:

Soran was glad to be released from the task of explaining Arroes to Mizuki, and rose to go to the cradle. He didn't know anything about infants, but he reached in and lifted the child up under the arms, carrying it almost at arm's length back to Mizuki as though he might break it if it got too close. It let out a big yawn and opened its eyes, blinking at him. Soran blinked back and quickly placed the child next to Mizuki so that it nestled in cozily against her side. Soran sat down again and stared at it warily.

Emora:


Rai pulled the covers over her shoulders as she sat on the bed…<br>
“Rai!” her mother said when Rai came in holding her cut hand. “What happened?” she asked and took her hand in hers and smiled reassuringly as she cleaned out the cut.

“Daddy and I caught a fish and it’s tail cut me!” she said proud of the fish and not even worried about the cut. Her father was standing in the door way with all the fish they had caught together. Her mother looked up shaking her head with a gentle smile.

Rai’s eyes watered and she clenched her teeth as the knot in her throat grew…<br>
Rai’s mother stood over her bed, pulling the covers over Rai’s body as Rai played with her bear. Her mother kissed her cheek and tickled her sides lightly. Rai giggled and squirmed, messing up the covers, but her mother fixed them afterwards. Her father came in and knelt beside her bed and looked at her. “Want to help me hunt tomorrow?” he asked with a broad smile. He had no boys so he would make do with Rai. Rai nodded eagerly and her father kissed her nose and hugged her. “Good night, princess.”<br>
“Good night, daddy!” Rai snuggled under the covers.

Rai’s mother kissed her and hugged her tightly. “Sweet dreams, baby.”<br>
“You to, mommy!” And they walked to the door. Rai watched them as her mother carried her candle away. “I love you…” she whispered as she was drifting off to sleep. She heard them distantly say in unison, “I love you, too.”

Rai didn’t even notice that her eyes had become so watery that tears streaked her cheeks. She wiped them and growled as she tried the fight the waves sorrow that wanted to be let lose so badly. She fought as hard as she could and beat it all down, blinking her eyes dry. She looked up at the sky with her dry eyes and they immediately filled with tears again, tears she didn’t wish to shed. “I love you.”<br>

Mizuki:

Mizuki smirked as she saw the small, almost clear form of a baby boy with big green eyes. She looked into those eyes and smiled.

"It's like.... he has your eyes.... Soran!" she said laughing, or trying to laugh. She attempted to pick up the infant and made it successfully. She held it close, cradling it with the utmost care with his head. She could swear she was staring into a mirror into the past and seeing a young Soran, that would be if she even knew what he looked liked as a baby. "I... have yet to name him..yes?" she looked at Soran and smiled. "Rai... should see him..." Mizuki looked up for a moment and for a split second she thought she saw Gaberial, because of her blurry vision. But when her eyes adjusted on this new person she saw Siren and let out a sigh of relief.

A part of her brain was saying to ignore Siren but another side said to invite her in. Afterall, she helped save Rai... "Come in..." she smiled then looked back to her baby. "I wonder what...I should...name him? Any idea's..Soran?" she looked at him. Her eyes were almost expectant to him, but she also didn't expect him to come up with her son's name, but it would be nice for some suggestions.

Siren:

Siren looked up alertly as Mizuki noticed her.

"Come in." It was said with such simplicity.. such kindness.. and the slight smile on her face was genuine, undoubtedly.

Siren smiled back, unfolded her arms, and stepped into the room, stepping up near the bed.

"Thank you. He's a beautiful baby." Siren said gently, turning her eyes towards the infant, looking over his tiny face, just barely pointed ears, and those blazing eyes... so reminiscent... staring in wonder at the mother.

Emora:


Rai was in a ball on the bed, not under the covers, since the wind had strewn them on the floor. The breeze blew snow in through the yet to be fixed broken window and it was very cold in the room. She shivered, closing her eyes and hugging herself. She didn't feel like covering up, she didn't feel like moving... Rai just wanted to see her mother and father again, with out blood seeping from their necks...

Her teeth chattered, but she didn't move. Rai didn't care about being warm when she felt so empty and cold inside. She wished she could have died with them... that way she could be happy with them in where ever the souls went. She wished Soran would have plunged the dagger straight through her heart.

Soran had told her never to make that face again.... but even if she wasn't supposed to make that face she couldn't help but think those thoughts. Rai felt so horribly miserable inside her child heart.

She wanted to be happy again, but it felt as if there was nothing left in the world to make her happy. She wanted to laugh, but it seemed like there was nothing left to make her laugh. She wanted to everything, except cry. She didn't know why, well she sort of knew, but she didn't want to cry.

She knew that if she cried it would make her feel better, and Rai in a way didn't want to feel better. She was scared that if she felt better and became happy she might forget about her parents, like she had before she saw them die. She didn't want to forget.

Soran:

Soran's left eyebrow twitched as Mizuki queried Soran to suggest a name for the infant. "Uh...Alex?" he offered unspiritedly, unlatching his armblades from his forearms now that they were no longer needed. Doing so reminded him of the dull ache he'd almost forgotten in his injured arm. Well, he had to bandage it sometime, so the rogue decided to do so now while others were able to look after Mizuki.

"I'll be back later," he said casually, glancing at Mizuki before leaving the room. He thought of where he could go that would actually be private; he'd learned that revealing wounds resulted in a huge unnecessary fuss and forced encounters with physicians around here. Walking down the hall, the room Rai had been kidnapped from came to mind. The window was probably still broken, so no one would be there. The rogue turned the knob and strode calmly in, closing the door behind him.

The room was pleasantly cold and dark as he entered. Soran sat down on a chair inside the doorway and took off his coat, then began untying the shoddy makeshift bandage he'd applied in Aerroes. He was so certain the room would be empty that he did not look up to notice the child curled on the unmade bed.

Emora:


Rai heard the door open and Soran walked in. She had thought he had come in to talk to her, but he didn't seem to notice she was in the room. Rai wasn't bothered by it at all. It was dark in the room. She just continued to lay there. She saw him take of his coat and wondered even more about what he was doing...

Then he began to fiddle with a bandage... He must be hurt in other places... Rai stayed quiet and while he seemed a bit to transfixed with the bandage she crawled off the bed and knelt down beside his chair, looking up at him.

He reminded her of her father sometimes, the way he always acted so tough... But, even her father smiled. Why didn't Soran? Did he have to watch his parents die, too? Is that why he didn't like laughing or crying?

Rai reached up with her tiny child hand and placed it over his wound. It could have possibly hurt him, she didn't know. She was getting so good at healing with all the practice these people were giving her. She could be a Master Healer one day! But, that was a very sad life, at least she thought. Having to deal with the really injured and icky things didn't seem all that fun. Then, again life wasn't very fun.

A soft light emitted from the palm of her hand and you could almost see the tissue and blood fix itself. She pulled her hand back, knowing he must get annoyed sometimes at her. She put her hands in her lap as she knelt down at his feet, looking up at him. She was clothed in that black dress from the neck down and her light colored hair was tossed all around in tangles. Her bright blue eyes didn't sparkle with there usual cheerful happiness, but seemed empty and distant. Her child face wasn't glowing like it normally did, it no longer radiated happy light.

Rai didn't know what to say to him. She didn't think the large knot in her throat would allow her to speak clearly. Her eyes were watery with the sign of tears, but she swallowed hard and blinked them away. She couldn't even make a fake smile now.

Soran:

Soran started slightly as Rai placed her hand on his arm. He had been sure he was alone, and turned abruptly to look at the child, then realized too late as blue light swam in the air that he had been healed again. The rogue stared down, still overcoming surprise, at the young girl. ~'Jeez, who whole point of hiding that wound was so you wouldn't take it onto yourself,'~ he thought, his expression softening. "What do you think you're doing in here?" he asked her in a mock-stern voice, leaning forward wiith his elbows on his knees and looking into her face.

Emora:


Rai looked up at Soran and tilted her head for a second. She swallowed hard and spoke softly, in an even and dull tone, "I'm molting... or is it moping?" she looked down at the floor, contemplating the word for a moment. "I came to think."

Her soft skin beheld bruises that were darker in the shadows, but weren't really that bad. She smiled softly and her eyes watered again. He didn't look like her father at all, but he did act like him in a way. All he needed was warm laughter and a bright smile to go with his attitude. She'd never hear that laughter again... or see his smile. She'd never feel her daddy hug her or kiss her good night...

“You came in here to get away from everyone, too?” she asked and went to crawl into his lap, but his elbows were in the way so she just returned to kneeling at his feet.

Soran:

"Yeah," Soran confirmed. "To fix my arm, though it seems you took care of it for me. Thanks.

"But," he said in a new tone, flexing his healed arm absently, "The one who was wounded wasn't me." He looked pointedly at the child. There was silence for a moment before he spoke again in a casual voice, "Anyway, you'll just end up sick if you sit on the ground in a place like this." He fumbled awkwardly for the correct way to comfort the child in this situation, trying to think of what he'd seen people do back in Hepian. Nothing came to mind. He'd just have to attempt it his own way.

Soran reached down and lifted the child up onto his lap so that she rested sideways against his chest. The words he'd formulated to say disintegrated now that he sought to use them, and he wound up just sitting there in silence with the child in his arms.

Mizuki:

Mizuki lifted a brow. 'Alex?' she smirked but didn't get the chance to say anything because Soran had left. Mizuki sighed watching him leave, she wish he wouldn't hide himself so much...

"Siren..?" she turned to Dark Angel. "What name do you propose?" her speech was now better and less strained.


Emora:


Rai rested her head against Soran's chest and closed her eyes, cuddling up to him. He was very warm compared to the coldness of the room. "It wouldn't matter," Rai said sorrowfully, looking down at her lap. So what if she got sick...

She closed her eyes, fighting the welling tears. She had a pain in her heart now. "Can children have heart attacks?" Rai asked and glanced up at him with a wondering look. "Because, my heart hurts..." She swallowed hard again, realizing it was a stupid question. She knew why her heart hurt.

"I..." she paused, swallowing even harder, trying to force the swelling knot down. She looked up at Soran with her watery beautiful blue eyes. "I loved them so much..."she said so softly it could barely be heard. A tear leaked out. "I..." she stopped and it was clear that she was trying not to cry. "I won't... I didn't... I didn't even get to say I love them.... not for the last time..." More tears came forth and Rai was finding the grip on the sobs that wanted to come forth was slipping.

"I don't want to cry!" she said angrily. "I don't want to forget!" But, it was to late, with in the next second what she was about to say broke off and she buried her face into her hands and leaned against Soran as she sobbed. She knew it probably made him uncomfortable, because Soran always seemed uncomfortable when Mizuki was crying on his shoulder or something. Rai tried to get control and she blurted out in mid sob, "I'm sorry..." She looked up at him with her cheeks glistening with tears. She was far from done crying with all the pain in her, but she didn't want him to be uncomfortable....

Soran:

Soran had seen it coming from the moment he'd made eye contact with her, but it still felt like a rock hit him in the stomach when the normally cheerful child burst into tears. He had vainly assumed he could protect her, but though the sentiment hadn't changed, he saw now that protecting people was not so simple. Now, when it mattered, he could do nothing for the trembling child in his lap except force her to survive through it.

The rogue gazed down emptily and curled his healed arm around the child’s shoulders, drawing her securely against him. If this was how she needed to vent her pain, he meant to remain with her through it. All of this was just so thoroughly new to him.


Emora:


Rai truly broke down at the comforting gesture that Soran showed her by pulling her closer. She felt safe and she was glad he was there. She cried for what seemed like forever, all memories flooding to her with every deep cracking breath she took. "I wish... I wish she'd die... Such a horrible woman..." Rai said angrily. "Why... why did she have to kill them! It's not fair... it's not."

She grew quiet with soft crying as she got to the point where finally she couldn't cry any more... But, her vented anguish felt as if she had lifted a heavy stone off her chest and she could breath and her heart still hurt, but numbly. She grew very quiet and just sat there motionless, almost as if she were a sleep. She wasn't, however. She was just sitting there.

Finally she looked up, her eyes all red from crying. "Thank you, Soran...." Then she returned to her position.

Mizuki:

Grye streched his arms and rubbed the back of his neck. He just couldn't get his dad to budge from the bethroal business. Grye thought about seeing Mizuki but, he wasn't sure if he talk to her about it all.
She just had a baby and... well, this may be the last thing she wanted to talk about. To think, he turned into a bird and flew out the door to go up on the roof. When he changed back his sat and stared at the sky.

Naoki though was wandering trying to find Rai. "Why would she run off like that?" she said to herself then came across a cold draft. "Awe! Did we ever fix that?!" she thought about the broken window and figured no one ever got around to it. So she entered the room, it was dark at first, but then her eyes adjusted and she saw two figures. She smirked recongizing them and thought to leave but.. it was really cold in here.

"Hey listen," she said quietly to them. "It's cold in here. Don't stay too long or you'll catch a cold."
Naoki smiled softly then left them.

Soran:

The rogue glanced toward Naoki as she entered the room, then nodded slightly as she left. The child in his arms was clearly tired out. The child in his arms...heh, that was a new one. Her sobs had become more and more subdued until she'd finally fallen quiet. He stood up, carrying Rai, and moved toward the door. Soran couldn't care less about the cold; in fact, he rather liked it, but Naoki was right that it was unhealthy for a young girl to be in here.

Emora:


Rai was slowly nodding off into sleep in Soran’s arms. She faintly heard Naoki say something about it being cold. She felt Soran stand up and carry her, but she didn’t bother to open her eyes to see where they were going. She was tired from all the stress and pain and fighting to keep from crying… That surprisingly can take a lot out of a person. She felt comfortable and safe in Soran’s arms, much like when her daddy would hold her. If she closed her eyes and thought about it, she could pretend it was him… But, when she opened her eyes it was Soran… That didn’t bother her, she liked Soran.

Rai yawned and moved to get more comfortable as he carried her from the room. She closed her eyes and rested her head sideways against his chest. She would have to see Mizuki’s baby later and ask what she named it…<br>

Soran:

Soran carried Rai back to Mizuki's room and walked in unceremoniously, returning to the chair next to her bed. Siren was crouched next to the bed playing gently with the baby's wings, so engrossed that she'd forgotten to answer Mizuki's question.

Rai seemed nearly asleep, and he didn't want to wake her up, so he just leaned back in the chair and let her rest in his lap, ignoring the pleased smirk it provoked on the Dark Angel's face. He allowed himself to relax a bit in the chair and watched Mizuki lying quietly on the bed. Her color seemed to have improved slightly from when he first saw her, and looking at her no longer sent a momentary chill up his spine that she might be dead.

Mizuki:

Mizuki looked at Soran and Rai. It was so cute!... yet she could see the signs and traces of tears down Rai's eyes. She wanted to tell Rai that everything will be ok and she would look after her, but Rai was almost asleep and she didn't want to wake her. So she turned back to her baby and smiled as Siren played gently with his wings. It was weird to see a small baby with wings in her arms, and sometimes the little boy brought back horrible memories of Gabrial, but at the same time the baby looked like Soran...

"If this child is to remind me of anyone," she started saying and looked back at Soran. "I want it to be you, Soran. So, I think I'll name him Blade. Kind of after you..." blushed thinking about everything she just said. She sounded so stupid to herself, like a schoolgirl chasing after someone she knew she couldn't have. So, she made every attempt to pretend she had him... or something like that. "But he wont be alone, nor Rai." she paused for awhile, really giving herself time to think before she finally said it proudly. "I want to adopt Rai."

She wanted Rai to have a family, and if anything, Mizuki saw Rai as a little sister. No, more than a sister... maybe even her daughter. A daughter she could love and cheerish has her own right beside her son. Maybe it was too soon to say it, propose the idea since Rai just lost her parents. Maybe it was even selfish for mizuki to do this, but she was thinking of Rai, she wanted to give her a second chance at a loving family since she had one... then lost it.


OOC: I couldn't help it. Rai is so cute and adorable that I wanted to adopt her! ^-^;;

Siren:

OOC: Thanks for covering for me Soran =p Sorry guys, was in a car 16 hours of the weekend and had no computer over the weekend! I'm back now though!

IC:
Siren snapped back to reality as the baby was taken up into Mizuki's arms, out of her reach temporarily.

"Blade? That's a funny name... Kind of cute though!" She smiled at the infant and Mizuki. The talk of addopting Rai flew over her head. She wasn't even really sure exactly what it was, since all angel children were raised communally.

Looking at Soran and Rai again, her smirk only grew. Now if she could get him to do that with a certain mature female... that would be interesting. She let it be for now though. The little one had gone through much that day and deserved a rest.

She stood up and smoothed down her hair a bit. "I'll leave you three alone for a bit." She winked at Mizuki teasingly, then strutted out of the room, extending her wings and arms in a stretch then quickly retracting them before she walked through the door.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn was having a long talk with Lorel. She didn't like this bethroal thing but the man just wasn't budging!

"I'm sorry," he said, "I've made a pact with my friend, your husband, and I intend to keep it."

"What you do not see is that my daughter is in love with another man!" Gwendolyn blurted before thinking.
She paused suddenly then regained herself. "I mean, no one knew of this and if we did... well we wouldn't be having problems now would we?"

"In love?"

"...Yes,"

"With whom?"

Gwendolyn hesitated but sighed and replied. "Soran.
The elven rouge.

"I never would've guess. The boy has many secrets and it appears he likes to keep to himself." Gwendolyn nodded in agreement.

"Well, my daughter has been with worse. I don't know how she thinks since... she left home after..."

"I know, and I'm sorry."

"Soran is a good man, subduded but good. It's my guess that he's been isolated most his life that he doesn't know how to socialize with people. But this isn't fair to my daughter! I know our children have met once before but that was too long ago! You can't force her into marriage! She wont do it!"

"You think I don't know that? My son wont do it either, but your husband made me promise, has did I to him, that our first born's would marry."

"That would work if I was the first born." Grye said walking in on the conversation. "I'm the second born son father. Damien passed the duty to me." Grye looked solemn. His eyes were bloodshoot and his hair was tasseled as if he been drinking. Gwendolyn looked gnerally surprised at his demeaner and this news.

"He is not the first born?" she asked Lorel. Lorel looked to the floor with a solemn gaze.

"There are some family secrets that should stay hidden to those not in the family."

"One of the very reason I can't force Mizuki to marry me!" Grye argued. "Who know's if Damien came back and decided to play massacre on us all?! He almost killed me at the castle! It's that and Mizuki loves another, I cannot and will not force her against her will...
and her heart." With that Grye stormed off to Mizuki's room to see her since he hadn't seen her since their arrival.

Siren:

Siren dodged to the left, out of the way of the fuming wizard as he passed, heading towards Mizuki's room.

She looked after him curiously, wondering if Mizuki would be happy to see... and smell... him at this time. The scent of strong alcohol seemed to permeate from his skin, bringing back not-so-fond memories of her last drinking experience.

He dissapeared into the room before she could mention this to him though. Shrugging and shaking her head emphatically, she continued on to the main room, where Gwendolyn and a strange older man seemed to be having a staring contest, both wearing dour expressions.

"So... having a little spat so late are we?" Siren said sarcascastically. She pulled up a chair, staying a few feet away from the quaraling duo, and sat on it backwards, letting her wings spread out and droop comfortably. She crossed her arms over the top of the chair's back rest and lay her chin on her arms, watching with one tilted eyebrow and a tired smirk. It seemed there was no end to the conflicts in this group.

Emora:


Rai stirred slightly in her sleep and sighed, that peaceful safe feeling having come with her into the realm of dreams. She faded deeper and deeper into sleep with images of happy events. She dreamed mostly of Mizuki and Soran, which was odd. Rai thought that surely she would dream of the horrors she had witnessed in Arroes… But, instead it was almost as if Soran holding her was guarding her dreams. It could be because she felt protected so in her sleep that same feeling was with her.

She didn’t hear Mizuki say anything about adopting her and she probably wouldn’t know what to say. She would be happy to know that some one wanted her that was for sure. But, as for calling another person mommy… that would take time…<br>

OOC: I had the flu! Still do… and the flu sucks…

Mizuki:

Grye walked into the room and closed the door behind him. mIzuki greeted him with a smile and loving eyes.

"Grye!" she said excitedly. Grye smiled and nodded to Soran who held a sleeping Rai. Grye quickly crossed the room to Mizuki's beside and held her left hand gently. He hovered his lips just above her ring finger on her hand whispering something. Then he closed his hand over her's and looked into Mizuki's eyes lovingly. He whsipered something else and when he let go, two gold bands were on Mizuki and Soran's ring fingers on their left hands.

"Congradulations," Grye said half joking and half serious, "You're married!" before Soran and Mizuki could say or do anything, he left them. Mizuki stared, mouth agaped at grye's retreating back as he left the room quickly, then her gaze turned to her finger where the ring sat. Mizuki was speechless.

OOC:Taki posting for the 'zuki ^_^

Soran:

OOC: Emora: Get well soon! Taki: Then I take it I'll leave Mizuki's posts to you unless you guys need my help in some way?

IC:
The rogue looked away from Rai, who he'd been absently watching sleep, to nod to the wizard as he entered the room. Grye want directly to Mizuki's side, and Soran did not miss the loving expression she made toward him. The rogue watched them silently, not sure what to make of their behavior as Grye brought his lips close to Mizuki's hand and slid a ring onto her finger. Soran felt a tinge of shocked jealousy along with his confusion despite himself as he watched the scene, but before he said anything Grye stood and proclaimed, "Congratulations! You're married."

Soran raised a skeptical eyebrow at Grye. "Have you gone insane?" he asked the wizard flatly, not yet comprehending what Grye was getting at. Then the rogue noticed the presence of something around his finger and looked down at the golden band with a deepening frown. Utterly confused and with alarm starting at his nerves, the rogue glared up at the departing Grye and icily demanded, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" almost shouting after him as the wizard disappeared into the hallway.

Emora:

OOC: I’ll do my best to get better! I feel a whole lot better than I did yesterday!


Rai stirred again because her protected feeling was being disturbed for some reason. She groaned, feeling her once comfortable position altered for some reasons. She yawned, stirring silently in Soran’s arms until she found a comfortable position again. Her eyes fluttered slightly but she did not wake.

Her head rested to the side on Soran’s arm and she sighed in contempt meant. She felt her sleep take her again and before she knew it she was still once more, completely oblivious to what was happening around her.

Mizuki:

Grye just waved his hand behind him and left the room without a word. Mizuki stared into space unsre of what to say for awhile.

"Oh..." she stuttered. "N-No... this isn't right..."
carefully manuvering around her son, after placing him gently on the bed, and tried to get out. "I don't know what he's trying to do but...no.. I'm sorry Soran."
She put her feet on the ground and tried standing but she collapsed back on the bed almost disturbing Blade.
"Oh... this is what it feels like, after giving birth?
I can't stand on my own."

Mizuki rested, still sitting but looking admiringly at her son. "I don't know what Grye is trying to do but I should stop it!" She tried to yank the ring off, but it wouldn't budge. "Ah? What did he do?"

Soran:

Soran looked at Mizuki and then down at the ring trapping his finger. He gripped the gold and pulled firmly, but it wouldn't move, enflaming anger in the rogue. He looked over with a composed frown at Mizuki as she struggled to get out of bed. Watching her collapse futilely back into the sheets tamed his fury for the moment, and he rose quickly. "No, you rest," he said sternly, placing Rai gently but hurriedly onto the bed next to her. He was too incensed to say anything else, striding purposefully out of the room in the direction Grye had left. His face was composed, but there was something dangerous in his gait.

The rogue went to the end of the hallway, where the strange expressions of those in the living room told him that Grye had passed through this way. The rogue walked out the front door and closed it firmly behind him, spotting Grye just outside. "Explain. Now," the rogue said icily to the wizard's back.

OOC: I created an outtake thread in "The Deep End" for this thread if anyone has any psychotic urges.

Emora:


Rai felt the warmth around her disappear quickly and her protected feeling shatter. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at the ceiling, then she sat up and looked around with a tired expression. She wondered what was going on... She could hear lots of foot steps all of the sudden...

Rai sat up and saw Mizuki holding the cute little baby and she smiled with her tired eyes. She crawled across the bed, still oblivious to what was happening around. Rai sat in front of Mizuki and looked at the baby with her eyes starting to go from tired to in awe. "He's beautiful..." she whispered in shock and reached out a hand, but was a little afraid to touch him. She had never held a baby or touched one before...

Mizuki:

Grye just looked at Soran with a distant expression for awhile. But Grye broke the silence and said simply.

"If you had something that beautiful... would you want it taken from you?" he said in a distant voice. "If you don't want Mizuki taken away then keep that on, it will make sure she stays here but..." he moved his gaze to the ground. He seemed somewhat haunted. "If you don't feel a thing for her tell me now... and I will remove the ring and place it on my own finger."

Soran:

Soran narrowed his eyes dangerously. "You intend to threaten me like this?" he said in a low voice.

Mizuki:

Grye shook his head closing his eyes. "I do not. I just would not wish to take Her away if you loved her at all." He paused and stared at the sky, almost wishing to just turn into a bird and fly away in the sky. "So I will ask my question: Do you love her?"

Soran:

Grye's question sent an involuntary chill through the rogue. For a brief moment he felt he'd been punched in the stomach.

"How many times have you risked your neck to save her? You continuously do these things, yet you don't know why. Staying around Mizuki will only give her the hope that you will one day love her... When all your going to do is break her heart in the end. Leave her Soran..." Shea's words returned uninvited to Soran's memory as he glared at the wizard.

"I'm not so easily manipulated as that," the rogue snarled, anger glowing in his eyes. "I'm very sure Mizuki never spoke of her consent to be married to either of us. Without that, you dare expect me to discuss this with you? Tell me the difference between your actions and those that created the child sleeping next to her?" Soran's even glare burned into Grye as he spoke.

Siren:

Siren quickly grew bored with the older people’s seemingly nonsensical fight. She stood up unobtrusively, gazing at the door the drunken wizard and, shortly after, the miffed elf had exited through. Gwendolyn stormed off temporarily, and Siren decided to slip away before she returned with a rolling-pin or something.

Stretching her right arm up and faking covering a yawn with her left hand, she sidled towards the door, leaving the poor man to his fortune. She grasped the doorknob and quickly turned it, yanking the door open and dashing outside. She flung the door shut as she passed thorough, ensuring her escape.

The situation outside didn’t seem much better. She caught only the last part of Soran’s dialogue, “…with you? Tell me the difference between your actions and those that created the child sleeping next to her?"

Siren looked at Gyre, her mouth agape and eyes wide. She leaned her weight on her left foot and lifted her right hand to her temple, closing her eyes and sighing dramatically to lighten the mood before she flung her hand away from her head, sending a few stray pieces of hair flying out haphazardly, and placing the hand at her hip.

“Don’t tell me… She’s pregnant again and you’re fighting over who the father is. Am I close?”<br>
She recoiled slightly as Soran’s death glare shot at her momentarily.

Taki:

Taki hadn't changed into her fairy form for many days since she left the forest. She couldn't help herself but turmoil in thought as she traveled south.

'Was I doing the right thing to leave him there alone..? She left him too..' She cast her sad blue eyes to the ground and the path leading her south. Her human form was running low on energy. Taki emitted a golden glow just as she was reaching the border and shrank into her true form again. She quickly fluttered off the path into the bushes lining it to keep cover. Up ahead she could hear voices. Could it be them? Could she finally have found her destiny?

Mizuki:

Grye closed his eyes then lifted his hand
passionlessly. The ring dissapeared from Soran's
finger and reappeared in Grye's hand. Grye stared at
the gold band in his hand, then tossed it over his
shoulder like it was a cursed ring.

"I only want her happy." he said. "I thought if I
could trick my father into thinking she was already
married the bethroal would be releived from us. Maybe
I wasn't thinking clearly but..." he was cut off as
Siren interrupted them. He watched with passionless
eyes as Soran glared at the Dark Angel then he slipped
back into the house. He'd take the ring off of Mizuki.

Mizuki smiled at Rai. "This is Blade." she said
happily holding the baby boy. "I'm so happy you're all
home Rai." Mizuki kissed the top of Rai's head
lovingly, like a mother to her child. Suddenly, Blade
started crying and Gwendolyn rushed into the room.
"Wh-why's he crying mother?!" Mizuki panicked.

"He's hungry I believe." Gwendolyn replied. "he wants
milk."

"Oh, where will we get that?" Mizuki asked naivly. [is
that a word?!] Gwendolyn coughed and pointed to
Mizuki's chest. Mizuki blushed.

"OOHH!!! umm.... right." Mizuki turned away from
everyone and adjusted herself so her breast would be
exposed for Blade to suckle on. Gwendolyn handed
Mizuki and spit up cloth to drap over her chest to
cover herself the best she could. Mizuki turned back
around and rested on the bed. It felt weird but it
made Blade happy to be fed.

Grye walked in then stopped. "Oh, did I come at a bad
time?" he asked noticing the suckling child and
blushing slightly. Mizuki blushed but welcomed him in
anyway.

Emora:


Rai didn’t see how that was going to feed the baby… Her mother had always given her milk in a glass… Rai shook her head, not understanding fully what adults did. She wondered if that was special milk… but didn’t see how milk could come from… there… Rai thought it would be better to just leave Mizuki to her privacy in feeding her baby. Rai leaned over and kissed Mizuki’s cheek before crawling off the bed and leaving the room.

“Toby!” Rai called looking around the house, wondering from room to room. “Toby?! Toby I’m back!” She didn’t see the black furry, green eyed wolf anywhere. She put her hands on her hips and sighed.

Rai wanted to find Tora too, she was going through the list of people she needed to thank and she remembered that Tora was most definitely one she needed to thank and now things were calm enough that she could.

“Tora?”<br>


Taki:

Taki had finally made it to the border after days of travel. She had to change back into her human form, which was exausted from travel. She donner her cloak wearily and took a few unsteady steps into the open before stumbling over to a nearby house with people near it. She couldn't think straight enough to know she had finally found what she was searching for. Her blue eyes were glassy and round. She took one look at those outside and collapsed to her feet.

"I..I...eghnn.." she coughed out inaudibly before passing out.

Siren:

Siren looked over in surprise as a woman came out seemingly from nowhere and collapsed a bit away from the house. She was happy for the excuse to escape Soran's disspleased eyes for a bit, and ran over to the fallen women, dropping to her knees on the ground and turning her so that she lay face-up with her upper body and head resting on Siren's knees and arms.

"Hey, are you ok?" Siren asked, her eyes searching the woman's remotely-covered body for injury. Siren was bored, feeling the post-climax emotinos from the previous day and wanting to do something usefull other than aggrevating people, as she seemed to have so far.

Siren waved her free hand over the woman's eyes briefly when she did not respond. She looked over at Soran, then rearranged herself in order to pick her up, lifting her gently, but with slight strain, and moving to towards the house with her.

She looked at Soran questioningly when she got near him. "Is this ok? Is it safe to bring her in, with the baby inside and all you think? So much has happened..."

Mizuki:

Grye had taken the ring off of Mizuki. "I'm sorry, I thought that if my father..."

"Don't worry." Mizuki said softly smiling. "I think I understand why you did it." Her words drifted off as remembered Grye telling her Soran wasn't happy with Grye's attempt to keep Mizuki here. Mizuki sighed sadly but looked back to Grye smiling. "Grye, I know we are bethroaled but... I can't... I don't think I could marry." grye touched her hand and held it in his, he kissed the top of her hand.

"Maybe if we courted instead of just went off to marry?" Mizuki sighed again, but this time was more pleased. She nodded agreeing half heartedly.

"Yes, maybe that would be better." Her mind told her to say, but her heart kept thinking of someone else. She tried to peel the thought away. As much as she wanted to be with him she also knew that it wouldn't work... he's too distant. 'Stop Mizuki, remember when you and Rai got him to laugh? What about that? Don't give up...' her inner concious coached her but after every "relationship" she was thrown in, it ended in a heartbreak or at least some emotional damage. If she and grye got to know each other better, it would be a better root for any relationship they could possibly have, and Blade needs a father....

If Mizuki was to marry Grye, it would be for her son... she guessed.

Siren:

Soran had given Siren a disconcerted look and walked off without giving a response, so Siren just sighed and took the girl inside anyway.

As soon as she stepped in through the door Gwendolyn spotted her and rushed over to check out the situation.

"She just collapsed," Siren stated, laying the girl down on the couch. "No idea where she came from or anything, but I figured we should keep an eye on her till she wakes up at least."

Siren crouched in front of the couch and held the girl's wrist, checking her pulse, which seemed fine and relaxed.

OOC: Soran's computer died!! He'll grace us with his presence by later tonight hopefully if all goes well.

Soran:

OOC: Took me two straight days to recover my files and reformat, but looks like it's in stable condition..for now *casts a scornful glare at computer*. Hope I didn't hold things up too much!

IC:

Soran leaned down on his elbows with his arms lying crossed on the bar, staring into his drink with a contemplative frown. There were a good number of patrons gathered at the tavern that night, rowdily drinking off the pressures of the day. Soran made a stoic and possibly lonely figure amidst all the excitement, withdrawn from the frivolous atmosphere as he sat at the bar and struggled with his tangled thoughts. The stern sense of detached objectivity that the rogue's logic depended on had seemingly abandoned him, and much to his irritation he could not seem to assemble his thoughts to construct a coherent reason for why he felt so out of sorts.

It had been a dangerous situation before with Grye. Soran's temper had flown uncharacteristically out of control. Siren's tactless but well-timed interruption was the only thing that had prevented him from assaulting Grye, and for that brief moment he had considered attacking Siren in his place. Why? Why was he so mad? Given, it was presumptuous and arrogant of Grye to behave as he had, but that hardly seemed like an explanation. Besides, Mizuki had a child now whom she probably would not want to raise alone, and why shouldn't she consider marriage to someone like Grye? His subconscious barred him from even considering that he might play that role in her life himself.

The rogue tilted his head back and downed the amber contents of the glass, then set it down and stared into it again. His eyes raised with a start a moment later when the barkeep thunked a new glass in front of him.

"You look like you're trying to burn a hole through the counter with that expression," the human man said casually in his gruff voice, "Where's the winged lady who was here with you last time? You two have a fight or something?"

Soran raised an indifferent frown at the man. "She's taking care of her own business," he said in a tone that implied 'Why do you ask?'.

"Because you've got that damned lovesick look on your face. Folks in my profession know that look when we see it."

"I have no relation of the sort with that woman," the rogue asserted as he picked up his drink.

The barkeep was quiet for a minute, and it seemed he had dropped the subject until he pressed, "Well, then who is it?"

Soran lifted a confused eyebrow at the man.

"Who's the lucky girl that gave you that scary look on your face?"

"You're mistaken," Soran said curtly, getting annoyed with the barkeep's persistence.

The barkeep crossed his arms and arched back slightly as though he had just become enlightened to some huge secret. "If she's that wonderful, the least you could do is stop denying it," he said knowingly.

Soran glared impenetrably at the man. "Do you always bother your patrons this much while they're trying to drink," he challenged.

"Right, right. I'll leave you alone," the barkeep said casually, moving off to bring some beer to the table in the corner. Soran resented the faint residue of sympathy in the man's voice, but resented even more that the barkeep's presumptuous words now echoed in the background of his already clouded thoughts.

Emora:


Rai sighed as she wondered around the house, still wearing that black dress that was used for her sacrifice. Everyone seemed to be pretty busy with things and Rai didn't want to disturb them.

Rai couldn't help but worry about Toby. What if he had gone off to help look for her and he had gotten lost? What if he was in Arken? He could show up at anytime, and Rai had confidence in his ability to find his way back.

Rai took a seat in front of the fire place in the living room and stared at the flames as the flickered over the log. She folded her arms across her knees and rested her chin there. "La dada dalala..." she began to sing softly. Rai yawned, feeling quite comfortable in front of the fire. She pulled a blanket off the couch and went back to her place curling up in front of the hot flames.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn sighed while they pput the woman on a couch.

"There's not much we can do until she wakes." she said then noticed Rai sitting alone. She smiled softly then went to her. "Hey little one." she said kneeling next to Rai. "Would you like to change into some...
better cloths?"

Emora:


Rai sat up and looked at Mizuki for a moment and tilted her head slightly. "Yes, that would be very nice, thank you..." she said politely, with a tired tone to her voice. She was still very sleepy and she showed it with a yawn. She wouldn't bother with asking for a bath. She didn't want to cause Mizuki to do any work, after all she just had a baby.

Rai rose up, taking the blanket and laying it back on the couch before smiling softly at Mizuki.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn smiled and took Rai's hand leading her to her own room. She opened her closet and inside was a trunk full of little dresses. "These were Mizuki's when she was your age. I think they should fit you."
Gwendolyn stepped aside and let Rai choose her own.

Naoki walked down the road. She was off to retreive Soran whether he liked it or not. She wasn't sure of what happened between Grye and Soran earlier, but she wanted it to end. She walked into the bar, something told her he would be here, and marched right up to Soran.

"You," she said trying to sound threatening. "Mizuki is about to make a big mistake and here you are drowning yourself in whiskey!" The bartender turned around and smirked at the sense Naoki was unnoticably making.

"You mean the seer's daughter?" the bartender smiled.
"I was wondering when she'd get married."

"Let's go!" Naoki grabbed Soran's collar, yanking him out of the chair. She was prepared to drag him out if she had to. "I can't believe you're going to let her be taken away by another man! Did you fight or something? I don't recall hearing any yelling..."

Soran;

Soran looked around confusedly as he heard Naoki’s voice. “You! Mizuki is about to make a big mistake and here you are drowning yourself in whiskey!” Soran narrowed his eyes suspiciously. ~’What is she talking about?’~ he thought, indifferently raising his glass to his lips.

”You mean the seer’s daughter?” the bartender said enthusiastically, “I was wondering when she’d get married.”<br>
Soran’s hand stopped and slowly lowered the glass without drinking. ~’Is this a joke? What is that idiot thinking?’~ his thoughts raced. She would actually consider that clown?

”Let’s go!” Naoki said firmly and clutched the rogue by the collar, yanking him backward off his stool. Soran was too astonished by her tenacity to react at first, balance faltering as he was pulled toward the door before his feet reached the ground and before he could pay his tab. The last thing he saw was the bartender’s annoyingly smug grin before he was dragged out to the street. There, the rogue finally regained his senses and swiped away the woman’s hand.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he snapped out of necessity for his pride, though the unmasked expression on his face proved he knew exactly what she was trying to do. Shock was crawling into his thoughts unwillingly. He told himself it didn’t concern him, but he couldn’t deny it – he didn’t want that guy to marry Mizuki. He couldn’t see them together at all. Mizuki belonged with someone more… he couldn’t think of anyone preferable to Grye either. Soran’s face hardened as he realized how stupidly he was thinking. It was her own business, after all. Why should he be so alarmed? He told himself it didn’t concern him, following Naoki back to the house with an unreadable glare on his face.

Mizuki:

Naoki glared at Soran as he swiped her hand away.
"What do you mean, 'what do you think I'm doing?' I'm making sure my best friend doesn't make her life miserable by marrying the wrong man! Now come!" she grabbed his hand this time and walked furiously back with him.

"Mizuki didn't accept the proposal... yet, but they're courting! Now, don't get me wrong, Grye's a good man, hell the guy even tried to make it look like you two were already married so Mizuki wouldn't be forced to marry him, but I'll be the Whitch Queen's lackey before I see Mizuki marry him over you! Deny it all you want, but everyone's known from the begining, since you two walked through the front door Gwendolyn's known what the Fates have planned for you two!" she stopped and clenched her fist.

"You're really, not going to let Mizuki make a mistake are you? You wont, let her get away? Mizuki's made many mistakes before with men, I'm sure you remember Luc, but for once she made a really good choice and now she's going to lose it because both of you are in denial! I think mostly you!" she turned to face him with fierce, watery eyes. "Go ahead and tell me I'm a fool for saying this to you, but don't make Mizukoi the fool!"

Emora:


Rai smiled and picked out a pretty pink dress with lace. She grinned and stood up quickly holding the dress to her. “This is beautiful,” she said in a whisper and sat a pink ribbon in the trunk that could go in her hair. She reached down and lifted it up to. It was getting late and she wouldn’t need the ribbon, but she wanted to where it to.

“Do you know where Toby is?” Rai asked when she looked up at Mizuki’s mom. “I can’t find him.” Her bright blue eyes blinked as she looked at Gwendolyn with interest.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn blinked astonished that she had forgotten, and no clue where Rai's Toby was. Gwendolyn stood up and smiled softly.

"Well, let's find him then." she said. "But I'll need you to help me. Hurry and get dressed then we can locate Toby."

Emora:


Rai came out from inside the room wearing the pink and white dress. It looked so cute on her and made her look so pretty. It was easy to tell that Rai would grow up to be a beautiful woman. She would also grow up to be a strong woman do to the things she had experienced and the things she would experience. Sometimes Rai just wish she could be old, like Soran and Mizuki. It seemed easier to be old.

"No, it's alright... We don't need to go looking for him. I don't think he is anywhere around. If he was I think he would have heard me calling... Do you think he might have gone to look for me? I hope he's alright... I really, really love him...."

And Toby was alright. He was out there getting something for Rai, something she would hold dear for the rest of her life...

Soran:

Soran strode firmly at his own pace while Naoki pulled impatiently at his arm. The rogue silently tolerated the woman’s impertinence, showing no sign of protest nor of consent to what she was saying. She accused him of denial, which ticked a nerve in the rogue. Soran considered retracting his hand from her unwelcome grip, but didn’t as he noticed moisture forming in her eyes. What exactly was she getting at? Did she expect him to presume authority over Mizuki’s romantic affairs? She had a right to marry him if she chose, yet a protective indignance hardened his expression when he thought it. The tension that had been sparked back in the bar built itself up higher and higher as he walked.

The rogue narrowed his eyes and forced his thoughts to compile into a stern indifference. The tension, however, only heightened as they came to the door of the house, prickling at his nerves. Soran opened the door and spotted Rai and Gwendolyn by the fireplace as he entered the room. He briefly examined the child for signs of her former distress, but it seemed she was in better spirits for the time being. Sending one more watchful glance over Rai, he nodded a cordial greeting to them and continued out of the room before Naoki could make a scene rushing him. He had decided he would go to see Mizuki, but beyond that he honestly had no idea what he intended to accomplish in doing so. Damn it, she was really planning to marry him? Without any words rehearsed or goals determined, Soran opened the door to Mizuki’s room.

Taki:

OOC: Sorry! I was skiing in vermont! ^_^;;

IC:
Taki was starting to come to. Her human form was so exausted from walking most of the way from Heppian down to the border. She hadn't changed into her normal form often on her trip, which would of covered more ground faster and would of made her less tired. Taki scolded herself for not thinking straight. The fairy started to open her eyes and looked around the room. She was inside the house? Who brought her in, she thought.

Taki stretched and sat up, looking around for any signs of fruit to rejuvinate her human form's energy. Her hand reached up and slid off her hood and then threaded through her green and pink curls.

Mizuki:

When Soran and Naoki walked in Grye was holding Blade and standing next to Mizuki's bed. He was talking to Blade and the little child just watched him in wonder.

"Soran! Naoki!" Mizuki greeted them cheerfully showing no signs of any emotional distress. She moved on her bed to sit on the end of it, watching them happily.
When she saw Naoki though, something just clicked in her head. Naoki's position in front of Soran... she just looked angry at him... "Naoki, what's wrong?"

"Nothing..." NAoki mummbled trying to aviod it. This wasn't about her, it was her best friend about to do something stupid. But Mizuki saw right past her.

"Hey, I've known you since we were small, so I know when you're lying. Come on, tell me." Mizuki smiled.
Naoki smirked back but she wasn't feeling any happyness.

"How do you smile all the time Mizuki? It's just that... you sure you know what you're doing?" Grye watched them, protectivly holding Blade who was looking at Soran with a keen interest.

"Uh..." Mizuki didn't entirly understand. "Well..."

"Mizuki," Grye interupted. He sensed some hostility coming from Naoki and something else from Soran. "I'll take Blade out to your mother."

"Er, ok." Grye hugged Mizuki with his free arm then walked out past Soran and Naoki, clearly avoiding Soran's gaze. When Grye left Naoki went on full force.

"You're not really going to marry him are you?!" she asked her friend. Mizuki was dumbstruck. "Come on Mizuki, Soran, no more denial," she pushed Soran right in front of Mizuki. "Tell each other how you feel!"

Mizuki really couldn't find any words to respond to how Naoki was acting. She just looked at Soran in confusion as he stood before her, he seemed also confused.

"Naoki, what are you doing?" Mizuki asked her friend, but she was still watching Soran. "If I have to marry Grye, I will. Now, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I want to move around now instead of just laying here like an invaild. Soran, could you help me up?"

"Stop being stubborn and tell him you love him Mizuki!"

Soran:

Soran stood very straight in the doorway and eyed Mizuki impenetrably as Naoki spoke, not avoiding her eyes. His face revealed nothing of his reaction to finding Grye holding Mizuki’s child, seeing her accept his embrace, or Naoki’s absurd conjectures.

“Stop being stubborn and tell him you love him Mizuki!” Naoki’s voice brought an awkward silence over the room. Soran’s face hardened for a moment as if the room might explode. Mizuki seemed clearly uncomfortable with the situation. When nothing broke the silence, he did so himself.

The rogue crossed the room to Mizuki’s bedside and held his arm out to her. “I don’t think you should walk yet. If you try to strain yourself, I’m putting you back here,” he said emptily. Taking her wrist in one hand and supporting behind her shoulder with the other, he gently raised her to a sitting position.

Mizuki:

Mizuki smiled and took his offered arm slowly getting up. "Thank you, Soran. I feel old, I'm not liking it."
she laughed softly. Naoki sighed frustrated but watched not sure what to do now.

"Need help?" she said softly. Mizuki shooked her head as she moved her feet to dangle off the side of the bed.

"No, no. Listen, I don't want to talk about "marrying"
Grye alright? It's not happening yet and may not for a long time. I want to concentrate on my friends and family now. That is it. I want to make sure everyone's ok, especially Rai. Can you help me walk to her Soran?"

When Grye entered the living room with Blade in his arms he saw the woman on the couch waking up. "Who's she?" he asked, holding Blade closer, more protective of him with a stranger about.

Taki:

Taki's glance shot to the man holding a baby who was inquiring her identity. She stood up slowly, her legs still somewhat shaky. She mustered up her best smile and reached her hand out in front of her to shake his hand.

"Hello, my name is Taki. I fainted just outside, I suppose someone brought me in? Im sorry if I startled you. Do you know if I could have a bite to eat, perhaps some fruit to rejuvinate me?" Her big eyes were glassy and her voice was soft.

Mizuki:

Grye regaurded her for a minute then took her hand. "Grye, this little guy is Blade. And sure, not my house though so hold on." He sent Gwendolyn a message telling her some woman has awaken in their house and gwendolyn came out with Rai in hand.

"Ah, so the fairy is awake." Gwendolyn said smiling. "I am Gwendolyn. A seer."

Taki:

Taki froze, her hand still shaking the man named Grye's. Her eyes shifted to the woman. 'What's a 'seer'?' she thought to herself. 'And how does she know what I am, even though Im in human form!'

"Hello, er, Im Taki. It was very kind of you to bring me in." Taki smiled at the woman and withdrew her hand. She wobbled on her feet a moment, still not used to being in this form for so long. Taki sat back down and rubbed her eyes.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn smiled. "A seer, by the way, can see the future, past or present. Now, I assume you want some food? I'll be back soon. Oh, this little child is Rai." Gwendolyn then let go of Rai's hand and went into the kitchen to make Taki some food. She came back with some fruit and a cup of tea.

Taki:

Taki pushed her curls out of her face and hooked her hair behind her pointy ears. She thanked the seer and nibbled on the fruit and sipped at the tea. Her headache was going away now. Her eyelids drooped half closed as she gazed into her tea. A thought popped into her head and she turned to Gwendolyn.

"Miss Gwendolyn, if a seer can see past, present, and future that still doesn't explain how you knew that I was a-" Taki caught herself as her eyes darted to Grye and the child and then she continued, her voice more hushed. "A fairy."

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn smiled. "Seer's can see many things sweety. Our second sight grants us that ability. Like I can see you're tired out from using your human form so much. Please rest Taki, you are welcome in my home. But I must make sure my daughter doesn't kill herself trying to walk like she is now." Gwendolyn smiled and rushed off towards Mizuki's room to make sure she would be ok with Soran's help.

Taki:

Taki smiled in awe after the woman left her with Grye, the infant and the little girl. She looked from Grye to the little girl in the pink dress. Taki smiled at her.

"Hello, my name is Taki. Is your name Rai? You look very pretty and grown up in that dress, so elegant." Taki grinned at her and offered some fruit to the girl. She then turned her eyes to Grye. "So, is Blade yours? He looks like a very strong infant-how old is he?"

Mizuki:

Grye faultered. "Uh...no, and he's just been born. But Blade's mother should be about soon, she's determined to not be an invaild." Blade made a noise and Grye looked down at him smiling. "I wish he was mine sometimes though.... uh well anyway. You're a fairy huh? What are you doing way out here?"

Taki:

"You seem like the fatherly type.."Taki watched him and smiled. She nibbled on more fruit and sipped at the tea. It warmed her throat and she felt her strength coming back. "Well... I had a vision dream many years ago that I would travel with a group of people to defend Ighten and the Queen... as their healer-it's what I do. I heal..but I can't heal myself-the only downfall.."

The fairy stretched her arms over her head and she leaned back on her arms. "I've been travelling for days.. The last people I saw were that demon-girl I healed and that man... I hope they're ok.." She was talking more to herself than Grye.

Mizuki:

Grye watched the woman and smirked. "You know you talk to yourself?" he said joking. "And anyway I'm sure whoever those people were, they're fine." he went and sat on a chair opposite of Taki and began rocking the baby. Grye noticed how much Blade resembled Soran. 'Heh, what are you going to do kid? Grow up with your mother's heart?' Grye smiled down at Blade at the thought.

Siren:

Siren opened her eyes lazily, awakening from her short nap on the other couch. She sat up and rubbed her eyes with one hand, then noticed that the woman she had carried in a bit ago was finally awake.

She jumped up out of the couch and jogged over to the back of the couch, leaning her arms on it and extending her right hand to the woman, a bright smile on her face.

"Glad to see you're finally up! I'm Siren, nice to propperly meet you."

Taki:

Taki nearly jumped out of her seat and spilled her tea. She laughed as she put her tea down and shook the woman's hand.

"Taki. Nice to meet you too, are you the one who brought me in? Thank you for saving me" The fairy grinned up at her.

Soran:

“Can you help me walk to her Soran?” Mizuki had asked.

“Just don’t push too hard,” Soran said practically as he supported her arm for her to stand, still thinking about what she’d said about marrying Grye. “It’s not happening yet,” she had said. He pushed it from his mind and distracted himself with helping Mizuki up. She was being truly obstinate and he knew he shouldn’t be encouraging her, but at times like these her willfulness was one of the most attractive things about her.

Siren:

"Glad to be of some help. Why were you out there in the cold anyway?" Siren asked, pleased that the woman seemed to be so sweet natured.

Siren got a bit distracted as Blade let out a soft cooing noise, and went over to Gyre, asking permission with a gesture and accepting the baby into her own arms, cradling it fondly with her wings wrapping around herself and Mizuki's baby before turning back to Taki.

"I love babies! They're so small and fragile and cute. " She let the baby grasp her finger tightly, smiling down at the tiny face with the piercing green eyes.

Taki:

Taki was overwhelmed with how inquisitive her destiny was. She laughed as she watched Siren fuss over the baby.

"Well I've been travelling what seems like forever down south to find my destiny.. I saw it in a vision, I was travelling with a group fighting for Ighten against the Witch Queen and I was their healer. That's what I do, Im a healer." Taki felt comfortable enough now around Grye and Siren to take off her black cloak, thinking it might make them more uncomfortable. She slipped it off and folded it on the couch, revealing her bright red and pink Fairy-Knight suit-but they didn't know that. To them she looked like a pink jeweled cupcake.

Emora:


Rai stared at the woman with the green and pink hair in amazement. She had never seen such hair! And she was a fairy! Could she grant wishes? Rai had a wish… well actually she had lots of wishes… Could she have three wishes? She might not grant wishes at all.

Rai was standing behind everyone as they talked about the fairy and Mizuki and Grye… She was confused by all the different conversations and stuff. She walked up to the fairy and tugged on her arm. “You’re a fairy,” she said the obvious, her eyes wide with amazement. “Can you grant wishes?!” Rai looked utterly cute with the expression on her face… it was total awe.

Siren:

"A healer?" Siren's ears perked up a little. She looked over at Rai and smiled, then looked back to Taki.

"You and Rai have something in common then. Maybe you can teach eachother a thing or two." Siren stuck out her tongue playfully and looked the colorful woman over.

She knew by the unusually colored hair, more distinctive than even her own silver and aquamarine tresses, that this girl was somewhat magical, but had missed the part about her being a fairy

Taki:

Taki smiled at Siren then looked down to Rai who was tugging on her arm. "Can you grant wishes?" Rai was asking her. Taki smiled and picked the girl up. They matched in pink dresses and they were both healers. What a special little girl.

"No.. Im sorry, Rai I can't grant wishes." Her voice was appologetic and she gave the girl a hug. "You are too cute, you know."

Emora:


Rai nodded quickly and tilted her head for a second. "Do you know any fairies you can?" she asked with an interested tone to her voice. Her bright blue eyes sparkled in amazement. "I've never ever met a fairy before!"

Fairies were the things her mother had always told her about. She had heard stories of the Fairy Queen and other fairies. "Your beautiful! and tall..."

The arrival of the fairy completely made her forget about the horror she had witnessed. She was so amazed that the memory of the death of her parents as pushed out of her mind, though the look in her eyes still hinted towards a hidden sadness. But, they sparkled with the innocence of a child.

Taki:

Taki laughed as the child went on asking questions about her race. She grinned when Rai called her beautiful and tall.

"Well, if you can call 4'6" tall, then tall I am. I don't usually like to tell people about my kind, but for you I'll make an exception because you're so special." Taki grinned down at the girl in her arms, she could see tradgedy in her eyes. "I know in the school my parents run there are fairies in training for wish granting, after graduation I went on to live my own life as a healer so I don't know where they are in my kingdom now. You know... you probably have met one before, you just don't know it. During the day we take human form because we don't like to be found out about and at night we change into elegant little things with the prettiest wings you could ever imagine and we glow gold and fairy dust trails us and we stand only 3 inches tall!" Taki almost sounded like she was telling a fairy tale the way she was describing her people, almost as if they didn't exist at all.

Inspiration sparked in her mind and Taki set Rai down. "Would you like to see my fairy form?"

Emora:


Rai listened with great interest, wondering if she could ask to meet a wishing fairy... She wanted one wish if any, to be a grown up for a day! She really wanted to know what it was like to be grown up. Many would think she would wish for her parents to return, but Rai knew they were in a better place where pain couldn't reach them.

Rai gasped when she was asked if she wanted to see the fairy form. "I'd love to!" she said happily and looked at Mizuki and Soran and smiled. This was like a treat for her!

Mizuki:

Blade chooed again making Grye smile like a proud father. Mizuki smiled at Soran as he helped her up.

"Thank you." she said and kissed his cheek lightly as she stood next to him, Soran supporting her.
"Unfortuanatly this makes me feel really old and I'm only 19!" she laughed and so did Naoki.

"Come on," Naoki said and walked out sure that Soran had her firmly. Naoki still wouldn't let the issue rest, but maybe just for now. She ran into Gwendolyn on her way out and told her Soran had her.

"Well," Gwendolyn said. "Go meet our newcomer Taki."

"What are we, a hotel?!" Naoki joked and went to meet this newcomer. When she entered she greeted Taki with a warm hello. "Hello there, I'm Naoki... the rest of us will be out shortly."

Taki:

Taki grinned at Rai's reaction. Taki nodded and closed her eyes, adjusting her glasses first. The fairy started to glow golden and emit golden fairy dust as she shrank into her fairy form. She was 3 inches tall, but she looked the same otherwise. Same hair, same glasses, same knight's uniform-except her wings. She had peculiar wings in contrast to her personality and attire. They were firery red wings that were tattered, but traditional in the sense of fairy wings. The tips of the wings were burned black from a terrible accident.

She flew around the room to show Rai her fairy dust trail and then she hovered in front of the girl and landed in her hands.

Emora:


Rai gasped and watched as the fairy flew. She was so amazed and it came to fly in front of her Rai’s face and Rai’s eyes crossed cutely. Then, the fairy landed in her hands and she held her up, not closing her hands over the fairy because she didn’t want to hurt her. “Wow…” she breathed and looked at Taki closely, examining her with a smile. “I wish I could fly…”

Taki:

Taki smiled up at the child, her voice seeming softer when she was in her true form.

"Well, I was always good for illusions when I was younger and in school-top of my class y'know...I could put you into a dream so to speak, would you like to fly with me Rai?" Taki's smile broadened.


Emora:


Rai thought for a long moment, not totally understanding what she meant. She thought it over for a long moment and decided to be able to fly was worth the risk. She nodded eagerly… “Yes, ma’am, I’d love to fly with you!” She looked back to everyone with a happy and eased expression as if all the pain had been lifted from her shoulders for the moment.

Taki:

Taki smiled and gave a reassuring look to the others she had just met.

"Ok, go lay on the couch then." Taki flew over to land on the arm of the couch. "And relax and picture yourself as a fairy, you're small and everything is a lot bigger than you- but you're very pretty and you have a green glow with green fairy dust trailing you. You're in the forest with me and it's sunset. There are a lot of other fairies there too. We're in my kingdom. Can you feel yourself flying yet Rai? You're light as a feather, just close your eyes and picture it." Once the girl layed down and closed her eyes, Taki sprinkled fairy dust from her wings on Rai so the illusion would mix with her imagination and put her in a dream. It would be like she was taking a nap.

Soran:

Soran glanced over at Mizuki, not so much offended as baffled as he felt warmth against his cheek. To his horror, he felt the tips of his ears reddening as he supported her out toward the living room. He no longer had any clue what the half-elven woman was thinking, and he'd gone too long without sleep to trust himself to think either. When they arrived there he found that the room was in quite a commotion and everyone was gathered there. He soon noticed the cause, spotting the glowing creature on the couch. Being unfamiliar with fairies, his first instinct was distrust, but the complacent atmosphere in the room lessened his suspicion slightly.

"Someone new?" he asked before answering himself as he vaguely remembered Siren asking him if she should help a traveler who fainted on the road in front of the house. So that person was a fairy. He inspected Taki carefully from where they stood by the doorway.

Emora:


Rai was smiling with her eyes closed as she watched the images in her head. It was like when she would close her eyes as he mother told the stories and she would imagine she was the princess or the warrior battling the bad guy… except this time she was flying.

Rai felt as if all her worries and cares were gone as she flew with the fairy. She no longer had the weight of her parents death, or the things she had witnessed in Arroes or even throughout her life. She was free, soaring around the room with wings! She tugged on Soran’s ear and landed on his nose, laughing. She played with Blade and got tangled in Mizuki’s hair… She was free from the cares of life and really never wanted to leave the dream, though she knew she had to… and that was the only care she had…<br>

Siren:

Siren watched on curiously, astonished to see the fairy - it was her first sighting of one. She felt happy though, seeing Rai smiling in a trance and listening herself to Taki's soft voice.

She looked over at Soran and Mizuki, grinning smugly as she noticed Mizuki's firm hold on him and Soran's reddened ears, but feeling a slight tinge of jealousy as Mizuki held on to that man that looked so much like... well, Gabriel is gone now. No sense getting jealous over it I suppose.

Siren looked down at the baby, still in her arms, now staring in wide-eyed wonder at the fairy. She smiled and turned slightly so that Mizuki could see the infant and not feel anxious over where he was.

Mizuki:

Mizuki blinked a few times. She was lost and quite confused. She saw a small sparkling creature looming over Rai.

"What's that small thing sparkling?" she asked like a small child pointing to Taki. Gwendolyn stifled a luagh and Grye smiled.

"It's a fairy Mizuki." Grye explained. Mizuki blinked again in astonishment. Her mouth formed to say "Wow"
but no sound came out. She took her eyes away from the fairy and looked at her son in Siren's arms. It sparked the idea of Siren teaching him the ways of Dark Angel's when he was older but she wouldn't think of Blade growing up now. On impulse she hugged Soran tighter to be closer to him. 'I'm a big fat liar to myself.' she thought trying hard not to laugh out loud.

Grye, feeling that Mizuki shouldn't stay too long on her feet, went to releive Soran of the task of supporting Mizuki. "Are you ok or do you want me to take her to sit down?" he asked Soran and Mizuki at the same time.

Taki:

Taki smiled at Rai 'dreaming' the illusion that she was flying with her through the fairy forest at dusk. She closed her eyes and glowed once more to change back into her human form, her wings shrinking away as she grew to her short height of 4'6". Taki gazed down at the girl with her big blue eyes and stroked her hair.

Taki turned to the crowd that had gathered and smiled, her cheeks turning pink.

"Well, consider yourselves lucky.. Im probably the only fairy you'll ever see-we don't really like to let people know we exist let alone show our true forms heh."

Mizuki:

Mizuki reluctantly agreed with Grye about going to sit down and let him take her to a chair. She imediantly missed the warmth of Soran standing next to her and yearned to go back but she was already in the chair.

"So, a fairy?" Mizuki pondered starting to drift off into space. "Oh, I'm Mizuki. Gwendolyn's daughter and the mother of Blade." she said to the fairy introducing herself. Little Blade started to fuss softly making small noises and squirming in Siren's arms. He wanted to now be in his mother's arms and nestle his head against her.

Soran:

OOC: Ooh he's asking for it!

IC:
Soran exchanged a firm gaze with Grye as the wizard led Mizuki away from him. The icy pride in his eyes warned that the rogue had no intention of participating in the foolish rivalry the wizard seemed to be attempting. He leaned calmly against the wall with one heel resting at its base and crossed his arms, turning his attention back to the fairy. He hadn't slept in at least two days and being idle was starting to remind how exhausted he was. He closed his eyes and forced back a yawn.

Taki:

OOC: omg im cracking up here, cat you're so cruel lol ^_~

IC:
Taki nodded her head to the crowd and made her way over to the rogue. Her voice was quiet as she spoke to him, tilting her head back to look up to him.

"I noticed the look you gave him. You seem tired, Im not too great at it but I can cure some of your exhaustion if you'll let me? Im a healer and a skilled mage." Taki offered a kind smile.

Mizuki:

Mizuki sat back in the chair getting comfortable. When she heard the fairy say she could heal his exhaustion she wanted to bolt up and say "no he's fine!" but after trying to figure out where the obsurd thought came from and getting no answer, she just let it go.
'Why am I so jumpy?' she thought to herself. 'All she said was she coud heal him.'

Mizuki sighed and closed her eyes vaugly aware of Grye sitting next to her and pulling her into his embrace.

Taki:

Taki looked from Grye pulling Mizuki close to him then back to Soran, who seemed to unwillingly be watching the pair.

"It's nice to finally meet you all, I can't tell you how happy I am I made it here finally." Taki said turning back to the rest of the group. "It's in my destiny to travel with you all, I saw it in a vision a few years ago you see... I also saw.. other things.." Taki's voice trailed off, looking to Mizuki and Soran and remembering the war she saw among other things.

Soran:

"Much appreciated, but no," the rogue said, audibly shaking the sleep out of his voice and opening his eyes. "I'll do it the natural way." He wasn't fond of becoming the subject of magical spells, particularly those cast by people he wasn't well acquainted with.

Soran followed the direction of the fairy's gaze and looked over at Mizuki and Grye on the couch. His green eyes flared impetuously for a moment before he turned back to the fairy looking cold but collected. Inwardly he crossly demanded of himself an explanation for why he'd allowed such a thing to disrupt his composure.

Siren:

Siren tried to calm little Blade, till she realized what he wanted. She looked over at Mizuki, with Gyre pulling her seemingly unwilling body towards his, and huffed a bit. This woman was not Gyre's, not yet anyway, and hopefully not in the end. She understood that, if nothing else of the situation. Although if Miuzki didn't want Soran... ' Bad Siren!' She wiped the thought from her mind, staring at Mizuki.

She strode over to where they were and turned ubruptly to face Mizuki only, letting her wing bat Gyre slightly and effectively blocking his view, if not his physical touch, of Mizuki as Siren bent down and handed the baby to Mizuki, watching as his little hands reached out for her.

Emora:


"Thank you for letting me fly!" Rai said happily, but her tired eyes never changed. She wanted more sleep...

Rai climbed off the couch and went to stand in front of Mizuki where she was sitting. She reached out and grabbed Mizuki's hand and held it gently with both her small ones. "Mizuki, I am very tired and I would like to go to sleep, but I don't know where to go! My room has a broken window and I would very much like to be warm.... Do you know where I can sleep?" Rai yawned in the cutest way and smiled softly.

Without waiting for a reply, she would hope to hear one after she pointed something out. Rai walked over to Soran and looked up at him and placed her hands on her hips. Then she pointed. "You're tired to!" she said and acted with fake seriousness. "Now, go to bed, young man..." She smiled at him and poked his stomach, remembering how he had reacted in the forest. "hehe..." It was as if the fairies dream had lifted the sadness on Rai and caused her to forget the horror for the time being.

Poke... "You need to go to sleep, silly, it is very late." Poke... She grinned evilly. She was trying to get him to smile at her.

Mizuki:

Mizuki held out her hands to take her son and laughed at Rai poking Soran. "yes, you two I think should sleep." Mizuki went to stand again and grye jumped to his feet. "It's alright... I can do it I think." Mizuki took slow steps, carefull with Blade, towards Soran and Rai. "Come on Rai since my mother has just gone to set up a little cot just your size in my room you can sleep with me if you want. And Soran, would you like it feel I had your cloths washed?" She wanted to do things, not sit around like an invaild!

Blade cooched in her arms at Soran.

Soran:

Soran looked down at Rai with a raised eyebrow as she ordered him to bed, noticing that the glow was back in her eyes. Had the fairy been able to do this? He looked over at her in a slightly different light than before, then suddenly back at Rai as she poked him in the stomach. He flattened against the wall as his muscles tensed. He wasn't in the mood for such things, but stopped himself from pushing her off, realizing that he shouldn't destroy the grin on her face.

There was also the fact that he really was ticklish. The rogue curled over and let out a yelp of protest as she persistently poked at him, squirming back into the wall and finally reaching down with a large hand and holding her off.

He looked down at Rai and tried to grin. "Go sleep with Mizuki, pipsqueak," he said casually, almost fondly.

When Mizuki proposed to wash his clothes, the rogue looked them over critically. When was the last time he'd washed anyway? "It seems that offer should be the other way around," he said matter-of-factly.

Emora:


Rai smiled at Soran and hugged his legs and then hugged Mizuki before running off down the hall for Mizuki's room. Before disappearing though she turned once and smiled at them all. "Love you, Soran, Mizuki, Grye, Siren, Taki, Tora and Blade!" she said the long list of names as if it were nothing at all. She climbed under the covers on the cot and laid down, closing her eyes with a soft smile one her face.

She hoped to dream of flying again and hoped morning would come soon with Toby's arrival.

Mizuki:

Mizuki blinked and Blade chooed more. She blushed but shook her head. "No, no, come on, you guys have been.... doing a lot.... let me please." she walked up closer to him. She found it funny he seemed to be pinned to a wall by a small child.

Blade looked intently at Soran with his large eyes full of wonder and chooed loudly, then started crying. Mizuki almost panicked.

"Uh oh, what would he want? I fed him a while ago?" she said frantic then noticed the child's grabbing hands. She grinned ad held him out carefully to Soran. "He wants you Soran."

Soran:

Soran wasn’t sure about letting Mizuki wash his clothes, but he approved of the determination in her voice. If she was bent on doing her normal routine, the rogue had no intention of stopping her. “Tomorrow,” he consented, then looked at Blade as the child began crying. The noise irritated the elf’s ears.

”He wants you Soran,” Mizuki said, offering the baby out to him. Soran strongly doubted that; he and babies didn’t mix. When she continued to hold him out insistently, the rogue reluctantly took the child, holding it awkwardly as though it might break when he touched it. His hands were in all the wrong places because he’d never held an infant before.

Mizuki:

Mizuki smiled but helped Soran hold Blade. Blade had quieted and was now smiling a toothless smile at Soran.

"Here Soran," mizuki taught him. "Hold his head and put your other hand under his back...there." When she had fixed his hands she smiled again. She still had her hands out to him... just in case. "Alright then Soran." She gave him a genuine smile before taking Blade back, who had a peice of Soran's hair in his tiny grasp.

Soran:

Soran eyed the child while Mizuki positioned his arms around it, curiosity emerging in him as the child's brilliant green eyes seemed to stare at his for a moment. He couldn't believe the baby had stopped crying. He was relieved when Mizuki moved to take over, but felt a rough yank against the front of his scalp. The rogue looked down to find Blade clinging onto his hair. He raised his eyebrows incredulously at him. "That's mine. You'll get your own soon enough," he reprimanded, seemingly forgetting that infants couldn't talk.

Mizuki:

Mizuki laughed and pryed Soran's hair gently from Blade's grip. once she retrieved his hair she smiled at Soran then suddenly fell forward into his chest slightly.

"S...sorry." she murmmered and blushed trying to straighten herself with Blade in hand.

Taki:

Taki watched Mizuki stumble and stepped in. "Perhaps I could be of service..?" she held up a hand that was glowing golden. "I could either set you in an illusion like I just demonstrated with little Rai or I could just physically restore your energy and strength? It's faster than waiting to regain strength..." Taki smiled warmly to Mizuki and stroked the infant's tiny head. She peered down at the baby.

Soran:

Soran caught her shoulders firmly as she sank toward him, holding her up. "So you are tired," he said quietly, "You ought to get some rest." It worried him a little despite himself to see her in this condition.

When Taki made her offer he eyed the fairy suspiciously, but said nothing. He wasn't sure what to make of her any more. He moved one arm securely around her waist as she began to slip down slightly in his grip, waiting to hear her decision.

Taki:

Taki was well aware of the suspicious looks Soran was giving her. She took a step back and offered another smile to him.

"I promise, Im legit. I know you have no reason to trust me yet, you rogues are all the same. Met one just last week.. Anyway, it's my destiny to -protect- you and Mizuki and all your friends and family, I have no wishes to -destroy- you all in your sleep. Please trust me in your own time, I didn't travel almost 150 years to be greeted by suspicions." She smiled knowingly at him.

Mizuki:

Mizuki just wanted to lay there in Soran's grasp but, she should get to bed, but at the same time she didn't want to be laying down again. Mizuki nodded. "If you can heal me. I really don't want to be laying down again." On impulse she leaned into Soran smiling. Blade was slowly falling asleep in her arms.

Taki:

Taki smiled and reassured Soran once more before putting her glowing hand on Mizuki's back. Her hand gold brighter and felt warm against Mizuki. The half elf could feel her strength coming back. Taki patted her on the back when she finished.

"There now.. how do you feel, any better?" Taki asked Mizuki as she looked her over for any other things that needed healing.

Mizuki:

Mizuki sighed and nodded gratefully. "Thank you." she said and she stood stronger and more confident. LIttle Blade was now settling down and falling alseep in his mother's arms. Mizuki smiled at him. "I should put him to bed. I'll be right back." Mizuki said smiling and excused herself to go tuck blade in his crib.

When she entered the room she smiled at Rai who was already in the cot that was against the wall on the rightside of Mizuki's room. She set blade in his crib next to her bed and kissed his forehead. When she was done she took the sheets off her bed to wash them and walked back to the other's. She had lots of energy to use now.

"Well, come on Soran I think my mother has placed new cloths for you in your room so changed into thoughs and give me these." she said cheerfully motioning to the cloths he wore now. She noticed some tears too.
"Oh, and I'l have to mend them too!" Normally she would throw her cloths in a corner and they would appeare the next day on her bed clean, when she was home that was, and now having a little son gave her more things to do and be responisble for. Mizuki still loved it, she was taking care of the people she had come to love.

Soran:

Soran regarded Mizuki hesitantly, not completely trusting that all traces of her fatigue were gone. It seemed unnatural to not require sleep, especially in the middle of the night, but she did seem better. When she suggested he change again he was slightly surprised. ~'She's still talking about that?'~ he thought, finding it strange that she was so intent on something so...boring as laundry. "I'll do that," he assented, heading back to 'his room' (the term still seemed odd to him, and the thought of Gwendolyn setting out clothes for him even odder) to change.

On the bed he found a neatly folded pair of plain tan slacks and a black sleeveless shirt and changed into them. He folded his other outfit and brought it back out to her grudgingly, feeling absurd for having someone else wash his clothes, but it seemed important to her. "Don't overdo it," he said uncomfortably as he handed them to her.

Taki:

Taki stood by the wall kind of not sure what to do now. Should she sleep? Should she ask Mizuki if she wanted help? Should she make sure Soran and everyone trusts her enough to accept her? Should she make sure they believe her story about her vision?

"Um.. heh, I'll just sit on the couch?" Taki said uncertaintly

Mizuki:

Mizuki smiled brightly to Soran and took his cloths.
"Oh miss," Mizuki said to the fairy. She smiled to Taki. "Thank you and you're welcome here.Soran, Grye, Siren... sleep!!" she hugged Soran and left for the washroom. While she was there her thoughts wandered.
Now that she was more alert she could think about some of the things that have happened...

Gwendolyn looked around the room. 'Wow, lots of company.' she thought and tired to figure out where she'd put everyone. "Well... I have another room but Siren and Taki would have to bunk with each other.
Grye, I'm not sure--"

"Don't worry My Lady." Grye said standing up. "I am actually to leave temporarily with my father. We have some ...ah... buisness to attend too." grye left saying some short good-byes saying hed be back soon and left with his father who was already outside then.

Taki:

"Oh thank you!" Taki smiled and stood up. " I don't mind sharing a room. Siren, after all, saved my life."

Siren:

Siten smiled at Taki.

"I don't mind either. Probably safest with you anyway, understanding how it is to have wings and all."

Siren grinned at Taki, obviously excited. Finally, someone else who might not want to stay on the ground all the time!

Soran:

Soran stared ahead blankly as Mizuki hugged him. When he was released, he turned toward the hallway and said "I'm getting some sleep," with a tired chill in his voice. He walked down the corridor and into his room, closing the door. He lay down on his side on the floor and closed his eyes in a slightly frustrated way as if something were trying to get into them. The people here were getting more and more familiar with him, and he was allowing it, almost as if he was seeking the intimacy. Maybe he was, he admitted to himself, maybe to some extent. But even so the prospect bothered him. A phantom voice in his subconscious mind hissed that he would be destroyed, betrayed, without a shadow of a doubt, he would be doomed by this weakness.

What was it? Why couldn't he trust them? He couldn't remember, and yet the feeling was so potently real, overwhelming. The rogue opened his icy eyes and sat up long enough to pull a sheet from the bed down onto himself, then closed them again resolutely and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Mizuki:

As Gwendolyn went to get everyone settled, Mizuki washed the cloths she had grabbed. She felt she needed to do something anyway and her mind was wandering. She wondered about her descision towards Grye. She hadn't said yes... but she did say she'd think about it.

"Ooh," she said staring at the wet cloths she was scrubbing. She rang out the cloths and started hanging them. "I wonder if... no... nah..." she wondered about Soran asking her to marriage but pushed away the thought feeling silly. But she still smiled and blushed. When she was done she streched. "i should stop being silly." she told herself and walked out of the washroom where the cloths now hanged.

The room everyone had been in was silent and empty.
'Well, it is the middle of the night.' she thought and ventured to her room. She couldn't sleep but she ought to try she figured. When she crawled into her bed she smiled to her son and Rai and layed down to sleep. All she could do though, was close her eyes and think more. She smiled as she thought, letting herself fall into her silly romantic dreams.

Emora:


Rai woke the next morning with all the energy a little girl should have. She pushed the covers off of her and was about to run out of the room when she saw Mizuki and Blade still sleeping. So she quietly creeped to the door, the boars creaking under her bare feet. Rai smiled, her mother would always get on to her about not wearing socks to keep her feet warm. Rai had no socks though so she would just have to go with out. Come to think of it… Rai didn’t know where her shoes were either. She guessed they were in her old bed room…<br>
Rai walked to her room, which was freezing on the inside. Her coat was thrown over the chair that Soran had been sitting in last night. Her shoes were in a corner at the other end of the room. Snow covered most of the floor and was slowly melting away. Through the open window you could hear the sound of children playing.

Rai skipped to the window and saw that same boy she had saved from the bullies. He was playing with his boll with another friend, but the friends mother soon called him home and the boy was left alone. Rai felt sorry for him and thought to go play with him for a while.

She grabbed her boots and pulled them on without socks and then grabbed her coat, pulling it on over the coats. She’d be back before anyone got worried about her, well that is what she told herself.

Rai went to the living room and out the front door calling out the boys name. (OOC: I can’t remember if I named him last time so I’m renaming him if I did) “Michael!” Rai called and skipped through the snow, kicking it into the air.

He turned quickly and smiled at her and she was happy he remembered her. “Rai!” he said happily as she slid to a stop in front of him. “Would you like to play?”<br>
“Yes!” Rai said and smiled as he tossed her the ball.

Mizuki:

Blade started to slowly fuss from starting to get hungry after Rai left. It took Mizuki awhile before his fusses got her up. When Mizuki got up she stretched her arms and turned her attention to her son. She moved over to his crib and picked him up and did what she did the last time she fed him. She yawned and looked over to Rai's empty cot and a slight fear shook her spine until she heard children laughing.

"This early?" Mizuki said smiling. She got up from her bed with Blade stil suckling and went into the common room to look outside. Sure enough, Rai was there with a little boy. Mizuki sighed, satisfied that Rai was safe and sat in a chair near the window to keep an eye on her. After everything, she took no chances.

Mizuki yelped slightly when Blade nipped her. "That hurts kid." she said smiling and looking at her son with humor in her eyes.

Taki:

Taki's eyes fluttered open when the sunlight started to pour into her and Siren's room. She sat up in bed, forgetting for a moment what happened. When she looked across to the cot Siren was sleeping on she remembered last night crystal clear.

'Finally...' she thought to herself. ' Im finally fulfulling my destiny..' Taki smiled to herself as she threw the sheets off her legs and got out of bed. She slipped on her boots so her feet weren't so cold. Taki stretched once more before walking out into the room the crowd had gathered in late last night to see a fairy. She almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Mizuki feeding Blade.

"Oh! Hello, Mizuki. You startled me, I didn't think anyone would be up this early." Taki smiled to her and sat down across from her.

Emora:


Rai giggled as she hid behind a mound of snow. She tried not to laugh so he wouldn’t be able to find her. She didn’t even know Michael was sneaking up on her from behind. “Rarrr!” he said and jumped at Rai. Rai screamed, but as soon as she realized it was him and her spook was over she laid in the wet snow laughing. “Found you!” he said and fell to his knees in the snow in front of her.

“You cheated!” Rai said and smiled at him.

“Nu-uh,” he protested and shook his head.

There was sloshing in the snow beside them and they looked up to see the fat bully that Rai had met the first time she saw the boy and the bully had even more of his friends with him. Rai and the little boy stood up together and they held the ball behind them as if protecting its life… if it would have had one.

“Well, if it ain’t wittle Michael and his wittle girlfriend!” the fat boy said and grinned, it was a smile that showed all the fat on the inside of his mouth. “Why don’t you go a head and give us the ball.”<br>
“I‘m not his girlfriend,” Rai said, confused on why the boy would say such a thing. “And you aren’t getting the ball, bully!”<br>
“Give me the ball.” He reached forward and shoved Rai on the ground and grabbed the ball from her with his chubby hands.

Michael growled and stood in front of Rai protectively, it was in the cutest way. “Don’t you touch her, Custer.”<br>
“Custer?” Rai asked as she dusted herself off. She looked at the boy known as Custer and started to laugh. “Heheh…”

“Don’t make fun of my name!” The chubby boy yelled and tried to get passed Michael to get to Rai. Michael just shoved the boy back. Michael seemed to have gotten a bit braver than when they had first met.

“Why? You make fun of Michael,” Rai said in a voice that was like, ‘it’s only fair.’ “You’re a bully and your mother should have taught you to be nicer.”<br>
“Well, your mother is a whore!” the chubby boy yelled out in front of everyone and the people around him gasped as if he had said something truly wrong… or maybe they were gasping at the look on Rai’s face. It was so full of hatred that it looked as if Rai could shoot laser beams from her eyes.

“Don’t talk about my mother,” Rai said very darkly.

“Why? It’s not like she’s dead or anything.”<br>
That was all it took to set Rai off. When you are around evil people for a while or people who say the word, it tends to come out of a child’s mouth sometime. “Bastard!” Rai cursed and there was another gasp as she lunged through the air at the boy. She managed to tackle the fat boy to the ground and in a split second everyone else jumped in and snow began to fly everywhere as the fight went on.

By the time it was finished one by one the bullies were running away with bite marks and bloody noses. Custer was the only one left and he was trying his best to get away. He stood up and Rai stood up and he hit Rai in the face. Rai reared back, balled up her fist and slung it forward, causing it to connect with Custer’s nose. When Michael saw Rai get hit he lunged about the same time as Rai hit and he hit the boy too. Custer, the bully, ran away crying. “I’m telling my momma!”<br>
“Tell you momma!” Rai screamed at him with one eye shut. There was already a black ring forming around it. “I’ll take her on too!”

“You are a fierce one, Rai…” Michael said shaking his head in awe. Rai looked at the expression on his face and she smiled, brushing off all the anger so she could enjoy the rest of her day. Her eye was still shut and she looked very strange. “Will you mom get mad at you for getting into a fight?”<br>
“No.”<br>
“Why?”<br>
“Because she’s dead.” Rai looked down and then back up. “But, its alright… I have Mizuki and Soran, they’re like my parents.”<br>
“Will they get mad?”

“I don’t know… Would you like to meet them? I don’t know if there up…. But, come on… I don’t think they’ll mind!” And so Rai grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the house. Her black eye shinning like a beacon of triumph on her face. She was proud of it, because she had won the fight.

Soran:

The sun's morning rays shifted through the window of Soran's room and played on his eyelids, rousing him to semi-consciousness. For the moment before he opened his eyes, he forgot where he was and thought he was back in his apartment in Hepian. Then traces of voices were heard from elsewhere in the house. Soran's eyes opened and he remembered where he was. Instead of homesickness, however, his first reaction was relief. That spartan, unfurnished apartment he had left behind struck him, for the first time, as... he considered 'lonely' to be too melodramatic a word, but it was nonetheless probably the correct one.

The rogue rolled half-asleep onto his back and closed his eyes again, too comfortable to consider getting up, and began drifting off again.

Emora:


Rai smiled at Michael. "Wait here I'll see if it's okay!" Rai ran inside, she was so excited about winning the fight that she didn't even notice Mizuki or Taki in the room. She ran into the room where she had slept and Mizuki wasn't there. Rai shrugged and smiled. She wanted to tell Soran what happened. He'd understand about fighting!

Rai opened up the door to Soran's room and saw him lying on the floor. She stopped for a moment and then giggled. "Silly you fell out of bed!" Rai ran to him, with her black eye shining like a medal. "Guess what!"

Rai knelt down beside Soran and covered her mouth. "Ooops..." Rai had to keep remembering that most people weren't like her dad and she couldn't just barge in on them and wake them up to tell them something. "I'm sorry, Soran, I'll let you sleep and I can go tell Mizuki!"

Soran:

Soran started slightly as his door swung open and Rai's excited voice filled the room. He shot upright, instinctively reaching for his armblades, but for once he hadn't slept with them. When he realized it was just Rai, he blinked at her and tried to remember what she'd just said to him. Then he noticed the dark ring around her eye. "You're the one who looks like you fell out of bed," he grumbled tiredly.

Emora:


"Hehe," Rai said and sat on his legs. "I didn't fall out of bed!" She said to him and her blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight. "I won a fight. You see this big fat bully tried to still Michaels boll when we were playing he shoved me down and Michael stuck up for me...." And the tale went on from there and like most children she put a lot of unneeded information in there until finally she came to the conclusion of her story. "... and he hit me and I did this, watch... I reared back." She reared back with her fist balled up. "Like this and I hit him." She hit Soran in the chest, but softly. "I hit him harder though and in the face. I didn't want to hit you in the face or hit you hard. But, he ran away crying! He said he was going to tell his mommy on me. Did I do it right?" Rai asked all of the sudden. She seemed so perky and happy, not in the least bit tired even after taking on that bully and his friends.

Rai looked at Soran and smiled at him in admiration. She did admire Soran for all the things he could do. "Did I hit him right? I did it like you and Mizuki do it... but I might have got it wrong, because when you hit people they usually fall down..."

Rai poked him in the stomach. "So did I?" She grinned.


Soran:

Soran stared at Rai's black eye absently while he listened to her story. In situations like this, he was aware that the standard response was disapproval, but his mind didn't really work that way. It was certainly the same way he would have dealt with the situation. He frowned at the sloppy technique of the punch she replicated for him. With a punch like that, she was lucky her enemy wasn't earnest enough to stick through the fight.

"And what exactly were you planning to do if you lost?" the rogue demanded critically. His voice had an intentional edge to it.

Emora:


Rai tilted her head at Soran and looked at him for a moment. "I wouldn't have lost..." she said confidently. "But... if I had, which I wouldn't have, but if I had... I would have taken it with my chin up! Besides, he insulted my mother and as long as I got my licks in I would be fine with that."

Rai smiled and looked at Soran. "But, I didn't lose." Rai grinned. "I won! Besides, that boy had it coming. He's been picking on Michael forever!"

Soran:

Soran lay back down with his arms behind his head. "There's no such thing as 'losing with your chin up'. When you fight, the most important thing is bravery, which you seem to have plenty of. But the second most important thing is plan B. Some street brat won't kill you, but in a serious fight, you don't gamble with your life on the line. If it looks like you can't win, the options are run, fight harder, or fight smarter. Losing shouldn't be plan B. Understand?" he said calmly, just a little bit proud of her despite himself.

Emora:


Rai tilted her head at Soran and looked at him for a moment. "I wouldn't have lost..." she said confidently. "But... if I had, which I wouldn't have, but if I had... I would have taken it with my chin up! Besides, he insulted my mother and as long as I got my licks in I would be fine with that."

Rai smiled and looked at Soran. "But, I didn't lose." Rai grinned. "I won! Besides, that boy had it coming. He's been picking on Michael forever!"

Soran:

Soran lay back down with his arms behind his head. "There's no such thing as 'losing with your chin up'. When you fight, the most important thing is bravery, which you seem to have plenty of. But the second most important thing is plan B. Some street brat won't kill you, but in a serious fight, you don't gamble with your life on the line. If it looks like you can't win, the options are run, fight harder, or fight smarter. Losing shouldn't be plan B. Understand?" he said calmly, just a little bit proud of her despite himself.

Emora:


Rai nodded eagerly, wanting to learn more. "So there plan B was to run away!" Rai explaimed and grinned. "I didn't think about a plan B..." Rai admitted and looked at him for a second. "But, I will next time!"

Rai smiled at Soran, odviously very happy that she had won the fight. "How do your fight smarter? Do I have to be older and learn more to fight smarter? Hehe, I don't even know how to read."

Soran:

Soran felt strange suddenly being put in a teacher's position. There was no short answer to her question. Half of the choices he made in battle came like a reflex, and decisions about things like which position gave him the upper hand, how to stand, when to block or parry, and how to perform his attacks were so automatic that he often didn't even think about them. Teaching someone else to fight and knowing how to fight himself were very different. Also, he was suspicious that if he gave Rai advice on such things, she would become overconfident and get involved in fights that were above her level.

"Yeah, when you're older," he said, deciding not to risk it, though in many ways she was hardly as young as she looked. But she was young enough to be proud of a black eye, and that was the primary concern.

Emora:


Rai looked at Soran and sighed shaking her head. "Everything’s always when your older. I wish I could be grown for at least one day!" Rai sighed and shrugged. "It's going to take forever for me to grow up because I'm a half elf. But, you'll still be young enough to teach me! You will teach me won't you Soran? So I can protect myself when I'm older?"

Rai looked at him closely. She wanted to be able to fight so she wouldn't be vulnerable, like she was now and Soran took such good care of himself. He was so good he could protect himself and others!

"I don't want to be defenseless when I get older."

Soran:

Rai's new question threw Soran a little off balance. If he agreed to teach her, that would mean committing to remain with her for quite some while. But hadn't he already decided to protect her? It had been rather impulsive, but he recalled saying something to that extent in the past. He stared at her for several moments.

"When you prove you're ready," he said brusquely. "And until then, at least do this much right," he said, idly putting one hand around her wrist and guiding it back into the proper chamber position for a punch, then extending it in a straight line away from her body instead of in a wide arc, rotating the wrist as it moved out.

Emora:


Rai looked at him and tilted her head. "When you prove you're ready," he said brusquely. "And until then, at least do this much right." He grabbed Rai's wrist and gently showed her how to throw a punch correctly. She smiled at him, her eyes full of interest at learning how to do it. She giggled lightly. "My way is easier! But, I bet your way is better." Rai smiled and looked at Soran after he had showed her.

A long moment she just looked at him. "Soran..." she said softly. "Will you always be with us? You aren't going to go away are you? I don't want you to. I'd miss you very, very much. You're like... like a second daddy." Rai hugged bent down and hugged him saying. "I love you, Soran."

Then her face made the expression that one would make once they remember something. "Oh! I forgot! Michael's outside! Thank you!" Rai kissed his cheek and left his room, closing the door behind her.

Emora:

Soran watched Rai somewhat wide-eyed as she scampered out of the room, a perplexed expression on his face. She’d said it again. He sat up again and leaned forward with his arms crossed over one knee, contemplating that it might not be so bad to stay like this. Despite the aching tension which the prospect unwittingly caused in his chest, he thought he wouldn’t mind remaining with these people.

The rogue was now wide awake, so he got up and stepped out into the hallway, following the sound of voices to the living room, where Mizuki and Taki were sitting. It took a moment more for him to notice Blade in Mizuki’s arms, and the fact that the infant was having breakfast. “E..Excuse me,” he said uncomfortably, turning stiffly away.

Emora:


“Mizuki! Mizuki!” Rai called as she entered the living room. “I found you!” She ran up to her, completely not noticing that she was feeding Blade. “Mizuki can I bring a friend in to meet yall?” she asked politely, stifling her excitement for a moment.

She had forgotten about her black eye for a moment and when she remembered her covered up her eye with her hand. It was as if she didn’t realize it was too late, but it was a very funny thing to do. “Because… um… because… well I don’t know what I want to bring him in for other than that! Hehe…”

Mizuki:

"A friend?" she said. "Of course. Please bring him in!" Mizuki smiled, pleased Rai was making friends.
Mizuki looked up to Soran and smiled more. "Soran, come in, Blade's almost done." She looked down to Blade and he was already releasing her. She took him away from her and fixed her dress to cover herself again then put Blade against her shoulder and patted his back.

For five minute's she did that until Blade let out a small burp then she laid him back in her arms. She smiled up at Taki and Soran and Rai before she left to get her friend. "So, Taki, why have you come here?"
(OOC: I can't remember if she had told Mizuki already ^-^ and sry for the delay. Me and Taki had a concert friday, then a party Sat. then my sweet 16 today!!!)

Emora:

OOC: Nope, Rai hasn’t told her yet, hehe. Happy B-day!

Rai jumped and squeaked and ran from the room to get her friend, Michael from outside. She was even more happier that Mizuki didn’t seem to care that she had a black eye! Wow, today was her lucky day. She opened up the door and saw Michael shivering on the door step. Rai gasped. “I’m sorry it took so long Michael!” She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the warm house, shutting the door behind him. She held his hand and pulled him down the hall.

“Mizuki, Soran! This is Michael,” Rai said and pulled Michael into the room. “Oh, Taki! This is Michael!” Michael smiled shyly and moved his foot nervously. He had a busted lip and his hair was messed up along with his clothes. He and Rai both looked like they had been wrestling all morning.

Mizuki:

Mizuki smiled at the two kids. "Hello there, I'm Mizuki and this is Blade." she said showing off Blade.
She was quite happy that Rai was making friends. "You two have some fun... and... what happened?!" she finally really took notice to Rai's black eye and her friend's disspoisition.

Emora:


Rai giggled and bent forward. She laughed even harder at the look of total terror on Michaels face. "Hehehe, it's alright Michael, they don't bite."

Michael smiled finally and looked at her. "Yeah, but you do!" he laughed lightly and she laughed with him.

"It's alright, Mizuki, we just taught a few bullies a lesson! Didn't we Michael?" Rai asked.

Michael looked at Mizuki, then Soran, then Taki, then all the way back again. He was very unsure on how to answer. Rai poked him in the stomach. "Didn't we?"

"Yep," he said and smiled slightly, still a bit nervous. His mom always got mad after he had gotten into fights. But, this time those guys really disserved it.

Mizuki:

Mizuki didn't know what to do or say. She was speechless. "Y...you...fought?...and... Soran are we ok with this?! I mean...I......" she just trailed off in amazment. "And you won?...wow..heh.." Mizuki kept going. Utterly amazed that Rai won a battle between rather big kid's. She also wasn't sure of the action she should take. She knew she should scold them but.... at the same time they were protecting themselves it seemed. That and they were just children. Mizuki smirked. "How bad was the beating?" Her mother would kill her for saying that.

Taki:

Taki giggled as she absently watched the small girl with a fresh black eye run in and out of the room. She turned to Mizuki.

"I had a vision a few years ago. A dream, I mean..heh.. that I would travel with you and fight against the Witch Queen." Taki explained and then turned towards little Rai when she brought her friend in. "Well hello, Micheal. My name is Taki. My my Rai, Im almost afraid of how the bullies look if you got that black eye to sport." Taki winked at her and smiled again to Mizuki. "Good morning, Soran, I hope you slept well."

Emora:


Rai laughed. "It was awesome," she said supremely happy. "They ran away crying! One boy said he was going to tell his mother, I told him to. It's about time he told on himself."

Rai sat down at Mizuki's feet, dragging poor Michael with her. He seemed a little surprised that Mizuki hadn't blown up about it.

"She bites," he pointed out to Mizuki as he looked at her with a nervous smile. "Hard... She accidentally got me."

"I did?" Rai gasped and looked at him in shock. "I'm sorry!" Rai gave him a hug, it caused the little boy to go crimson in embarrassment. His eyes darted around the room franticly.

"It's... it's alright," he said franticly. Rai just looked horror struck. "It was an accident."

Taki:

Taki giggled as she watched Rai make the boy uneasy. It was like watching a very very young love story in the making. She shook her head slightly and smiled wider down at the pair.

'Just your romantic side kicking in..' she told herself in her head.

"I'll bet they ran from your beatin', Rai!" Taki winked to the girl again.

Siren:

Siren sat up sleepily from her comfortable position lying on her stomach as she heard excited voices coming from the other room. She stumbled out of bed, still half asleep, and made her way into the big communal room, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She saw Soran through her blurry vision and went over to him, wrapping her arms around his left arm, nuzzling against his shoulder, still in her own dream-world.

"Gabey, why aren't you wearing your wings?" she yawned, apparently thinking Soran was Gabrial in her sleep. "That's just weird... "

Soran:

Soran looked at Taki when she mentioned something about being fated to join them in a battle against the Witch Queen. Come to think of it, he remembered her saying something like that last night also. It seemed like a rather far-fetched claim to make, considering she had just met them the night before, but the rogue didn't bother arguing. He hardly believed in such things as fate, but saw no point in discussing it with those who did. The rogue had absolutely no intention of getting involved with Shea again, but it did seem the fairy would be joining their unlikely team. The rogue indifferently kept his mouth shut and let her think what she pleased.

A moment later he felt hands slide up around his arm. The rogue started and held his arm slightly out like it was infectious. He frowned critically down at the Dark Angel clinging to his arm.

"Gabey, why aren't you wearing your wings?" she yawned, "That's just weird..."

"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded icily, giving his arm a rough shake to snap her out of her daze.


Siren:

Soran brought herself to alertness as she found herself being shaken at the end of Soran's arm.

"Ack!" She released his arm, and jumped back a step, holding her hands up in a gesture of defeat, her eyes wide with dissbelief.

"Ah haha..." she laughed nervously, thankful to still be alive. "Soran... what are you doing in my dream? Ahh.. sorry about that! Such a nice dream too..."

She looked around guiltily, trying to find something to turn the focus off of her blunder. "Ahh Rai! You brought a boyfriend home!" Siren darted over to Rai's side, pretending to hide behind her, not even noticing the black eye.

Soran:

Soran raised his thumb and forefinger to his forehead and let out a low, impatient breath, but said nothing more about it. It hadn't occurred to him that she had had such a close relationship with her former master. He hardly sympathized, but decided to ignore it this once.

Emora:


Michael looked completely horrified at what Siren had said. "I'm not her boyfriend!" he squealed and looked at the woman in horror.

"What's a boyfriend?" Rai asked with a confused look, trying to figure out why Michael seemed so scared of the prospect.

Michael's eyes went wide when Rai asked the question. "You don't know what a boyfriend is?" he asked in a drawn out tone. "It's what you are before you get married!"

Rai tilted her head as her eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with getting married?" Rai asked confused even more.

Michael looked at Rai in utter astonishment, then he shook his head and looked at Soran. "Girls..."

Mizuki:

Mizuki's face flushed crimson as she watched Siren grab Soran's arm affectionatly it looked from her point. Her eyes twitched a little but she regained control after she let go of him embarassed. Apparently she had been dreaming. Her glare softened and she turned back to Taki.

"A vision, eh?" she said. She smiled at her son.
"Well,I hope you enjoy staying with us anyway...
besides it just being fate." she smiled at Taki. Blade spotted Soran and started chooing affectionatly at him.

Siren:

Siren grabbed Rai around the waist, bringin her in and huggling her. "You're so cute Rai!!"

She laughed happily and released Rai so that she could go play with her friend.

Turning to Taki, still with a wide grin on her face now that she was fully awake, she started speaking in a bubbly voice.

"So what exactly did you see in your vision? Did we win? How many daring feats does master here perform? And who does Mizuki end up with?! The suspense is killing me!" She laughed as she spoke, as if questioning an author about an unfinished mystery novel.

Mizuki:

Mizuki's face frowwed into a confused frown. ' "Who does mizuki end up with?" ' she thought, puzzled at why Siren would say that.

"Wait..." she whispered to herself. "What?" Something in the back of her head knew what Siren was talking about but she refused to acknowledge it in her subconcious.

Taki:

Taki blushed and let out a thin laugh. She toyed with the pink and red fabric at her waist.

"Eh heh.. heh.." She looked at Siren nervously. "Well, I don't know who won.. but I saw a lot of death.." Her eyes shot back down to her skirt "..And I don't know who Mizuki will end up with.. but I can make a fine guess.." Taki grinned from Soran and then quickly to Mizuki.

Soran:

Soran blinked as Taki cast an unmistakable glance directly at him. He stared quizzically back at her, not understanding. She didn't mean...that would be ridiculous. He scanned the room uncomfortably for a task and noticed the fire was burning low, and the woodpile beside it nearly empty. "I'll go get some firewood," he said quickly, pulling on his coat and leaving through the front door.

"Why did I do that?" he asked himself disapprovingly as he found himself outside and not even sure where the axe was kept here. His thoughts shifted as he abruptly remembered the dark angel assassin who was probably still locked up in Gwendolyn's empty study. Something had to be done about that; they couldn't keep him hostage eating Gwendolyn's food forever, and with Siren in the same house it was only a matter of time till the matter had to be addressed. He turned back toward the house and opened the door. "Siren, there's something we need to discuss," he said, addressing the dark angel and gesturing for her to step outside with him.

Taki:

Taki giggled knowingly as she watched Soran randomly talk about firewood after she glanced at him and Mizuki. She made an obvious gesture to Siren and Rai and mouthed 'Denial' and "discretely" pointed to him. She then pointed to Mizuki and mouthed to the two again 'Denail and Naive'. She grinned to Siren and Rai and sat back against the couch back as Soran strode back in with a more serious tone.

Siren:

Siren looked at Soran curiously as he beckoned her, slightly worried that he was upset about her question to Taki.

She stood up dutifully thoug, moving towards him.

"What troubles you, master Soran?"

Soran:

Soran led Siren out to the front porch and closed the door behind them, suspecting she might not be so quick to call him 'master' when one of her own came into play. He decided to be frank and put the whole thing straight out to her. "I gather you still haven't been told a lot of the details of our rivalry with Gaberial, but since you seem serious about staying, I think it's time to clarify things." He leaned against the banister and watched her closely as he spoke.

"While Mizuki was at your castle, Gaberial imposed himself on her - I take it you understand that much by now. He also sent an assassin to stop me from going after her, one who seems to be acquainted at you at least by title. We all but killed him and Naoki has been tending to him in the room at the end of the hall since then, and I've been too busy to figure out how to get rid of him."

He paused, sensing he was speaking too callously, but it was out, so he continued, "I decided not to kill or release him until I could determine the extent of your loyalty. Whatever it is you felt you owed me, I consider it repaid, so I'm giving the decision to you. If you feel he can be released without endangering Mizuki or the others, I'll do so. If you choose to return with him, I won't stop you." He was looking away from her now, looking like he was pondering something.

Siren:

Siren stared at Soran, compiling her thoughts. In truth, she had not been told any of this by Gaberial himself. He was probably trying to protect her like he had when they were children, before his second fall when he had to assume Soran's form as his own, though it had been similar before anyway. Foolish, of course. And this other angel... probably one of her underlings, she figured.

She took a deep breath and spoke seriously. "I came here of my own free will, not because I feel I owe you anything in particular, though it seems my people do owe you for what we have done. I came to serve you, as I did my previous master, and I see no reason why I should change my course of action." She paused, remembering with distate the stuffy old fogies she would likely fall under the service of if she returned.

"You will remain my master, and I your servant untill you turn me away or I have reasonable cause to leave. There is no shame in the captured angel's actions since he was under order, nor shall I dictate my own actions by actions unrelated to me carried out during my previous master's time. Nevertheless, I would like to see this angel captive for myself."

An uneasy silence hung in the air for a few minutes.

"Well then, shall we go back in?"

Soran:

Soran looked back at her strangely. He hadn't expected to be touched by her loyalty, but he was. "Follow me," he said quietly, leading her back inside and passing through the room where everyone else was gathered, into the hall and down to the end, where he took a key from above the doorframe and unlocked it.

Siren:

Siren took a deep breath as the door was pushed open, revealing the dark room's interior. She stepped in, letting her eyes adjust to be able to see the form of the angel, bound and slumped agaisnt the wall.

"Come back to taunt me again?" He called out bitterly, not bothering to look up.

Siren furrowed her brows, trying to remember the voice as she walked closer. When she was close enough to see his features more accurately, she breathed out the name. "Lien'hal."

He looked up at her startled, eyes wide and glistening even in the gloom of the room. "Siren? Is that you? Were you captured by these scum as well? How is it possible?!"

Siren looked back to Soran as if to ask a question, but gave herself permission instead, bending down and unbinding his wrists with her boot knife.

"Do not refer to my Master and his companions in such a way. It might cost you, my petulant sibling." She turned to Soran to explain, "Same age group, different classification. He works under a different general."
She looked back at the other angel pointedly, "One who died along with Gaberial."

Soran:

"Commander Ar'n is dead," murmured the prisoner quietly, adjusting to this new information. Lien'hal's eyes moved from Siren to the elf and then back to her, and his face hardened with realization. "You've betrayed us! Why?" Misery and disbelief lined his voice. He looked again to Soran with an expression of scalding hatred. "What has he done to you? Give me the word, Ma'am, and I'll kill him without hesitation!" he cried desperately, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Don't tell me--he hasn't--!" Lien'hal growled, glancing with worried disgust at Siren's waist.

Soran leaned back against the closed door with his arms crossed over his chest and watched the two angels darkly.

Siren:

Siren couldn't help but let out one of her bubbly, somewhat irritating for the situation, bursts of laughter at Lien'hal's question.

"No, he's done nothing to me perv! And let's face it.. from what I hear your last attempt at that objective didn't go so well." She indicated his still bound ankles and wings. "Although... I suppose this means you didn't know what Gaberial did either."

She glanced at the floor as she thought of how to continue this. The questioning look was more than evident on Lien'hal's face.

"I suppose it will suffice to say that Gaberial did the same thing as you fear of Soran now. There is a child. A half angel. But let us not worry about the past so! I have betrayed no one, don't worry about that. Gaberial was slain fair and square, though I won't tell you by whom." She looked over to Soran and made a secrative gesture, though her words were more than loud enough, "Rash temper this one has sometimes!"

"Soran here is my new master of choosing. After all the funeral rites for Gaberial had been carried out I simply decided I did not wish to return home yet." She shrugged and smiled at the dumbstruck and doubtfull male angel.

Soran:

Lien'hal was calming down, but disapproval was still clearly painted on his face. He used his new-freed arms to push himself up into a sitting position, moving slowly from the wounds that still hadn't thoroughly healed. "For serving someone from outside...you realize they may never take you back?" he warned, "Especially given the particular person you have chosen...it might not be so easy to return as you seem to think." He looked at her frowningly, giving her one last chance to come to her senses.

Siren:

She scoffed, standing up again, wings spread and left hand poised gracefully over her chest with fingertips touching her shirt.

"Not take me back? Me? The beautiful and marvelous Siren? They'd come begging me before I ever went to plead with them to take me back! Besides, I already sent word of my transition back to the city. They'll pass it off as watching over Mizuki since she is known as a reincarnated angel. And furthermore!" She continued her rant, "Who said I wanted to come back! Thinking about those pompus high-and-mighty lords and ladies we have left to serve, who would pick one of them over a handsome young man who's party seems to be in jeapordy every other day? Much more exciting this way!"

Lien'hal was rubbing his forehead in frustration. "I assume you really believe all that..." He made a sigh that sounded more like a groan. "And you don't think this elf will turn on you and slit your throat open just as he did mine?" He glared at Soran challengingly.

Soran:

"If I wanted to do that, I'd have done it by now," the rogue said icily, pulling a small throwing knife out of his coat. He threw the blade effortlessly across the room and it stuck into the floor in between the hostage's legs, making Lien'han stiffen nervously.

"Cut yourself free and get out. If you come back or send trouble, I won't patch you up next time," the rogue said darkly.

Siren:

Siren grinned as she looked back and forth between Soran and Lien'hal.

"He's right. It is time you went back home. Your wings are probably in no shape for the journey in this condition, but I implore you to go as far away as possible before resting." Siren helped him unbind his wings carefully as he cut his feet free.

Siren motioned for Lein'hal to follow her as they made thier way through the house, Soran following warily. Siren waved at the others in the room merrily as she passed and went streight outside, Lien'hal following still.

Once they were outside in the crisp air and Lien'hal was sucking in the freshness with relief, Siren turned back to him, a friendly smirk on her face.

"One more thing, my friend." Her eyes assumed a dangerous glint. "If you mention meeting me to anyone or hint that there is cause to be further involved with this group in any way, I will hunt you down and there will be no quarter given. I hope we have reached an understanding." She smiled pleasantly again. "Tell them you escaped, that wild pigeons took care of you while you were wounded, for all I care. But no mention of me or further involvement."

He nodded nervously and lifted off from the ground. Siren went back inside without watching him any further.

Mizuki:

Mizuki blinked as Soran and Siren came and went then came back with the hostage angel. She quickly stood up with Blade in her arms and went outside in time to see the angel leave.

"You let him go?" she demanded. "That man threatened my mother and friend! Why?!" Maybe she was over reacting...

Soran:

"Then would you have been the one to dispose of him?" the rogue countered, looking at Mizuki knowingly, though in truth he agreed with her. Perhaps it had been a weakness on his part due to being so tired of killing people, but there had been no good way to get rid of him, and something had to be done. Nor was he particularly worried about him coming back. If the angel dared to cause further trouble, the rogue had no intention of letting him live a second time.

Emora:


Rai poked Michael as they sat on the floor in front of the fire. “Nu-uh! I won the thumb war!” Michael protested giggling as Rai got on her knees and tickled him. He tickled her back and in seconds had her on her back laughing and giggling, squirming to get away. “See, I even win tickle fights!”<br>
“Stop!” Rai laughed and pushed at his hands. “Please?!” Rai cried out in a giggle and bit softly on one of Michaels hands. Then, Rai gasped and looked up behind Michael. “Behind you!!” She screamed.

Michael turned around and Rai laughed as she pushed on his shoulders and slammed him on his back. She pinned him down and looked at him with a triumphant smile. “Got you!” she said with a tired sigh. All that laughing made her tummy hurt.

“Not fair… you cheated,” he complained and wiggled to get free. He just lifted Rai up and sat her down. Rai was very surprised that he was so strong for his age. But, he was a farm boy and he was 8.

“Well, I won didn’t I? I wonder if that’s what Soran means by fighting smart…”

“What?”<br>
“Nothing,” Rai said and smiled.

Taki:

Taki watched along with Mizuki as the battered angel was led out of the house. She looked out the window and watched him fly away. 'He's too battered to be flying..' she thought glumly to herself, her uncontrallably yearn to heal kicking in.

"You let him go?" she demanded. "That man threatened my mother and friend! Why?!" Mizuki stood up with Blade nestled protectively in her arms. She was shouting at Soran and he countered her. Taki had much to learn about their story...

"Ah.. young love.." she muttered to herself and smiled to her lap.


Siren:

Siren sighed and flopped down onto a couch next to Taki.

"He won't come back." She said confidantly. "Don't worry so much. He's impetuous, but he's not that stupid. Plus, he'll be so busy serving some other lord when he gets back to the city that he won't have time to worry about us."

Mizuki:

"Then would you have been the one to dispose of him?"
Soran said to her. Mizuki bit her lip and held Blade closer, suddenly feeling like she was naked before them all. She didn't know why either.

Blade chooed more and held out his small hand towards Siren, his little fingers gently brushing on one of her black feathers. Mizuki grabbed his little hand gently and pulled it back before he attempted to grabbed SIren's wing.

"I guess.... it's good he's gone." she stated. "If I found him I probably would've killed him." She stared at the ground distantly. Her brown eyes softening.

Mizuki entered the house again with Blade sleeping now in her arms.

"I'm going to put him to bed." she murmmured and left the room back to her's. When she re entered her room she set Blade gently down in his crib as he slept peacefully. She sat down on her bed and gazed lovingly at him. But she was disstressed.

'The last thing I need is him coming back with the new lord's and demanding my son.' She thought with Her eyes watering but never tearing. 'And he'll look like Gaberial... no, I said that I want him reminding me of Soran. Grye left so I can't talk to him...' Mizuki brough her legs up to her chest and hugged them, sitting on her bed still gazing at her son. 'If Blade's taken from me... I don't know what I'll do.
Please Fates, don't take away my son...'

Mizuki slowly laid down and closed her eyes suddenly feeling tired and drifted asleep.

Soran:

The rogue watched Mizuki leave the room, allowing for the possibility that he might have been too harsh toward her. He frowned as he found Naoki and Siren both looking him expectantly. ~'What now?'~ he thought indignantly, narrowing his eyes at them. He balked as the dark angel raised an eyebrow at him critically and intensified her stare. When he still didn't seem to get it, she tilted her head firmly in the direction of Mizuki's room.

Soran considered snapping at her, but now she'd made him nervous, so he just glared at her sternly and left the room purposefully, striding down the hall to Mizuki's room, not even sure what he intended to say. When he entered he realized she was resting and halted in the doorway. Well, he wasn't about to go back to the other room and his 'servant's attitude, so he entered silently and took a seat in a wooden chair near the crib and looked in at the child curiously.

OOC: Just to clarify, if you see Siren controlling Soran or Soran controlling Siren it's because we asked each other first ^_^

Taki:

Taki hugged a throw pillow to her chest as she watched Soran get... stared out of the room. She knew where he was going and..--FLASH--

Taki blinked and looked around at the black and white world she was seeing...'What..?' she thought. 'Im in black and white... but..?' She looked around and noticed Soran sitting on Mizuki's bed with Mizuki embraced safely in his arms. She was crying... but he was comforting her. Taki smiled at the pair. 'Such a meant-to-be couple..' --FLASH--

Taki's eyes fluttered open. She was on the floor looking up at the cealing and Siren and Naoki were kneeling over her and peering down at the fairy.

"Are you ok Taki?" Siren inquired gently. "You fainted.. I think..." She felt Taki's forehead. Taki sat up slowly and smiled.

"Im fine.. healing powers, remember?" Taki's fingertips glowed golden as she pressed them to her forehead, but she felt fine. "Hmm..odd..Hey, Siren, Naoki- I had a strange dream that Mizuki was crying, I couldn't hear what about, but Soran was sitting on the bed with her and holding her!" Taki was grinning as she told them of her dream. "But it was all in black and white.."

Just at that moment Taki's ears swore she heard Mizuki burst into tears. 'What the..?' she thought to herself, wide-eyed.

Mizuki:

Mizuki laid peacefully on her bed but was slowly stirring awake.

"How long did I sleep?" she said, not noticing Soran there yet and clearly surprised at herself for even falling asleep.

Soran:

"Maybe ten minutes," the rogue replied absently, watching Blade make a big spit bubble from his crib.

Mizuki:

Mizuki jumps slightly. "Ah! Soran!" she blushes and tries to fix anything out of place on herself. "I didn't know you came in... uh, why'd you come in?" she asked him innocently.

Soran:

Soran regarded her quizzically, not sure why she seemed surprised when she'd just asked him something. "It was just noisy," he lied indifferently. "Want me out?" he asked casually, thinking she might still be tired.

Mizuki:

Mizuki sighed. "No.... don't go." she smiled contently and laid back down. "Stay here Soran," she smiled at him, her eyes soft.

"But was it, smart? To let him go I mean?"

Soran:

"I don't foresee him showing his face again. He's an acquaintance of Siren and seemed quite obedient to her. Either way, it's nothing to be worried about. If another angel shows up here, I don't intend to let him live long enough to cause trouble." he said earnestly.

Mizuki:

Mizuki sighed. "I just... can't help but fear that he'll come back with other's to take my son. He is Gaberial's and I had been his wife in a past life, or so he says but I don't know how loyal these people are... We don'y know what lengths they would go to.."

Soran:

Soran was silent. He didn't know what he could say that would calm her, but the worry in her voice made him grimly heighten his resolve to see that nothing happened to her, or to the infant. The strange silence was broken by Blade's soft whimpers from inside the crib. The rogue looked down at him warily, privately thankful that Mizuki's son didn't seem to be the type of infant who wailed constantly. "What is it?" he asked, again acting like the child could talk.

Emora:


Rai laughed and chased Michael around the living room until they rushed outside and back into the snow. They fell down in it laughing and rolling around, throwing snow at each other. Rai was having a nice time with Michael, and he was surely wearing her out. It wouldn’t take her long to get to sleep when night came.

In the distance Rai heard barking. She sat up suddenly to see a black wolf with green eyes looking at her. As if the day couldn’t make her more happier Rai leaped to her feet with a squeak and ran to the black wolf.. She hugged him tightly, tackling the wolf to the ground. He lapped at her with his tongue and Rai giggled none stop until Toby pulled away and lifted what he had been carrying from the ground, dropping it into her lap.

Rai took the piece of cloth and unrolled it. It was large and on the cloth was the painted family portrait of herself and her family. Rai froze and stared at the picture as her face slowly lost it’s happy glow. She stared at it and then at Toby. It was almost as if the dog was smiling encouragingly. Rai smirked slightly and patted his head. “Thank you, Toby,” she told him and stood up. “Michael! Can we stop playing for today? I’ll see you tomorrow!”<br>
Michael smiled and waved as he walked off and Rai returned to the house. The whole time she walked with Toby at her heals and she stared at the canvas that held the happy picture.

Mizuki:

Mizuki looked in at her son then held her nose.

"I think I need to change him." she said and lifted
her son carefully out and on to the bed where she
quickly unraveled him. His black baby wings were free
and flexed themselves, mostly wrapping around the
child to keep him warm which gave Mizuki a hard time
to check if he needed to be changed. Sure enough, he
did. "Ew..."

Blade's eyes just wandered over to Soran, almost as if
staring at him expectantly like he was supposed to do
something. Mizuki got up from the bed.

"Soran, can you watch him for a minute while I go get
him new diaper cloth?" she asked him.

Soran:

"Fine," the rogue cooperated, hiding his displeasure at being made babysitter as he got up and moved to sit on the bed next to Blade. Mizuki left, and Soran looked down to find the child sucking his thumb contentedly. "Hey, quit that," the rogue said critically as though the child should know better, but Blade's reaction was just to stick his thumb deeper in his mouth. Soran frowned and took the baby's thumb out of its mouth, pointing a finger from Blade's hand to his mouth, and firmly said 'No.' Blade just rebelliously opened his mouth and clamped down happily on Soran's finger instead. "Stop!" the rogue whispered alarmedly, pulling his finger away in astonishment.

Mizuki:

Mizuki came back with a new diaper cloth and sat down beside Blade.

"thank you Soran." she said and began removing Blade's dirtied diaper cloth, wiping him clean, and replacing the cloth. When she finally finished she fixed Blade's blanket about him again and held him close. She had a soft smile played on her lips as Bade settled down and stuck his thumb in his mouth while staring at Soran.

"Hey you, don't suck your thumb or you eat wont come in properly." she told him gently and Blade withdrawed his finger. Mizuki smiled at him and said 'Good boy.' She moved to sit closer to Soran and smiled softly at him. "Was he being good for you?"

Soran:

Soran frowned at the infant as though he'd been betrayed and crossed his arms. "Perfect angel," he said, casting a glance at the child as if he would understand the irony of his statement.

Taki:

Taki rubbed her head, it hurt a lot from her... dream? She was lying on the couch and Gwendolyn was tending to her.

"What happened to me? Did I pass out? And why did I have that weird dream..?" Taki was asking so many questions all at once. Gwendolyn laughed as she placed a cool wet towel on her forehead.

"It wasn't a dream, dear. It was-" Her voice cut off as she caught herself. 'Not yet.. give her more time.' The seer thought. "It was just.. er, an illusion." The seer grinned down at the fairy. 'So much to learn..' she thought to herself. "You rest now."

Siren and Naoki were poking their heads into the door every two minutes. Gwendolyn had told them to leave the room and let Taki rest but they were acting like children waiting to open their presents on christmas.

OOC: O_O mizuki just brought this to attention that I've absent-mindedly controlled some characters in minor ways T_T please forgive me!!!!!!!

Mizuki: -thwaps Taki over the head- ...drama queen...

Taki: HEY DON'T YOU THWAP ME! IM YOUR MASTER, YOU'RE MY DEMON SIDEKICK RAWWWWRRR!!
(inside joke ^_^;;;;;;)

Mizuki:

OOC: Oh gawd, everyone's gonna kill me for what I'm doing now ^-^


Gwendolyn smiled at Taki. 'Poor girl has no idea yet I shouldn't tell her yet.' she thought. As Gwendolyn started going about to tend to the daily chores, like make breakfast, her eyes glazed over in preminition.

A house on fire, people scattered and bandits running wild killing or wounding anyone in their way. Someone was trying to stop them and then in the next second a sword was run through her....

This would all happen in the next hour...

..a body on the ground...

Gwendolyn screamed and fell to the ground. She was crying uncontrolably and Naoki rushed to her side.

"Gwendolyn!" she cried. "What's wrong?!"

Taki:

taki heard Gwendolyn scream and sat up on the couch, the wet cloth falling to her lap. Her head still hurt a lot from.. whatever made her pass out but she had to go see if Gwendolyn was ok. She got up, a little too quickly-wobbling for a moment before walking into the kitchen to find Naoki kneeled next to Gwendolyn on the floor. Gwendolyn was crying.

"Oh my god! What happened?! Did you cut yourself!? I can fix it!!" Taki kneeled down next to Naoki but didn't see anything that would cause Gwendolyn to cry like she was. "What's wrong?" Taki was wide-eyed and worried.


Mizuki:

Gwendolyn shook in Naoki's arms. She couldn't believe what she just forsaw...

"Don't let Mizuki out of the house." she pleaded to the girl's.


Mzuki giggled as Soran grummbled that Blade was a "perfect angel".

"What did he do?" she asked him. "Gum your finger? He has no teeth so it shouldn't hurt." she smiled at Soran and got up to put Blade back in his crib. She gently laid him back down then went to sit by Soran again, leaning her head on his shoulder.

She suddenly wrapped her arms around him and started crying softly. She didn't know why she was crying, she just was. Maybe she was still afraid for Blade? She started coughing, again. Was she still sick? She put her hand to her mouth then withdrew it.

Blood.

Taki:

Taki sat back on her heels and stared from Gwendolyn to Naoki. She had gone from her bright and bubbly self to a pale ghost-like creature. She just sat there, stunned. It was obvious something bad was going to happen to Mizuki, but she didn't want to even think of what it could be.

Soran:

Soran looked down at Mizuki as she rested her head against his shoulder, confused. He stiffened warily, but at the same time, it felt...comfortable. When she suddenly began shaking gently against him, stifling sobs, and the crying gave way to coughing, however, the mood instantly changed.

"Mizuki, what's wrong," he asked in a firm, quiet voice, peering down at her to try to understand what was going on.

Mizuki:

Mizuki sat, shaking and staring in horror at the drop of blood on her fingers. She lifted her head slowly so Soran could see it.

"Blood." she whispered, afraid and unbelieveing that someone was going to die again. 'Was it another warning?' she thought uneasy.

She felt sick and looked up at Soran with the tears in her eyes. No. There was no Dark cloud above his head. She quickly turned to her son sleeping innocently, there wasn't one over him either and se was gratefull for it.

But why?!

Soran:

Soran frowned at the blood on her hand warily and quickly put a hand to her forehead. She felt normal, she'd seemed healthy up till now, so why? Her sudden illness alarmed him, but it was too soon to panic - it might not be anything serious. "Lie down," he told her firmly, putting his hand on her shoulder almost reassuringly as he stood up, "I'll find your mother." Before she could protest, he was out the door, almost running down the hallway, but when he found Gwendolyn kneeling next to Taki she looked even worse than Mizuki. Then it dawned on him that this wasn't an ordinary illness, remembering her link with her mother. "What's happening?" he asked solemnly, kneeling next to Gwendolyn and making eye contact with her.

Mizuki:

Taki looked over to him, and jumped. "She was like this when I came in!" She said nervously and moved back a step.

Gwendolyn looked frantic into Soran's eyes. "We cannot let Mizuki walk out of this house or she'll die!" She was crying, she didn't want to loose her only daughter, and the only one left in her family.

Mizuki laid on the bed. Confused and worried about who could be the one to die. She put a hand to her forehead and cried. She didn't want to be alone now.

But she heard a crashed of windows breaking across the road and screaming, she looked over at the window at saw a house aflame.

"Maybe that was why.." she said aloud, almost relieved that it wasn't anhone she cared deeply for that was to die. But she still wasn't sure. She got up from the bed and rushed through the house stopping momentarily to tell the others.

"There's a house aflame! Mother!?" she gasped as she saw her mother on the ground. Gwendolyn stood up and tried to reason with her daughter.

"It's ok Mizuki, well help them, you just stay here. Oh and where is RAI!?" Gwendolyn said.

Taki:

Taki felt sick as she saw things in slow motion. Mizuki was reasoning with her mother about saving the people across the road but Mizuki was already backing towards the door.

"No! Stay inside you have to stay inside Mizuki!!" She screamed frantically. But it was too late. The room returned to normal speed in Taki's eyes as Mizuki ran out and all that could be heard was The fire and screams outside.

Soran:

"What?" the rogue said skeptically, nonetheless rising and moving to stand protectively near Mizuki. He didn't believe in this fortune-telling mumbo jumbo any more. Hadn't Mizuki supposedly been going to die last time, and survived? When Gwendolyn mentioned Rai, though, he did become concerned, glancing out the window to where flames were burning. He turned back to the others as the door slammed and Gwendolyn screamed in protest. It only took a moment to realize what had happened, and then the rogue was gone as well.

Emora:


Rai had been sitting in the kitchen where no one was and looking at the painting. She felt really bad for leaving Michael all of the sudden so she laid the piece of canvas down with the painting on it and left through the back door.

When she came around the house she heard screaming and some one yelling about a fire. She saw Michael's house on fire.

"Michael!" Rai screamed and began running to the house. But, they wouldn't let her pass when she got there. They told her she was much to small. A nice man was holding her back, trying to comfort her, because she kept screaming Michael's name over and over.

She bit hard on the man's hand and he yelped. When Rai was free she ran for the front door. She wasn't the only one screaming Michael's name.

Rai covered her mouth and began to search the house. She coughed and sputtered and squinted as the smoke filled her lungs and burned her eyes. "Michael!"

Mizuki:

Mizuki ran across the road in tim to see Rai run into the burning house.

"NO!" she cried before she ran forward. She couldn't ge through the crowd of people trying to put it out and hold back others incapable of helping. As she pushed through she saw a bunch of men run away from the side of the house carrying bundles. 'Damn. Theives.' she thought and went after them.

"Stop theives!" she cried out to them. they turned around and grinned. Mizuki glared angrily at them and got ready to fight. They laughed and whistled.

"I'd rather not fight a beauty like you." said one man, apparently the leader, coming towards her and caressing her face. Mizuki pulled away only to slam her fist in his stomach. The man collasped to the ground.

"Return what you've stolen or I'll fight you!" she yelled only causing more laughter from the men. The leader stood up and drew his sword before Mizuki could think.

"Bitch." he said before running his sword through her abdomen.

Taki:

After Soran left Taki was the second to dash outside-just in time to see Mizuki with a sword run through her. Taki screamed Mizuki's name and ran forward.

'She's not dead. She's not dead. I can still heal her. She's going to be ok.' Taki kept telling herself as she ran towards the scene. The robbers were laughing at her as the apparent leader yanked his sword out of Mizuki and she collapsed. Taki screamed once more and shot fireballs at the men, causing them all to catch fire and perish alive. Taki turned to Mizuki and dropped to her knees. 'Please be ok.' She thought frantically searching for a pulse she couldn't find. 'Oh no.. no!'

Soran:

Soran ran through the chaos toward where he'd seen Mizuki disappear into the crowd. He pushed through and discovered Mizuki standing over a fallen man and surrounded by a semicircle of irate bandits, some holding plunder and one drawing his sword purposefully. The rogue pushed forward, but it was too late - the sword ran through her mercilessly and she collapsed to the ground. Fireballs flew from behind him and the bandits cursed and scattered. The woman they'd just killed meant nothing to them, and rather than fight some strange magic user they preferred to leave with their bounty.

Soran ran to Mizuki's side feeling like he couldn't breathe and knelt next to her, putting pressure on Mizuki's wound with both palms while Taki checked her pulse. "Well?" he asked the fairy tightly as he watched the blood seep out around his hands. His thoughts were a racing, twisting blur as he felt Mizuki's heartbeat fade beneath his palms.

Taki:

Taki's heart was pounding. She couldn't find a pulse. Without a pulse, she couldn't heal her.

"I-I can't get a pulse!" Her voice cracked as she was near tears. "I can't heal her without a pulse!" She retorted to the human's way of getting a pulse and started to give Mizuki CPR. Nothing was working. The world was going in slow motion around them. Somewhere in the back of her mind and through the blur of the world around her she saw Gwendolyn race out and collapse again with a heart-wrenching scream. Her only daughter was gone.

Mizuki:

Naoki ran out and cried out along with Gwendolyn.

"NO! SHE CAN'T DIE!!" Naoki screamed.

Mizuki's world was fading black. She opened her mouth and coughed out: "Soran...i....you...llo..love..I.."

Taki gasped and thanked the gods for giving her breath enough to say that.

"Shh." She crooned and held a golden glowing hand over her eyes and set her into a sleep. It was a healing coma she learned about in school. Taki turned to Soran solemnly.

"Bring her inside, I'll get Rai. I'll transform so Im small enough to put them in some kind of bubble and get them out. I'll explain about Mizuki when I get back." Taki was as serious as she'd ever been.

Emora:


"Michael!" Rai coughed and rubbed her eyes as she ran straight into a wall she couldn't see. "Michael!"

She heard coughing and rasping from somewhere in the room, but she couldn't see. It was so hot... so hot. That's all Rai could begin to think about, the fact it was so hot. She knelt down. "I'll rest a second," she said and put her hands on the floor, she noticed she could see better in this position so she began to crawl.

Rai heard the snap and cracking of boards. They crashed to the ground around her. Rai screamed as they did so, scurrying into a room. She saw Michael lying in a heap with his parents. She crawled to them as the house burned around her.

Rai pushed on them. They groaned in pain and opened there eyes slightly. She knew she had to heal them. She couldn't carry them out... She was just a child. Rai reached her hand out and ducked as she heard the crashing of more wood. She screamed, not even paying attention to the fact she had healed Michael's father.

His eyes opened as he felt his strength return to him and then he gasped at the sight he saw. Rai coughed. "We have to get out," she said and Michael's father just stared at her in awe.

He roused his sleeping wife, who had been knocked unconscious and he lifted his son. His wife held Rai's hand as he husband began to navigate through the house.

They were almost there when Rai heard the snap of another board. She turned her head to the side and saw the board coming. Rai had just enough time to let out a scream as the burning board hit her and necked her down....

"Take Michael, he's waking!" Michael's father called and he sat Michael down as his mother grabbed him and ran from the house. Michael's father quickly lifted the board off of Rai and gathered her into his arms, emerging from his house seconds after his family.

Taki:

Taki ran over to the man who carried Rai out. She had to heal her quick. 'A healer healing a healer..' She thought absently as she put cool golden glowing hands to Rai's burns and scratches and hugged the child to her.

"Oh Rai, so much terrible things have happened tonight. Let's get you inside." She knew little Rai wouldn't answer but she held her close. "Come." Taki said to the family that the house belonged to. She noticed little Micheal, Rai's playmate from earlier. "I'll help you inside."

Soran:

Soran's eyes widened in astonishment as he put together what Mizuki had said. She...no, she was probably delirious with pain. So much was happening at once that he couldn't hope to sort out what he was feeling. He just focused on Taki's instructions and gathered Mizuki carefully into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest as he ran for the house and rushed her inside to her room.

He carefully laid her onto the edge of the bed and tried again to cover her wound, but his hands didn't make the slightest difference. ~'No...no,'~ was all he could think as he watched her slipping away. He remembered the substance Siren had used once before to close his wound, and shouted out for the angel sharply. "Siren!" Where was she? No, there wouldn't be enough time.

The rogue sank into the chair next to the bed and found himself leaning across her chest with his arms wrapped protectively around her. ~'What am I doing?'~ he managed to wonder, but he couldn't focus through the wrenching ache in his chest. It was almost as though he'd been stabbed. ~'No!'~ he thought again futilely as he rested his head on her chest, feeling completely helpless for the first time since he could remember.

Taki:

Taki walked swiftly into Mizuki's room and set Rai down on her cot to rest. She pointed for Micheal's family to sit on the bed and she had Soran lay Mizuki on the bed. She healed the wound. 'Damn.' She thought. 'Should of done that outside, she could of lost a lot of blood. But she's still in the sleep coma.' Her expression was stern and cold, still in shock from what happened.

"Ok." Taki said as she turned to Soran. "I've put her in a sleep coma, her talking gave me enough of a pulse to put her to sleep with magic. She will stay in this coma for 7 days. She is alive, not dead. On the 7th day by midnight if her soul mate doesn't kiss her to break the coma then she will die." Taki's look told that she wasn't kidding. "I don't think you want her to die, Soran. Now then.." Taki turned to Micheals family and healed their burns and restored their strength. Taki called to the others to give it a few minutes before they all came rushing in and asking questions.

Taki put her hand to her head. It still hurt somewhat from what happened earlier in the night.

Soran:

Soran released Mizuki, becoming more conscious of what he was doing as others entered the room. He looked down blankly and watched the fairy close Mizuki's wound, then listened to Taki's explanation of the spell she had just used. Soran half-regained control of his expression and gave Taki a skeptical stare. He'd never heard of anything so absurd in his life - who would invent such a spell? He'd heard that fairy magic was rather silly, but this was a stretch. And how was he supposed to find this 'soulmate' of hers in time to fix things?

"You crazy fairy, isn't that just like putting a curse on her?" he protested, weighing his relief that she was alive for the moment and the ridiculousness of what now seemed just like a postponement of her death.

Emora:


Rai was lying on her cot unconscious, her clothing tattered and burned. Her long curly hair was singed from the fire. She groaned, her muscles pained from getting whacked with a thick board covered in fire.

She was oblivious to what Mizuki was going through and if she could wake from this strange darkness she was in she could heal Mizuki, making it possible for her to live with out the "curse."

Taki:

Taki turned around angrily to the rogue. Her voice was icy and her eyes had gone from blue to red with anger. Her mood was changing and there wasn't anything she could do to stop it.

"Stop being such a dense idiot, Soran!" She slapped him across the face, a loud CRACK sounding the room and a fresh hand print on his cheek. "Find her soulmate in time? Wake up! She said she loved you. I've had.. strange dreams, I had one tonight when you two were in here together. Is it really that hard to see who her soulmate is?! You may be smart in battle but you are an idiot when it comes to love, you can't even see that you yourself are in love!" Taki was yelling at him as Gwendolyn appeared in the doorway and saw her daughter lying on the bed.

"Ah!" She gasped, going weak at the knees again. "I-is she...dead?" She cried. Taki turned from Soran to help Gwendolyn up.

"No.." She crooned. "She's in a sleep coma. Prince charming over here has to kiss her on the 7th day and she'll wake up fine." Taki smiled at the woman, her anger completely gone and her mood changed again.

Emora:


Rai had woken up and was standing behind them. She looked far worst than she felt. All of there backs were turned to her and she listened. Rai didn’t like it one bit. “It seems like a cruel attempt to force love on Mizuki and Soran…” Ria muttered in that wise tone she hadn’t used in so long. “If Soran loves Mizuki the first time he kisses her should be special, not forced on him. And what if he isn’t Mizuki’s true love? How do you know for sure?”<br>
Rai moved through the crowed and sat on the bed next to Mizuki. “If Mizuki doesn’t wake there will be no one to take care of Blade properly. He needs his mommy… I know how it feels to lose you mother for a while… even if it is as short as seven days… It’s almost a life time for a kid. I heard that fairies like to play tricks and meddle in things for there own fun. If you are a healer you can heal Mizuki with out putting her in a comma. Don’t you know how to take there pain away?” Her eyes looked up at Taki with confusion and wonder.

Taki:

Taki's first instinct at hearing more criticism was to turn around and beat the speaker but when she saw it was Rai pushing passed her she took a different tone.

"Rai..Soran. Im sorry, I understand that Im new and you don't trust me.. and I understand that you think if Im a healer I should be able to heal her. There are only dark, corrupted fairies that play tricks and meddle in things. I didn't mean to sound so forceful. Mizuki won't be properly healed if I try to fully restore her. My magic would either kill her or send her into a severe memory loss. She wouldn't remember anything more than Gwendolyn and Naoki. Im sorry." Taki appologized and backed away from Soran. "And Im sorry for yelling at you.."

Emora:


Rai put her hand on Mizuki's forehead. She brushed her hair lightly. "When Soran is ready to say he loves Mizuki he will, but it's only fair to wait until he is comfortable to do something like that."

Rai kissed Mizuki's for head. "I don't have to worry about sleep commas..." She put her hand over Mizuki's wound and a soft weak light grew. It was weak because Rai was weak. It healed the wound enough to where a bandage could be placed on it, or it could be stitched, but Mizuki wouldn't die. She would need to take it easy so not to reopen the wound or anything...

Rai looked at Mizuki for a moment long before her eyes rolled back in her head and she flipped off the bed.

Taki:

OOC: ..err I already healed the wound but ok..

Taki gasped and scurried forward to catch the child. 'Kid, you're weak' She thought and frowned. She struggled to lift Rai and carried her back to her cot.

"Rest.." She said and turned and left the room. "What was I thinking.. I could of atleast tried a different way.. I was too rushed. My emotions got in the way of my new friends.."She muttered to herself as she walked outside into the night. The townspeople had gotten the fire out. Taki shuddered at the sight of the mangled remains of the house. It was charred black and mostly collapsed.

Emora:

ooc: Oops sorry.

Taki:

OOC: s'ok

Taki hugged her arms around herself. The charred building brought tears to her eyes. She dropped her gaze to the ground.

"Great.. once again you've ruined everything for yourself.. When will you learn to control your mood swings..stupid fairy." She scolded herself, not that it would change anything.

Siren:

Siren came walking into the room, holding Toby in a restraining fashing under his front legs as he trashed about, singed fur stinking up the room slightly. As soon as she saw that Rai was safe --or safe enough at lest-- in the house she released Toby, letting him run over to her.

She frowned and narrowed her eyebrows pensively as she looked around Mizuki's bedroom at all the injured people. It looked like everyone either physically or emotionally damaged.

From the sky she had caught glimpses of Rai's dash into the house as well as Mizuki's troubles, but since Mizuki was already being tended to, she had attempted to go after Rai instead, but could not enter the burning building because of her wings. She had, however, been able to pull Toby out once the fires were dimming. Apparently even his keen sense of smell and hearing was impaired by all the smoke and cracking fire.

"How is she?" Siren asked, walking over to where everyone was huddled.

Taki:

Taki sat on the porch steps and pulled her knees to her chest.

"What am I doing here? I've taken a risk with my whole life to try to save a strange bunch.. Did I expect them to trust me? I've been traveling so long.. I didn't even stop to think...as usual." Taki was still talking to herself and sitting out in the night.

Soran:

Soran had just glared at Taki firmly after she'd slapped him and said her piece. For a near-stranger to assume she knew such things about him and then to speak to him in such a way was beyond his tolerance, but because it was a bad time for an outburst, he had remained silent. Rai's alternative solution appealed to him much more, but he did consider that the fairy he done her best, and after all, if she had not done something, Mizuki would already have been dead long before Rai woke up. He sat and watched Mizuki and Rai with a cold, serious expression on his face until Siren came in with Toby.

"How is she?" the dark angel asked, walking towards them.

"Rai overexerted herself healing Mizuki. Neither has woken up since," the rogue said unreadably, looking down at Mizuki. After a few moments of silence he turned to Siren and said ambiguously, "The fairy left a while ago and hasn't returned." There was a vague inquisitive note in his voice.

OOC: On-the-fly outtake:
Soran marched outside and dragged Taki in, then woke everyone up with a gong. "Come on people, we're having a group hug, damnit!" he ordered, squishing everyone together.

Emora:


Rai forced herself from the darkness that was trying to claim her. She had let it claim her for a moment, but she didn't want to fall a sleep. She wanted to make sure Mizuki was alright. She couldn't force her eyes to open, but she could hear sounds... voices...

"How is she?"

"Rai overexerted herself healing Mizuki. Neither has woken up since. The fairy left a while ago and hasn't returned."

Rai felt a sudden guilt come over her. She felt it was her fault that Taki had left. Rai knew she was only trying to help, but the thought of what was happening seemed so wrong to the little girl that she couldn't help but say something about it. Rai groaned, trying with all her might, but she was so tired.

She felt a wet slick thing slide across her face and she tried to figure out what it was.... It felt like some one was licking her...


OOC: Yea, they could use a group hug, lol.


Siren:

"I understand," Siren said, looking into Soran's eyes and promptly leaving the room. She walked through the house somberly till she arrived back at the front door. Opening it quietly, she slipped outside and came up behind Taki. Still unnoticed, she bent down, scouped the small woman up in her arms, and took flight, landing up on the roof before putting Taki down gently.

While Taki was still shocked, Siren pointed up at the sky, where the smoke from the buring house had started drifting off and the sky was emerging, the sun just beginning to set in the distance, casting shades of pink across the vast expanse.

OOC: haha insert complaints here?

IC:

"Even now the dark clouds are fading." She said crypticly, trying to make an analogy.

She turned to look at Taki and smiled. "They're good people. Cheer up, if they've accepted me after all my people have done to them, they can deal with anything now. My master... Soran, that is, he just doesn't know how to deal with people yet. He's learning slowly, but sometimes I get the impression that he doesn't even know how to deal with his own emotinos, let alone those of others."

Taki:

Taki gasped as she was lifted off the ground and placed on the roof of the house. She looked up to see Siren talking in symbolism to her. She took a moment to look at the sun rising and the fading smoke. She smiled at Siren's words and turned to her.

"Thank you." she hugged Siren and turned back to the sky.

Siren:

Siren just smiled at Taki as they watched the sky and the sun set, knowing that it was best to leave the matter of Mizuki's trouble to Soran for now. She was curious however, and being the last one to come in she had missed all of the details...

'Nah, best to leave it as it is for now. When things calm down I'll figure out just what happened,' she thought to herself.

Soran:

The rogue sat in silence at Mizuki's bedside after everyone had left but Gwendolyn, who seemed to have dozed off leaning across Mizuki's bed after all the excitement. He heard Rai groan softly and turned to her, moving to sit next to her on the ground. She looked a little pale, but seemed to just be fast asleep. He noticed she had some minor scrapes and burns on the child's face and arms. Naoki had brought in a small bowl of healing salve for Mizuki's wound, so the rogue took what was left and applied it lightly to Rai's scrapes and went back to waiting in silence for some sign of consciousness from either of them.

Mizuki:

In Mizuki's subconcious she was crying from the many failed atempts to get back to the living world.

"I don't even know where I am..." she said to herself within her subconcious mindscape. But how could she see when her eyes wouldn't even open? She cried there and the tears showed evidently at the corners of her eyes in her pyshical being. In her mindscape she reached out blindly trying to find something to grab on. "Soran... take care of Blade." she said, reaching out with her heart.

Beside the rouge Blade whimpered in his crib, begging to be held by someone. With his mother temporarily gone the little being felt alone and called out to the only other person that even the baby knew he could trust.

"Daaaa..." he cried softly.

Soran:

Soran turned sharply as Blade's pleading voice broke the silence of the room. The child's voice had almost sounded coherent, but the rogue ruled that out; there was no way a baby could talk two days after it was born. Then again...how quickly had it been born? He pushed to his feet and crossed to the baby's crib, leaning forward on the edge of the crib casually and looking down at Blade.

"What's up, kid? Your mom's a little tired right now," the rogue said with forced optimism, though concern shone darkly in his eyes.

Mizuki:

Blade looked at Soran with the same eyes. He whimpered again practically pleading with his eyes. If he could cry he would, but his tear ducts have yt to manifest tears, so he just whimpered softly. He moved his tiny hands that were balled into fists at Soran then down again in a frantic fashion.

Emora:


Rai blinked tiredly and rolled over as she yawned. She felt sticky stuff on her face and rubbed it as her vision focused on the person sitting next to her. She pulled the blanket up and buried her nose in it as if burrowing down for shelter. She was really just cold.

"Soran?" Rai asked and looked up at him with her sparkling bright grayish blue eyes. "Is Taki mad at me?" she asked lightly, a pained look in her eyes as Toby crawled up on the cot to sit at the end of it. "I don't want her to be mad at me, it makes me feel bad. I didn't mean to make her mad.... It just didn't seem right."

Rai buried her face deeper into the covers, sighing softly. "No one's listening Soran..." She sat up on the cot tiredly and and leaned forward on his shoulder, looking at him. "Do you love Mizuki?" she whispered the question and smiled softly. "I won't tell, I promise!"

Soran:

Soran understood and reached into the crib, lifting Blade up into his arms - competently this time - and returning to Rai's side. The infant seemed to settle down and nod off, fitting easily into the curve of one of his arms, and seemed to lighten the mood ever so slightly in the silent room.

After several minutes, he noticed Rai stirring back to consciousness and straightened, leaning toward the child and watching her closely.

"Soran?" child murmured weakly, seeming like she was in pain, "Is Taki mad at me? I don't want her to be mad at me, it makes me feel bad. I didn't mean to make her mad.... It just didn't seem right."

While the rogue was thinking of an answer, the child continued, "No one's listening Soran..." She leaned tiredly against his shoulder, drawing a curious stare from the rogue, "Do you love Mizuki?" she whispered the question and smiled softly. "I won't tell, I promise!"

Soran hadn't been expecting that, though from the way everone kept talking, he saw that he probably should have been. He suddenly felt defensive and annoyed, unable to understand why everyone kept asking him that. "Certainly not," he replied too sharply, his ears warming. He became silent and looked away.

Taki:

Taki gazed into the sunrise. It had been such a long night..

"My magic would of killed her if I acted too quickly.. all I could do was heal the wound and put her to sleep.. I couldn't find a pulse strong enough to do much else... If.. if only I'd gotten there sooner-or Soran even.." She said absently. "Rai was so right to doubt what I did... and I have a problem with mood swings. It's a problem a lot of fairies have. Emotions get in the way of our magic so therefore the magic doesn't work up to par..." she continued babbling, not even sure if Siren was listening. Taki's eyes slowly dropped to her feet. "I slapped Soran after yelling at him.." Her voice trailed off.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn shifted in her sleep, slightly hearing the two convers.

"Certainly not," Soran said. Gwendolyn smiled with her eyes still closed. 'So much struggle within him.' Gwendolyn thought. 'It's either he sorts it all out on his own an outside force does it for him.' Gwendolyn was clearly thinking of Mizuki as the outside force to push Soran along with his feelings, yet her daughter seemed to be faulting also. She couldn't blame her though. Two men had proclaimed love and then both pyshically and emotionaly hurt her, and hurt her comrades. Love should be walked into carefully, or the bridge would collaspe under one's feet as they travel it too fast.

Siren:

Siren nodded in understanding as Taki talked out her conflict.

"Well, she's just asleep right? She'll come out of it eventually. Soran'll just have to be patient, right? Yet I still feel like I'm missing something important here... Just how long will it take for her to come around?"

Taki:

"Seven days.." Taki said. Suddenly her head snapped up, if she were actually a human she might of broken her neck. The fairy had a new plan.

"Im an idiot, of course! How could I of forgotten mother's special spell to remove the fairy tale (OOC: lmfao 'fairy' tale) element of the spell! Soran won't be forced out of his damned denial after all!" Taki rejoyced and hugged Siren. "Thank you thank you thank you!!" Taki turned and nearly ran off the roof and skidded to a stop just before the edge came. "Uhh.... Siren? Do you think you could..?" Taki trailed off as she looked back down at the ground.

Siren:

"Eh?" Siren looked at Taki skeptically.

"No one's around... it would be safe for you to use your fairy form.. but ok." Siren shrugged and got up, picking up Taki's light form and jumping off the roof to circle down to the ground slowly.

"Now are you sure you want to take that spell off just yet? You never know.. maybe Soran would try kissing her even if it didn't work." Siren stuck her tongue out mischeviously.

Taki:

Taki grinned at Siren's suggestions.

"Well, first transforming would drain some of my magic and I need quite a bit for the spell I want to perform. And.. though it's so tempting, I promised Rai and Soran only corrupted, bad fairies meddle in things like that..." Taki was grinning as they touched the ground. "Thanks for what you said Siren."

Taki dashed into the house and into Mizuki's room then stopped to see Gwendolyn sleeping on the bed with Mizuki, and Soran, Rai, and Blade on Rai's cot. Taki was smiling confidently.

"I remembered a spell my mother created to counter the 'fairy tale element'." She took a step towards Mizuki. "She'll still have to sleep to recouporate, even now all of my magic to restore her would either mortally wound her or drive her to insanity-we don't want to take that risk. However I need extreme peace, as the spell requires great concentration. So shoo!" Taki shooed Soran, with Blade in his arms, out of the room. "You're only distractions to me-any mistakes will only shorten the time of her sleep and not remove the required kiss for her wake." She explained to him as she turned to Rai and asked silently with her eyes to go wait in the other room with Soran.

Siren:

Siren sighed and shrugged her arms, letting out a small chuckle before entering the house. She grinned at Soran, who had just been shoved out of Mizuki's room.

"I think she's alright now," Siren said, trying hard to not laugh.

Emora:


Rai looked at Soran her eyes fell as he said sharply, "Certainly not." She looked down for a moment, sighing and leaning on him.

"Oh... then is Mizuki going to die?" Rai asked a slight crack in her voice. "If she loves you and you don't love her back and there is no one to kiss her she is going to die..."

About that time Siren and Taki came to shoo them from the room. She followed behind Soran wearily, stumbling and swaying as Toby followed on her heals. She was dragging the long blanket behind her as she left the room. When she reached the hall she wrapped it around her and curled up on the floor, her eyes staring at the wall.

Taki:

Taki closed the door quietly behind them and turned to Mizuki. She rummaged through her closet and found four candles. 'Perfect.' She thought. 'All four elements can be represented.'

The fairy lit the candles with her magic and set the candles in a circle around Mizuki's bed. 'Now then..' She thought to herself going over the steps of the spell in her head. Taki's hands glowed golden in her healing stance and she placed them where the wound once was. She spoke a verse in her native tongue and Mizuki was levitated a foot off of her bed. As she was suspended in mid air Taki had to transform into her fairy form to call upon the four elements to form the Mother Earth sphere, which would be absorbed where the wound was and the spell would be complete. The room was darkened and the only light was Taki's pixie dust and the light from the candles. Then, a glowing sphere appeared above Mizuki. It was a clear bubble with fire, water, wind and earth mixed inside. The Mother Earth Sphere. Taki took it into her small hands and placed it just over where Mizuki once had the wound from the sword. It slowly absorbed itself into her and the spell was complete. The room returned to normal and Taki hovered Mizuki up to the pillows and under the covers. The fairy looked down fondly at the girl. She returned to her human form.

"Rest, child." She spoke in a motherly tone. Taki blew out the candles and returned them to the closet. The sun was in the sky now, above the tree line. Taki took a blanket from the closet and draped it over Gwendolyn. She then quietly left the room and nearly tripped over Rai.

"Gah!" She gasped as she caught herself. "Rai! Im sorry, I didn't see you. Well.. Mizuki should be ok now without Prince Charming's help." She smiled down at the child and brushed a few loose hairs out of her face. 'Now to find Soran and Siren..' She thought as she moved into the living room.

Siren:

Siren had flopped herself down onto a couch again, her back resting against the armrest with her wings spilling out over the side of the couch, one leg bent with her foot on the cushion and the other hanging off the couch to touch the floor with her foot. She had relieved Soran of the duty of watching over Blade and was craddling the sleeping infant in her arms while watching Soran.

Soran:

Soran sat back next to Siren on the couch and folded his arms idly with an icy frown, thinking himself to death. But no matter how much he thought and reasoned, the unresolved panic that had come over him when he spoke to Rai would not recede. He supposed that made sense, that he should feel guilty for speaking in such a way when Mizuki was in such critical condition, but that explanation fell flat immediately. He had probably disappointed Rai, but that also wasn't good enough. There was more to what he felt than guilt. He glanced at Siren and intermittently over at Mizuki's room, wondering what was going on inside. It seemed like a very long time since they'd been shoved out. He considered going to check, but thought better of it, staring silently out the window at the wreckage across the street. What had Rai been doing in there in the first place? He made a note to discuss this with her later, when things were calmer and his own head was clear.

Taki:

Taki walked out to see Soran and Siren on the couch. She smiled, her eyes were tired from the night and her magic drained.

"Im finished.." She sat down in a chair opposite them. "You don't have to worry about facing your feelings for Mizuki until your ready... She'll wake in 7 days." Her voice was groggy as she whispered to them, her eyelids getting heavy and she yawned. The fairy fell fast asleep curled up in the chair.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn woke up, startled from the emense magic she fell flowing through the room and now filtering out. She looked to her daughter but, she still found her sleeping. She quietly left the room and walked where everyone else was.

"Wha- What happened? I feel.. so much magic.. Taki fixed the coma then huh?" Gwendolyn said, figureing it out. Naoki nodded.

"Yes," she sounded a bit dissapointed. She wanted to see Soran kiss Mizuki but, just in case he didn't do it in time she didn't want the chance taken. She smiled at Blade being affectionatly held in Siren's arms.

Siren:

Blade stirred when Gwendolyn came into the room and spoke. He seemed to be looking around sleepily, searching for something. Then suddenly he started whimpering again.

"What's wrong little one?" Siren asked worriedly, but in a soft quiet voice. "Ohh, do you miss your mommy? There there, she'll be ok soon enough, right?"

Siren stuck her finger out to him so he could grab it for security, but he instead caught it in his mouth and started sucking on it. She removed it, wiping the baby slobber off on her pants. Then, much to Siren's shocked dismay, he started flailing his arm at her chest with stardard infant uncooridnation.

"Ahh...." Siren said, making a disturbed face and looking at Gwendolyn pleedingly. "There's no milk for you there, little one! What are we going to do about this? He's hungry and his mom's askeep... Can she still feed him? Ahh maybe that would be a little weird..."

Siren seemed to be panicking just slightly, inching closer to Gwendolyn to try to pawn the now-restless baby off on her.

Taki:

Taki stirred in the chair, her eyes slowly opening. She could use a lot more sleep but Blade was fussing and Gwendolyn had come into the room.

"Ara..?" She spoke incoherently and looked around in a 'Where the hell am I?' stance. When she remembered all that happened last night she rubbed her eyes and sat up in the chair, making groggy groaning sounds of first wake.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn smiled and took Blade from Siren. "Don't worry I'll handle it." she said and left the room momentarily. Blade's fussing stopped and when they came back he had a bottle to his mouth and he was drinking generously. "Something my husband came up with when Mizuki was this small..." she explained sitting down on a chair.

Naoki though, was restless. Her best friend was laying seemingly half dead in her room.

"Ah,...I have to lok in on her!!" she getting anoxiously getting up but stopped and turned to the newly awakened Taki. "Would it be alright if I just peeped in on her? This is nerve racking for me and--" The door opened and Grye stepped in with some bruises on his face, but he was relivly ok. He took one look around the room and became worried.

"Ok, what did I miss?"

Taki:

Taki nodded silently to Naoki, still looking like she had fallen off a cliff. It was apparent under her eyes that she'd had little to no sleep.

"Just don't try to move her, she should be still and remain lying down to get better." Taki jumped as she heard Grye's voice. She saw the bruises on his face and gave him a concerned look. "What happened to you?"

Taki:

Grye gave her a quizzical look but shrugged her off. "Just some ahh... agruing with my father. Where's Mizuki? Ah Blade!" he smiled and Gwendolyn let him hold the small child drinking from the bottle.

"Mizuki is still ah...sleeping right now Grye." Gwendolyn half lied with a smile.

Mizuki:

OOC: Taki you posted as me, and every thread I'm in is being slow. ^-^;;; what's going on everyone? lol


Grye held Blade proctectivly, now aware of the fact that something was up.

"What, happened?" he asked suspicous. Gwendolyn sighed. 'No way around this now.' she thought and told him everything that had happened leaving out those few...details about the first coma involving Soran kissing Mizuki. Grye listened and stood shocked. 'Mizuki almost died?' he thought alarmed. Without thinking he rushed into Mizuki's room and watched her motionless form.

He could feel her life energy and that was good. He sighed and went to her side, sitting in the chiar Soran had once used. He gazed lovingly at her.

"That shouldn't have happened." he said to himself.

"Yeah well, if you know Mizuki as well as I do you would know she can be stubborn and not think things through." Naoki said leaning against the door frame.

Emora:


Rai stood up, wrapping the blanket around her, but it was so big it dragged the ground behind her. She walked through the living room and into the kitchen where she took up her seat again and Toby hopped in the chair beside her. Rai lifted the picture of her parents and looked at it once more.

“Do you think I’ll be pretty like my mommy when I grow up?” Rai asked with a soft smile and looked to Toby. “I can’t wait to grow up…”

Rai imagined being grown up and old enough to know how to fight and protect herself. She imagined having a nice house in a city or something, far away from the Ashgrown forest and it’s memories. Rai sighed. “It’s hard waiting to grow up,” she said with a soft giggle and scratched behind Toby’s ears.

Soran:

Soran's eyes darkened when Grye came into the room and seemed to go straight for Blade and next for Mizuki. He followed the others back to Mizuki's room and found Grye already in his prior seat watching over Mizuki. It seemed to Soran he was being challenged, though for what he couldn't place, but he vaguely felt a competitive instinct rise faintly at the back of his mind. He resented the apparent challenge, feeling that he could no longer go to Mizuki's side while Grye was in the room without appearing to compete with him over... something. He only knew that he disliked the mage and wanted him out of the room, feeling that Grye was somehow in his territory. On the one hand, Grye appeared to be a well-intentioned person and posed no threat to him. On the other, he was well aware that should Mizuki settle down with the mage, he would cut relations with her. It wasn't even something he'd decided - it was something he just knew, that he would never be content to travel with Grye permanently.

Soran leaned against the doorway calmly and analyzed Mizuki and Grye with a cool stare. "So, she will take a full week to recover?" he asked chilly of Taki.

OOC: Sorry I've been missing, I had a hundred things due right before spring break and I was moving into my new laptop. At least it seems I dont need to worry about the technical difficulties I've been having for a while. Anyway, I'm back up and no class for a week, so I should be able to post reliably at least till then.

Taki:

Taki heard Soran asking her a question from Mizuki's room and drug herself out of the comfortable chair and draped her cloak tightly around her. She shuffled over next to him and nodded.

"Yea.. Grye, don't move her-you'll disturb the healing process." She scolded as he reached out to move her head towards him. Taki arched a brow at him when he gave her a stunned puppy look. "This isn't a fairy tale, Grye." The mage grumbled and rose to leave the room, inching as far away from Soran as possible. "I'll leave you two alone.. I need sleep." Taki turned and trudged to her and Siren's room, falling onto her cot and falling into a deep sleep.

Mizuki:

OOC: Don't really have a post but once again I'm forbidden to ever touch the computer so... any posts will either be made by Taki's computer or through sneaky email so can those with acess to my email please keep in updated for this thread, my lowlight thread, NKOS thread and the training in armrar [w.e...can't really spell right now ] thread?

I'd be soooo thankfull you guys if you do ^-^

I'm mean, it's either I risk my computer being riped out of the wall or this ^^;;;

Soran:

OOC: hahaha I kept thinking "why doesn't anyone post?" and it just occurred to me that it might be MY turn to post...raaiiighhht. ^_^'

IC: Soran watched Taki herd everyone out of the room, leaving only him with Mizuki. He looked toward her blankly and after a moment walked to her side. ~'She really won't wake for a week?'~ he thought as he again took the seat next to her. Her chest slowly rose and fell, but otherwise it was as if she were dead. Soran distrusted magic and was not at all comfortable with Mizuki's current state, watching her with a stern, critical stare for any signs of change. After several hours, the others still hadn't returned and the moon glowed in through the window. Soran opted to remain where he was for night, wary that if he left the room something might happen to her.

~'Sitting up all night worrying about a woman,'~ he scorned inwardly, ~'what are you thinking, Nightblade.'~ It wasn't until the very early morning that he finally consented to nod off, leaning forward and resting his head on one arm across her bed.

Taki:

Taki stirred in the middle of the night. The fairy had been asleep since morning and now she wasn't as exausted. Her sleep pattern would probably be off for days. She smiled wearily at the thought. 'Atleast Mizuki is safe..' She thought.

The fairy sat up in bed and saw a sleeping Siren next to her. She slid off the bed and went quietly to Mizuki's room, half suprised to find Soran sleeping next to her. 'I guess everyone's asleep then..What time is it?' she thought. She padded through the house more and decided to just go back to bed, peeking in on Soran and Mizuki one last time.

Emora:


Rai wasn’t a sleep. She smelled like smoke and felt like dirt… She wanted a bath. She got her clothes out of her old room and laid them in the bath room and then tried to draw water like her mother and everyone else who had drawn her a bath.

Rai had figured out how to heat the water over the fire and she carried her last kettle to the tub, holding it almost at arms length but it was so heavy! She inched across the floor, her feet dragging across the wood. She got several splinters causing her almost to drop the kettle. “How do grownups do it?” she wondered out loud. The bath room door was wide open and she planned to close it as soon as she got ready to get her bath.

Rai pored the water into the tub and watched with a smile as the steam came from the water. She walked to a shelf to look for the rosy smelling soap that Mizuki let her use… but it was too high. Rai grabbed a stool and climbed up, but it was still to high. So she grabbed a bucket and stacked it on the stool and climbed on. It wobbled with her on the top and she almost fell. She reached forward, grabbed the soap and!!! the bucket slipped out from under her and she fell to the floor.

Rai laid there for a moment sprawled on the floor. She got up and closed the door then got ready to take her bath. She climbed into the warm water and splashed her face. She started playing with a spongy thing, swishing it and squashing it, making water splatter everywhere. She giggled slightly and went under the water for a second, slipping on the slick bottom. She came up gasping and gripping the tub for life… It reminded her of fall into the river… except less cold. She smiled… That was kind of fun…. So Rai began to play in the water, giggling and splashing around…<br>

OOC: lol, don’t you just love kids….

Taki:

OOC: aww I remember when I used to do that when I was little ^_^ ...I luffles rai!! -glomp hugs the kid-

IC: Taki paused on her way back to her room when she heard a thud from the bathroom. She creaked the door open a bit and ducked as water came shooting at her.

"Gah!" She gasped as she peeked in further to find Rai giggling and splashing water about as she was taking a bath. Taki saw the bucket on the floor next to the stool and guessed Rai falling was the thud she heard.

Emora:

OOC: Yea, I love Rai too!


Rai splashed around in the tub, laughing and giggling. She had soap all in her hair and it was running down her face. She dipped her head into the water and washed out all the suds. She didn’t even notice that Taki was standing in the door way. She just continued to play with the water until the water got cold and she was like a prune.

Rai climbed out of the tub, dried off and put on her night brown and dried up all the water. She opened up the door and there was Taki. Rai screeched slightly, startled by her. “Oh, hello!” Rai said, yawning right afterwards. “I’m going to bed now… Good night!”<br>

Taki:

Taki smiled at the little girl. She patted her head and said goodnight. 'Good idea..' she thought, getting kind of sleepy again. The fairy stretched and cleaned up the bathroom so Gwendolyn wouldn't have a lot to do in the morning. When she finished she crawled into her cot next to Siren's and fell back asleep.

Siren:

Siren woke up early the next morning, yawning and streatching her arms up over her head. The sun was just starting to rise, and she figured that as long as she was up she might as well do something. She changed out of the horribly mutilated pajamas that Gwendolyn had given her, which she had tailored crudely to allow freedom of her legs, and put on her regular soft leathery outfit. She glanced at Taki and smiled at her cutely sleeping form before leaving the room.

Hearing noises from the kitchen, Siren walked over to the doorway and peered in. Gwendolyn was standing there, readying breakfast for everyone.

Gwendolyn, somehow knowing she was there, called out to Siren, "Good morning, Siren! Would you be a dear and take this to Mizuki's room?"

Gwendoyn indicated a tray with a cup of steaming tea on it. Siren stared at it quizically, but picked it up obediantly.

"Ok, but I don't think she'll be drinking it... not on her own anyway." Siren said, carrying the tray off.

Outside Mizuki's closed door she paused, thinking to knock, but then realizing it would be futile since Mizuki wouldn't wake up to answer, she pushed the door open and entered.

Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a silent "oooh!" shape as she took in the image of Soran sleeping beside Mizuki's bed.

Soran:

Soran snapped awake as he sensed someone new in the room, straightening abruptly in his chair and turning to see Siren standing in the doorway. He glanced down at Mizuki, remembering where he was as he recalled the events of the previous day. Turning again to Siren with expressionless eyes, he mumbled a 'good morning'.

Siren:

Siren grinned approvingly at Soran, standing there like an idiot for a minute. Then she remembered the tray she was holding.

"Ah, I assume this is for you then," She said, bringing the tea over to Soran. "Gwendolyn told me to bring it in here."

She set the tray down on the bed next to Soran and looked over at Mizuki.

"How is she? Have you checked on the wound's progress? It's a gradual heal, right? Ahh, with her asleep and Michael's family stranded here for the time being things sure seem out of place."

Emora:


Rai rolled over on her cot in Mizuki's room and rolled right off of it, crashing to the floor and pulling the covers down with her. She groaned not wanting to wake up, so all she did was grab her pillow from the cot and pulled it down onto the floor, yawning and closing her eyes again.

Taki:

OOC: ack, how many times do I gotta tell you guys i healed the wound its just her strength and stuff thats a gradual come back.

IC:
Taki's eyes fluttered open as the sun started to pour into the room she was sharing with Siren. She sat up in bed and slid out, just like she had hours ago. She walked into the kitchen, pulled by the smell of food. She realized she hadn't eaten in many many days-infact since before she helped Chien and Zaraxy back in the forest outside of hepian. She sat at a table in the kitchen and waited patiently.

Soran:

Soran looked at Siren strangely. He hadn't thought to check on Mizuki's wound. "I haven't looked," he told her.

He reached forward and moved the blanket down to Mizuki's waist, then carefully lifted her shirt just enough to reveal the wound on her stomach. There was some bruising around the entry point and the area was very red, but there were no signs of infection and the cut had stayed closed. "Nothing unusual," he said quietly, and replaced the blanket before picking up the drink Siren had placed next to him. Frankly, his tastes were more suited to whiskey than tea at the moment, but he was surprisingly thirsty.

He spun around as a loud thud came from the corner of the room, where he had not even noticed Rai was sleeping. She had fallen to the floor and groggily pulled her blanket down, apparently too sleepy to get up again. Soran put the tea down again and got up to kneel next to the child. He let out a silent breath as he saw that she didn't seem to be hurt, and lifted her and the blanket back onto the cot.

Emora:


Rai yawned and hugged Soran before he could leave. Her eyes were half closed but something just told her it was him. She closed her eyes and curled back up on the cot. She opened her eyes and looked at him for a second and then to Siren. “It’s not morning is it?” she asked softly, her face buried half way in covers, which were tangled all around her body. “I just went to sleep didn’t I?”

It felt like it. She was really tired, but at least she was clean…<br>

Soran:

The rogue paused at Rai's side and nodded to her. "There's plenty of time. Sleep all you want. How do you feel?" he asked casually.

Emora:


Rai smiled. "I feel...." She yawned and stretched at the same time, twisting around on her creaking cot. "I feel like... poking you!" She got up quickly, giggling and laughing attacking Soran with her fingers, poking at him in any place she could get to that he wasn't going to block.

She looked up at him with her smiling bright face, her eyes sparkling in the morning sunlight. She laughed as she poked at him trying to get him to laugh. She loved it when he laughed...

Soran:

Soran's eyes widened in shock as the child who had seemed asleep a moment before suddenly had the energy to pounce on him and knock him flat onto his back. "Stop! Bad!" he protested breathlessly, trying to swat her mischievous hands away from his stomach, "Quit it!" His voice finally broke into a low, ticklish laugh against his will until he finally managed to get a grip on Rai and hold her off of him, staring at her in slight disbelief that he could be bested so easily by a child.

He tried to glare at her crossly, but her eyes were shining brightly and he cursed himself as he took on a darkly teasing tone instead. "If you have so much energy, perhaps you'd like to clean and sharpen my blades for me," he suggested vengefully, almost smirking. That was a long, tedious job that he would hardly consider actually appointing to Rai. She probably didn't have the muscle to scrub the rust off them anyway, but he wanted to get a rise out of her for tackling him.

Emora:


Rai grinned and looked up at him. "Sure! Can I play with them afterwards?" She slipped her tiny hand free and free and poked him again. "I always wanted to play with them!!" Rai smiled eagerly at him and tugged on his hands. "I'll clean them good I promise!"

Siren:

Siren doubled over in a fit of laughter seeing Rai and Soran struggling on the floor. 'If it had been anyone but her...' Siren thought, realizing that she would be in huge trouble had she been the one to pull such a stunt. She liked this group, they were certainly hardly ever dull.

"I think Gwendolyn should be just about done with breakfast, if you two can get along peacable for a little while." Siren teased, sticking her tongue out at them. She could smell wonderful scents coming from the kitchen now and her mouth watered slightly.

She pranced out of the room, looking back at Soran and Rai once more before she went to the kitchen. There she saw Taki. She smiled and raised her hand. "Yoh! Good morning, my fairy friend!" She said in a hyperly cheerful voice, taking a seat at the table and watching the food being set out.

Soran:

"Don't even think about it," the rogue rebuked, rapping his fist on the top of her head sternly as he got back to his feet, well aware that Siren was laughing at them. "Clean them if you want, but they're not toys so no fooling around with them." The rogue had a bad feeling about this already, thinking of how easily the child could fumble her grip on a weapon that was half her size and then injure herself on it.

Taki:

Taki waved back at her winged friend. When Gwendolyn set her food in front of her though she couldn't help but start to pick at it. She was starving.

"G'morning, Siren! Ooh, Gwendolyn this is wonderful! Gosh I haven't eaten in days!" She said cheerfully in between gulps of food.

Emora:


Rai smiled at Soran and hugged him. “I’ll be careful! Besides I have to do something for you… After all, you have helped me so much!” Rai grinned up at him and then grabbed his hand as she smiled at Siren before she left. “Let’s go eat!” She pulled on Soran’s hand as hard as she could to get him to budge, but it was hard, since he was a lot bigger than her.

Soran:

Soran tolerated Rai's tugging and glanced back at Mizuki once more before leaving the room and following Rai to the kitchen where everyone else was already awake.

Taki:

Taki had finished her plate in minutes and she smiled brightly at the odd stares she was getting. She licked her fingers and wiped her face daintily.

"I..uh.. haven't eaten in days." She admitted and blushed. "I must seem like a pig.." HICC. Taki's eyes went wide. "I have the-HIC-hiccups! Oh-HIC-no!!" She covered her mouth and laughed.

Emora:


Rai ate until she could eat no more. She had been shocked at the site of her picture lying on the table. She grabbed it quickly, hoping no one notice. She didn’t know why she felt like she wanted to hide it. Maybe it was to protect it. She was afraid they would take it from her to keep it safe… and she always wanted to be able to look at it.

When she was through she pulled on Soran’s arm, grinning. “Can I clean your blades now?” she asked. “I’ll be careful!”<br>
Rai wanted something to do, some responsibility. In her old home, with her mom and dad, she had chores. She would help her mother wash clothes and hang them out. She would help her father carry wood…. Though her father only gave her at least one small piece at a time. He knew that she would be unhappy if she didn’t get to help him. She loved helping her parents. It made her feel all grown up in a way. Like a big girl.

Soran:

Soran looked over at Rai speculatively. So she seriously wanted to do it. Well, he'd eaten as much as his nervous stomach would tolerate, and it had to get done sometime. "Fine, come with me," he said casually, getting up from the table and nodding his appreciation to Gwendolyn for the food. He walked into Mizuki's room and got his blades from the corner, glancing blankly at the sleeping form before leaving again. Then he took a pail from the well-room and filled it with water and gestured for the girl to follow him. He led Rai outside, where the day had become fair and rather warm for the season. "You take one, I'll take one," he said, tossing Rai a rag and sitting down on a bench. "Do not touch the curved end," he warned, holding one of the heavy blades out to her.

Emora:


Rai sat next to Soran on the bench. She took her rag and held out her hands when he went to hand her one of the blades. It was heavy, but she took it, trying to hold it in her tiny hands. She smiled up at Soran with her sparkling eyes as she rested his blade on her legs, her feet dangled off the ground a few inches.

She looked at the blade, tilting her head back and forth, admiring it. Then she began to clean it, minding what Soran said about the curved end. She ran the rag over it, but it didn’t seem to be doing any good so she pressed hard. She was rubbing the blade when her hand slipped.

Rai made a short gasp and a hissing sound… then, “Ow…” she held up her finger to reveal a cut finger.

Soran:

Soran turned abruptly at the painful catch in the child's breath and saw her bleeding finger. The blade he was holding fell to the snow. He took the child's hand up warily in his and inspected it, using his other hand to take the remaining blade from her lap and set it safely behind him.

He found that the cut was not a particularly bad one, to his silent relief. They were dulled from battle, but still easily sharp enough to seriously wound a clumsy hand. "Go rinse it out inside," Soran said firmly, thinking she was too young to handle the blades after all.

Emora:


Rai looked at Soran as he inspected her cut finger. She tilted her head, wondering why he was worried about her cut finger. It was just a cut. It stung and everything, but it wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

Rai smiled softly at Soran. “It’s fine, Soran… I can help you still. I’ll be careful, it was an accident… I’ll be careful…” she said gently as he held her tiny hand in his. “Promise.”<br>

Soran:

Soran frowned at the wide-eyed child, as if calculating the strength of her resolve. Then he turned away indifferently and lifted the blades back out of the snow, handing one to Rai and returning to his without a word.

Emora:


Rai smiled at Soran and took the blade back with glee. She wiped her cut finger on the rag and began to work on the blade again. This time she would be more careful, she was sure of it.

Rai looked up from her work when she felt eyes. She saw a short plump woman with a wart growing on her chin coming towards them. Her brows were drew together in a menacing mad look as she drug the bully she and Michael had beaten up by the arm

"Are you this child’s father?" the woman asked with a sneer and looked at Rai, who still held a shiner on her right eye.

Soran:

"No," the rogue replied indifferently, not looking up from his work.

OOC: Off to pick up my friend from the train station, might not post any more tonight ^_^

Emora:

OOC: Have fun!

Rai looked up at Soran and then the woman who looked quite steamed about something. "Well, I'd like to speak with her parents if there around. They need to know what a hooligan there child is and I plan on informing them."

She glanced to Rai and Rai looked up at her, tilting her head. Rai looked to Soran and then back at the woman. "My parents aren't around here... ma'am..." Rai replied softly and sat up straight.

"Well, no wonder you're so out of control! You're not being properly raised! Not given a strict hand every now and then... Why, I bet you've never been spanked in your entire life. What did your parents do? Give you up? Why aren't they here, hmm?"

"Well, no matter... you can relay this message, good sir. I want this child punished for attacking my poor sweet, Custer. I recommend a good whopping and maybe a day without a meal or something... But, that's just my advice... Tell them won't you. I'll be back to speak with them in person..." She didn't leave. She waited for acknowledgment to her words...

Rai sat quiet, there her face was very flushed with anger. She didn't know anything! Stupid foolish woman. Rai kept her mouth shut, however. She bit her lip and began to scrub the blade extra hard, concentrating on it.

"I bet she's so mean that her parents didn't want her mommy... I bet that's why there not here..." Rai had all she could take. She was scrubbing the blade so hard her arms were getting tired. She finally stood up quickly. The blade fell from her lap into the snow and she turned to the side, walking off before she lunged at the tubby boy again.

Soran:

Soran went on polishing his blade, but this time when he spoke a new hardness entered his voice. “Take your brat and get off this property,” he ordered flatly. When she didn’t budge he raised a frigid glare at her that left no room for compromise. “Now,” he added emphatically, as if she hadn’t heard him.

Taki:

Inside, Taki was tending to Micheal's family who had been staying in the house since theirs had perished. They had all been in a state of shock until now they were starting to recover. Micheal's mother was crying on the couch and was being comforted by her husband. Taki healed their remaining cuts and scratches and ruffled Micheal's hair.

"Don't worry, kid-o." She smiled at him reassuringly. Taki walked over to Siren and whispered her inspiration to her. "Let's rebuild their house."

Emora:


"Well, if I ever! Now I know where the child got such manners. If you don't have anything done about her abuse and her violence I will see to it that something is done! She disserves a good spanking, but it seems your not man enough to give her one... My husband would." The woman turned on her heal with Custer and began to drag him off.

Rai was standing off to the side, waiting for the woman to leave. When she was half way gone Rai walked back to the bench and grabbed up the heavy blade. She sat back down next to Soran and began to scrub away again.

Soran:

Soran continued working and his posture became relaxed as though nothing had happened. But after a minute he spoke calmly, "That's your family, right? The frame you were fussing about earlier."

Emora:


Rai stopped scrubbing the blades and reached into her pocket to pull out the thick canvas she had folded up. She unfolded it and the picture of her parents and herself was revealed. They were all smiling and looked so happy. Rai smiled too as she looked at it.

She held it over to Soran for him to look at. "Are all people out there so cruel?" she asked. "Because the ones in this house are the only ones I truly know not to be cruel... Soran will we always stay here? Are we going to go somewhere else? What are we going to do? Will I come with you?" Rai stopped when she realized she was asking to many questions.

Soran:

Soran looked steadily at the child, looking just a little bit shaken. The nature of people in general was something he distrusted almost passionately, though he could hardly explain why. As for his future with them, he was uncertain of that as well. There was the chance Mizuki would settle with Grye, and he would move on, and surely the child's place would be with them, in stability rather than his own reckless wandering. If not - if not... The sudden sense of being attached to things sent a wary thrill up his spine. The surprised satisfaction of being connected to people and the dark inevitability that it would not possibly last struck him equally at once, and left him off balance.

"I don't know," the rogue said coldly but not harshly, giving a single answer to all her questions. He knew the answers she wanted, but could not bring himself to give them.

Siren:

Siren looked over at Taki in surprise, then grabbed her arm and led her to the kitchen. She wasn't so good with potentially long whispered conversations, and she didn't want to get hopes up with the family. She replied in her normal volumed voice.

"Rebuild their house? But how? It would take forever for the two of us, or even the whole groups of us... we'd have to get the whole neighborhood involved. And the potential cost is no joke.. though I guess we could supplement the wood needed with trees we cut ourselves... " She paused, thinking it over analytically, then smirked. "This sounds just crazy enough to be fun and possibly work. So... where do we start?"

Emora:


Rai looked at Soran, pulling back her picture when he spoke and looking down at it. “Oh,” she replied faintly, her shoulders slumping slightly. Her life had been turned upside down and the only people who could make her feel slightly better about it didn’t seem to like giving her straight answers. Maybe it was the whole being small thing…<br>
Rai put her picture away and lifted the heavy blade slightly. “Is this good?” she asked with a soft smile, looking to Soran for an answer.

Soran:

Soran felt Rai's disappointment like a burn. He was letting her down, maybe even hurting her. He looked down at the blade she was holding and felt it was close enough. "Good job," he said, pulling a file out of his coat. "All that's left is to sharpen them." He ran the file at a steep angle along the edge of the blade, slowly so that Rai could see, and placed it in her small hands. Supervising carefully, he leaned back against the wall to watch and think.

Emora:


Rai watched attentively to make sure that when she got to do it she did it right. She took the file and held the blade and tried to do it just like Soran did it. She went back and forth until her little arms were tired. She looked up to Soran and smiled. “Did I do it right?” she asked him.

Rai still couldn’t help but think about the future. She wondered what it would be like… and she hoped that Soran would be with her in the future… Mizuki to… and Taki and Siren… She wanted the future to be with all she loved. She didn’t want to lose anyone else.

Soran:

Soran went to Rai's side and lifted the blade out of her lap, then held it at the end and swung it lightly against a tree standing in the yard. The blade dove easily through the bark and for another two inches into the tree. "Perfect," he said, messing up her hair appreciatively. "I used them to climb a stone wall, so they were in pretty bad shape," he commented as he used the file to sharpen the remaining blade, more efficiently than Rai thanks to experience. He looked back at the blade, finding it strange to have them sharpened when it didn't seem he would need to wear them any time soon. It was a satisfying thought. His thoughts went back to Rai, and the picture she had. "They look like a nice family," he said.

Emora:


Rai looked up at Soran and then down at the picture... "They were," she said softly, running her fingers over it. Her eyes were tearing up and she closed them to keep them from leaking tears onto her cheeks. She put the picture away quickly, sighing.

"Soran, did you have a nice family too?" she asked him and looked up. "Did they love you?"

Soran:

Soran blinked at the change of subject, not unaware of the moisture in her eyes. "I don't know," he said blankly, a little uncomfortable.

Emora:


Rai smiled at him. “Soran,” she said with a slight giggle. “You don’t seem to know a lot.” She was only playing with him. Rai stood up and gave him a big tight hug. “I’m sorry you don’t know…” She paused and thought, still hugging him tightly. “Well, I love you Soran… If you don’t know if you parents did, at least you can know that I do!” she said cheerfully.

Soran:

Soran carefully placed his own arms around the child's shoulders also, wishing for the first time in ages that he could remember...he shook the thought quickly away. The child's words were awkwardly affectionate as always, but he no longer really minded. "Right," he said absently, at a loss for better words to convey what he was thinking.

Taki:

Taki smiled at Siren. Thoughts of wood and money had gone through her head too, she had been thinking about it all day. The fairy had intended to employ the men of the town for their community service.

"I have no idea where to start, I lived in a house the size of a living room!" she laughed. "But it would be good to do while we wait..."


Emora;


Rai wrinkled up her nose and smiled cutely. She wondered why it was so hard for him to say “I love you.” Though, he said he didn’t love Mizuki, deep down Rai could tell that he did. Even if he didn’t admit it, she thought he did.

Rai climbed into Soran’s lap and sat there. “What do we do now?” she asked with a smile. “Do we chop wood? Go hunting? Fishing?! What do we do, hu? We can’t just sit around! You’ll get fat!” She giggled and poked him in the stomach. “And Mizuki and I wouldn’t want you to get fat.” She kissed his cheek, still grinning.

Siren:

Siren brought her index finger up to her chin in a thoughtful pose. "Hmm, yeah it would be a good idea to do something to get Soran's mind off of things, give him some constructive time to think about things without actually thinking directly about them... Somehow I get the impression he's not so good at that when it doesn't concern fighting." Siren stuch out her tongue impishly, a slight grin playing across her face.

"So then, we should talk to the towns-people! hmm we need someone with experience building houses first... I wonder if Gwendolyn or Grye know anyone?"

She shrugged at Taki, knowing that neither of them had been around long enough to know the people here.

OOC: hey, just so we're all on the same page... did "yesterday" when Mizuki was wounded count as day one, or does "today"?

Taki:

OOC: hmmm today ^_^

IC:
Taki nodded in agreement with Siren and grinned. She looked over at Gwendolyn who was doing dishes.

"Yes. Especially when it comes to Mizuki, I've been here maybe 4 days and I can already tell that. Gwendolyn? Are there any men around the town that are expirienced carpenters and housemakers? Me and Siren want to put together a project to rebuild the house that burned down." Taki smiled and sat down, thoughts bubbling in her head about decorating and building and remodelling.

Mizuki:

Grye paced the room he was given. "I should've been here." kept playing through his mind the entire time has he remembered what Gwendoyln had told him what happened to Mizuki. 'But could I have actually prevented it?' he thought. As he mulled through that Naoki came out of her own room.

"Gwendlyn?" she asked. "Where is Rai?" Gwendolyn pointed her outside and Naoki nodded in thanks but instead went over to Taki and Siren. "So, what are we planning over here?" she said smirking.

Siren:

"Ah! Naoki! We need an arcitectish person!" Siren chimed in an energetic voice, then covered her mouth and curved in her shoulders and neck as if to indicate that she had been too loud. She waved with her hand, indicating that Taki should come closer, and spoke secratively.

"Taki Taki here wants to rebuild the house that burned down! But we don't know how... If they wanted a nest we'd be fine though!" Siren joked, sticking out her tongue and thinking herself quite clever, despite the fact that she never built -- or lived in-- a nest before either.

OOC: I'm sorry... way too much sugar... forgive me! I might be calling Taki "Taki Taki" a lot now =p it sounds cool! try it! woo I'm going to bed... lol

Mizuki:

Naoki blinked in astonishment then grinned.

"Well, I'd love to help!" she exclaimed. "I've help built small constructions for this village before, this shouldn't be too hard."

Soran:

OOC: Sorry for disappearing, I had a seriously insane week at school and got sick in the midst of it. But I am slightly less busy now, though still in the red zone.

IC:

Soran looked off toward the house lazily while Rai poked and prodded him to do something. What he actually felt like doing was going back to where Mizuki was, but he knew very well that there was no point to such behavior. He looked at the broken window where Rai had been kidnapped a few days before. If Michael's family was going to stay here, that room would need to be back in service. "Alright, let's get a new windowpane," he said and stood up casually, lifting Rai easily to the ground. He let the blades stay on the bench and began walking toward the street.

Emora:


Rai giggled and ran in front of him, turning to look at him with a smile. "You're taking me to town with you!" She ran forward and hugged his legs, but quickly let go so he wouldn't trip.

"Where do you go to get a windowpane anyway?" she asked with a tone of interest.

Soran:

"To the glass-smith," the rogue said, as they reached the street and turned right, heading in the direction of the tavern Soran had become familiar with. He remembered seeing a glass shop across the road from it.

They arrived at the shop, which had a colorfully painted sign welcoming customers on the front lawn, and Soran pushed open the door that was made entirely of pieces of colored glass. Inside, the shop was crowded with glass ornaments, vases, and tableware, reflecting in dozens of colors off one another as the light from outside passed through them.

Soran stepped inside, warily avoiding an entire bookcase laden with bright pink glass jars of all shapes and sizes. Bells jingled on the glass door as it shut behind him. From the back of the shop a high, jovial voice cried out, "Just a minute!" Soran narrowed his eyes skeptically as he heard glass things jangling against each other precariously from the back of the store, and a tall, gangly old man with almost no hair and bright, merry eyes clumsily bumped and jostled his way toward them, almost knocking over several shelves of glass before he finally reached them. "Well, I haven't seen the likes of ye here before, eh? Come in, come in!" he cried excitedly.

Soran, who had no room to get in any further without knocking something over, just stared at him blankly. The rogue opened his mouth to speak, but the old man had already forgotten him as he noticed Rai standing by his side. "Why, and ye've a young lass with thee!" He bent over congenially toward Rai. "What's thay name, milady? Are ye fond o' glass?" he asked with a smile.

Emora:


Rai stared at all the shiny glass in awe. All the colors were so pretty. She wanted a colorful window in her room! She smiled at the man at how excited he was. When he bent over to greet her she giggled and covered her mouth for a second. “Hehe…”

"What's thay name, milady? Are ye fond o' glass?”

Rai smiled at him. “My name is Rai and I think it’s beautiful!!!” she said with enthusiasm. “How do you make it! Is it hard? Can I make glass? Ooo! Can make it pretty colors to. Blue, I love blue.” Rai grinned happily and looked up at Soran with sparkling eyes.


Soran:

"Why, milass, thar's a whole shelf what's blue o'er yonder!" the man exclaimed, flinging his arm off to his right and upsetting a large green vase. Soran darted forward and caught it, and placed it back on the shelf. The glass-smith didn't seem to notice he'd knocked anything over, turning to lead them into the shop, crying "Get thee in, git thee in!"

"We're here to buy a windowpane," the rogue said, following the old man warily.

"A windahpayne!" he echoed excitedly, leading the rogue to a whole wall covered with ornately colored windows of stained glass in decorative shapes and sizes.

The rogue blinked at the bright colors. "I meant a regular glass pane," he said.

The shopkeeper looked horrified. "I sure's can make ye a plain one, but it'd be sore t' compare with the likes o' these!" he encouraged.

"They're so...impractical. How do they open?" the rogue said doubtfully.

"How'd thay op'n!" the glassblower said, "Why, they sures't no needs to op'n! They's thar to look at! Ye's a man, so to thee't may 'pear impractical, but yer lass wot surely love it! Lassies art always keen t' sich things!"

Soran turned a doubtful look to Rai.

Emora:


Rai looked at all the pretty blue glass and smiled at it. She looked up at Soran as he talked to the glass smith. She wondered around his shop, looking at the funny glass objects. She looked at the many colorful windowpanes and smiled at her many reflections in them. “I like them, they’re pretty…” She looked up at Soran and walked to him, taking his hand in her small one. “Can we get one?”<br>

Soran:

Soran turned back to the shopkeeper, defeated. "How much do they cost?"

"We've one what's nearly all blue an costs thurty coins," the man smiled, indicating a square window that showed a dolphin arching over made of blue, green, and white bits of glass.

Emora:


Rai admired the pain and looked up at Soran. “Is that a lot of money? If it’s a lot of money can we get a regular one?” she asked softly and squeezed Soran’s hand with a soft smile.

She looked to the pretty glass and reached forward to run a hand over it. She then looked back to Soran and the shopkeeper to see what they would do and what Soran would by. “Can I help you put it in?” she asked all of the sudden, grinning again. “Can I use a hammer!” She got an image of trying to put the pretty glass window in and it breaking and Soran getting mad. “Well, never mind…”

Soran:

"Very well," the rogue said indifferently, lifting up the heavy window and setting it on the small cluttered counter.

"Ye shan't regret it, or me name's not Tom Rasky," the glassblower declared, jostling another case of glass as he squeezed behind the counter to accept Soran's money. The man leaned in toward Soran. "An I'll threw in one'sa them charms on t'house," he whispered secretively to the rogue, indicating a large collection of small hand-blown glass charms hanging from silk cords above the counter.

Soran looked up at them doubtfully. He had no taste for such things, nor much use for them. Tom Rasky noticed his disinterest and urged in his jovial whisper, "Now sur'ly thay lass would be thrilled t'receive sich a trinket from ye! Take yer pick!"

Soran ignored the man's knowing grin and freed one of the charms from the rest indiscriminately, handing it to Rasky, who tied it and the window each up in paper and handed them to the rogue, nearly dropping them in the process.

"Much obliged," the rogue said calmly, baffled that such a clumsy person could run such a breakable trade.

"And should ye come again sometime, milass, I kin show ye how glass is made," the man grinned warmly, seeing them out toward the door and nearly knocking the entire shop over in the process. "I'll make ye a handsom discount!" he promised gleefully as they reached the door and went out onto the front steps.

Emora:

Rai laughed when she got outside because there was a chicken scurrying around. She chased it out of the way, giggling as she tried to catch it. She ran in circles trying to get it, a bright smile on her face. But, it escaped by running under a building. Rai ran back to Soran with a large smile on her cute little face. The wind blew her hair into her eyes and she had to push it out of the way as she scurried along to keep up with Soran. He was taller and had a larger stride than she did.

“How do you put a window in?” she asked watching her feet and dodging some horse poop. She looked up at Soran in wonder.

Soran:

Soran looked back at Rai, a slight glow of amusement in his eyes as she ran absurdly after a chicken that was loose in the road.

"How do you put a window in?" she was asking, running to catch up to him.

"This is smaller than the old one, so I need to make a wooden casement for it, then mount it inside with insulation to keep the wind out. Then I need to get some 2'' wood screws, probably 16, and 2X4'' planks of--" he cut off as he realized he was being too technical. "Let's just go to the hardware store." He sounded stern, but the rogue hadn't been this relaxed in ages.

Emora:

Rai looked at Soran and smiled, following him to the hardware store. “What is in a hardware store? Do they sale clothes that are hard to wear? I’ve never been to one. Daddy said he would take me to one… But, he never got… a chance…” Rai’s face fell but she quickly came back with a bright glow.

“Thank you for taking me with you!” she said and skipped along next to him humming a tune. “So what do they sale?”

Soran:

"Tools and bolts and screws, paints, lumber, and those kinds of things," the rogue said idly, certain that such things were of little interest to Rai. The shop came up soon on their right, and Soran held the wooden door open for Rai to step in.

Emora:


Rai stepped inside the shop and walked around in circles, looking around at all the different things. She saw nails and screws and hammers and saws and many, many other things. She smiled and looked back at Soran before going down an isle of many different hardware things. She saw an incredibly shiny saw and began to reach her hand out to it….

Soran:

Soran was talking to the shopkeeper about some planks and screws in the corner of the large shop. Then, as though he had eyes in the back of his head, he announced, "And if you're foolish enough to get hurt on that, you're definitely not using the hammer later."

Emora:


Rai looked back at Soran. She ran up to his side and smiled at him. “I wasn’t going to touch it,” she lied with an innocent smile. “Can I still use the hammer?!” Rai looked at the shop keeper and then at Soran. She giggled at them for some reason even unknown to her. She just felt like giggling, being in such a good mood. Soran made her feel happy and all he did was talk to her and take her to town.

“Can I help carry things? I’m strong!” Rai showed off the muscles that were there… but not visible to any eyes. She surely couldn’t carry anything really heavy..

Soran:

The hardware clerk left for a moment while Soran conceded that yes, Rai could use the hammer, and then he returned with some lumber and a pouch of nails and a gauzy pad of insulation material. The clerk grinned goodnaturedly, looking at Soran and Rai and clearly interpreting them as father and daughter. Soran tried to ignore this and paid the clerk, shouldering the lumber and handing the insulation over towards Rai, pretending that it was very heavy.

Emora:

Rai smiled at the shopkeeper one of her brilliant smiles and left the shop with Soran. She carried what he gave her in her arms holding it tightly. She carried it as if it were a child in her arms. “Where do we go now?” she asked admiring how strong Soran was. He had the glass and the wood! He was amazing in Rai’s eyes. She wished she was that strong. Maybe she would be one day when she was all grown up.

“Do we go home to put it in? Can we go shopping again? I want to build something else!”<br>

Soran:

Soran glanced at Rai as he walked. "I can't think of anything else we'd need to build," he said, looking down idly at the coupon he'd been given at the hardware store. It read "1/2 off Next Purchase!"

Emora:


Rai looked up at him and smiled. "Oh well," she said and skipped once, the things in her arms clanged together. "I will help you build a window!" She grinned evilly as if what she was going to do was a bad deed. It was just that she was going to help him build something that involved glass... breakable. She was a child, surely even he knew the odds. She wanted to scare him.

"And I get to use the hammer!"

Taki:

Taki was sitting in the living room again with Micheal's family. His mother was crying on his father's shoulder and his father was squeezing little Micheal's shoulder. Taki was talking with them, asking some questions and trying to comfort them.

"Do you know why the burgurlars came..?" The fairy's voice was soothing. "Err.." She paused, deciding to word her question differntly and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Is there.. anything you've done? Perhaps back out of a dirty bet..?" Micheal's father looked sick while his mother cried harder.

"I-..I.. was in debted to Queen Shae.. and.. and" Micheal's father broke into tears himself and his body shook with shaky sobs. "I was just- just trying to h-help my family!" He choked between sobs. Taki rushed forward and hugged him comfortingly, soothing him with her voice and rubbing his back like a mother would to a sick child.

"Shhh... it's ok, you're ok now... it will be better soon, you'll see. Gwendolyn is allowing you to stay here until we can find a new house for you. Shhh, it's ok."

Mizuki:

(I can't remember where I left Grye... but I think I left him pacing..o_O..) Grye, after couping with all his accusing thoughts towards himself for not being here, finally left the room he used to go look in on Mizuki. He sat next to her and gently took her hand.

"I should've been here, I could've stopped you." he whispered mostly to himself. He kissed her hand lightly and slipped out of the room where he met Naoki.

"Ah! Grye!" Naoki exclaimed. "Know anything about building?!"

"Well.." he stammared since she had caught him off guard. "I had helped build my father's study room in our house so, yes I believe I know a thing or two about building. Why, you're planning on rebuilding the families home?"

Naoki nodded enthuisasticly. "This is good! Maybe your magic can help the building process! Now if you excuse me I must talk to Gwendolyn." Grye watched her go and smirked. 'She plan's on getting the whole town involved also.' he thought approvingly then walked outside to see Soran and Rai walked up the street back home with wood and other such supplies.

Siren:

Siren had gone outside while Taki talked to the family. She went across the street to the remnants of what was once a lovely, warm home and scanned over the rubble and burnt wood.

A man of the law walked over to her, calling out as he did. "Hey hey hey! Whatchya doing here? You best not be trying to loot anything," he warned sternly, looking her over, glancing at her wings warily as if he expected her to fly off with something valuable.

"Ah, no sir!" Siren called back. "I'm a friend of the family that lived here. I'm staying with Gwendolyn's family currently." She pointed back to the house she had come from.

The guard seemed to accept this rather easily, making Siren wonder how often Gwendolyn entertained odd company.

"We're hoping to get a project together to rebuild the house... It looks like we have a fair amount of cleanup to do first, though... I was looking to see if there's anything salvageable for the reconstruction." Siren crouched down, picking up a scorched brick, part of what was probably once a fireplace or stove, turning it over while trying to scrape off some of the black charring.

"Is it ok if I look around for a bit?" She asked.

"Ah, sure, sure," the man said, hands on his hips while standing behind and to her left, "I doubt there's anything left, save the floor itself though, missy."
He turned to leave. "Oh hey, drop by the marshal office sometime if you want to post a flyer or soemthing lookin' for help."

Siren nodded to him thankfully as he walked off, then began rummaging through the burnt wood. Occasionally she saw splatters of what looked like colored ice, probably beautiful glass pieces before the fire.

Mizuki:

OOC: I think I can do my own posting now! ^-^ Thanks Soran for helping me read the thread and put up my posts! (but be prepared if you have to do it again.. my mom has strange mood swings with the computer. lol)
Here's Kujo's first appearance! It's not gonna be too big right now since he's still tracking down Mizuki and isn't clear on her whereabouts.

IC: Zetsumei flexed his left skeletal hand under the cloak's only sleeve. The bones were scraping against each other.

"Curses," he murmmured looking down towards it. "So there are draw backs to killing yourself..." He stopped walking towards the little town in front of him and pulled out a leather pouch. He squeezed it gently and a black gummy substance poured out. He gather he gummy substance on his finger's and rubbed it between his finger bones, wrist bones, and his elbow bone. "That will do for now." He replaced the pouch under his cloak and ressumed walking.

He stopped at the top of a hill that was just along the edge of the little town and scanned it from the hill's advantage height. Black feather's caught on the wind from his molting wings and blew towards the town. It spread a smile on his lips to know that soon his wings will be skeleton's....


OOC: aaaannd... that's it for now.

Mizuki: ANOTHER ONE?! -shoots arrows at me-
Me: -ducks behind a tree-

Soran:

Soran came down the path with Rai to Gwendolyn's home, going straight around to the side of the house and setting down the supplies they'd just bought. He looked at Rai without saying anything and then walked back to the front of the house and went inside to look for Gwendolyn and borrow her tools.

OOC: I am back after another disappearance. So many papers. They're still not done, but I'm rebelling. And this new bad guy is actually creepy. Maybe it's the molting wings thing.

Emora:

Rai looked at Soran waiting with a smile for an answer. But, he said nothing and only looked at her, which sort of made Rai's heart drop slightly. She bowed her head a little as he walked off. She plopped down into the melting snow and waited for Soran to get back.

Rai wondered if Soran was sometimes irritated by her. She didn't want him to be irritated at her or annoyed by her. She sighed and fell back, gazing at the clouds as they rolled by...

Soran:

Soran hadn't expected to find Michael's parents broken down in tears and Taki hugging them in a kind, almost motherly way when he walked inside. He paused for a moment and looked at them warily, then sensed he was interrupting and strode quickly through the room to where Gwendolyn was working in the kitchen (OOC: I actually don't remember where Gwendolyn is). After he explained what he was doing, she gladly pointed him to a drawer where her tools were, from which he retrieved a hammer and pliers before going back outside. He and Siren exchanged a brief glance as he returned through the room again and went back outside to where Rai was lying stretched out in the grass.

He came and stood over her and held the hammer down toward her handle-first. "You wanted to use this?" he said casually.

Emora:


Rai smiled up at Soran cheerfully and sat up taking the hammer, her small hand dropped at the unexpected weight. She looked up at him with her bright eyes and her bright smile. She loved Soran. She got on her knees and sat close to his legs looking up at him for orders. She didn’t say anything, just waited on him to say something… But, Soran hardly ever talked. Part of the reason why she didn’t know if he was aggravated at her or not.

Soran:

Soran looked down skeptically at Rai's hand, which as far as he could tell was glued to the ground from the weight of the hammer. "Can you even swing that?" he asked doubtfully.

Emora:


Rai grinned and grabbed the hammer right next to the metal part. She held the hammer up, a bit close to her body as if it weighed a thousand pounds. But, she smiled as if it were as light as a feather.

"Uh-hu...." she said, nodding and inching closer. "It's not that heavy at all!"

Soran:

Soran was unconvinced, but he decided to worry about it later. "Well, before we can do anything, I need to get the old window out." He bent over and removed the paper from the glass window as he spoke, then turned and placed it on the ground next to Rai. "While I do that, you can measure eight planks to go around the edge of the window. We'll figure out how much extra we need after I get the old frame out. I'm going to borrow this for a minute," he said, trading her a charcoal marker for the hammer that was in her hand. He looked at her to see if she understood, realizing that he hadn't explained very thoroughly.

Emora:


Rai glanced around at the items they had and she bit her bottom lip. She crawled over to what he had asked her to measure and she looked at it, tilting her head. She looked from Soran to the glass.

"Um..." she glanced back and forth. "Soran... um... I... I don't understand...." She held up a plank of wood and looked at it with an expression that made it seem like the plank of wood was the oddest thing she had ever seen in her life. "How do you measure something?"

Soran:

Soran paused for a moment, then knelt down alongside Rai. "To keep the window from falling out of the wall or into the house, we need to build a frame around the edge for either side of the glass. Each frame needs to be slightly smaller than the outside of the window so the window can sit inside." Laying one of the planks along the bottom edge of the window, he put the marker in Rai's hand and placed it on the edge of the wood at the corner of the window, guiding her small hand inside his large one and making a black mark where the corner of the window met the wood. Explaining as they went, he continued to show her how to mark the boards for all four sides. The rogue found the relatively trivial work relaxing, and spoke to her in a calm, patient voice as they went.

Emora:


Rai smiled at him as he showed her how to measure and mark the wood. She grinned as he held her had and taught her where to mark it. She listened attentively so she could do a good job for him. She held the marker tightly and when he had showed her how to do it she went about trying to do it herself. She did it will, not perfect, but well enough for such a small child.

She sat in the grass an waited for Soran to tell her to do something else. She waited patiently and watched him as if it were the only thing in the world she could do.

Soran:

Soran looked down approvingly at the planks. After helping Rai mark the set for the first frame, she had remembered everything and been able to make the second one on her own. He wasn't confident she should do the sawing alone, though, so he tried to think of some busywork she could do. He remembered the insulation. The rogue pulled the foamy strips of padding out of the bag and gave them to Rai. "Now make one more, out of this, and cut it out with this knife," he said, setting a knife down next to the insulation. "We need it to keep the wind from getting in through the edges of the frame."

When she seemed to understand, he took the hammer and went to the old window, using the back of the tool like a crobar to pry out the old frame. It was a difficult job and by the time the rogue had the remains of the old window and its frame piled next to the wall, he was breaking a sweat.

Emora:


While Soran began on his work she looked at the padding and the planks and the knife and contemplated. Then she began to measure the padding and once she had gotten it measured. She made her marks, which were a bit sloppy, but the best she could do. She pulled the padding in front of her and took the knife into her hand and looked at it and then the padding.

Please, let me do this right…

She put the knife to the padding and cut it. She was surprised at how easy it was to cut and she finished quickly. “Finished!” she said cheerfully and looked up at Soran smiling, holding the knife into the air.



Soran:

Soran turned back toward Rai, who seemed to be done, and walked back to where she and the wood were. He took the marker and made a black target about two inches in diameter on the side of a tree and handed Rai the hammer. "Now practice hitting that. If you can do it ten times in a row without going outside the target, you're in charge of the nails," he said, taking out a saw and setting to work cutting the boards where Rai had marked them.

Emora:


Rai looked at the target and then back at Soran. She took the hammer in her hands, her hands touching the head and she pulled back, holding it close to her body. She swung the hammer forward and… missed. The second time she missed again. The third time she hit. The fourth she missed. The fifth she missed. The sixth she hit… and so on and so on… She went over her ten time limit and kept practicing, her face a show of concentration as she tried her best to hit her target, but she just wasn’t quite good enough….

Mizuki:

Naoki walked outside next to Grye and started telling him what she was planning with Siren and Taki.

"And I was thinking with your magic you could maybe help some of us lift things that are too heavy. And if someone's somewhere up high you could take something to them like a hammer." She explain. Of course the job was making him look like more of a carrier boy that ran around handing people things, but he was the only other person besides Siren that could fly things over to people who would be on the roof when they were building.

"Sounds degrating." Grye joked. "But I'll do it." he smiled then noticed a black feather in the snow. He bent down and picked it up showing it to Naoki. "Think Siren's molting?" he laughed and Naoki laughed too after hitting him gently on the head. Naoki took it and looked at it.

"Maybe, or it's from a really big bird. But I can't imagine a bird of this size!" she said analyzing the feather. It was as big as her hand and surpassed her fingers by an inch or two..

Siren:

Siren noticed Naoki and Grye standing outside the house chatting and left her search by the house to join them.

"Hihi~," she called to them as she neared. "I take it Taki has filled you both in on the housing project?"

She looked at their grinning faces then down at their hands. "Hmm? Where'd you get that? Ohh.. I get it," she grinned evily, "Naoki had the hots for that captive angel boy and decided to keep a remnant, eh, eh?"

Siren nudged Naoki playfully as she said this.

"Ah, by the way, know any farmers around here who might lend us their plow and oxen or horses or something to help clear some of the debris? It's pretty much all just rubbel now."

Soran:

Soran finished sawing boards and looked over at Rai to see if she was making any progress. The hammer was going everywhere. "Hold it by the handle, not at the head," he recommended, "and use both hands." He leaned back against the wooden bench casually, watching her practice. The brief memory of Mizuki's unconscious face back inside the house came back to him for a moment, and he pushed it carefully from his mind.

Mizuki:

"Hmm? Where'd you get that? Ohh.. I get it," Siren grinned evily, "Naoki had the hots for that captive angel boy and decided to keep a remnant, eh, eh?"

Naoki gasped and stammered. "I-I do not!" she flushed from the frustration. "Actually," she grinned evily in turn, "We thought it was yours. You molting Siren?"

Grye stepped a foot or so back from the two girls expecting something either good, as in funny, to happen or something bad. But either way he was staying out of it.

Siren:

"Mine?" Siren snatched the feather up and twisted it around by the feather spine.

"Certainly not! Look how dull it is! Mine are lovely and shiney! Plus, there's no aqua on the tip of this one. Since it's obviously of the larger wing feathers it should have an aqua tip if it were mine." Siren streatched her wings out to display the aqua tips on the outer feathers of her wings, puffing her chest out with pride at her odd coloration.

"So really, there's no way around it." Siren smirked again. "Angel fetish!" She tossed the feather up in the air in front of Naoki, preparing to sprint away a few steps if needed.

Mizuki:

Naoki, flustered that she was being accused of loving a threatening Dark Angel, ran after Siren. She'd beat her a few times but she couldn't help but smile.

"I do not!! Maybe it's you!!" Naoki yelled, vainly trying to catch a woman that could fly.

Gwendolyn sat at the kitchen window watching everyone with a smirk then turned her attention back to her grandson laughing gently.

"Oh, child, what a family you have." she cooed to the babe in her arms that watched his grandmother's face intently. She smiled at him. "You make me feel like an old woman Blade, ah, but I am getting on in years--- oh..." Her senses were running wild. The sense of death was lingering and making it's way into the town. 'No, I don't recall anyone dying from the fire..' Gwendolyn thought anxious. She looked back towards Mizuki's room where her unconcious daughter slept, waiting for the seven days to end so she could re-awaken... this feeling of dread was itching at Gwendolyn.

She stood up, with Blade in her arms, and made her way over to Taki who was tending to Micheal's family. Taki was trying to calm and sooth the family the best she can but Gwendolyn felt that for now they should be let be.

"Taki, can I speak with you?" Gwendolyn asked the fairy and took her aside and back into the kitchen where they could talk in private. "Taki, do you feel anything strange? Any sudden sense of dread about you?"

Taki:

"Taki, can I speak with you?" Gwendolyn asked the fairy and took her aside and back into the kitchen where they could talk in private. "Taki, do you feel anything strange? Any sudden sense of dread about you?" Taki looked up from the family. The question was strange to her. She thought for a moment, sifting through her feelings.

"Er... I-I don't think I do?" She questioned her senses. Tilting her head at Gwendolyn curiously, Taki asked "Why? Do you? You're a seer, we would expect you to feel such a thing, why ask me? Erm... Why, do you feel dreaded?" Taki was worried about the usually cool Gwendolyn.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn looked at Taki and came to her conclusion. 'Of course, if you haven't dove too deep in your seer power's certain things would go unnoticed....' she thought looking criticaly at Taki. Her expression quickly changed into a carefree smile.

"Maybe it's just me worried about my daughter." she waved a free hand, shrugging off the feeling. Although it wouldn't leave.

As Grye watched Naoki vainly try to catch Siren who was floating just out of Naoki's reach, teasing and taunting her, he started feeling cold.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed wrapping his arm's around himself and rubbing his upper arm's for warmth. "Did the tempature just drop?!" He looked around him and it couldn't have been true. The sun was shinning warmly on the ground and the weather had a spring time feeling to it. He saw no snow falling, or his breath in his face. He just felt cold, but he tried to shrug it off so not to worry anyone and walked fast to catch up to Naoki and Siren.

Siren:

Siren finally saw her opportunity as Naoki stumbled a bit with a missed grab attempt, and curved behind her, landing and grabbing Naoki around the waist with her arms pinned to her sides. She lifted her up a few inches off the ground, bending over backwards a bit, and then brought her back to the ground, releasing her grip enough so it was more of a hug than a pin, laughing happily as she played.

Taki:

"Oh..Ok..Uh, I'll go out and help Siren and Naoki with our plans then.." Taki said, uneasiness obvious in her voice. What Gwendolyn said made her worry. How many days has it been... 2? 3? 4 even? 'Soon. It's almost over' She thought as she stepped outside to see Siren bringing Naoki off the ground. "Er..?"

Mizuki:

Naoki yelped as she was being raised off the ground and kicked her feet. She didn't relax until she was back on the ground.

"Grr.." she mock growled. She noticed Taki watching them and pointed at Siren. "It was all her fault!" Grye stared baffled that Naoki was blaming.... something on Siren, but he chuckled at their behavior. Grye looked towards the hills on impulse... and saw....something... or someone?

"Wha---?" he whispered under his breath squinting at the figure that was far off on the hill's as if it would focus clearly. But the next time he blinked, whatever it was was gone. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulder's. ' Am I getting old or something?' he thought.

Eventually Naoki squirmed out of Siren's grasp and ran behind Taki pointing accusingly at Siren.

"She's molting!" Naoki yelled, smiling as if she won a battle. "Admit it Siren! And if it's not your's then who's is it? I don't recall that Spy Angel molting any feather's and I don't ever see any bird's big enough for feather's like that!"

"Heh, unless there's another Dark Angel in the area." spoke a deep voice a few meter's off. Naoki yelped and looked at the man.

"Another one?" she whispered, unsure of him and fear creeping up.

Soran:

Soran turned searchingly toward the sound of voices on the other side of the house. The only words he could make out clearly were "She's molting!" in what sounded like Naoki's voice. He passed it off as nothing important and went back to calmly watching Rai.

Emora:


Rai tried her best, she put her hands further down the handle, but it seemed to make it all worst. She had less control over wear it hit and it usually missed it by quite a lot. Rai was getting a bit frustrated and disappointed that she couldn’t do it. She kept trying though, hoping to improve so she could hammer for Soran.

“Soran I can’t do it! This hammer is mean!” she said and turned to Soran she walked up to him holding the hammer close to her chest so she wouldn’t drop it. It was like a hundred pounds to her with the heavy metal mallet and thick wood. She walked real close to Soran to his knees and looked at him since he was almost eye level with her. “It’s evil, it won’t hit the target for me!” she said with a grin and slight giggle.

Siren:

"I am not!" Siren laughed back. "And what would another Dark Angel be doing here? Although if it's a he and he's cute..." She let the statement trail off with an impish grin.

She turned in the direction of the voice searchingly. When she saw the man a vague sense of uneasiness stirred within her, but she tried to play it off.

"And who might you be sir? Here to help the reconstruction efforts perhapps?" She tried to keep her voice friendly, but she rather hoped he was just passing through.

Taki:

Taki turned with the rest of the group to see a mysterious man, the one who had spoken. A Dark Angel? He sure didn't look like one.

"Well. If you're here to help us then put yourself to work! Take a message to the town sheriff to put up a bulletin that we need help from all able bodied townspeople to help rebuilt the house that burnt down in the fire!" Take smiled uneasily, following Siren in keeping a light mood. 'Don't worry yourself too much, ol' girl.' She thought. Gwendolyn's words kept coming up on her mind and this man made her even more uneasy.

Soran:

Soran looked at her blankly and then pushed up onto his knees and began placing two boads together. "If you hold them like this, I'll take care of the nails," he said.

Emora:


Rai got on her knees with Soran in the wet grass as the snow continued to melt around them in the warm sunlight. She held the boards like Soran said, a little sad she couldn’t hammer right. She held the boards tightly and looked to Soran with a cute smile.

Soran:

Soran took the hammer and nailed the two pieces together efficiently, then put the other pieces in place for Rai to hold and fastened together the first frame. Then they did likewise with the second frame. When all the boards were fasted but one, he put the hammer in Rai's hand. "Now hammer this in," he said, holding a nail at the corner of the board with his fingers. He used his other hand to guide Rai's hammer hand, supporting most of the hammer's weight so Rai could focus on aiming.

Emora:


Rai looked from Soran, to the hammer, the nail, and to his fingers then back to Soran. Her face was complete worry. "But, but... I'll hit your fingers!" she said and looked at him with her big beautiful gray and blue eyes. "I'll hit them and hurt you!" She knew she wasn't any good at hammering... and Soran's hand was holding the hammer... could she do it?

Rai wasn't very confident but she looked at him for a moment and then back at the nail. "I'll try... but I'm scared I'll hit you...."

Rai didn't want to hurt Soran, she loved him and she wouldn't want to hurt him. She pulled the hammer up and held it over the nail and pulled it up farther and brought it down. It wasn't that good of a shot, it hit the nail, but the hammer had no power behind it and just tapped it in a little, then bounced off and hit the wood... right next to Soran's fingers.

Soran:

Soran didn't flinch, his hand remained firmly around hers. "Do it confidently. You're thinking too much," he said calmly, waiting for her to finish the job.

Emora:


Rai looked at Soran with such a degree of worry on her face that her eyebrows were drawn together with it. She looked at him unsure. How could she do anything without thinking about it? She didn’t understand, but she decided to try. She did it again and hit the nail, this time a bit harder. Rai continued. It took her a while and often she would miss it, but thankfully not once did she hit Soran. It took her longer to get the nail in then it did Soran, but soon it was in the wood with out any accidents.

When it was finished she looked up at Soran with a wide happy grin. “I did it! I did it!” she said happily and let the hammer go then practically tackled Soran with a hug, she wasn’t that strong though.

Mizuki:

The man smirk but there was no humor in his eyes.

"You're quick to put me to work without my name being said, aren't you?" he spoke. His tone was unfriendly and sent chill's down Naoki's spine. Kujo stood with a lazy demeanor. His left hand resting on his hip and his right judt laying limp at his side, not that anyone could really see his arms anyway since his cloak was closed over his body.

Grye stepped up warily to stand close to the women, it was an impulse.

"Sorry sir, what is your name then?" Grye asked him, eyeing him warily. Kujo laid his eyes lazily on them all but a cold look to them, and his smirk was gone.

"Zetsumei Kujo, but just Kujo will do. Surprising as it is that Siren here has yet to remember me, but then again I had kept to myself a lot back home. But don't worry, I'm not here for you." Kujo almost glared at Siren but you couldn't tell with his cold, dead-like eyes.

Taki:

Taki shifted weight on her feet, feeling even more uneasy. Gwendolyns words were still sticking out in her mind and she suddenly felt very cold and empty. 'Like... death..' Taki gasped quietly, realizing what Gwendolyn was asking her about, now that she finally felt it, and looked at the ground a moment. She looked back up at Kujo.

"I didn't mean to be rude, Kujo-my appologies. I don't know all of the people in the town, since I've only been part of this group a few days. You know Siren..you're not from the town then?" Taki instinctively took a step back and bumped into Grye. "Ooof.." She turned her head to look at him and then quickly looked back to Kujo. She remembered the story of how Siren came to be part of the group and what happened to Mizuki and how little Blade was conceived.

Mizuki:

Kujo looked to Taki. 'A healer? Note to self: stay away from healer's.' he thought remembering all too well the last healer (now dead) who healed his left arm thinking he was 'badly' injured. He had made her a walking corspe until he had finally gotten bored and let her die. He almost laughed out loud from the humorous memory but caught himself.

Grye noticed a flash of humor spark then quickly die in Kujo's eye's. 'Pyscho.' he thought. Somehow it was the only word he could use to decribed this man, and he didn't even really know him yet.

Taki:

OOC: 'A healer? Note to self: stay away from healer's.' -- HAHAHAHAHA, how's he know she's a healer?

IC:

Taki twisted her face in growing confusion of his sudden outburst of laughing. Her expression changed to a harsh mother's.

"Well. What are you doing here then?" She said sternly, looking the man up and down.

Soran:

Soran awkwardly accepted Rai's hug, getting knocked back slightly as she flung herself onto him. It wasn't bad, living like this. He normally preferred to work alone, but doing this project with Rai was unexpectedly pleasant. "Bring the nails and we'll get it into the wall," he said, trying to sound stern but sounding almost friendly in the process. He picked up the frames and the window and carried them to the wall, setting the first frame inside the open area in the wall.

Mizuki:

OOC: Well, he's death and she's life. POLAR OPPOSITES! lol

"Well. What are you doing here then?" Taki said sternly. Kujo gave her an impassive glance her way.

"I'm trying to find..... someone." he said shrugging her off. He wasn't too interested in giving these people the detail's of exactly who he was looking for, and the last thing he needed was them knowing her but keeping him from her. Yeah, once his left arm became exposed, which normally always happened, people became unwilling to talk and the next thing he knew there were people trying to heal him, thinking they were 'helping'. 'The only help they were giving out was to their own's demise.' he thought.

Siren:

Siren stared blankly at the cloaked figure for a minute, looking his form over more carefully to note the bulges under his cloak that were probably his wings.

“Zetsumei Kujo…Kujo... Kujo...” she muttered, taping her cheek with her finger. “Hmm, didn’t I feed you food that had a diarrhea potion in it once and you threatened to kill me? No... that was Maddis.” She grinned at the memory. “You don’t look like a warrior…”

She thought about it hard for a moment, searching her memory. Suddenly her eyes went wide and she reflexively gripped the handle of her whip, still tied around her waist, and crouched in a defensive posture with her eyes narrowed. Memories of when she was a child and first met the strange man, filtered through her mind.

Siren, around the age of six, had been playing in the airspace near the city with her pet falcon, Quip, when they had intruded on the man’s privacy as he read a thick book in the upper tree-branches of one of the ancient trees nearby. Quip had perched on the branch to rest, and as Siren approached to greet the strange angel, she could only watch in horror as he reached out his hand and throttled the bird, squeezing its tiny neck till its eyeballs bulged and it suffocated. She had flown home crying and reported what she had seen. Much later his name was all over headlines when his crimes escalated to killing other individuals.

“Murderer,” she hissed. “What do you want with us then.”<br>
OOC: I keep laughing whenever I hear the name "Kujo" though! there's an illegal pet hampster on campus named Kujo, so I keep visualizing an hampster with wings and fangs or something!

Taki:

OOC: opposites, eh? opposites...attract... haha, no im not gonna do that

IC:
Taki folded her arms. 'He's right to not trust us..' She thought. If he was a dark angel she had a hunch she knew one of the three people he could be looking for and Siren was already ruled out, so that left two people. Soran and Mizuki.

"Well fine then, we could help you find h-...the person you're looking for but.." Taki shrugged, after almost saying 'her' "I guess not, good day then. If you'll excuse us, we have work to do and a house to build." Taki was almost glaring at Kujo with cold blue eyes. The fairy turned to Siren and muttered under her breath to find Soran. She turned back towards the house and went into Mizuki's room, sitting at her bedside. "You are one with the men Mizuki..." She said quietly with a smirk.

Mizuki:

Kujo looked her way. "Finally you remember! Hey, the falcon distrubed me, and I want nothing with you." he said blankly. Then he looked her over and smirked. "Well, maybe you'll come in handy.... soon." He remembered the female body that was only half finished he had back in his home that was on the outskirt's of the Dark Angel fortress city. 'I believe I still need a 'decent' size chest still and some hands and a head....' he thought pondering everything he still needed to finish the body for Alexial's rencarnation.

He looked at Taki after she spoke and watched her go in the house. 'I'd go after you too but if I even as so touch you the decomposing process backtracks!' he thought angrily pretending to throttle her in his mind.

Siren:

A cold shiver ran down Siren's spine as the remorseless man spoke, then continued to mumble about body parts he needed for something. She covered her chest protectively with the arm that was not holding the whip.

"If you want nothing with us, I suggest you leave," she hissed. "Promptly."

She was so full of rage at the sight of him that her whip inadvertantly coiled around a small rock and crushed it in it's coils, reacting to her aggressive brain waves.

Emora:


Rai grabbed the bag of nails and walked behind Soran with a happy smile, holding the bag in her arms and cradling it. She stood behind him, very small compared to his muscular frame. She watched him tilting her head as a soft wind blew her pretty skirt around and her hair behind her.

“Soran… How long will to be until Mizuki wakes up? I want to tell her that I hammered and didn’t hurt you!” she said from behind him as a black feather rolled across the ground and the wind blew it to her feet. She looked at it and bent forward. “Hmm…” she hummed and reached out with a hand and picked the feather up. With a giggle Rai snuck forward and tried to tickle Soran with the black feather.

Mizuki:

Kujo watched, amused at Siren's rage and anger boiling up. He shrugged then walked off passing Soran and Rai who were happily working on the window. He glared at their ears. 'POinted ears.... not right.' he thought. Strange thinking from a man infatuated with death, but still he found elven ear's wrong. He kept walking but his path shifted to the forest.

"There's something with those people, like they were protecting something after the beautiful Siren practically anouced my behavior to them all..... " he said in a low voice to himself as he dissapeared in the tree's. Then he remember'd Soran and abruptly turned around. "That was the damn rouge who took Alexial away!" The realization hit him fast and he smiled maniacly. "Well then that deffinatly put an end to my search." He jumped into a tree and waited for his oppurtunity.

Soran:

"Six days, counting this one," he said flatly, placing the frame into the wall. Rai's feather had little effect through his shirt and he snatched it from her with a hint of amusement in his eyes, sticking it into her hair without giving it much thought. He took the nails from the bag and after a minute the frame was fastened into the wall. He carefully set the window in against it, then inserted the insulation and closed the sandwich with the second frame. He began hammering in the last of the nails.

Emora:


Rai spotted the man and turned from tickling Soran and watched as he walked off. She shivered from the dark feeling she felt from him and that wise looked came over her face again. Maybe it was strange things that set it off or high emotions. Rai could never figure it out. It was just sometimes when someone really bad was around, or something very sad to her was happening that she could feel this since of wisdom come over her and it guided her in things she did.

Rai thought she said a feather fall from him... Was that where the feather was from? Rai decided to tell him he was loosing his feathers... He might go bald! But, when she went to he was gone. She shrugged and went back to watching Soran work on the frame. The feather stuck in her hair and she laughed at the funny shadow it made. Rai danced around with the feather in her hair and watched Soran as he finished the window.

Taki:

After a while of sitting with Mizuki, Taki rose to find Gwendolyn who was sitting with the family. Blade was asleep along with Micheal's family. Taki uneasily walked up to Gwendolyn.

"Can... can I talk to you?" Taki looked up at Gwendolyn with sad, worried dread in her eyes. "I... I felt the death.." The fairy hugged her arms around herself tightly and shivered at the thought of Kujo again. No doubt he was looking for Mizuki or Soran... She told Gwendolyn about Kujo and what he said and what Taki's hunch was.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn listened and nodded agreeing with her. "My daughter always had a flare for atttracting the wrong kind of men, maybe even in her last life. So far Soran's the only good one she's had with her... and Grye but not in the way I'm thinking." she said to Taki. "Unfortuantly if he's looking for Soran or Mizuki I'm afraid he's found them. All we can do is keep our guard up I'm afraid." Gwendolyn looked toward's her daughter's room and walked into it with Taki following her. She set Blade down in his crib next to Mizuki's bed.

"It's like we're sittingduck's." she said mornfully.


Siren:

Siren's body quivered visibly once Kujo left, and she dropped to her knees, still clenching the whip.

"Grye... I don't know what he is after, but taking into consideration the sheer amount of trouble this group gets into... this is a very, very bad thing." She looked over her shoulder at the man still standing there. "Tell Gwendolyn to keep alert to anything she 'sees'. I'm going to find Soran."

She stood up shakily and made her way around the house to where hammering noises were echoing from. She sighed in relief that Soran and Rai seemed impervious to the events that had just taken place, but her eyes narrowed at once on the huge feather sticking out of Rai's hair.

Siren rushed over and gently removed the feather, holding it away from them a bit.

"You shouldn't keep such dirty things in your hair Rai! You have no idea where this has been." She smiled weakly at the young girl, then turned to Soran.

"Can I speak to you when you're finished?" She asked nonchalantly. "I think there's something you might be wanting to know."

Taki:

Taki hung her head in disappointment, hoping Gwendolyn would be able to tell her what to do or why she had felt that cold, empty feeling.

"Should I..go inform the others?" She asked quietly? Taki walked back outside after Gwendolyn nodded to her. She quickly told Grye and Naoki and then went around the house to see Siren with Soran and Rai. Siren was holding a black feather in her hand.

Emora:


Rai looked at Siren strangely, wondering why she would take the feather away from her. It wasn’t bad, just a feather. Siren had them. “It’s fine I’ll wash my hair!” she said and reached for the feather, but Siren was holding it just out of her reach. She looked up at Siren with pleading eyes. “Can I please play with it?”<br>

Siren:

Siren bit her lip a little, looking at Rai worriedly and almost considering pulling out one of her own, aqua tipped feathers for Rai to play with, but quickly decided against that.

She looked at the feather again, frowning.

"Well, I guess it's ok for just a little while," she said, forcing a smile and sticking the feather back in Rai's hair. It was just a feather after all... But it made her nausious just looking at the thing and knowing where it came from.


Taki:

Even if Rai was young, she deserved to know and better to keep everyone on guard. Taki walked up to them and explained what she and Gwendolyn had been talking about earlier. She looked uneasily at Soran, waiting for a reaction.

"You didn't see him... did you?" She asked quietly.

Mizuki:

Grye and Naoki walked back inside feeling very unnerved. Naoki had to go check on Mizuki again just to make sure she was safe in bed. When Grye and her entered Gwendolyn was already there.

"Gwendolyn...." Naoki started before Gwendolyn cut her off.

"I already know Naoki." she said sadly. "And it's best if we stay on guard."

"I'll keep a watch on the roo at night..... would it help any?" Grye suggested and gwendolyn nodded in approval. They all stared at Mizuki's peacefull sleeping form and almost wished she'd never wake up so she didn't find out the new danger that just arrived.

Emora:


Rai grinned now that she had the feather back and she took it from her hair to twirl it in her fingers. “I saw him!” she said in mid leap in one of her funny looking childish dances. She giggled as the feather tickled the side of her face. She skipped around in circles until she tripped and fell over to the ground. She sat there for a moment and then sat up and looked at them. “I think the poor man is going bald…” she said and held up her feather. “Do angels go bald?… Do they look like plucked chickens?”<br>

Taki:

"Didn't you listen to what I just explained, Rai? He's bad! He wants to hurt Mizuki or Soran! Would you like to lose your parents a second time?" Taki sighed. She was being very blunt and straight forward with the child and felt that maybe she was being too harsh, she was only a child afterall. "Im sorry, I didn't mean to sound so harsh.."

Siren:

Siren sighed and looked up at the sky.

"He's not just bad. He's downright evil. Infamous in the Angel community for performing... experiments on other Angels and creatures before killing them. And that's not all that worries me..." She paused and looked into the distance contemplatively.

"He looks almost exactly the same as he did when I was six. Only maybe a bit colder if that's possible."

OOC: ack! gotta run to work! I'll see if i can get a computer there... if not... this might be my last post till after 11 or sporadic ones every hour or so.

Soran:

Soran looked from Siren to Taki as the two approached him and explained what had happened. The relatively calm expression he had worn while working with Rai was now frozen over into his usual icy demeanor. "I saw nothing. Which way did he go?" the rogue said coldly. The first thought on his mind was to go after the bastard and slice him open before he could even find the opportunity to approach Mizuki. Anger seethed at the back of his mind.

Taki:

Taki shivered at the thoughts of experimentation and killing for boredom.

"Would that make him... undead?" She asked, even more uneasy than before. "I take it, this is the hardest 'bad guy' that you've had to deal with yet, Soran...." The fairy's voice trailed off and she sighed.

Emora:


"Didn't you listen to what I just explained, Rai? He's bad! He wants to hurt Mizuki or Soran! Would you like to lose your parents a second time?"

Rai didn’t even star around long enough to listen to the rest of it. When Taki yelled at her she cringed back and took a step behind her. But, when she was finished Rai decided to excuse herself quickly and ran around the side of the house as Taki brought back the memory of Shea murdering her parents.

It hadn’t been that long and Rai had done well to push it from her mind. But, Taki had brought it flooding back and she couldn’t help the horrible emotion that flooded through her tiny heart.

Would you like to lose your parents a second time?"

Rai walked as far from the house as she could get with out going into the woods and she sat down in a pile of wet dead leaves. She hugged her knees to her chest and sat her head upon them. A tear fell from her eyes as the memory replayed over and over in her head.

Mizuki:

Kujo watched the little child run away from the side of the house and the group she stood with. 'Something upset her.' Kujo grinned and just watched lazily as she sat on dead leaves.

" 'Tiny little child ran to the wicked witch's arm's unaware of the danger that lurked about her. And before the child could scream she was eaten for the witch's dinner.' " he said too himself, remembering an old childhood story that would frighten children away from the woods.

He had no intention of going up to her and possibly kidnapping her for the amusement. He'd save that for later. The wind caught up and more of his black feather fell from his wings.


Emora:


Rai looked around as a feather flew by and then another. She just closed her eyes and rested her head on her knees once again. Was Taki still mad at her for telling her that it was wrong to force Soran to kiss Mizuki? Was that why she was so harsh? Rai didn’t know why, but all the sudden it felt as if Taki didn’t like her very much anymore.

Rai just hugged her knees and stared at a feather that had landed in front of her. She had dropped hers while running from the house.

Soran:

Taki still hadn't answered him, but the rogue's anger receded slightly when Rai ran off. He knew nothing about this enemy, and wanted to talk to Siren more about exactly what power he had, but if Rai ran off alone she could become a target too, so for the moment he made the child his priority. "Gather everyone inside. We should form a plan to deal with this," he said to Taki and Siren, "I'll be there in a minute." He picked up his blades from the grass and walked around the side of the house to where Rai sat crying quietly at the edge of the yard. Soran went to her an sat down next to her, looking away toward the woods. He really didn't know how to deal with little girls, much less little girls that were crying. "Try not to go off alone for a while," he said solemnly, fastening the bracers that supported his heavy blades onto his arms. Their freshly sharpened surfaces glinted in the sunlight that was swiftly approaching dusk.

Emora:


Rai looked up and over at Soran she nodded her head, quickly wiping her tears and pretending that nothing had happened. She hadn't been listeneing or paying any attention and hadn't heard Soran come close.

"I won't... I'm sorry... It's just what Taki said..." she whispered and leaned her head on her knees. "I'll be more careful. I just wasn't listening to her... I didn't know he was so mean..."

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn had finally left the room with Naoki to make dinner... or lunch or whatever it was now, for everyone. She had to make a lot too, considering how many people were now residing in her house. As Naoki and Gwendolyn cooked, Grye kept his watch on Mizuki.

"It's amazing how many would come after you." he said only half humorous. He turned to loook out the window and he left his thoughts wander from time to time, but he kept his protective gaze on Mizuki every moment. It just took one mistake and she could be gone and they'd never find her. He had no idea what this Kujo could do, and he didn't want to find out.

"Where's Soran? We could both be watching you." he said to himself more than anyone else.

Soran:

Soran looked down at Rai, a hint of gentleness coming back to his face for a moment. "Nobody else is going to die," he said firmly, "We're all with you, and we're not going anywhere." The words were strange on his lips, but he felt they were true. The rogue rose back to his feet and hend his hand out to Rai unconsciously. Despite himself, he'd become so used to the child always holding his hand that he no longer gave it a second thought. "We should go discuss this as a group," he said.

Emora:


Rai smiled softly at him and took his hand as she stood up. She held it in her small one, though his could cover hers entirely. It helped a lot to know that he and Mizuki weren't going any where. She didn't want them to die... then everyone who loved her would be dead and she would be all alone....

Toby....

It hit Rai that she hadn't seen him all day. She wondered if he was sick. She should really make sure he was okay. She loved Toby and she didn't want him to die either. Toby was a good watch dog too... he could tell when something bad was coming.

Mizuki:

Naoki welcomed Soran and Rai when they walked in.

"I imagine we have a lot of talking to do." she said to them and toook them into the kitchen. Everyone was now in there so they could disscuss what action they would take. "Let me just get Grye, he' been watching Mizuki for a short while...." she told Soran and walked into Mizuki's room and pulled out a hesitant Grye.

"But--" he was protesting.

"Don't worry, I think she'll be safe." Naoki tried to calm him. Once she got everyone in the kitchen their little meeting commenced.

Soran:

"First of all," said Soran, turning to Siren, "What exactly is this person capable of?"

Siren:

"I really wish I could tell you," Siren said. "I do know that he's the black sheep, as it were, of the Dark Angel community, choosing to specialize in Necromancy instead of fighting or the other high arts. Reports say that he's obsessed with death and has been blamed for the death of at least six angels and the significant harm of others."

Siren paused for a moment, picturing the face. "He has skin and a face so he can't be undead, as Taki suggested, right? But at the same time..." She shrugged. "Well, as I've said, he doesn't seem to have aged. And his feathers falling out is kind of creepy..."

Realizing she had gotten off-toping, she cleared her throat and finished her report.

"I haven't heard anyhing about him for a while though, and except for our one encounter, where he didn't even use magic, I don't think we've met before. So, I guess that's all I really have. Gabriel might have mentioned him once or twice... but I really can't remember in what context. Sorry guys."

She looked to Soran, wishing she knew more about this potential enemy. She really didn't want to give her chest, or any other body parts, over to Kujo.

Soran:

Soran listened carefully and thought for a moment. "Understood. We're putting ourselves in a defensive position by waiting for an attack, so Siren and I will explore the area and try to track him down. If anything goes wrong, Siren will return here to bring back support. Gwendolyn and Naoki will keep watch from both sides of the house, and Rai and Grye will stay with Mizuki and not leave her side." He looked firmly at the wizard as he spoke, then turned his attention to Taki. If they confronted this new enemy, she might be needed, but there was a similar need for her at home. "Taki can keep guard here or join the defensive group, whichever she chooses. If something goes wrong, Gwendolyn or Grye should contact us mentally." The rogue's voice was confident and authoritative, almost as if he'd done this type of thing before. He looked at them for signs of cooperation.

Taki:

"Taki can keep guard here or join the defensive group, whichever she chooses." Soran said as he faced her. She didn't know what to choose. Stay by Mizuki's side.. or go with Soran and Siren. But she could turn into her fairy form and she would go unnoticed and the forest was her natural habitat where she could easily maneuver.

"I'll go with you and Siren, but not in human form." She nodded to Soran. "When shall we start..?"

Soran:

"Immediately," the rogue responded gravely, heading toward the door.

Mizuki:

Naoki sigh deafeatedly and sat down bluntly in a chair and laid her head on the table.

"It's like going off into war!" she cried not liking this one bit. Grye put a gentle hand on her shoulder to comfort her then nodded to Gwendolyn and looked at Rai.

"Ready to watch over Mizuki like a gaurdian angel?" he asked her, trying to make it sound more fun for Rai since she was only a child. 'None of this should happen.' he thought angrily. 'Rai's just a child and shouldn't have to deal with all of this!' All he wanted was Mizuki to rest in her healing coma in peace then she could wake up in peace and they'd all just lead happy live's...

He took Rai to Mizuki's room to watch her like a hawk and Gwendolyn gathered Naoki, after she had regained herself, and they took their position's around the house, watching steadily for anything.

Taki:

Taki quickly transformed into her true form and the small fairy followed Soran and Siren out of the house. They were only a few feet from the house when Taki asked "Are we sticking together or splitting up?"

Soran:

"We should stay relatively close to one another. Siren and I will spread out slightly and take the low route. You're small enough to fly through the forested area, so you can keep watch above us. It's unlikely that he's gone far from here, considering his intentions," Soran said as they walked away from the house and toward the forested area behind it. He wore a sternly emotionless expression as he went, perturbed by his irrational instinct to go to Mizuki's side again before leaving. The blades on his arms felt heavier than usual as the house shrank behind them.

Mizuki:

OOC: WOOHOO! I'm done translating my paper into italian! (even though I BSed the whole thing ^_^;; )


Kujo watched Soran, Siren, and a little fairy woman come out of the house and in his direction. He smirked and laughed coldly to himself. He stuck out his right hand and made incantation motions with it and when he was finished, when they walked into the forest they would pay a crippling price.

Kujo made it unaviodable, even though the fairy would be impervious to it and be capable of healing the other two after the spell started rotting away their flesh, he still would find it amusing that those two would suffer some pain and agony...

Emora:


Rai sat on the bed with that Mizuki was lying on. She kicked her feet back and forth and hummed a little tune.
She looked to Mizuki and then Grye.

"Grye? How long do we have to stay in here? It's boring just sitting here...." she said and looked to him. "Are we like the guards who protect the sleeping princess? Is that why we're staying in here?"

She got off the bed and walked up to Grye. "Why couldn't I go with Soran and Siren and Taki? Is it because I'm small?"

Soran:

Soran looked around warily for signs of Kujo as they entered the forest that was already growing hazy with dusk. He walked next to Siren, both of them traveling as silently as the footing would permit. After a few minutes he became aware of an unfamiliar tingling on his skin, almost imperceptible, but steadily intensifying. An unsettling ache rose in his chest, but he tried not to think about it, deciding that maybe he had just stayed up too late the night before. His wariness grew, however, as the dim ache slowly began to spread through the rest of his body into a dull, sickening throb.


Siren:

Siren followed closely alongside Soran, unsure if it was her minor innate magical senses or just the nervousness of her stomach making her skin feel like it was crawling. As they went deeper into the forest she became aware of a dull ache in her stomach.

The ache, combined with a sickeningly sweet aroma in the air made her stomach lurch, and before she could try to controll it her breakfast was coming back out. She leaned agasint a tree with one hand, wrapping the other around her abdomen as she vommited.

With eyes wattering and a horrible taste in her mouth she looked back at Soran and Taki questioningly. "Do you guys smell that, or is it just me? I feel so odd suddenly..."

Mizuki:

Grye smiled down at Rai. "It's not your size, since Taki's with them and she reverted to her small fairy form, but it's both your protection because you're just a child and that you are enexperienced in battled." he explained to her. He took her small hands in his large one's and felt the healing magic pulsing within her.

"You do have ablities within you that you have to practice with." he smiled kindly to her. "When Mizuki wakes up, when everything is safe again, I could teach you magic. Mizuki and Soran could teach you to battle." He added with amsument. "Then we could protect princesses better than before."

Emora:


Rai looked at him and smiled. "Really! You'd teach me magic!" she said and hopped into his lap and gave a hug. "What sort of magic! Could I raise the dead?! Could I bring my parents back. I'd love to be able to raise the dead. Then I could make them come back and everything would be alright!"

Her grin was brilliant. "Will I be a warrior when I grow up. If you teach me magic and Mizuki and Soran teach me to fight will I be one?! Wow...." The girl seemed amazed at the prospect.

Soran:

Soran's gaze shot over to Siren as she became ill. When she turned back to him and mentioned the smell, the rogue's eyes narrowed. Something was very wrong with the situation. The smell was beginning to come to him too now, knotting his stomach achingly. An unpleasant thought struck him. "Did you say this guy is a necromancer?" he asked darkly.

Mizuki:

"What sort of magic! Could I raise the dead?! Could I bring my parents back. I'd love to be able to raise the dead. Then I could make them come back and everything would be alright!" Rai was asking eagarly. Grye grimaced at the prospect of raising the dead.

"Uhh-- Rai." his voice was quite. "Raising the dead... is a necromancy art... and when it does happen they don't come back wholely alive.... but yes," he continued wanting to change the suject. "You can become a warrioress and protect the people you love."

Emora:


Rai smiled and skipped around the room a second. "Will I get to fight Shea? Will I get to beat her up?! I want to! I really, really want to!" Rai said and walked to the window, looking out of it. "I want to kill her."

It was sort of creepy to look at Rai, such a small beautiful child and these dark words coming out of her mouth.

Siren:

"Yeah," Siren replied, starting to understand his implication.

"You think we're already under his spell?" She looked at Taki, who didn't seem to be in any bodily distress.

"Are you alright Taki?"

Mizuki:

"We ALL want to kill her." Grye grummbled. Just the mention of her name made his anger boil under his skin. But he snapped out of it realizing this wasn't the right kind of conversation for a child.

"Uh Rai?" Grye was asking her while looking at Mizuki's peacefull sleeping form and smiled. "Would you like to hear a story about Mizuki when she was your age?"

Emora:


Rai turned around and walked back to Grye. “Sure!” She hopped into his lap once more. “Was Mizuki afraid of spiders too? I hate spiders.” She shivered with a smile. “They’re creepy!” A strand of curly hair fell in front of her face.

Mizuki:

Grye laughed. "Well, when she was little she acted fearless, trying to be like her father." he smiled at the memory of the young Mizuki. "I had only gotten to see and meet her once but she made it feel like we spent a lifetime together. When she was about your age she would always pretend to be a fearless warrioress and run without a second thought into the woods and come back muddy from her battles with the invisible raiders that only she could see and knew about... maybe that's why she became a pirate, for the adventure..." he smiled and paused for a second watching Rai's face which was full of wonder and excitment.

"The day we finally meet she took me by the hand without a second thought and ran me to the woods showing me her 'stronghold'. She said I'd be her leutant[sp?] and if she failed to come back I was to take over. Hehe, she was rambuncious as a kid and I can imagine she still may be... once her spirits lift again... I hope..." he trailed off.

Emora:


Rai grinned and looked at Grye. Her grin slowly faded… “Who is the bad man after? Soran or Mizuki? Can I help get him… like I did Gabriel. I didn’t mean to kill Gabriel though…” Rai said and her eyes were down cast.

“So what is this bad man really? Is he really, really bad? Can I help? I want to help. Mizuki and Soran are like my mom and dad now… they’re all I have…”

Mizuki:

“Who is the bad man after? Soran or Mizuki? Can I help get him… like I did Gabriel. I didn’t mean to kill Gabriel though…” Rai said and her eyes were down cast.

“So what is this bad man really? Is he really, really bad? Can I help? I want to help. Mizuki and Soran are like my mom and dad now… they’re all I have…”

Grye smiled a soft sympathetic smile at her and hugged her. "I don't exactly know who this man is...." he told her. "But from what Siren said he is bad and we don't want to take any chances. Especially not letting you get dangerously involved..."

Emora:


Rai looked at him and tilted her head. "Why? I've been in danger before... I want to help them. I'm not afriad. I'm brave!" she said with enthusiasm. "I wasn't afriad of Gabriel. I won't be of this man!"

Rai spoke confidently, because she believed herself to be a brave little girl who could handle anything.

"When do you think he will come?"

Mizuki:

"Yes Rai you are brave but..." Grye tried to explain the best he could without wounding her pride. "This man is different than Gaberial and I don't think he would care much for the causalty of a child..."


"When do you think he will come?" Rai asked him. Grye sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"That's the problem... we don't really know.."

Emora:


Rai looked at him for a moment, her stomach growled begging for food. "I won't die," Rai said and put a reassuring smile on her face. "And neither will Soran or Mizuki. He told me that they wouldn't leave me. So that means I can't leave them!"

She smiled at him her soft smile, her bright eyes sparkling in the candle light. "Why did they go looking for him at night? Couldn't they wait until morning where they could see him. The suns setting. What if they get lost? Can we go looking for them?"

Taki:

"Im fine.." Taki nodded. "But.." She held a hand over her nose. "I do smell that..awful stench! Just incase, I should heal you two. You don't look too hot right now, Siren, and we need you." The fairy's hands were glowing golden as she surrounded Soran and Siren with a protective healing spell. "That barrier should hold off his magic for a bit, the bastard."

Soran:

Soran took a relieved breath as Taki's barrier cancelled out the magic that had been working on him. "Thanks," he said, looking at Siren to confirm that she seemed better also. "He knows we're here, and he can't be far off." The rogue narrowed his eyes knowingly as a long black feather drifted downward from a tree to their right. He glared upward into it, faintly making out a form through the leaves. He cast a telling look at the others, gesturing toward the tree, then looked up again. "You!" he demanded icily, "Come down from there." The rogue's arms tensed readily at his sides.

Siren:

Siren, now feeling imensely better, spit to the side to get some of the remaining taste of vomit out of her mouth, though it still lingered disgustingly. She looked up in the direction Soran indicated.

"Zevron!" She called out, holding her left arm out as her bracelet charm glowed and the bow materialized in her hand. In one fluid motion, she used her right hand to pull the drawstring back towards her cheek, a silvery arrow forming set on the string, and shot it off at her mark. The first shot was a warning, sinking into the tree trunk next to the figure harmlessly. She prayed it had the startling effect she hoped for.

Mizuki:

Kujo didn't flinch when the arrow was shot at the tree trunk. He actually laughed a chilling laugh.

"Little girl," he said and jumped down from the tree landing in from of them. "You can't cheat death...." he said rolling up his cloak sleeve that covered his left skeleton arm. "I am death... your death." He held his skeleton hand in front of his face watching the terror flash through all their faces with a sure delight. The wind brush his jet black hair in his face causing his eyes to look even more stone cold than before. In one fluid motion he threw off his cloak and only his shirt with the one shoulder armor over his right arm was there. His left arm was just bone all the way up until it dissapeared under the torn hem of the shirt where he ripped off the left sleeve.

Meanwhile...

Grye smiled at Rai as she reassured him she wouldn't die.
"I'm not sure if we should take the chance of looking for them," he told her. But he had an itching feeling that he should.



OOC: This has been an influence by vol. 6 of Angel Sanctuary! Lol

Taki:

"I cheat death you fake bastard, I've met death. He's in close knot with the fairy community-and I'd bet he's your hero. Well you're following the wrong dream because..." Taki was the only one to didn't have fear in her face. With one hand pointed at Soran and Siren she made the healing barrier stronger and with the other she unsheathed her father's sword from its hilt and laced it with healing magic. "With death, there is life." She had an almost menacing look in her blue eyes.

Kujo:

Kujo almost laughed himself to his own death, if that was possible.

"Stupid fairy," he snarled. "True, I may not be able to touch you, but that's only one glitch that will fix it's when I'm fully like this.." he displayed his arm again. "And when I have Alexial your lives would mean nothing to me..... even the child." His humor was now lost from his face. "The child of Gaberial will only serve as an experiment, and the little girl will serve her purpose by giving up her youthfull soul to Alexial!" He reclaimed his cloak and sprung in the air, no true intention as of yet to quarrel with them. "Alexial's spirit will be mine finally!'' Kujo flew off in the direction toward's the house.

Soran:

Soran's glare darkened as he heard the man speak the name "Alexial" that was all too familiar to him from their previous experiences. He had a feeling in his gut that this guy was a substantial threat, studyinig him carefully for potential weaknesses while he argued with Taki. Before he could make a move, however, Kujo had disappeared in the direction of the house. Warning flares went up in the rogue's mind. He would get there before them. ~'NO!'~

He had not been afraid of Kujo himself, despite his unnatural arm, but the realization that he would reach Rai and Mizuki before him sent waves of panic through him. "You two go ahead!" he shouted to the fairy and the angel, who could move faster than he, and he broke into a desperate sprint for the house.

Siren:

Siren flared out her wings and with one large flapping motion aided by a push from her knees, she took off into flight in pursuit of Kujo. As she flew, gaining on the angel whose wings were decomposing, undoubtedly limiting his flight power, she slowed a moment, leveled Zevron, and launched a silvery arrow with dealy accuracy at his back, hoping to hit at an angle to pierce through to his heart.

The arrow found its mark, biting deeply, but much to Siren's horror it didn't seem to affect Kujo in the slighest.

Eyes wide in indignated trepidation, she continued pursuit, hoping Taki could fly quickly with those tiny wings and that Grye and Rai were prepared...

Mizuki:

Grye and Gwendolyn were more than perpared. Gwendolyn had seen Kujo coming and had warned Grye of his process, they were now waiting outside for him while Rai, Naoki, Blade, and Mizuki were locked inside.

It seemed they were waiting for the right moment to attack.

"Now." Gwendolyn simply said Grye made fluid hand motion's in front of him starting a protection and warder incantation. Kujo's direct contact with invisible sheild proved it worked.

"Damn!" Kujo cried out backing off. He absently yank out the arrow and threw it to the ground. "So a barrier.... of course. Well then let me leave you with a curse!" He murmmured unheard words and inside MIzuki inherited a black cresent on her arm that blended in with her already there tattoo, and Rai and Blade gained the same marks on their foreheads.

"When Alexial finally wakes up it'll be completed, and they'll come to me wether and know it or not!" Kujo declared and dissapeared in the blink of an eye.

Inside Naoki watched from a window everything that had taken place then sighed in releif that he was gone, unaware of what he just placed on Rai's forehead.

"Well, we seem safe for now..." Naoki said then looked at Rai smiling for the releif of it. Then she noticed the mark. "Rai... what's that on your forehead?!"

Emora:


Rai waited patiently, sitting on the bed with Mizuki and she was glad when Naoki said he was gone. Then she said something about something being on her forhead. Rai put her little fingers her head and brought them down, but nothing was on it.

"I don't know... What's on it?" she asked and tilted her head up to Naoki. "Is it a bug? Is it a SPIDER?!"

Mizuki:

"There's a black cresent moon on your forhead!" Naoki said, fear seeping again into her. She glanced at Mizuki and saw nothing, checked in the mirror and saw nothing on herself. 'Blade!' she thought and rushed to his crib side and examined the sleeping babe. "He has it too....." Naoki gulped in fear sensing this wasn't good.

"But why doesn't Mizuki have one?" Naoki didn't check her friend's arm where Mizuki's tattoo perfectly hide the mark.

Grye and Gwendolyn let out a releived sigh that they didn't realize they were holding.

"He'll be back though." Gwendolyn said reluctantly. Grye put a comforting arm on her shoulder.

"But now he knows we bite back." he told her making her smile.

Emora:


Rai grew worried and ran to a mirror and looked in it. She saw the small cresent moon on her forhead. Rai turned and ran to Blade. She looked up at Naoki with worry. "Are we going to die?" she aked fearfully. Naoki was afriad because of the marks and it was making Rai scared to. "Is it bad? What is it?! Why do I have it?!"

Mizuki:

"I-I don't know!" Naoki stammered afraid. She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself. "OKay, maybe Gwendolyn will know..."

Naoki took Rai's hand and beckoned her to walk out of the room fast and outside to Gwendolyn and Grye.

Emora:


Rai grew worried and she ran a head of Naoki, calling Gwendolyn and Grye's name. "Gwendolyn! Gwendolyn! GRYE!"

Rai ran to them and grabbed Gwendolyn's hand. "What is it! What is it!" Rai was worried and afriad. She didn't want to die.

Mizuki:

"Gwendolyn! Gwendolyn! GRYE!" Rai cried out. Gwendolyn and Grye turned around to watch the little child leap at them. Gwendolyn caught Rai in her arms.

"What is it child?" she asked her.

Emora:

Rai looked at her. "Whats on my head! What is it! Naoki is worried about it! What is it! Am I going to die?!" Rai said it all very quickly and was panting from it. She was scared. What was it?!

Mizuki:

"Whoa whoa whoa Rai." Gwendolyn tried to soothe her. "You die? That's impossible! There is nothing--- oh!" she finally noticed the cresent mark on Rai's forehead and recalled Kujo's declaration of a curse. "This must be what he talking about... uh no Rai, I don't believe You'll die...hmmmm.." Gwendolyn held Rai's head for a moment and closed her eyes to see into the child's future.

Gwendolyn then soon after reopened her eyes and held the child tightly in her arms, she was disstressed. "We have to protect her, Blade and Mizuki at all costs. Once Mizuki wakes up we can't let them leave the house at all!" she told Grye who was completely flabbergasted as well as Naoki.

Soran:

Soran's state of alert lowered only slightly as he came back within sight of the house and saw Gwendolyn, Grye, Naoki and Rai standing gathered outside. He wondered whether the fact that they weren't in the house meant that the enemy had been warded off or that Mizuki was gone. It seemed Taki and Siren hadn't made it back yet, and he hoped grimly that they hadn't been attacked from the air. He ran the remaining distance to the house and halted breathlessly where the others were standing. "Has Mizuki been taken? Is anyone injured?" he asked urgently, struggling to catch his breath.

Taki:

As Taki arrived shortly after Soran, she changed back into her human form. The look on her face was mixed with worry and urgency.

"I saw him flying towards the hills in the North West!" She said breathlessly as she ran up to the group.

OOC: sorry it's so short!! X_X!! Im so busy with working on my comic's site and installing a forum and whatnot

Mizuki:

"Mizuki, Blade and Rai are safe for now..." Gwendolyn said and stiffled a sob and hugged Rai tightly.

"They're under a spell that wont take effect until Mizuki awaken's..." Naoki finished for her. The equal worry was in her eyes. Grye clenched his fists and hurried off into the house without a word. Once inside he went straight for Mizuki's room and sat beside her bed in a chair. He was staring at her hard as if all the answer's would come out of her...

Emora:


Rai looked at them. She went and ran to Soran and grabbed his had to hold it. She looked up at him, the mark clear on her forehead. She looked to Soran with her unsure and fearful eyes. “Soran… I’m scared,” she whispered up to him, not wanting many people to know the truth. She wanted them to think she was brave.

Soran:

Soran just frowned icily, concealing his reaction to what Gwendolyn and Naoki had conveyed to him. He watched with coldl unreadability as Grye took off to be with Mizuki. Not interested in occupying the same room with the wizard when it could be avoided, he shifted his attention to Rai, who had just taken his hand in her usual way.

"Soran...I'm scared," she whispered, looking up at him.

Soran glanced down at her, then knelt down to bring himself to eye level with the unusual mark he had just spotted on her forehead. He reached out with his thumb and traced it lightly, as if it might simply rub off, his face set in a thoughtful frown. "And the nature of the spell? What will happen when Mizuki regains consciousness?" he asked evenly, still holding Rai's hand in a secure grip as he examined her forehead.

Emora:


Rai looked at Soran, his hand wrapped around her small one, holding it tightly. She felt his thumb trace the strange mark on her forehead.

"And the nature of the spell? What will happen when Mizuki regains consciousness?"

Rai looked straight a head at him as he held her hand and examined her. She felt completely safe now that Soran was back and with her. She knew he would protect her, she knew that they would to… but Soran made her feel safer.

Siren:

Siren lighted down next to the group standing outside the house, a well defined frown playing across her face. Unknowing of what was going on, she turned to Gwendolyn.

"Is there a church or some other holy place around here?" If it had been well enough into the spring season for flowers a simple gravesite would have done, but she was willing, at that point, to enter a human sacred place to meet her purposes.

"I need some components."

She looked over at Soran appologetically, but he was preocupied. She had followed Gaberial a short distance, but with innefective weapons it was too foolish to follow him far.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn stood up and wiped the corners of her eyes.

"The spell...I'm not entirly sure but... it's on Rai and Blade and when Mizuki wakes up they will be in his power...." Gwendolyn said shakily.

Naoki bit her lip to the point where it may bleed. She was holding back screaming out into the sky. When she heard Siren ask them she answered her by pointing her westward to an old church building that was used rarely.

"It hasn't been in use for awhile... but why?" Naoki asked.

Soran:

Soran looked piercingly at Gwendolyn, not sure what to make of this new information. The tears in the woman's eyes and Naoki's fearful expression struck an impatient nerve for him. He resented that they seemed to have resigned themselves to Kujo's plans, but gave no voice to his disapproval.

"We have six days including this one. We will find a solution by then," he said evenly after a moment's thought, no expression in his eyes or voice. He rose again and turned to go inside, maintaining his reassuring pressure around Rai's hand.

Mizuki:

Grye concentrated on Mizuki's calm, sleeping face. She was so peacefulll it was hard to believe she would be under a spell the moment she woke up. He couldn't take it. He moved out of the room and sat in the living room with his eyes closed. He was concentrating on getting a mental contact with his father. 'Maybe he could help' was his only thought.



OOC: sorry...x_X shortness...

Soran:

"Just an idea I have," Siren said contemplatively in response to Naoki's question, stretching her wings out and taking off in the direction the half elf had indicated. (OOC: Siren asked me to post this for her)

Soran released Rai's hand as they entered the house, giving her the freedom to walk where she chose. He exchanged a brief glance as Grye passed him on the way out of Mizuki's room. Even the wizard looked like he was losing his composure. Soran could hear Siren fly off outside and the others moving to come back indoors.

Not in the mood to deal with so many people at once, he strode out of the main room and found himself outside Mizuki's door. Without much deliberation, he opened the door and entered the room, taking a seat next to her bed. He leaned roguishly forward on his knees and stared at a spot where the floor met the wall, refusing to look at the unconscious woman beside him.

Emora:


Rai looked up at Soran and held his hand as he held hers and walked with him to go inside. Toby was at the door way. He moved out of there way and sniffed Rai lightly.

Soran let her hand go and he seemed to her to almost rush out of the room. He wasn't moving that fast, it was the feel she got from him. She wanted to follow, but didn't know if he would be annoyed or not. So, she chose to follow slightly and she sat on the floor outside Mizuki's door and waited for her friend to return.

Soran:

Soran sat in contemplative silence for some time, leaning forward on his elbows and staring at the wall. He was trying to think of a way around the situation Kujo had created. With little to no understanding of magic, the only weapon the rogue had to use against this type of thing was his mind, but he was having difficulty thinking clearly. His thoughts incessantlly strayed toward Mizuki. Would she be different when she woke up? Would she recognize him? He wanted more information about the spell Kujo had used, but the others had already explained to the best of their knowledge.

Should he have Taki cast more magic on Mizuki to prevent her from awakening? No, her body couldn't survive that long without nourishment, even with her body functions minimized through magic as they currently were. Should they restrain her? He frowned. And what of Rai? He could not picture the small child being possessed by some outside being. Perhaps the whole prediction was in error; Gwendolyn's visions had been proven false before. The rogue put little stock in fortune-telling to begin with. It was only because the seer clearly possessed at least some telepathic powers that the rogue entertained the possibility that she spoke the truth.

Soran took a slow, deep breath that disguised a low sigh and leaned his forehead onto the knuckles of his left hand, still refusing to look at Mizuki, and haunted by an exhaustion that was not merely physical.

Taki:

Taki winced in pain as some of her hair strands ripped out when she was pulling her hair up in a tie frustratedly. She didn't care if Soran needed a minute, they didn't have a minute to spare and they were still without plan. The fairy strode after the rogue elf and into Mizuki's room.

"We need a plan and quick. I don't know if my spell has been counter effected by his. Necromancer and fairy magic doesn't mix well because mine is life and his is death. I saw him fly northwest, into the mountains. I don't know what you want to do with that information. In the meantime, I'll leave you alone and scan through one of my books for another spell for Mizuki." The fairy was blunt and turned out of the room, minding not to step on little Rai. She took a few steps towards her room, stopped, and then turned towards Rai with a sympathetic look on her face. She kneeled down before the child and stroked her hair. "Im sorry for what I said earlier. You aren't going to die, I promise." Her voice was motherly and she smiled to Rai before going into her room and taking out a bag that had small books in it. She held up a golden glowing hand to change it's size to a human size and fingered through the pages.

OOC: Im staying home sick annnd fairies can shrink/enlarge matter. There was something else I was going to say but...

Emora:


Rai looked up at Taki and smiled softly. She only nodded to what she said. After all she hadn't said anything about Rai dying... just loosing her parents again. Rai would rather die than lose her parents or some one close to her again.

She watched quietly as Taki disappeared and she rose from her seat on the floor and opened the door quietly, peering in before going any further.

She saw Soran sitting on the bed with Mizuki. Rai walked up close to him and put her hands on his knees. She then wrapped her arms around his middle and pulled herself closer to hug him, never saying a word.

Mizuki:

Naoki and Gwendolyn walked in. Naoki was holding a emotionaly exuahsted seer and lead her to her bed.

"Rest my Lady Seer." Naoki said motherly and laid Gwendolyn on her own bed. Gwendolyn smiled at her.

"I haven't heard you say that in awhile... you treat me like your mother." Gwendolyn said in a tired voice. Naoki smiled back and kissed Gwendolyn's forehead.

"You treat me like a mother would. You were always like a second mother to me. Now rest." Naoki saw Gwendolyn clse her eyes to sleep then walked out of the room. She looked at Grye and sat down next to him putting a hand on his shoulder.

Grye stirred from his thoughts and magic after trying and failing to contact his father. "Eh?"

"I know it's hard. But we are all working on this, we'll save them." she was only half confident. Grye nodded then rubbed his eyes.

"I guess I could create a protective barrier around the home warding off any evil presences...." he told her. "But it would take a lot out of me since I would need to replenish it every 12 hours.... but I'll do anything to protect you all." he got up to work on the barrier and Naoki watched him leave and heard him land on the roof. Naoki hugged herself and was soon lost in her troubled thoughts.

OOC: we were all wondering where ya were Taki... your ENTIRE bus stop wasn't there! Lol

Soran:

Soran was carefully weighing the new information Taki had told him with what he already knew, staring coldly into space, when he heard Rai come up to him and place her hands on his knees, then pull herself up to him in a hug. The rogue lifted his forehead away from his knuckles and looked down at her alertly. He instinctively tensed at the contact, stopping his arms before they could automatically try to push her away. All traces of the relaxed mood he'd been in before were now gone from his face, and his old closed-off wariness had returned, though a fading trace of warmth managed its way into his voice as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and asked, "Do you feel any different?" The back of his mind was still contemplating a plan, and one strategy had come to mind that seemed likely to be effective, but also highly unpopular due to its risks. He let it develop in the back of his mind for the time being.

Emora:


Rai couldn’t exactly get her arms all the way around Soran’s waist, but she could still hug him. “I don’t feel different,” she said softly and hugged him tighter. “Do I look different?” she asked, which was an odd question since she had a crescent on her forehead.

“What do we do?” she asked quietly. “Never mind… I’m sure people have been asking you that a lot…”

Soran:

Soran calmed slightly despite himself at the child's amusing question about her appearance. He decided to run the idea forming in his head by Rai to see how she felt about it.

"There is one idea that seems feasible. When Mizuki awakens, it's not clear what will happen to you, but Kujo seems to want you in his possession. Most likely, both of you will lose yourselves and the magic will lead you to where he is. Unless we can find a way to undo or block his magic, which Taki and Grye seem to be working on, the only way to keep you in the house will be to physically restrain you. But, depending on the strength of the spell, this might result in you two injuring yourselves and possibly us as well in your struggle." The rogue paused thoughtfully for a moment, making sure of what he wanted to say. "The other option is to allow both of you to go to him." He spoke a bit faster before a misunderstanding could occur. "And you would lead us to where he is. When we found him, we would confront and defeat him before he has the opportunity to do you or Mizuki any harm. The risk is that defeat would have dire consequences, and abandoning the fight would not be an option. Presumably, though, we will need to fight him at some point - if not now, then soon. I feel it's better to do so on our terms than his." He watched Rai for a sign of how this plan struck her.

Emora:


Rai looked up at him, her arms still around his waist. She sighed heavily and climbed up into his lap, sitting on one of his knees. "Hmm..." she hummed and put her small hand on his shoulder. "I think you'll make the best decision when the time comes..." she said softly.

She looked up at him, looking very strange with the shape on her head. "Soran? Why do people always want Mizuki so badly? And why do I seem to be caught up in it again. Used to I had one problem... now I haven't got that problem... but another one. Well... at least Mizuki doesn't have to go through it alone...."

"Will you have to tie me up?" she asked all of the sudden and looked up at him. "How can I hurt myself if you tie me up. You should... I don't want to go to him... I wouldn't mind... I'll understand..." She smiled at him softly.

Mizuki:

Grye worked on the barrier spell from the roof. It was taking him some time to finish since it was something he rarely did and he needed all of his concentration or it would fail. His forehead broke into a cold sweat as he worked on it, trying to get the spells right and forming them where they should be.

If his father were here helping they'd get it done faster, but he couldn't reach his father meaning Lorel blocked himself off from any conections that could've been made... Grye would have to deal with that later.

Naoki made sure that Micheal's family was alright and when she was satisfied she went off to find Taki in her room pouring over her books.

"Need any help?" she managed to say that broke the concentration the fairy had.

OOC: people want Mizuki so much because..... er... maybe just because I like interesting things happening!? ^_^;; lol

Soran:

Soran nodded, understanding. If the child did not want to go there, then their options were clear. They would have to restrain Mizuki and Rai carefully and put up whatever magical precautions the spellcasters in the group could conceive of. The idea of binding the child and Mizuki's unconscious body bothered him, and could be dangerous if the spell caused them to become violent, but they would have to do their best.

"Then we will protect you from here," he said earnestly. "It certainly is unusual for so many of these incidents to happen in a row, but as far as I can make out they are unrelated, so the only explanation is that we've just been blessed with very bad luck." The rogue didn't believe in luck, and his skepticism for the term came out in his pronunciation of it.

Emora:


Rai smiled softly, and almost understandingly. "I never thought I had good luck any way," she said and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Do you think it might be because Mizuki came home? Maybe we should leave! Go some place far away! Maybe the Queen could protect us. Mommy said she was a beautiful sweet woman..."

Rai's sparkling eyes looked up at Soran. Strong, quite, brooding Soran... "Maybe we could go sailing? I've never been to the beach before... actually... I haven't been to many places..." She grinned and kissed Soran's cheek quickly.

Soran:

Soran stared at the wall again and listened to Rai. Her idea to get far away from this place didn't strike him as half bad, but he kept this sentiment to himself.

"Maybe we could go sailing? I've never been to the beach before... actually... I haven't been to many places..." the child was saying eagerly.

Soran had also never seen the ocean, that he could remember. It wasn't the kind of thing he placed much value in, but at the moment it sounded somewhat inviting. "Yeah...sometime," he mumbled in agreement.
Rai's sparklingly bright, affectionate eyes caught the rogue off guard as he looked down at her, his ears burning slightly at the child's loving behavior.

He turned his gaze finally toward Mizuki, whose deathly still, sleeping face looked as unnatural to him as it had when she'd first been put under the spell. "We should go talk with the others," he said in a calm, distant tone, plans and counterplans and countercounterplans running through his head once again.

Emora:


Rai nodded and hopped off his lap then reached for his hand. Her tiny hand wrapped around two of his fingers and tugged lightly for him to stand. Her eyes sparkled and she smiled sweetly. But, yawned after a second.

"Its seems like its been forever since Mizuki was awake... I wish there was a way to wake her up sooner... I miss her..." she said softly and leaned over the bed and kissed Mizuki's cheek. "Sleep well...."

Taki:

OOC: Actually I think it's been 3 days already.. since Taki put the spell on her and they should only have 4 days...

IC:
Taki had been looking at two books at once, with many others littered over her bed. One book in her hand was opened to dark angels and the other, in her lap, was opened to a chapter on necromancy. She muttered incoherently and hrrmmmed every now and again, weighing the powers of the two subjects mixed together. She payed close attention to the weaknesses of both and crossed out what would be countered and added in a list of weaknesses on a pad of paper she was taking notes on. She jumped when Naoki entered and looked up, glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose.

"Oh! You startled me, Naoki. I was just figuring out what his possible weaknesses are... and what powers the combination of being a dark angel-necromancer give him." The fairy sighed and pointed to two or three books on magical and mortal advantages against dark arts and necromancy and motioned with another pad of paper for Naoki to look through them and take extensive notes. "You can look through these and find out what me and Grye are capable of, combined-look under wizard and fairy. And you'll have to look at that one" She said, pointing to a fourth book "..for human defences against him. And Im still looking for his curse."

Soran:

Soran followed Rai's gaze to Mizuki again. "I miss her," the child was saying. Something undefined flickered in his eyes for an instant before they hardened again. "Let's find the others," he said flatly, turning to leave the room.

Mizuki:

OOC: ...as I sit here eating what's left of a carton of ice cream.. mmm... ice cream... somehow I think this is what Ryo would be doing in -FAKE-.. or Dee or even JJ!.. lol


Naoki nodded and did what Taki told her to do. She grabbed the books and sat down in a chair opposite of Taki and began sifting through the pages trying to find what she was told to look for. 'Now I remember why I hated school...' she thought but concentrated to her fullest on the books.

Grye was finally done the barrier. He finished putting on it's invisblity and he was tired to the extent on collasping where he was. But he manage to make it back inside the house and when he entered he literally fell on the bed after closing the door after him. He fell into a deep sleep since all the magic he used practically drained all the magic he had!

Soran:

Soran appeared in the doorway of the room where Taki and Naoki were busily researching into their options. He entered after pausing a moment and leaned against the wall silently. He sensed it was too soon to ask them about the results of their research, so he pushed back that impulse. He pushed off the wall and leaned over the table, noticing a book in the pile titled "Hand to Hand Combat and the Necromantic Arts." He picked it up and began thumbing through it with outward indifference.

Taki:

OOC: dear god... blood loss... tired and bitchy... uurk! -falls over-

IC:
"If you're going to look through that, take notes." Her voice was sharp and she didn't look up from her spellbook. The fairy cracked her back and stretched, having sat in the same position for an hour at least already. "I could heal him, but the drawbacks would be that one of his powers include mind control and I would be the equivalent of a puppet." Taki actually had a sarcastic drawl in her voice, despite the situation at hand.

Mizuki:

Naoki shook her head while looking through the book. "I found something but... you already may know this." She read the passage outloud to them:

" 'Necromancy is weak against healing. The polar opposite to death. Countering necromancy art's requires new life.....' And from there it just goes on about necromancy." Naoki told them. "New life?" She pondered it. "What does it mean?"

Taki:

Taki Sighed. She thought out what she would explain carefully, thinking over each word. She stood up from the bed and sighed again, beginning to pace the room.

"It means..." She started, her voice heavy. "That a new life would have to be sacrificed to set free it's pure spirit. The pure spirit is the truest form of life, and thus is essential to the forbidden spell." She paused in the middle of the room, wrappping one arm around her stomach and squeezing the bridge of her nose with the other. "Blade is the newest, and purest life we have." She finished with a heavy sigh and went back to the book she was researching.

Mizuki:

Naoki stood up immediantly and pointed an accusing angry finger at the fairy.

"NO WAY! I would rather give up my life than kill Mizuki's son!" Naoki cried out angrily. Why? Why would it have to be that way? "If Mizuki was awake she'd slap you for even saying it!" tears threatened the corner's of her eyes. "There's another way! There has to be! There has to be! Look through everything!" Naoki was in a full panick. There was no way she'd kill her best friend's child. She quickly looked over to Soran' and Rai to see their faces.

"You wouldn't take that action Soran, would you?" Naoki asked him trying hard to keep her anger and tears in check now.

Taki:

Taki layed back against her pillow and grumbled, obviously displeased at the expected reaction.

"That is exactly how I knew you would react to that option. That is why I didn't want to mention the forbidden spell, I am not suggesting- you asked me to explain. You're panicking, Naoki. Stop it." She chided, sitting back up again to look Naoki square in the eye. "There are other options. I am not a murderer."

Soran:

Soran offered Naoki a sharp glance in disapproving response to her frantic behavior, then returned to what he'd been reading. After several moments he had gathered the gist of the chapter's meaning, having an unusually high reading speed.

"It seems that certain spells he uses, including mind-control spells, require sustained concentration on his part. It's possible that if my willpower is not high enough, I will be vulnerable to those spells, but I'm also the most capable of physically interrupting him with a direct attack. So, here is one option." He paused a second, grimly thinking the plan over. "His greatest weakness is probably Taki's magic, though, as you said. If the magic users can conceive of an appropriate magical attack, Siren and I will serve as the distraction and attempt to hold him off until you can complete your spell.

Emora:


Rai listened to them quietly. She then tugged lightly on Soran's hand. "Soran... I can heal him... I don't have any other powers that I know of...." Rai still didn't realize the factshe could read minds. "I could do it..."

She wanted to help, she wanted too. She was a part of it. She deserved to be able to help.

Mizuki:

Naoki tooked deep breaths. Relived that they wouldn't hurt Blade. She had to calm her nerves since she was one the edge.


"It seems that certain spells he uses, including mind-control spells, require sustained concentration on his part. It's possible that if my willpower is not high enough, I will be vulnerable to those spells, but I'm also the most capable of physically interrupting him with a direct attack. So, here is one option. His greatest weakness is probably Taki's magic, though, as you said. If the magic users can conceive of an appropriate magical attack, Siren and I will serve as the distraction and attempt to hold him off until you can complete your spell." Soran said. Naoki took a quick glance out of the room to see Grye out cold.

"Well, we'll have to go over this again with Grye and Gwendolyn, who possibly may already know anyway, because Grye's out cold from putting up a barrier to keep Kujo away..." Naoki told them. "I'm not sure how long he'll be out, he said it would take a lot out of him, even more since he has to replenish it every 12 hours..."

Taki:

"Along with my spell, which Im undecided whether I should heal him and then kill him-which I can do, mind you, with consecutive spells or just use one big spell-and the forbidden spell is out of the question, obviously" she added, shooting a look at Naoki. She thought over Rai's input, hmming in thought. "Rai... it would be very dangerous, but I could put a protective barrier-laced with Grye's magic, around you and you could heal him... do you need to touch to heal?" The fairy got up and started pacing again, her thoughts racing. "Oh, what I was saying before- I can help your distraction with small spells that make ropes out of plant life, it's not very effective unless I use a lot, so a forest is preferred for a fight if you want that..but it would help."

Mizuki:

Naoki nodded then left the room saying a quick "excuse me", and went into Mizuki's room. She walked in quietly, so not to wake Blade or somehow mess up Mizuki's healing coma (if that's possible), and she picked up Blade holding him gently to her.

"Shh.... everything will be ok," she told the sleeping babe. She held him protectivly, like the surrogant mother until the reall one comes back. "Your mommy will be awake soon..." then she grimaced, when she's awake she may possibly be under Kujo's spell....

Naoki took a seat on the chair next to Mizuki's bed and cried softly. "When can we live happily in peace...?" she whispered to herself and the baby.

Soran:

Soran listened to Taki's tactical ideas with approval. "It seems things have come down to a matter of waiting for Mizuki's awakening," he said ambiguously.

Emora:


Rai looked up at Taki. "Yes... I have to touch them... I think... I don't know. I don't even know how I do it. I just want it and it happens..."

Rai hugged Soran's hand to her as if it were a baby doll of some sort. She looked up at him through her pale blue-gray eyes. "If we go to sleep early morning comes faster! I learned that. If we sleep all day tomorrow to in no time Mizuki will be awake!" Her expression was of desperation, she really wanted to help... not to mention she was tired.

Taki:

"Rai.." Taki held out a hand to her. "Before you go to bed, I just want to test something.." She whispered a spell and traced a nail across her hand, blood appeared and her hand was cut. "Don't come here, see if you can heal me from there..Of course, you'll be under his spell.." She finished with an aside to herself.

Mizuki:

Naoki tried to regain herself and sat up straigth on the chair. Blade started to coo and make small baby noises. He was looking at her with his deep green eyes full of wonder for the world he was in. Naoki smiled gently at him.

"Little children shouldn't be born into despair..." Naoki said gently and hugged Blade. She stood up and walked back into the room Taki and everyone else was in holding Blade. She blinked a few times seeing Taki's hand bleeding and her beckoning Rai to try and heal it from where she stood. Naoki mentally shrugged and turned to Soran with Blade staring up at him also.

"Soran, as Siren returned from where she had gone?"

Soran:

Soran frowned. "She said nothing to me about exactly where she was going. It seems she's planning something." He looked down at Blade and found the child staring intently back at him. Soran studied the child curiously for a moment.

Emora:


Rai looked at her, still holding Soran's hand. "I don't think I can..." she said in a whining way and looked up at Taki. She bit her bottom lip and contemplated it for a second....

She stared at Taki's hand and narrowed her eyes. Come on... she thought. Come on... Please... I need to be able to do this... Mizuki needs help...

A soft glow was on Taki's hand but faded quickly, leaving nothing. Nothing had happened and the cut was still there. So Rai tried hard.

She tried again, she stared at the cut and her fist clenched and she was holding Soran's hand tightly. She whispered, "Come on..." over and over very softly to the poiont where it wwas barely able to be heard.

After several long seconds however Rai's head began to hurt from consentrating so hard and right when she was about to give up totally the light reappeared on Taki's hand and when it was gone so was the cut.

Rai sighed and unclenched her fist and her hand on Soran's, just holding it lightly.

She looked up at Soran and put a hand to her head. "My head hurts..."

Soran:

Soran was surprised by the strength of the child's grip as she struggled to perform her magic. When she had finally succeeded, her clutch slackened so quickly that at first he thought she had fainted. He looked watchfully from Taki's healed palm down to Rai, who was looking up at him dazedly.

"My head hurts," she murmured.

Soran kneeled beside her protectively and held her around her shoulders to support her. "That's enough," he told her worriedly. He looked up at Taki and nodded, noting that her hand seemed to be healed. It had been a worthwhile experiment, but such a small wound took this much out of Rai, it might be dangerous to try something more serious. "I'll put her to bed." He let the child hold onto his hand and led her toward her own room.

Emora:


Rai looked up at Soran as he led her to the room where she'd be sleeping alone. Rai was afriad to sleep alone. When she reached the bed room she looked up at Soran and opened the door to her nice warm bed room. She looked around worriedly for a moment and then stepped inside with him.

She jumped into the bed as if there was some sort of creature under it that would snatch her under it quickly. She pulled the covers over her head for a split second and then sat up. She reached out for Soran with both her hands.

Soran:

Soran watched Rai perform a strange maneuver to get into her bed, confused by her antics. Then she held her arms out to him searchingly. The rogue followed into her room and sat next to her on the bed, wondering at the realization that he was, in effect, tucking her in. The rogue had never been able to conceive of himself doing something like putting a child to bed before. "When you heal people, it hurts you, right?" he asked, looking at the stained glass window in the wall, through which the moonlight was filtering to cast a gentle blue light through the room.

Emora:


Rai laid her head on the pillow and looked up at it him. She yawned lightly and stared at him for a moment longer. "Sometimes," she said softly. "I guess when its really bad. But it goes away!" She added the last part quickly. "Why do you ask?"

Her face glowed lightly in the pale moonlight. the stained glass window casting colored images on her bed.

Mizuki:

Naoki watched them then sighed. She walked over to Taki and still held Blade.

"Wha-what were you trying to do?" she asked her.

Soran:

Soran frowned and looked away. He didn't like the idea of the small child enduring pain in their places. "Listen... If I'm injured when we're fighting this guy, don't heal me unless it's a matter of life and death. It doesn't seem natural," he said seriously.

Emora:


Rai was so confused. Natural? She wasn't natural? "I'm not normal?" she asked and tilted her head. She was confused. "Its alright. I don't mind healing people. It isn't that bad. Only hurts for a few minutes and its all worth it in the end. You wouldn't be able to protect us if I hadn't of healed you leg. It would still be bad... See... Its alright." She sat up and kissed his cheek, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him.

Soran:

Soran looked at Rai closely, as if to speak sternly to her. Instead, his expression lightened with that faint tint of pride that was becoming a familiar feeling to the rogue. "Very well," he said, messing up her hair. "Just don't push it too hard. You should get some sleep."

Emora:


Rai looked at Soran for a long moment. "Soran... Can I sleep with you? I don't want to sleep alone... Please? I promise not to wake you up!"

Rai was afraid that if she slept alone something might happen again. She hadn't slept alone since she got back from Arken and she slept in a cot in Mizuki's room.

Plus the creepy man didn't make her feel any better and it kind of gave her the shivers. "Please?" She used to sleep with her mom and dad every time she got scared.

Soran:

Soran blinked at the unexpected request. He stared at her almost warily for several moments. "Okay," he answered conclusively after the pause. "Want to go to Mizuki's room?"

Emora:


Rai looked up at him. "Are you sleeping in there?" she asked. She looked at him and grinned. She poked his stomach. "The point of this is so I won't be scared and Mizuki sort of doesn't put off that hole protection feel at the moment.... She's still sleeping..."

Rai looked at him and tilted her head. "I used to sleep with my mom and dad when I got scared or had a bad dreams. My daddy always made me feel safe because he was strong and stuff."

"But, you might not want to..." There was a long pause and then she said brightly, throwing on that fake smile she always used. "Its alright. I'll sleep in here. I'm fine! Good night." She kissed his cheek again and crawled under the covers.

Soran:

Soran looked down at Rai's sleeping form bundled into the covers. He watched her quietly for a while, her empty smile burned into his memory. He didn't want her to have to smile like that. If sleeping there would comfort her, then he would do it. After a few minutes, he sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed and removed his boots, then leaned back and lay next to her on the bed, tolerating the mattress this once.

Emora:

OOC: SO CUTE

IC: Rai was curled up on her side almost completely covered by the blanket. The only thing poking out was her nose up to the top of her head. She was breathing quietly in her sleep with her back up against Soran. She made a soft sound in her sleep and roled over, throwing an arm over Soran's neck and hugging him like a teddy bear in her sleep.

Soran:

Soran lay tensely in the child's embrace as she rolled over and clung to him, but told himself this was okay; it was okay to get close to these people. His instincts disagreed, but he overpowered them willfully, watching the child with protective green eyes until he finally managed to fall asleep.

Taki:

Taki rubbed her hand in thought. It still stung from the cut she had placed on it. Idly, the fairy stared into her palm. It had taken so much out of Rai to concentrate that hard for such a small cut. 'That won't do...' She thought with a sigh. She would be the one healing the dark angel.

Naoki walked over to Taki and still held Blade.

"Wha-what were you trying to do?" she asked her. Taki jumped out of her thoughts at Naoki's voice.

"An experiment.." The fairy murmured in response. "To see if Rai could heal from a distance without touching people, which the answer is yes but she hasn't developed the skill enough for it to be a useful weapon and thus I will be the one healing the dark angel, keeping protection spells around everyone, and casting my spells of offense.." She trailed off again in thought.

Mizuki:

Naoki nodded. "Sounds like you'll be doing a lot...umm...Grye could help you.. I mean I know he would... but right now he's really drained. You should see him passed out on the couch." Naoki tried to grasp for words and Blade squirmed slightly in her arms.

"I can help create a distraction..."

Siren:

Siren sat on the floor of the old church, ingredients splayed out all around her. She had been collecting samples of the “holy water” in the church in small vials and mixing other ingredients together.

She was angry with herself for being so useless last time Kujo appeared, and didn’t plan on making the same mistake again.

She was exhausted from the creation of her crowning achievement of the night, two twin solid gold clasp bracelets, forged with the power of her shield magic to shape them properly and imbue them with mild magic-reflecting properties. She figured that they would be just slightly loose on Soran’s fine Elven wrists.

Siren clamped one on her own wrist, testing it yet again.
“Shourai” she spoke, holding her arm slightly away from her body, just I case.

Triggered by the codeword and the warmth of the blood running through her veins, streaks of swirling energy came out of the bracelet as it extended down her forearm, bringing metals from the small dimensional pocket, similar to the one her bow was stored in, to form a long, sharp blade that resembled Soran’s own.

Siren held the bladed arm in front of her, noting with satisfaction that the metal looked liquidy, as if it were flowing. The magical energy she had put into the process, mostly holy energy, was working. This, at least, would give Soran somewhat of a chance to harm Kujo, she hoped. She looked over at the other bracelet, similarly pleased that the blades functioned as she wished, not coming out unless they were positioned right by a major blood vein where the warmth and pulsing of the heart would amplify the magic. Without that full contact, the blades would not react, even to the codeword.

She had stored a vial of the water in the pocket with her bow, hoping to work it so that when an arrow formed on the string it would already be submersed in the liquid.

“Shourai, return.” The blade dispersed into magic and filtered back into the bracer’s metal as it shrunk and resumed the form of a gold bracelet.

Siren stood up, returned her supplies to her magical pouch charm, and left the church, flying back to Mizuki’s house with the bracelets in hand.

She entered the house tiredly. “I’m back” she spoke, then headed right for the couch, flopping down into one and falling asleep.

Taki:

"Well you are being more of a distraction to me right now than you intend. While I am combing through my books for a solution to this problem, you are standing there with a baby and sounding so unsure of what is going on. Do yourself and me a favor and go and sit with Mizuki. Or someone, just not here." The fairy snapped as she nearly tore a page from her book when she turned the page with a frustrated sigh. Unfortunately for Naoki, the fairy had already gone into bitch-mode and there was no hope but to let herself come out of it one her own. "What are you still doing here?" Taki asked in an annoyed tone when she looked up to see the girl staring at her.

Mizuki:

Naoki gasped and snapped to attention, slightly surprised at the fairies change of tone and attitude.

"S-sorry." she mummbled and rushed out with Blade and into Mizuki's room. She sat down with Blade next to Mizuki's bed and satred into space for awhile and Blade fell quietly to sleep, comfortable in Naoki's arms.

"Oh Mizuki....." she said a trailed off wishing her dear friend was awake, and at the same time not.

Soran:

The following morning, early sunlight through the window woke the rogue up. He opened his eyes drowsily, not quite remembering where he was, then looked over and saw Rai sleeping next to him. The rogue wasn't used to sharing sleeping space with other people. Normally anyone who approached him while he was sleeping was an enemy. He had been concerned that if she made a sudden move during the night, he might attack her on instinct, but it seemed all had gone well. Now that he was up, however, the whole situation suddenly felt extremely awkward. He lay still and stared at the ceiling.

Mizuki:

Naoki was unaware that she had even gone to bed. She woke up when the sunlight hit her face as it leaked through the window and she was on the cot that was once used for Rai. Blade was in his crib, sleeping peacefully next to his unmoving mother. Naoki looked about slightly confused until Grye walked in and was midly surprised she was awake.

"Oh..ah.. I didn't realize you were awake now." he said and smiled. "You had fallen alseep on the chair when I had finally woke up from my own sleep so I took Blade and you to your beds." he explained to her and she nodded and gave him a soft smile.

"Ah, thank you." she said then absently looked to Mizuki. "How many more days?" she asked him. Grye shrugged.

"I kinda lost the count down so now I'm just waiting for her first signs of reawakening.... sorry."

"Don't be. A lot of us probably lost the count down as well." Naoki got up and streched. "I should go bathe... excuse me." Grye nodded and stepped aside for her to exit the room. Grye watched Mizuki once more before leacing as well to left the sleeping baby and his mother rest. He would retrieve Blade when he wakes.

Emora:


The sun filtered down on them through the stained glass window casting many different colors onto the bed. Rai's small form curled rolled over, facing Soran. She curled into a ball before stretching with her arms over her head and yawning. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Soran.

She yawned again, groaning because she didn't want to wake up. She scooted closer and gave Soran a hug with a smile. "Good morning Soran!" her voice was one that was cheerful, but she was very tired. She set up with the covers tangled all around her and her hair tangled and sticking up on odd directions. She poked his stomach with a soft giggle.

Soran:

Soran had relaxed again and almost fallen back asleep when he heard Rai stretch and sit up in the bed, tangled in the blankets. He opened his eyes again drowsily as the child gave him a cheerful 'good morning' and poked him, but he just rolled over onto his side half-consciously and drifted off again. His shirt had climbed up while he was sleeping and exposed his bare side, but he wasn't awake enough to notice.

Emora:


Rai yawned and tilted her head. She laid back down and closed her eyes for a second. Hey, if Soran was going to be lazy so would she. She opened her eyes for a second and looked around. She noticed the patch of bare skin and a childish evil smile came to her. She sat up slowly and covered her mouth to keep from giggling at the cruel thought going through her head.

She reached out her hand and began to tickle Soran's exposed side with her soft small hands.

Soran:

The sleeping rogue burst suddenly awake with wide eyes as the child started tickling him. He made a surprised yelp and twisted away onto his stomach before finally finding enough self-presence to prononce words. "Rai!" he growled/laughed in a pathetic attempt to sound strict.

Emora:


Rai laughed and tried to tickle him more. She was giggling so hard that she could barely tickle him. She sat back holding her stomach and giggling. "Soran your funny!" She tried to tickle him more just to hear him laugh. She looked funny with her hair a mess and her face flushed and almost glowing with being happy.

Soran:

Soran attempted indignance, but the child's giggling was strangely contagious. He heard the unfamiliar sound of his own low laughter as he squirmed away from her frantically. His laughing was interrupted after a moment by a loud "Gah!" as he ran out of space and felt himself falling off the bed. He crashed onto the floor with a thud, one leg still tangled up in the blankets above him, trying to catch his breath. "Good morning to you, too," he muttered sarcastically.

Emora:


Rai laughed, looking over the edge of the bed and looked down at him wit her hand over her mouth giggling. "Are you alright!" she asked, still laughing.

She tried to untangle is foot from the blankets and she couldn't because she was laughing. So she used this to try and tickle him again. She jumped onto the floor and landed on him and started tickling him again.

Siren:

Siren yawned sleepily as she woke up. Her body was all sore from the funny position she had flopped over in last night to sleep.

She stood up, stretching out and trying to crack the kinks out of her spine. Suddenly she remembered bracelets, which she still held in her clamped fist.

She brightened up, getting excited about giving them to Soran, and jogged lightly to his room. When she cautiously opened the door she found that he wasn't htere though... Undetered, she wandered throughout the house looking for him.

Water was running in the bathroom, so she knocked on the door and called out "Is that you Soran? If it is, get your but out here! I have something for you!"

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn bolted upright in her bed after she heard the loud THUMP of someone or something crashing to the floor. She looked around and noticed the time of day, never had she slept in like this so she got up and combed her hair and changed into a silk blue gown, she cleaned her teeth and wandered to where she heard the sound. She put her ear to the door and was about to knock when she heard Rai's giggling. Gwendolyn smiled and shook her head now understanding.

"Poor man." she said laughing softly. She went to the kitchen to perpare breakfast for everyone.

Naoki heard the knock on the door but she was already naked and in the tub. "Er... actually I'm Naoki! Soran's possibly asleep still..." Naoki sunk neck deep into the warm water and relaxed for the first time in such a long tme.

Siren:

"Ah, sorry to disturb you!" Siren called back and continued on her search. She passed Gwendolyn in the hall, smiling and wishing her a good morning, and puzzled over her amused smirk.

Siren tilited her head in curiosity, hearing the noises of Rai giggling in her room. She creaked the door open an inch to look in, and peered around through the tiny gap. She looked towards the empty bed, wondering where they were, then noticed a set of feet poking up through the tangled sheets. Large feet... not possibly Rai's...

Her eyes burst open with amused shock, and she threw the door open to take in the image of Soran on the floor with Rai straddleing him and tickling him.

"My my! Soran! Don't you think she's a little young for that still?" Siren teased, leaning nonchalantly on the door frame.

Soran:

Soran flashed Siren an embarrassed death glare as if to say "You do something about this!" as he struggled to push Rai away from his stomach, laughing too hard to free his leg from the sheets. He finally got loose, grabbed Rai and held her at arm's length, tickling her vengefully.

Emora:


Rai started giggling harder. She was squirming and laughing and kicking. She was laughing so hard her stomach was hurting and she could barely breath. Her eyes closed and she tried balling up into a little ball. it was so cute to watch the scene between them play out. "So-Soran!" she breath in a giggle. "Not fair!" she laughed playfully trying to keep him from tickling her.

Siren:

Siren sighed contently. "I'll leave you two alone for now... Come find me later though, Soran? Ok! bye bye!"

And with that she left the room, closing the door behind her, smirking all the while.



OOC: be back in an hour =p

Soran:

Soran glanced at Siren as she left, hoping she wasn't about to go tell the whole house that the rogue was being bested by an 8 year old. He grabbed the heavy blanket off the bed and threw it on top of Rai so that she looked like some kind of blanket monster. Figuring that should hold her for a while, the rogue stood up and straightened his clothes, then sat crosslegged on the bed with a victorious smirk to watch Rai try to find her way out of the blankets.

Emora:


Rai laughed as she tried to find her way out from under the covers. It was quite funny to watch her move around under them. She finally found an exit and ended up coming out with her back to him. She turned around quickly and ran towards him giong, "Rarrr!" with a happy smile as she jumped up to land in his lap.

"Not fair, I didn't wrap you in blankets!!! You did that to yourself, hehe..." she gazed up at him with her sparkling eyes and her happy smile. "You have a good laugh Soran, you should laugh more often!" She kissed his cheek.

Soran:

"Yeah, right. I might die if I do this too often," he said accusingly and messed up her hair, giving her the first honest grin he'd made since meeting the group.

Emora:


Rai looked at him and gasped. "Soran, I've never seen you smile!" she said and hugged him. "You should do that too more often." She laughed and hugged him tighter.

"Soran, are you like my father now... You know since I don't have one... Will... will you be my new daddy?" she asked and looked up at him with a grin. "You make a good daddy!"

Soran:

The smile fell from the rogue's face as he stared down into the child's hopeful eyes. Her question had been so unexpected that it took him a moment to really understand what she was asking. He loathed the sense of foreboding that crept into his chest and told him not to get too close, angry at the feeling that seemed to want him to remain alone permanently. Could someone like that qualify as a parent? He didn't know the answer.

"I...don't know," the rogue said quietly, looking away toward the window. He wanted to cringe. He was hurting her. He was almost abandoning her. Why?

Emora:

Rai's smile fell and her eyes grew hurt, she thought Soran liked her. "Oh," she said and looked down for a moment. She bit her bottom lip. She put on her fake smile so Soran wouldn't think he hurt her feelings. "Its alright," she said and swallowed hard. She slid off his lap slowly and looked up at him. "Oh well... Its not like a need a daddy..." Rai felt as if her heart had been broken and she didn't even know why.

Soran:

Soran looked back down at the child who was sitting so trustingly in his lap. The repressed pain in her voice cut into him fiercely. How could he explain to her? He decided not to try until his thoughts were clearer. He thought about how Mizuki would have handled the situation much better, and what she would have done. Maybe there was time to fix it. He placed his arms carefully around Rai and held her against his chest, feeling that she might push away at any moment. He had already decided to protect her. He had inwardly vowed not to leave her. Was a title like 'father' such a big deal?

Emora:


Rai tried to swallow the knot in her throat that had formed at the feeling of rejection. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. "You don't have to hug me if you don't want to Soran," she said and looked up at him with her soft smile. Her blue/gray eyes sparkled more than usual. "I think I'm hungry..." She bit her bottom lip and turned to leave the room.

Why was she acting so rude. It was alright if he didn't want to be her daddy. She didn't need one any way, she told herself. Her last daddy had died, maybe that was a sign that she didn't diserve another one? She turned around and swallowed. "I'm sorry for being mean," she said and walked back to him. "You can ignore me, I didn't mean to ask you that.... Just ignore that I ever asked, okay?" She put on her fake happy smile though her eyes spoke so differently.

"I was being stupid."

Mizuki:

Grye sat watching Mizuki's form for a moment longer before finally exiting with a longing heart. 'How much longer?' he asked himself. It wasn't fair that she would be taken away for a week from them, then cast into another spell that may take her away from them... for who knows how long if they can't save her?! Grye didn't want to even think about failing her.

Blade's soft cries came from the room and Grye went back and picked up the small child. The boy was hungry, so he figured he'd take him to Gwendolyn. Blade nestled his head surely into his chest which caused Grye to ponder the child for a moment.

"How long... will it take you to grow since you were born in a day?" Grye asked the baby and himself and Blade looked curiously back at him. Grye took notice that Blade could move his head more strongly now. He was growing quick.

When Grye reached the kitchen Gwendolyn already had a bottle and breakfast ready for them all.

"Here." she said and handed him the bottle. Blade took to it after hesitanting slightly since it wasn't his mother's breast. (ooc: -snort-) He fed hungrily on it without stopping. "Can you get the other's out of bed and in here for breakfast? I made pancakes of every kind!" Gwendolyn told him with a smile and Grye quickly nodded and started making his way throught the house.

Siren:

Siren, truely wanting to give the bracelets to Soran now, but deffering to the child, wandered for a bit, not quite sure what to do now that she had found Soran...

The door to Mizuki's room was left a crack open, so Siren entered. No one was there except Mizuki herself, sleeping away.

Siren frowned, but entered and sat beside Mizuki's bed, looking her over.

"What are you doing still asleep?" She joked, feeling silly that she was speaking to someone who was uncontious, but remembering that Taki said she could still hear everyeone. "You know, if you don't wake up soon you're gonna lose Soran to Rai! She's growing up, you know!"

Siren laughed at the thought, then cringed slightly, realizing that it wasn't all that abstract. Rai was a half elf, Soran was an elf. Soran would still be young when Rai was fully grown up. "eww..."

Siren shook the thought away, looking at Mizuki's face. Even though she had not been propperly bathed since she was put to sleep her face was free of blemishes... Including the moon that haunted Rai and Blade's foreheads...

"Maybe he's not directly after you... But that would hurt even more, your friends and family taken away and used agaisnt you yet again..." Siren sighed again, staring at Mizuki and thinking.

Soran:

Soran looked at Rai strangely. He stepped back from situation in his mind and thought about the times she'd forced out his playful side, all the stunts he'd pulled to save her, the strong feelings of protectiveness he felt toward her and the occassional flicker of pride that he always told himself he had no claim to. The child meant a great deal to him, though in the past he wouldn't have admitted it.

"Rai," he said firmly, waiting for her to meet his eyes. When she did, he saw that she was about to cry. She was going to cry because of him. He would never be able to protect her if he was afraid to take on the job. Without thinking he leaned forward and hugged her tightly. "Don't. That's not how I meant it. I'm not parent material to begin with, but if I make you cry, I'll definitely have no claim to call myself your father," he said warmly in his low, confident voice.

Emora:


Rai wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him. She swallowed hard. "Don't. That's not how I meant it. I'm not parent material to begin with, but if I make you cry, I'll definitely have no claim to call myself your father," he said warmly in his low, confident voice.

Rai was confused by what he said. So all she did was reply softly, "I wasn't going to cry."

She didn't know if that meant he would be her daddy now or not. She really didn't want to force him to do anything he wouldn't to do. "I love you Soran," she said and hugged him tighter. "I love you like I loved my daddy... That's why I asked."

Soran:

Soran's heart was pounding. His instincts screamed at him to stop, and he told them firmly to shove it. "No one can completely replace your real father, but in those ways that are possible, I will fill his place," he said, resting his huge hand on top of her head reassuringly - reassuring which of them, he wasn't sure. He only knew that this felt right.

Emora:


Rai pushed back slightly so she could look at him. Her eyes were amazed as she looked up at him. Had he really said that or had she just sort of... imagened it. Her mouth was open in a half gasp half smile so it looked rather funny.

"Do you really mean it?!" she asked rather loudly. The sadness fading from her eyes rather quickly and was replaced by happiness. "Wow..." she whispered and flung her arms around Soran's neck again hugging him. "Thank you! Thank you!"

She had a daddy again, though he wasn't quite like the one she had before. She loved that one more than she did Soran, though she didn't want to admit that. She loved Soran to.

"Soran, are you hungry?" she asked.

Siren:

Siren heard Grye calling around the house that breakfast was ready. Her stomach grumbled loudly at the thought and smell of the food, so she got up and left the room, heading into the kitchen to take her seat at the table.

Soran:

Food sounded like a good idea. Soran nodded and got up, shaking his head to get his ruffled hair to fall the right way again. He opened the door and followed Rai out to the kitchen, where the others were already getting ready for food. He sat across from Siren and caught her eye curiously, remembering her request to speak to him earlier.

Mizuki:

Grye sat down with Blade in hand still sucking dilligintly on the bottle. He managed to cradle Blade with one arm and eat with his free hand. Gwendolyn sat at the head of the table and smiled at everyone coming in and eating delicate bites of the pancakes of every kind.

Naoki had just gotten out of the washroom and was dressed in a red floral kimono with a white obi. "Good morning everyone!" she greeted cheerfully. "Everyone sleep well? Oh, and Gwendolyn, I think we should take some...ahem... special care to Mizuki when we are done here."

"Ah, yes." Gwendolyn agreed as Naoki sat down and took some helpings. Naoki planned to give the unconcious half elf a sponge bath. The woman's been dead-like for some days and obviously hasn't gotten up for a good bathe. Naoki didn't want her friend just laying there without bathing.

"These are amazing Gwendolyn!" Naoki exclaimed through a mouthfull of pancakes. "How much did you make?"

Gwendolyn pondered it for a moment then listed them all. "I make plain, blueberry, apple, bananna, rasberry, chocolate, and cinnamon pancakes! Oh..where's Taki?"

"She's been collasped on her bed in the pile of research she's been doing." Grye said sighing. "Poor girl, I didn't have the heart to wake her. She looked exhausted from what she has been doing..." Blade cooched signaling that his bottle was empty and made a good show of waving it around. "You're getting strong quick kid..." Grye noted.

Siren:

Siren looked up innocently into Soran's eyes as she felt someone's gaze upon her, a giant banana pancake hanging out of her mouth, her two delicate hands holding it like a chipmunk. She had become more hungry than she realized, tired from her casting the night before, so she had passed up the more formal eating protocol that Gwendolyn used.

"Gah!" she said, nearly choking on the pancake as she released it from her mouth so that it fell back to the plate below and smilled nervously at Soran, almost expecting a reprimand. Then she realized who she was thinking about. It was Soran after all, not her mother.

"Oh yeah! I have a present for you Soran! Something to help you out when we will inevitably face Kujo again!" She picked up the silvery bracelets from her lap and held them up for all to see, sticking her tongue out, obviously proud of herself.

Soran:

Soran stared at the metallic bangles blankly, and glanced back at Siren. "Bracelets," he attempted, though confusion tugged at the corner of his mouth. He didn't quite see how wearing jewelry was going to help defeat Kujo, but the Angel looked so excited about them that he was baffled into silence.

Siren:

"Ahh, well, they aren't only bracelets all the time... They're weapons! And I used barrier majic to imbue them with some special anti-black majic abilities. They should at least help to protect you against Kujo's majic somewhat..." She didn't quite know how to explain it.

"Just put them on and you'll see, using them is really quite simple. You just need to speak the codeword and they'll take form. Although it's only a prototype... but they should work fine!"

Siren set them down on the table and pushed them towards Soran.

Soran:

Soran eyed the bracelets skeptically. "These use magic?" he confirmed distrustfully. He picked one up and inspected it like a live grenade.

Emora:


Rai was eating as if she had no manners. She was soo hungry and the food was soo good. "There pretty," she said with a mouth full of food. "Soran, put them on!" She swallowed her large mouthfull.

"Its alright, whats the worst they could do? Make you look girly?!" she asked with a cute little grin as if she were implying that Soran was afriad to be girly looking.

Her smile turned sly as a little plot formed in the child's mind.


Soran:

Soran twitched imperceptibly and eyed Rai incredulously. "So I should wear a prototype of a magical weapon created by a dark angel who's used her powers to make "magic brownies" for her superiors, because it looks "pretty"?" He flung the rhetorical question out casually, but didn't stop his cautious inspection of the bangles. He could see nothing weaponlike about them. No matter how he looked at them, they just resembled well-crafted jewelry.

Siren:

Siren burst out in a fit of laughter, grasping at her midsection and feeling like she was going to laugh herself right off her chair.

"No.. really!" she said amidst laughing bursts, "Nothing to harm you! I promise!"

She gave Rai a devious grin, noticing the child's mischevious look, and continued laughing.

Mizuki:

Blade let out a loud scream in humor towards Siren's laughter. As if he was trying to laugh too. His eyes were bright and happy and he surprised Grye by leaning in towards the table, holding himself well. The blanket wraped about him fell around his lap so the from the waist up they could see the puddy-like baby skin. Blade gave everyone a toothless grin and clapped his hands. His green eyes dancing.

Grye, Naoki and Gwendolyn stared preplexed at the child. "He is growing fast." Grye spoke in a surprised tone. Naoki blinked a couple of times for recovering back to her food, but she was smiling and so was Gwendolyn.

"Mizuki would be proud to see him." Gwendolyn said absently then fell quite. Mizuki still had some days to go before she awoke, and no one knew what awaited them when she did awaken...

Soran:

Soran had lifted a pancake whole up to his mouth when he noticed Blade squealing with childish excitement from Grye's lap. As before, he again became momentarily transfixed by the vibrance in the infant's emerald eyes, pausing with his food just in front of his mouth. He arched his neck back slightly and watched the child with matching green intensity for a moment, not noticing when his pancake escaped from his fork and fell rebelliously back onto the plate. The rogue blinked as he finally bit down on bare metal, looking down at his fork in confusion.

Siren:

Siren wiped at her eyes, which had begun to water from the laughing fit.

"Ooi, that was great. But anyway, you should use them! They'll be so much more convenient!" Siren looked up at Soran, who had just tried to take a bite out of a fork.

"Ara... don't eat them though... hmm..." She paused contemplatively. "I wonder if they'd still work..." She cringed a bit, imagineing the bracers activating inside Soran's stomach... "Ouch..."

Soran:

Soran favored Siren with a sarcastic glare. "How do they 'work', anyway?" he said sharply. "Not that I'll use them."

(OOC: woot save me from writing my paper! Procrastination!)

Siren:

"You're not afraid of a pair of bracelets now, are you? It's not like your manhood is at stake here."

Siran could feel Soran's glare even without looking up from her pancakes.

"They're your new weapons. Should be very similar to your current blades but with magical properties and activated by a codeword and your pulse. They might be a little lighter too, but I haven't played with yours so I don't really know."

Mizuki:

Naoki tried hard not the burst out laughing while Siren taunted Soran. Naoki finished her breakfast and got up to put her plate in the washing bin.

"I'll go get the water ready." she told Gwendolyn and urged Grye to give her Blade. "I'll bathe him as well." she told him with a smile and was out of the room with Blade in hand cooing all the way to the washroom.

Soran:

Soran rolled his eyes at the angel's comment, but she did seem earnest about it. "Fine," he said evenly, undoing the clasps on the bangles and latching them one at a time onto each of his lean wrists. He narrowed his eyes slightly as the clasps fused closed magically so that they could not come undone by accident. They hung just slightly loose, not tight enough to restrict his hands from moving and not large enough to pull off. He held one wrist in front of his face and examined it. For all his distrust of magic, his ignorance of it made it fascinating to him.

Siren:

"Ahh! They look so cool on you!" Siren smiled, glad that they fit right.

"hmm, we shouldn't use them here though. After breakfast I'll explain them to you."

Soran:

The rogue seemed reluctant, but nodded and ate his food. Soon everyone was done and Gwendolyn was cleaning up. He rose and looked at Siren, who took his sign and followed him outside.

Mizuki:

Naoki was finishing washing the estatic to be in the water baby Blade when Gwendolyn walked in.

"I'm almost..GAH!! STOP SPLASHING!" Naoki cried out to Blade who was happily giving Naoki a bath as well. Gwendolyn chuckled and smiled and went to retrive the baby from the tub of water. She wraped him in a towel and gave one to Naoki who was soaked wet.

"I'll get Grye to transport the tub to Mizuki's room. It'll save us the task of carrying her around the house." Gwendolyn said smiling. Blade cooed and clapped and started chewing on the towel and drooling emensly. "Ah! He's already teething!" Gwendolyn exclaimed and both her and Naoki started laughing.

Grye walked in just then and asked if the tub was ready to be transported to Mizuki's room. Naoki and Gwendolyn regained themselves, still smiling, and told him yes. Grye used his magic to lift the tub off the floor and carefully manuvered it out of the room and down the hall to Mizuki's room where he set it down.

"I'll take Blade so you can take care of Mizuki?" Grye asked them. Gwendolyn nodded and gave him Blade also handing him a fresh diaper cloth and blanket to wrap him in.

"Although... I don't think the blanket will stay on long..." Gwendolyn said, noting the little child starting to squirm in Grye's arms.

Siren:

Siren and Soran stood on the empty street near one of the trees.

"Alright, the idea behind these is that they need two things to work: direct contact with a major blood line, in this case your wrist, and a activation codeword. When you speak the word, a small dimensional hole, similar to the ones I have on my charm," she held up her bracelet, "will activate and release the energy and metal used to form the blades. Speak the code word again, followed by the word 'return' and they'll dissapear. Ok, you might want to hold your arms away from your body a bit for the first time so you can see what's happening."

She watched as Soran held his arms out in front of himself.

"Shourai." She instructed, motioning for him to mimc her.

Soran:

"Shourai," Soran said firmly with his arms extended in front of him. He tensed as a strange tingling sensation spread through the veins in his arms and the bracelets flattened and extended up his forearm to form solid black bracers. Blue magical energy shot out from them and wove rapidly together, materializing into large blades that arced along his arms.

Soran took a step back as if to get away from them, but they of course followed him. He bent his arm experimentally and watched the blade follow it exactly as his real blades did, though the metal of these was more silvery and seemed to swim like a liquid in the sunlight. He wondered how strong they were. Abruptly, he spun around and slammed the left blade with full force into a tree standing at the side of the road. The magical blade dove straight to the center of the trunk - slightly further than his real ones. He pulled it back out of the wood and stared at it in disbelief, then looked back at Siren.

"They work," he said in a tone so astonished that it was almost insulting.

Siren:

"heh heh heh... Of course they work!" Siren gave him an indignant look, puffing out her chest to show her pride in making them, though inside she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Anyway, they're nice, right? And you'll never need to sharpen them!"

Siren clasped her hands behind her and grinned proudly at Soran.

"Ahh, and what a surprise they'll be to evil-doers! All of a sudden, the unarmed elf has weapons!"

She enacted a surprise fight scene against an invisible enemy, getting a little overly excited. She ended in a right handed upper cut posture, with her left leg up and knee bent, wings flung outward streatching to the sky, as if she had just punched someone under the chin really hard, then realized what she was doing and looked back at Soran, nervously anticipating the look of astonishment he was probably giving her.

Mizuki:

Mizuki was washed clean and back in her old cloths, the brown tubtop and skirt. Her wet hair was splayed about the pillow drying still and her mother placed a sheet over her, tucking her in.

"There, she's clean." Gwendolyn said sighing. Naoki strechted and said,

"Well, lemme find Grye and see if he's already lost Blade." Naoki smiled and walked out of the room in a hurried pace only to find Grye chasing Blade out the door.

"BLADE!" Grye yelled and the baby just cried out laughing and ran,er, waddled on his little pudgy legs to Soran and Siren. He let out an ear splitting scream of glee as he ran into Soran's legs and held them.

Both Grye and Naoki, running out laughing histericaly, came out trailing the baby.

Soran:

Soran blinked in private amusement at the angel's antics. He wasn't sure what to make of the blades. He had intended to merely test out Siren's creation so she'd be satisfied and then use his own weapons, but he was rapidly growing attached to the magical blades despite himself. "What is the catch? Isn't there some side effect?" he asked her, inspecting the gouge in the tree trunk with great satisfaction.

He suddenly looked down as he heard the door burst open and saw Blade walking teeteringly toward him. Soran's eyes widened. The baby was already walking? He watched without blinking as the child tottered toward him and clasped onto his shin while Grye ran after him. Soran knelt down and caught the child's shoulders in case he fell. Had Blade just taken his first steps? To him?

Emora:


Rai sat outside on a bench kicking her feet and humming. She was bored. So very bored... There was nothing to do with Soran out learning how to use his bracelets, Mizuki sleeping, and everyone else doing different things.

"La...la...lalala la..." She side and leaned back slightly, falling off the bench and onto the ground with a grunt. "Oww..." She pulled her knees down and leaned her elbows on the bench peering over it. "Bored."

Mizuki:

Blade's eyes sparlked up to Soran's and he smiled a happy toothless smile. Blade laughed again and brought Soran's palm to his mouth and slobbered into it as if he was trying to blow. His little black wings flexed behind him like they were stretching, but no one needed to worry about him flying off soon for it was still too early for him to learn to fly.

"Gaaah!! Blade!" Grye exclaimed running up and stopping just before Soran. "Did he interupt you two? Sorry! I don't have much experience with babies..."

"duh, that was obvious since you let him walk out the door." Naoki snickered.

"He was squriming in my arms! I thought I'd let him down to crawl on the floor or something.." Grye muttered and flushed, embarassed that he let a baby run outside.

Siren:

Siren laughed at the scene the baby had just caused, resuming her normal upright posture.

"Ahh, as for side effects... none that I've really noticed, err I mean haven't protected against, but I suppose there are some cases to watch out for. For instance, if you lose your voice or a silencing spell is cast before you can get them out you wouldn't be able to activate them. And if you lose too much blood they'll start fading with your pulse and if it gets too low they'll dispell back to the pocket. Hmm.. I suppose an anti-magic field, if you entered one, would mess with them too, making them not appear or maybe become simple metal if you enter while wearing them or something... Haven't ever run into that problem. But Kujo shouldn't be using any of those spells, since he's a necro, so just hope he doesn't gag you."

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully at that suggestion.

Soran:

"Um, go back," the rogue said to his arms, trying to remember the password Siren had told him. His mind had blanked when Blade met his eyes. Why did the kid have such a strange effect on him?

Siren:

Siren giggled a bit. This must be odd for the rogue. "'Shourai, return' is the command."

Soran:

"Shourai, return," he said, and the blades and bracers dispersed in a flash of energy, returning to the form of a gold bracelet. It would be troublesome if he forgot the codeword in the middle of a fight. He reached under Blade's arms and picked him up awkwardly. "Do children normally walk in a matter of weeks?" he directed the question at Naoki, but was glancing at Siren as he spoke, wondering if this was a dark angel thing.

Emora:


Rai decided to go for a walk. She wondered around the yard and close to the forest, watching the cute fuzy animals run around in the woods. She gasped. "A rabbit!" She tried sneaking up behind it... but it hopped away a few feet. She followed it and it hopped further. "Well, I'm not following you in there!" she yelled at it, but it continued on. "Aww.."

Rai really liked bunnies. They were so cute and fluffy. She loved fluffy things.

Siren:

Siren shrugged. "Never heard of a growth spurt? Don't worry! He won't become a giant and wreck the house or anything! And the growth will slow down as soon as his wings develop enough for flight usually. If they didn't grow so fast it would be pretty awkward living up high and all." She smiled.

Mizuki:

Blade laughe in glee and tried to snuggle up against Soran.

"Well that explains it." Naoki said. "...Heck, we'll just wing it, heh, we do have a Dark Angel living with us so... Siren you'll help Mizuki raise him yes?" Naoki asked her curiously.

Siren:

"But of course! It's only natural that we would all help, isn't it? Ahh.. I guess the life style down here is a little different, but anyway, I will help." She smiled at Blade.

Soran:

Soran eyed the child warily as it reached out to come closer to him from where he was holding it nearly at arm's length. He reluctantly brought his arms back to his chest and let Blade rest there against him, looking somewhat pale but also with a tiny hint of pride in his eyes. Blade immediately stopped squirming and fell asleep on the spot. "Do I look like a crib?" the rogue muttered, but let Blade stay there.

He walked back toward the house with the others. "They're good weapons," he said stiffly to Siren as he came up next to her, not very skilled at expressing gratitude.

Siren:

Siren smiled knowingly at Soran's back as he passed and made an attempt to thank her.

"Ahh! that's right! I'll be back in a few minutes! I'm going to go take our signs down from the warden's office. I hear there's already a project going to restore Michael's house with the parish group that took them in, and we seem to be lacking on time."

She flew off in the direction of the office, soon to return.

Mizuki:

Naoki and Grye both smiled at Blade sleeping on Soran and Grye held out the blanket that fell from the infant when he ran off.

"Here." Grye said and awquardly wrapped the Blanket about Blade the best he could.

"Alright, as Siren does that let's get in." Naoki said and started walking back grinning. "We just washed up Mizuki so now she's all fresh!"

OOC: I just posted a picture of my nephew in the ARTS! LOOK!

Soran:

OOC: Fast forward time!

IC:

Two nights later. . .

Naoki walked into the kitchen half asleep, fumbling in the cupboard for a cup to get some water. She almost jumped as she noticed Gwendolyn sitting awake at the table. "It's 3 am," she stammered worriedly.

"Yes, but I don't think I can sleep," the woman responded tiredly.

Naoki nodded. "She'll wake up at dawn, won't she. Just don't get yourself sick sitting here," she said with concern.

Gwendolyn nodded her thanks as Naoki found her cup and left the room to go back to sleep.

Grye slept on the couch in the living room, exhausted from refreshing the magical barrier around the house. Who knew what good it would do them, but he wanted to at least make the attempt at precaution. Siren was comfortably sprawled in the large armchair across from him, her wings hanging lazily toward the ground.

In the study, Taki had dozed off yet again in her books. She had studied everything she had about necromancy and reviewed their options until they spun in her head, and now she slept soundly in preparation for whatever would happen the following day.

In Mizuki's room, the half elf remained unconscious on her back, disturbingly still beneath the sheets. Rai slept on a cot in the corner, and Blade rested quietly in his crib. Soran sat awake in a chair beside Mizuki, resting pensively on his elbows on the bed. He'd been sitting there for hours, frowning silently at her deathlike form. It was a moonless night, and the only light in the room was a small candle burning beside the bed and its reflection in the rogue's green eyes.

He wished she would awaken. Tension had been building inside him ever since she'd been entranced, an intense and nameless feeling rising in his chest. What would happen when she awoke? He looked around the room; everyone was asleep. He supposed there was no harm in it...though it was foolish and sentimental. He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew the small glass pendant he'd acquired at the glass shop. The candlelight threw sparkles from it as it dangled from its silk cord.

He seemed to deliberate for a moment, then reached forward and tucked it into Mizuki's folded hands, ears burning without his permission. He frowned and leaned his head forward on crossed arms, watching her solemnly as time crept slowly on. Despite his effort to stay awake, stress and the suffocating silence finally forced him to sleep beside her. In another hour it would be dawn.

OOC: Go Mizuki go!

Mizuki:

OOC: GLEE!!!

DAwnlight broke into the room and shone on the two sleeping forms, both of elven blood. When the light reached the half elf's closed eyes they flickered. The corner's of her mouth twitched and her finger's wrapped themselves arounf the glass pendant. She moaned slightly and slowly opened her eyes and shut them again from the light.

She opened them again and looked around the room and her brown eyes fell on the sleeping rouge. Her hands tightened slightly around the pendant and she frowned and looked down at it. Slowly she sat up and examined the glass pendant in her eyes. She admired the beauty of it and how the light caught on it and she wondered who got it and put it in her hands. She flicked her eyes over to Soran again and smiled.

She moved on the bed to face him and she leaned over and placed his head on her lap, caressing his hair gently. Clutching the pendant still in her hand. Somehow, she knew who placed the pendant in her hands while she had layed dormant, sleeping.

"Soran my love," she whispered softly smiling, "Dream peacefully and I will wait for you to awaken as you have for me." She stroked his face, holding him close to her waiting for his eyes to open. She longed to see his green eyes again matching her son's. SHe longed to see everyone again for she had been in a dark, dreamless sleep for so long...

...SHe had no idea of what had taken place...

Soran:

The rogue woke gradually to a warm sensation against his cheek. Something soft and gentle was stroking his face. He sighed almost inaudibly, still too far out to be really aware of his surroundings. A few moments later his eyes flitted open, half-glowing in the first lights of dawn that were breaking through the window. His pupils shrank and brought the world into focus as he lifted his head tiredly off of his crossed wrists and stared blankly at the half elf who lay awake in front of him, watching him peacefully. "Mizuki," he breathed, not sure she was real in his state of half-sleep.

Mizuki:

Mizuki's smile broadened and she leapt to him, wrapping her arms about the half asleep rouge's neck.

"I am awake!" she said softly, but crying out at the same time happily. "I must've missed so much! I heard of things happening but it didn't make sense to me." She let Soran go slightly and looked him in the eyes.

For long moments she said nothing until finally she breathed, "I was afraid I would've forgotten the color of your eyes." she smiled softly and her eyes sparkled lovingly.

Soran:

Soran's eyes fully opened at the unmistakable pressure around his neck and the sound of her voice. He couldn't dream this. The rogue sat up and stared at her in disbelief, the unmasked affection in her eyes bringing heat to the tips of his ears. "You're awake," he said in relief, feeling his adrenaline rising as the situation began to sink in. Realizing he had stated the obvious, he faltered, "They-...I really wasn't sure..." Frowning, he gave that up and asked, "Do you feel alright?" He glanced down at the spot where she had been wounded.

Mizuki:

Mizuki laughed seerenly at his first faultered words.

"Did you think I would awake a zombie?" she joked not realizing it was possibly exactly what everyone thought and expected. "I feel fine... that sleep...whoever put me in it... it helped a lot. In the first few moments I was stabbed I thought..." she choked back some tears. "I thought I would die... But I'm here! Before you now..." She smiled and the tears behinde her eyes vanished.

"I wont leave again..." she paused for a moment thinking. "Were those theives... caught?"

Soran:

Soran frowned. “They were taken care of, but we have a new problem.” He paused, thinking he shouldn’t throw everything at her when she’d barely just awakened. No, she needed to know. There was no telling what would happen or when. “A dark angel named Kujo placed some form of necromantic curse on Rai and Blade… and possibly on you as well.” He looked around the room; Rai and Blade were sleeping peacefully and seemed fine. “Although, nothing appears to be wrong. It’s possible he was bluffing,” the rogue said, but the serious shadow in his eyes showed that he thought that unlikely. He had met Kujo only briefly, but it was long enough to sense unmistakably that something serious was at hand. The rogue met her eyes protectively.

Mizuki:

“A dark angel named Kujo placed some form of necromantic curse on Rai and Blade… and possibly on you as well. Although, nothing appears to be wrong. It’s possible he was bluffing,” Soran told her.

It took Mizuki a moment for it to sink in. Curse? On Rai, Her and... her son? 'Not Blade and Rai!!' was all she could think about. Fear, confusion, anger... the emotion's were mixing in her eyes and her arms fell from around Soran's neck. Why? No! Mizuki's unconcious epsiode was over, they shouldn't get into more battles! And why? Why was this.. Kujo, attacking her and her family?

"Why..." she muttered with distant eyes. "W-what is t-this curse?" she asked him shakily.

Soran:

Soran flashed her a sternly confident stare and held her in it after he noticed her begin trembling, afraid she might fall back into unconsciousness if she panicked. "We don't know the curse's nature, but Grye has surrounded the entire building with an anti-magical forcefield," the rogue said firmly, placing a strong hand over her shoulder to steady her. "Everyone's prepared for this moment. We won't let anything happen to you."

Mizuki:

Mizuki was slightly comforted by his hand and instinctivly she leaned into him, resting her head on his chest. She rested there for a few moments and her eyes trailed around the room. Rai and Blade were sleeping and though she wanted to hug them both badly she would let them rest.

"Can't believe... I get stabbed and put into a sleep and now there's a curse upon me and my child and Rai." she laughed weakly. Her meager, and failing attempt at making light of the situation. Her hand sought his and when she found it, she enlaced her fingers in his. Her other hand still held the pendant and she brought it up to the light.

"It's beautiful..."

Soran:

Soran paled and looked awkwardly away at her mention of the pendant. He tensely placed his free arm around her shoulders, letting her remain there against his chest. She felt slightly thinner than she’d been in the past, making him frown. “Do you need a drink? You’ve had nothing except by IV for a week,” he asked quietly.

Mizuki:

Mizuki lifted her head from his chest. She nodded and got up from the bed, placing the pendant on her pillow. When she stood with her hands clutching Soran's arms, she noticed she was in her old cloths.

"Did my mother change me?" she asked, then blinked for a moment and looked up at Soran. He looked awkward and his ear tips were reddened slightly. She flushed realizing she was probably making him nervous and let him go, standing freely away from him.

She searched for something to say to releive his tension but she doubted that would happen anytime soon. He was always tense.

"Did anything interesting happen with Blade yet?" she asked him smiling. She missed her son but did not wish to disturb him.

Soran:

Soran watched her carefully as she stood up, pleasantly surprised that she was able to get up so easily. Now that she was standing, a bit more color returned to her cheeks and she looked stronger.

“Blade?” He looked over at the crib with interest, then back at her. “He’s been growing very quickly. He sleeps more quietly than babies usually do, I think. But when he’s in a good mood, he throws his hands up and down and makes this crazy giggle at everyone,” Soran tried to imitate Blade’s adorable squeal, but his voice was too low and he just sounded hilarious. “And he started walking!” he remembered suddenly, “He walked to me yesterday, then he slobbered all over my hand,” the rogue complained proudly, then abruptly clammed up, only just realizing he’d become more enthusiastic than he’d intended in his description of the child. He absently began rotating one of his bangles around his wrist.

Mizuki:

Mizuki laughed at Soran as he told her, and tried to imitate, Blade and what he has done.

"He's walking?!" She squealed in delight that her son was walking so soon, and laughed when Soran complained that he slobbered on his hand. When he clammed up and pretended he really wasn't that interested in it Mizuki's smile grew.

"Blade must really like you if he walked to you." she told him, eyes dancing in delight. She was still trying to control her giggles from when Soran tried to imitate Blade's squeals. She took a step towards him and, hesitating for a moment, kissed his cheek then stepped back. She flushed a little but her eyes still danced.

She eyed the trinkets around his wrists and arched a brow. She never remembered him wearing something like that. "What are those?" she asked him hoping to divert his attention from the light kiss she had given him.

Soran:

Soran's tanned face flushed indignantly at Mizuki's laughter, but it was good to see her back in a good mood. He was entirely unprepared for the kiss she placed quickly on his already warm cheek. Just as suddenly, she looked down at his bracelets and asked what they were.

Soran stared at her in blank confusion, but decided that of the two things, he knew better how to respond to the second one, so he answered, "A new set of blades that Siren designed." He narrowed his eyes at them, still not one hundred percent convinced they were safe.

Mizuki:

Mizuki arched a brow. "Those are..blades?" she questioned, doubtfull. She looked at Soran and thought for a moment. "Is it like Siren's weapons? SAy some word and they appear?"

Soran:

Soran was looking idly toward the pendant resting on Mizuki's pillow when she asked him about the blades again. He blinked, at her. It was unlike him to be so spacy. "Yeah, I''m supposed to say..." He frowned thoughtfully as he realized he'd forgotten the word again. "They're the same," he affirmed, his mind still on the pendant, though he really couldn't justify why.

'Whatever, I'll just do it so I'll stop thinking about it,' he thought in frustration at himself for giving in to such an odd whim. He reached down and picked up the glass pendant thoughtfully, unfastening its silk cord. He glanced at Mizuki calmly, then reached forward with both hands and tied the cord behind her neck so the the charm hung just below her collarbone.

Mizuki:

Mizuki flushed as Soran finished fastening the pendant around her neck. She felt really warm and thought she'd faint. 'He just..put it on me!' she thought utterly speechless. When he withdrew she put a hand to the pendant and fingered t lightly. Blinking all she could think of was, 'He got this for me... he put it on me...The Fates it's hot in here!'

She was still flushed and she thought she would faint. It was strange, how she would react at something like this, but... it was her and she quickly called herself telling him she loved him when she was fading into blackness after being stabbed.

"Ah..." she breathed and without thinking she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. Her mind reeled, her heart was beating feircly, and she thought that in any moment she would collaspe.

Siren:

The sound of muffled voices broke Siren's light slumber, and she stirred on the armchair, shifting around uncomfortably. She couldn't seem to get her wings in a comfortable possition again, so she sat foreword, rubbing at her eyes.

Glancing out the window, she noticed that the sun's early rays were already shining throught the window, so she stood up and moved towards the Kitchen, where Gwendolyn was last night, to see if there was any news yet.

Soran:

Soran narrowed his eyes as Mizuki suddenly appeared to be ill. She was breathing rapidly, face flushed, seeming dizzy. He reached out to catch her as she sighed softly and fell toward him. The last thing he expected was for her warm lips to meet his. Tension took over his body, though it was of a different nature than he was used to. Instead of compelling him to force her away, it seemed to freeze him in place, unable to either move closer or pull away for the brief moment their lips met. His eyes sank closed as warmth spread through him. It all felt achingly familiar, and dangerous.

When he was free again, he fell back a step, staring at her in shocked silence as his heart raced. What was going on? His legs felt numb. The memory of her last words before she’d passed out after her injury flooded abruptly back to his mind. He had passed her actions off as delirium, but he could no longer do so.

“You may be smart in battle, but you are an idiot when it comes to love. You can’t even see that you yourself are in love!”

“Do you love Mizuki? I won’t tell, I promise!”

“You love her!”

Words others had spoken to him throbbed in his head.

Did he? He wasn’t sure. It seemed he was built to push away anything that touched him. If that was true, why had he given her the necklace? He stared unblinkingly into her eyes; for a split second, he was wide open. The truth had finally struck him, with alarming clarity, but unfortunately it was too much for him.

Soran’s eyes dulled to their usual icy hue. “Your mother will want to know that you’re safe. I’ll bring her in,” he said sternly, turning to leave the room. ’What am I thinking!’ He was so angry with himself he almost couldn’t see straight. His chest ached the moment he closed the door behind him, and it was all he could do to go in the kitchen and tell Gwendolyn matter-of-factly that Mizuki was awake. Even plated by every layer of icy armor he had, it only took one look at the rogue to tell something was wrong.

Mizuki:

Mizuki couldn't think straigth, or even think at all. She barely registered that Soran had left and his reaction over what happened. Mizuki felt strange, maybe even sick, and was was very aware of a sheer burning on her arm that felt like it was threatening to spilt it.

She grabbed her arm in a vain attempt to sooth it, but it didn't work. The edges of her vision were becoming blurry and words were muffled in her ears. Mizuki sat down and closed her eyes against the pain... for just a moment.

Gwendolyn was startled awake when Soran entered the room, but it wasn't by him.

"Where's Mizuki?!" She asked him anxiously. Panick was all over her face and in her eyes.

Back in Mizuki's room, when she re-opened her eyes, they were glazed over. Looking empty yet evil. Mizuki stood up from the bed and moved to Blade's crib...

Soran:

"She's in her room," Soran said, leading the worried elf back to where her daughter was, Siren following close behind. When he forced himself to open the door, Mizuki was standing over Blade's crib. He stood to the side so that Gwendolyn could go to her.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn panicked. "Subdue her! Get her down!" she cried out and ran towards her daughter. Gwendolyn wrapped her arms tight around Mizuki's arms so she couldn't move. During the struggle the same burning sensation was overtaking Rai and Blade.

Emora:


Rai yawned lightly and stretched her arms above her head as she sat up, blinking her eyes triedly and looking around. She saw someone standing... She looked up all the way and saw Mizuki. "Mizuki!!" She screamed and got up quickly, running and flinging her arms around Mizuki's legs in a large hug. She smiled up at Mizuki as the symble on her forhead flashed so quickly it was barely noticable.

At that moment it felt to Rai as if she were going numb. She stared up at Mizuki for a long moment before dropping her hands... But, the weird thing was she didn't tell her body to do that! Uh-oh... is this what Soran told me about...

Soran:

Soran stared at Rai, Gwendolyn, and Mizuki warily. He didn't understand why Gwendolyn had suddenly tried to restrain Mizuki, but was even more unnerved by the strange way Rai's arms seemed to pull away from Mizuki of their own accord. "What are you doing? She's fine," he said warily, taking a cautious step toward the three girls.

Mizuki:

Gwendolyn tried to explain while subduing her daughter but Mizuki then flung Gwendolyn off with ease causing the rest of the house to stirr.

After hearing the thud Naoki and Grye came running in and gaping. "Ah! The curse!" Grye cried out and tried to cast a binding spell but Rai and Mizuki, with Blade in her arms, were outside in the blink of an eye.

"We have to stop her!!" Naoki cried ut and ran the the corner of Mizuki room grabbing her friends arrows and bow. They all ran outside, Grye had helped Gwendolyn back to her feet, and they found the three standing just before the barrier that was glowing blue.

"Mizuki stop!!!" Naoki called out nocking an arrow into the bow. "I don't want to shoot you!" Tears stung the back of her eyes.

Soran:

Soran ran outside with the others, trying to understand what was going on. Mizuki was standing as if to leave the barrier. Soran walked purposefully across the barrier and stood on the other side facing Mizuki. Something was wrong with her eyes. "You're not leaving," he ordered firmly.

Siren:

"Shoot her?! What are you thinking? Have you gone mad?!" Siren called out, having still followed them. She reached to her waist and her whip unraveled. She whiped it out towards the bowwhere the arrow was notched, holding the arrow fast so it wouldn't move.

Emora:


Rai stopped and looked at Mizuki with hollow empty eyes. But, her body returned to walking forward towards the woods with out giving them a second glance back. It was as if her body knew Mizuki would get away. What was her body doing! She didn't want to go!

Mizuki:

Mizuki stopped and stared at Soran with blank, glazed eyes. But tears spilled from the corners. Mizuki was still there mentally. Her mouth opened to speak but it wasn't her voice, it was Kujo's

"Those who get in my way will die!" he said through Mizuki.

Mizuki's mind was reeling and she was screaming at herself. 'WHAT AM I DOING!? STOOOPP!!' she screamed in her head. Images of the place they were going flashed through her head. Kujo temporarily lost his hold on Mizuki. She struggled against it.

"Soraan..... g-go back.....t-to...the Dark....A-Angel....Fortress AAHHH!!" she struggled to say before Kujo had regained his control on her. A black wind came up and surrounded the three and the wind knocked everyone off their feet.

"NO!" Naoki cried and dropped what she held and ran to them only to be thrown off her feet.

Soran:

Soran took careful note of Mizuki's strained message before a gust of energy hurled him backwards into a tree. He coughed as it slammed the wind out of him, grasping onto the tree firmly. "Mizuki!" he shouted angrily. He couldn't believe she was really letting him take her. "Fight him, damnit!" he growled, forcing his way forward through the wind, nearly falling back several times before he finally managed to grasp her upper arm. "You're not leaving," he ordered her again, trying to find a way to get to Rai, who was further off.

Mizuki:

Mizuki looked at Soran's hand firmly grasping her arm with empty eyes. With an ease that didn't not belong to the half elf, she lifted Soran's head towards hers and stared into his eyes with her empty ones.

"Soran, you wish to save your love?" Kujo's voice came through Mizuki's mouth again. "Then come find me, she was able to tell you where I was." He laughed for a moment. "But I' doubt you'll succeed." Mizuki dugg her nails into Soran arm and her nails seemed to extend into his arm.

Siren:

Siren was flung backwards as the wind blew into her and her wings caught it, pulling her backward like a sailboat then blowing them backwards painfully before she could fold them in enough to prevent it.

She landed hard on her rump. She had inadvertantly released the whip, and the arrow fired off harmlessly into the ground. She stood up, rubbing her sore rear-end and doing her best to stay on her feet. She made her way to the whip and picked it up, mentally making it wrap around her waist again.

Emora:


Rai was trying her best to fight what ever force had taken over her body. But, she just couldn't. It just kept her walking and walking into the woods. didn't want to go. A tear ran down her cheek. She wanted to stay with Soran. Why was this happening. She was so afriad. She couldn't help but move. It wasn't fair!!!

"Soran!" her voice finally said loudly, but after that she could say no more as if it took all her will power to say that.

Soran:

Soran cringed and felt his fingers lose their grip as razorlike nails pierced his skin. His hand slid off her arm and he flew back again, becoming painfully reacquainted with the tree he'd smacked earlier. "We're coming, Rai! Don't get hurt!" he yelled through the wind as the two disappeared into the woods.

Mizuki:

After Soran was thrown into the tree again, Mizuki's eyes cried harder. Her brain was screaming for her to stop and run back to him but her body did the opposite. The Black wind moaned and swept her, Rai and Blade up and they dissapeared, the wind dying and going towards the Dark Angel fortress' direction.

Naoki ran to Soran and Grye held a weeping seer.

"Soran are you ok?" Naoki asked him, easing him to his feet.

Soran:

Soran rose dizzily to his feet, bluntly shaking off Naoki's attempts to help. "I'm fine," he said coldly. He stared darkly in the direction Mizuki, Rai and Blade had disappeared to, anger building up. He turned and threw a vicious punch into the tree in an attempt to disperse his fury and clear his head.

Siren:

Siren narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth and she watched the wind carrying the three move towards the castle her old master used to live in. A ferral grown escaped her throat and she flung her wings open defiantly.

Defiling that place was going too far. Taking her friends was unforgiveable. She glanced over at Soran from the corner of her eyes, waiting for the order she knew would eventually come. Till he recovered himself, though, she stood there silently, fists clamped next to her sides.

Soran:

Soran hissed out a calming breath and brought his emotions back under staunch control, turning back toward the house. He looked at Siren, who seemed to be waiting eagerly for a decision. "We're going after them," he said, meeting her glance. Emotion still lurked in his expression despite his attempt to ice it over.

Mizuki:

Naoki nodded and Gwendolyn was regaining herself. She nodded to Soran's decision.

"Yes." she said shakily. She closed her eyes for a moment then ushered everyone to come into the house, but first she went to Soran. "We'll get her back Soran. All of them. We just need to focus instead of doing something rash. I need something she recently touched... the bed..."

Everyone followed her inside and to Mizuki's room and Gwendolyn put her hands on the bed where Mizuki had lain. For a long moment they stood in silence before Gwendolyn spoke again, "There is a hut on the outskirts of the Dark Angel Fortress... that's where Kujo is, and where they are going. But, the hut is more than it appears..."

Grye nodded. "Of course," he spat and streched his arms. "Well then, those who are able... let's go."

"PLease be carefull..." Gwendolyn said but looked Soran in the eye.

Taki:

OOC: Meh, sorry I died. Been.. busy? School work.. and my resent fanfic-writing obsession of a certain character pairing.. But look! -waves her arms frantically- I make my gallant return!!

IC:

Taki had felt sick and odd over the past few days during her research. Her magic and the world around her felt magnified a hundred times- every one of her senses were heightened. Her new powers were dawning. On the dawn of Mizuki's awakening she had envisioned in a dream-like state what happened over the morning. She saw it all clear as day in her mind's eye- the kiss, the pendant, the change, the wind... all of it. Taki didn't understand at first but when her ice blue eyes shot open, understanding dawned on her. She had the powers similar to Gwendolyn's. She was a seer as well, magnified by fairy powers.

The fairy stalked out of her room and into Mizuki's room where everyone stood. She held up a hand to Naoki and Grye, both attempting to fill her in at once. Her voice was cold and she stared at Gwendolyn with a silent acknowledgement. "I know. And I know what we have to do. Let's go."

She walked back to her room and scanned over the complex spell one last time with a curt nod.

Now, out on the lawn, everyone was preparing to leave. She filled them in on the basics- that she just received her seer powers and she knew how they were going to kill him. She hugged everyone with the mask that everyone was going to be okay, holding especially long to Grye. She walked up next to Soran as they started walking and lowered his voice so only he could hear her. "You two will be very happy after this. I promise."

Mizuki:

With their heartfelt goodbyes and promises of a safe return to Gwendolyn, they set out. Naoki looked back to see Gwendolyn still waving and Toby at her heels. The canine would wait for them to return safly with Rai, he knew for sure they would.

Grye flew in his bird form overhead of them, just in case any danger lurked beyond them. Naoki had a full stock of arrows and a stern face.

They had to save them... Mizuki desvered a normal life with her son, and Rai needed to finally know she could rest in the nights in peace and safety.

"The Fates be with us." Naoki silently prayed.


OOC: okee, erm... I shall start a new thread here on the boarder....... !!!!

Soran:

New thread's called "The Necromancer and the Corpse"