# Final Fantasy: Gaia Anima RP thread



## Zorokiller (Mar 28, 2010)

This is the actual role-playing thread.
Meaning that this will be used for your and ours story to develop.

Don't use this thread for OOC, for OOC you can use this thread:
1d20+0=15

So sign-up there first and then when your character is added to the playerlist will mean that your character is accepted and you can post in this thread.

*No spamming:* So no one-liners or vague descriptions of what is happening use clear writing and make atleast a paragraph per post, don't double post. If you want to add something more, edit your previous post and type it there.
(This also counts for using fail devices that have character limit)

*No godmodding:* No taking controls over peoples actions, only allowed when used to progress the plot, and if they give their O.K signal in the OOC thread or PM.

*No insults:* Only allowed when In character, but don't go real life insulting, remember also don't OOC insult people.


AP will be awarded every sunday looking at the actions you took in the RP, and most importantly how well you RP-ed. So it's a stimulation of creating a good story and using good writing.

I have full right of kicking people out of the RP when their RP is lacking or they don't follow the rules.

Well then what remains is, go on your journey across the world of Gaia and make your own stories, once in a while I will post larger stories and plots to particapite which will inflict the RP on larger scale, participating in, this will give you bonus AP or other nice things

Have fun RP-ing!


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## Zorokiller (Mar 28, 2010)

*Alexandria Castle*

Ark sits in his throne, before him two jesters dance and do tricks.
He spaces off, being bored by the so called 'royal fun'

He stands up
"Kain, get these fools out of my sight! I'm off to my chamber" he says and walks off

Kain puts his fist to his chest
"As you wish young master." Kain replies loyally

He walks to the two jesters and whispers to them.
"I'm sorry, maybe tomorrow is a better day..."

The two laugh oddly and bounce out of the room.
"Odd guys..." Kain remarks softly

Ark reached his room and grabs a pole he got from Kain and twirled it around, he lost grib and the pole connect to the window, breaking it.

The queen Brynhildr entered his room
"Ark! What's that noise?! You've been playing around with that silly stick again?"

Ark grabs the pole and accidently cuts himself by the glass shards that surround it.
"I'm the prince of this ountry! Ultimately I would have to protect the people from other nations right? Who know when those filthy Burmecian rats will attack us again!?"

The queen sighs
"It seems you still misunderstand your position, knights do the fighting and are there to protect us, you just focus on doing your political studies at dr. Tot."

"Yes mother..."
His mother left again and a maid entered the room cleaning the mess up

("Foolish mother, why would I even care about commoners, I just want to get out of here, fly a airship freely across the misty clouds")

He looks through the broken window glass and sees his own reflection shattered
He punches through it and more glass falls to the ground, the maid quietly cleans it up.

"What's your name?"
The girl is shocked
"A-Aisha, it's Aisha mister Ark..Oh!! Uhm I mean your highness." the girl stutters, mis-addressing the prince.

Ark lifts her chin up gently, the girl begins to blush
"Miss Aisha..." he rams her face in the glass shards
"You disgust me! You ambitionless oglop!!"

The girl is full of cuts and a glass shard sticks out of her cheek
"I-I'm sorry your highness." She quickly collects all the shards and as she walks to the door she bows two times and quickly turns around the corner closing the door.

Ark holds his face in his hand and begins to laugh madly
"Pitiful fools...So what was it again...Some theater show tonight which I have to prepare myself for...*sigh*"


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## Kinzey (Mar 28, 2010)

*Kinzey Warholic - Alexandria*

Kinzey sat on the roof of his house, book in hand. He surveyed the surrounding areas.

Little dirty children ran around in the distance. They'll grow up into mindless fools he thought. The richest kids lived in the north, near the caste. They were the worthless bullies that tried to make him feel like a nobody lived. And why do they do that? Kinzey asked himself retorically? Because they know, in there heart of hearts, that I am better than them.

Lucia's house was just down the street. She was the only person of worth in this god forsaken town. Kinzey suspected that she would depart soon, and he had to go with her. He wouldn't be able to stand it if she was hurt.

But what if she's all ready left? he thought. An icy chill ran through his body. What if she's in danger while I sit here like a worthless lump of shit? I have to check!

Kinzey leapt down from his roof and began running down the street. As soon as he got to her house he began knocking- hell, banging on the door. Please be home he begged.


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## StrawHat4Life (Mar 28, 2010)

*Treno...*
It's late evening in the infamous gambling town of Treno, where no one ever sleeps, and there's always excitement around every corner. There's a famous saying about this city...what happens in Treno stays in Treno. 

At a local private dance club called _Chocobo's Delight_, reserved for the very young and the very rich,  stands in front of the entrance, like a stone sentinel. His eyes are closed and he seems to be in deep meditation. His furry white hands rest on the black handle of a Katana strapped to his belt. The sword itself is almost as big as he is. 

Two young men approach the front entrance where the Moogle stands guard. They both laugh and and stagger back and forth, visibly intoxicated. Neither one takes heed of the Moogle as they pass by him. Suddenly the Moogles eyes snap open and he stretches his right hand in their path. 

"You may not pass," he says in a calm and even tempered voice. 

The two young men do a double take at the Moogle, as if he's an illusion. "WHA?! WHY?!" one of them exclaims loudly, in a drunken voice. 

"This is a private party. You are not allowed..." the Moogle responds, again very calmly. 

Both men stand right over the Moogle, towering over him. "Listen here little RABBIT! We came to party and party is what we're gonna do!!" 

A nerve twitches over the Moogle's right eye and suddenly his calm face disappears and is replaced by a sharp eyed look of intensity. "What did you just call me?" 

_Ten minutes later..._
"What's wrong with you Moridin!!" yells the owner of _Chocobo's Delight_, as he stares at the two young men who lay in a bruised heap in front of the club. 

Moridin shrugs, "They called me a Rabbit," he says indignantly, as if that is enough justification. 

The owner shakes his head at Moridin with a puzzled look, "So?!" 

"You wouldn't like it if I called you a hairless monkey now would you?" Moridin retorts with his arms crossed. 

"Moridin I'm sorry. This is the third time you've overreacted this week. I'm going to have to let you go," the owner sighs. He reaches into his coat pocket and produces a small bag of coins and hands it to Moridin.  

"Fine!" Moridin says in a huff, "I was getting bored of this job anyway!" 

With that the proud Moogle walks away into the night of Treno, still his own master, and still alive...which is all that matters in his book.


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## Damaris (Mar 28, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria*

Lucia stood in her kitchen, hands resting on the windowsill as she gazed out over Alexandria. Well, she gazed over the slums of Alexandria, at least. Some people wouldn't have liked to admit, even to themselves, that they lived in the run-down area of town, but Lucia had never had a problem with it. Her family was not well-to-do. This was a simple fact. Hiding from the truth wouldn't change it. Only action would do that. And she didn't mean to remain in this sagging house, living the same life as her parent's had—no, Lucia had plans. Plans that would start to unfold tonight, three days after her eighteenth birthday. She had informed her mother and father months ago that she planned to leave, once she was an adult. She'd dropped a few hints to Kinzey as well, one of the few people her age she found tolerable. But now that the day had finally arrived, despite all her preparations—she was scared. Scared of the unknown. No turning back, however.

Turning away from the window and sliding her hands into her pockets, Lucia withdrew the crumpled pieces of paper that heralded her new beginning; two tickets to the play that was being staged at Alexandria Castle tonight. The seats were nothing special (in the commoner's section, quite a ways from the stage) but simply having them was enough to infuse Lucia with courage. She'd never been to any sort of performance before, and this was her first step on her new adventure. After seeing this play, she would set out on her journey. Where she would go, what she would do; Lucia didn't know, and didn't really care. She just wanted to get out of here, out of this kingdom where she was only another citizen, just another face in the crowds. Lucia wanted to be something more. But before all that, there was the matter of the second ticket. Who should she bring?

Almost instantly after that thought struck her, there was a furious pounding at the door. Lucia waited half a moment for one of her parents to greet the visitor before remembering that they were both out. With an amused sigh, she walked out of the kitchen, down the narrow hallway that led to the front door, which she opened to reveal none other than (a rather out of breath looking) Kinzey. “Er, hello,” Jessica said. Kinzey was (as previously stated) the only person around beside her family that Jessica found rather tolerable. Although he was a year younger than her, he had always seemed rather mature and nice, and Jessica supposed he was the closest she had to a “friend”. And his sudden appearance cleared up the trouble of the extra ticket rather nicely. “Have you got anything planned tonight?” she asked, holding out the play ticket. “Because I'm seeing this, and I need someone to go with me.”


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## Kinzey (Mar 28, 2010)

*Kinzey Warholic - Alexandria*

Kinzey was dumbstruck by the sudden invitation. He wanted to throw up, to sing, to dance, to- well, at this point he was allready a gurgling puke tornado, so it was probably best to stop there.

Instaid he smiled and said "That sounds great Lucia". He took the ticket, glancing it over. The theater was a small one, but the only one in Alexandria. "I'll stop by, say, a half hour before it starts? See you then". He quickly turned around and walked away, before she asked why he'd came in the first place.

As he walked the short distance home, his head in the clouds, he heard someone call from behind sarcasticaly "Hey Kinzey, what's up?" Turning around, he saw it was two of the bullies.

The clouds his head were in began shooting icy daggers as he thought _A girl you don't even deserve to be spit upon by just invited me to a play, you worthless litle shit._

Instaid he said "Nothing".

"Were going to go chocobo racing, wana come? Oh, right, you can't afford it!"

Kinzey walked on, oblivious to their laughter.


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## StrawHat4Life (Mar 28, 2010)

*Lindblum...*
Sarah sits with her friends in an open door cafe, located in the posh Theater District of Lindblum. She sighs inwardly as they prattle on like harpies, gossiping about some girl's dress. 

"Oh my god did you see what Olivia was wearing last night? That outfit is soooo last year!" exclaims a particularly boorish looking blond by the name of Charlotte.   

"Sarah what did you think of her outfit?" Charlotte asks Sarah. 

Sarah doesn't answer however as she keeps her gaze fixed on one a large Airship liner that soars high overhead. She wonder's where it's bound for, perhaps Alexandria, or Treno perhaps. Her mind wanders as she imagines the many places where it could be headed, and where she herself would so dearly love to be instead of here. 

"Helloooo, Gaia to Sarah...anyone home?!" Charlotte asks loudly. 

Sarah shakes her head rapidly as if shaken out of a daze and looks back at Charlotte with a wide eyed face, "Huh? I'm so sorry what were you saying?" she asks back, not at all interested to be honest. 

Charlotte chortles loudly, and because she's the richest one at the table, all the other girls laughs in unison as well. "What's gotten into you lately Sarah?" she asks. 

"Yeah you've been moping around all week," says another. 

Sarah shrugs back dismissively at her friends...no they're not really friends she amends inwardly, they're more like trophy friends. "Aren't you all tired of this?" she asks them, finally getting off her chest what she's been holding back for some time now. 

"Tired of what?" Charlotte asks in a puzzled voice. 

"This!" Sarah exclaims forcefully, waving her hands around at everything around them, "The shopping, the gossiping, drinking tea, going to parties...all of it, day after day, the same thing. Haven't any of you ever wanted more...to see more?" 

Sarah's friends all stare at her blankly for several seconds, not really knowing how to react. Great I knew I should've kept my mouth shut, Sarah thinks inwardly. Now they think I've probably gone crazy. 

"Good one Sarah!" Charlotte suddenly exclaims before laughing in a fit, and right on cue the other girls join her. 

Sarah shakes her head in annoyance and quickly gets up from her chair. "I have to go..." 

_Later that evening..._
Sarah stands over the edge of her bed, with nervous anticipation, staring at the fully packed rucksack before her, practically stuffed to the brim. It's got all the things she'll need, or at least she hopes, to make it for the next few weeks on her own. She has no idea where she's going, nor what she'll do, but all that matters is that she's doing something. 

"It'll be just you and me from now on," Sarah tells the rucksack in a low voice before grabbing it up and exiting her room.


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## Zoidberg (Mar 28, 2010)

Herpethia's latest jobs weren't earning her much money. Alexandrian police were simply to efficient to ever warrant the need for bounty hunters like her. The latest job at least paid enough for new bullets. 

"Oh look Humphrey, Burmecians!" A fat old woman said while her carriage passed through the streets of the capital. 

"It's surprising such thin creatures could ever fight against us, mother." A bald man in pompous clothing remarked while waving a remarkably ornate sword that looked like it never saw a fight in its life. "Do you think the Lizardess could beat them up, mother?" 

The old woman laughed. "Of course not! That's why we hired that bag of scales!" 

Outside the carriage Herpethia sighed. She followed the carriage closely, her smoothbore rifle hidden underneath her cloak. It was something she bought from a dwarven merchant, a sleazy one if he was willing to sell a weapon to a Bangaa. 

"Looks like the hairless apes are headed for the theater. Without telling me again" Herpethia grumbled. "Fat bastards."


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## StrawHat4Life (Mar 29, 2010)

*Lindblum...*
Sarah quietly creeps down the stairs with her black leather rucksack firmly tucked over her shoulder. Thankfully the rest of her family are out attending a ball sponsored by the Regent himself. Yet another pointless high society function in her opinion. Sarah though had told her mother that she felt a bit under the weather, and thankfully her mother had bought it hook line and sinker. However as she reaches the expansive foyer of the first floor she keeps her ears and eyes sharp. Her mother had also asked their old butler Gormley to stay on for the night to tend to her, much to Sarah's chagrin.  

She can hear the crackling of the blazing hearth over in the grand sitting room up ahead, where Gormley often likes to sit and read when he's not on his active duties. Sarah slowly makes her way towards the sitting room and peeks her head around. She spots the old and lanky butler standing in front of the ivory mantleplace, with his back to her, tending to the roaring fire. 

Sarah smiles inwardly and spins around as softly as a cat, creeping down the hall to her father's study. There's something there that she's sure will help her on her journey. As Sarah reaches the varnished oak door of the study, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a brass key. She had slyly pilfered it from her father's coat pocket the other day, when she had given him a seemingly innocent hug. She turns the lock with as little noise as possible and enters the darkened study, leaving the door slightly ajar. 

Sarah doesn't bother to turn on the lights as she walks towards a large and ornate wooden cabinet covered by a glass door, because what's inside it gives off more then enough light to see by. Her iceberg blue eyes literally light up as she stares at the glittering Mythril staff mounted within the cabinet. Strange runes carved into the mythril run up and down the long staff. She had once asked her father what they meant, but he had merely looked at her blankly and shrugged. Sarah touches the cold glass door and feels the hairs on her arm stand up. This is meant to be she thinks. With breathless anticipation she opens the door, but then a familiar voice causes her to jump in alarm....

"Miss Sarah, may I ask what you are doing in your father's study?" Gormley, the old butler asks her from the door. He also notices the rucksack behind her back. "Going on a trip...are we Miss?" he asks her, the tone of which tells her he knows exactly what's she doing.   

"Fuck..." Sarah mutters under her breath.


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## Zorokiller (Mar 29, 2010)

Ark goes through his cabinet of cloths and takes a piece of cloth and puts food and potions in it, attaching it to his rod with a knot.

Suddenly someone creeps up to him and pokes him
"...W-Wha...!?"

Behind stands a smiling Kain
"So what are you up to young highness?"

Ark tries to hide the sack behind himself
"U-Uhm.."

Kain smiles
"Whatever you are planning young master, it's best to be discrete..."
Kain places a red cloak with a red feathered hat on the bed and walks away
"K-Kain?"
The royal guard waves as he walks away

Ark looks Inside the cloak was a crossing permit for North Gate, Ark looks suprised
("Whatever could it be that Kain be doing? Is he somehow motivating and supporting me to leave?")

Ark grabbed the hat and put it on, he looked like a commoner, he hated it but it would work well as a disguise.
("Tonight would be my best chance of sneaking out, everyone will be distracted by the theater show, ugh...I hate that Mogstar's Theater Groupe, they always do the "I want to be Crow" show, atleast do a play by a Lord Avon...")

Ace grabs the hat and cloak and puts them in his closet with the supplies.
He has to prepare for tonight, but a stroll through the courtyard sounds better to him right now.


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## Tyrael (Mar 29, 2010)

_I can whistle through my nose ? a long, lilting whistle ? and I do so tonight. Back when I wondered elsewhere, seems like a long time ago now, they would know that whistle, recognise it, and whisper that The Magpie Mercenary comes. They do not say that here. All they see is a Burmecian with mismatched armour making noises. But soon they will say the same too. Soon they shall how much weight my nickname carries.

God, do I hate the cold._​
Reylan stalked the night streets with faux confidence, false bluster. Those unseen eyes, it seemed, had found him again. He had been running from the Brotherhood for sixth months now, and every so often he?d get that feeling. That feeling of being watched. It would be a mistake to ignore that sensation, he knew, but he could not just run. They would be evaluating, waiting to see if they could take him here. They could, but the moment he let them know that it would be all over.

He took a sharp turn, darted into an alleyway and then turned left and back into the street he had just turned out of. A sweeping glance of the street revealed four or five possible watchers. A group of homeless men sat and attempted to warm themselves by a dying fire. A pale, young man with a rapier attached to his belt walked up the street with obviously faked nonchalance; a woman muttered to herself and glared at him as she passed ? he heard the word ?rat? amongst her mutterings. And there were guardsmen here ? they might have Brotherhood agents amongst their ranks. Too many people, no chance to identify the spy.

Reylan slid back into the shadows and did his best to disappear into the night. There were few places to hide as a Burmecian in a city full of humans.


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## Damaris (Mar 29, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria *

Kinzey took the ticket, thanked Lucia, and dashed off, all in the space of about three seconds, and before she'd even had a chance to ask him what he wanted in the first place. “You're welcome,” Lucia said, but she doubted he heard her. Oh well. If he wanted to meet her in thirty minutes, that didn't leave her much time to get ready, especially since Lucia wasn't planning on returning home after the play. Maybe this was the coward's way out, she thought as she drifted back down the hallway to her room, but she didn't want to have to tell her parents that this was the moment she was leaving for good. A note would be fine. A note would be more than fine. And so, ignoring her feelings of lingering guilt, Lucia began to pack. Shoveling clothes into her bag heedlessly (Lucia had never been one to really care what she was wearing), she made her way to the only room in the house forbidden to her; her parent's room. And what was hidden here was the real reason that Lucia had to sneak out of the house. The book that her father had kept from her.

Her parents did not have ambition. They were not happy with their lives, but they did not desire to change their lot either. Her mother and father were too old, too beaten down. They had lived so long in this poverty that they no longer dreamed of escape. But not Lucia. And when, at the age of twelve,   Lucia had discovered that her father had in his possession a book of White Magic spells, she'd been thrilled. Even at that age, she knew that such an ability could help her climb out of this stricken life and help her find a life of adventure. But her father had forbidden her from studying the book. He'd argued that White Magic was no fit equipment for a lone adventure. You couldn't kill an opponent with White Magic. There was no way he was letting his only child venture out into the world with just an old, most likely outdated, book of spells. But her father couldn't stop her now. Lucia was of age, and now she would take the book that had ensnared her thoughts ever since she'd first discovered it. 

Pulling the dusty box out from under her parent's bed, Lucia lifted the tattered book from its hiding place. Resisting the urge to leaf through its pages and drown in knowledge, she shot an eye at the clock. Twenty minutes until she had to meet Kinzey at the play, and the worst of her leaving was still to come.  Sliding the book into her bag, Lucia moved on to the next phase of her plan; obtaining gil. Swallowing her discomfort, Lucia fished through her parent's belongings until she'd rummaged up five hundred gil. More than enough to get her started, she thought. And once she'd earned it back on her travels, she would pay them back twofold. No, fourfold. The point was, she would pay them back. Dashing out the door, Lucia hurried down the street. The walk to the castle ferry was short, and Lucia heaved a sigh of relief as she stepped on. But her rest was short-lived, as soon enough the boat deposited her and the stream of fellow passengers on the banks of Alexandria Castle. And then Lucia was buffeted up towards the playhouse, where she waited in front of the entrance for Kinzey to arrive.


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## Kinzey (Mar 29, 2010)

As Kinzey reached his house, he went inside and began getting ready. At first he thought there wasn't much to do; brush his teeth, comb his hair, put on a fresh change of clothes. But as time passed a sense of finality began to envelope him. He had a hunch, no, almost a premonition, that he would soon be leaving Alexandria.

Because of this, he grabbed his rucksack and filled it with his necessary things: A few changes of clothes, a pouch of a few hundred gil, some water, and his favorite book.He considered stuffing his final keepsake in there, but decided against it.

It was a small patchwork doll, much like a voodoo doll, with rough fabric for skin and a pair of blue gems for eyes. It had stitches crossing every which-way across its body. It had belonged to his grandmother, one of the few people he respected. It was a summoning doll.

He clipped it onto his belt where a sword would go and left the house. Ten minutes later he stood at the entrance to the playhouse, looking around anxiously for Lucia.


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## Zorokiller (Mar 29, 2010)

Ark scrolled around the courtyard, he was saluted by the guards everytime he walked past them. 

"Your highness, it would be wise for you to leave the public area, commoners will be arriving soon for the show of tonight." one of the guards informed Ark

Ark placed his hand on his temple and sighed
"Fine, fine..."

He walked past the commoners that were waiting in front of the gate and every single one of the bowed down before the prince.
Suddenly his eyes fell on a black haired girl, her eyes mesmerized the prince.
He stopped his walk and walked over to one of the guards and asked her
"Invite that girl over to my quarters, I will await her there."
"B-But prince, it's a commoner and the qu--" Before she could finish her sentence Ark grabbed her hair and pulled her closer
"Disobeying orders are you?!" he says in a mad tone
"N-No sir" she struggles as tries to fight the pain
Ark releases the grip and walks away
"If the girl is not in my quarters in the next ten minutes it's your life that will forfeit."

The guard regains composure and walks towards the gate
"Open the gate!"
The gate slowly opens and the crowd tries to get in
"Halt! You all wait for the appropiate time, you over there!" She says as she points toward Lucia
"Come with me, you have been asked a audience with the young highness Ark til Alexandros III"


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## Damaris (Mar 29, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria*

As Lucia scanned the crowd for Kinzey, she became aware of a ripple of movement flowing towards her. Looking up, she was horrified to realized she nearly locked gazes with the Prince of Alexandria himself. Dropping to one knee, she quivered with fear, her eyes glued to the ground as she listened to the exchange. The Prince wanted to see her? Was she in trouble? Her adventure was ending before she had even set out! As she heard the Prince release the guard and walk away, Lucia stumbled to her feet. A cold sweat was starting to form over her body, but she ignored it as the gates creaked open. Where was Kinzey? With scarce moments before the guard hauled her off, she saw him and yelled furiously, trying to attract his attention: "Kinzey! Kinzey! I'll be there in a minute, I've just go to take care of this! I'm really sorry--" The rest of her words were cut off as she was dragged backwards by an impatient guard. 

Muttering something foul under her breath, the guard led Lucia upwards, towards the royal balcony. Clutching her bag tight against her chest, Lucia tried to take comfort in the familiar feel, tracing the outline of the magical tome through the fabric. Everything would be okay. This was how all adventures were supposed to start, right? There was no point in a journey without danger, or excitement. But that still didn't stop a shiver of fear from shooting down her spine as the guard pushed her through the door, into the viewing area where Prince Ark awaited her. Keeping her face turned towards the floor, Lucia suppressed her trembling as she addressed him: "Your Royal Highness, may I ask why you have summoned me?"


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## Kinzey (Mar 29, 2010)

Kinzey heard the guard's announcement and saw Lucia get pulled off into the caste. He wasn't going to let her get hurt. Right as the gates closed, he snuck inside.

It wasn't too hard to follow them. The guards were mostly focused on escorting Lucia. It was a bit of a slog through the caste, but he got there up on the balcony just after them.

Lucia was bowing to a man who was obviously the prince of Alexandria. He had heard about the ruthlessness of this little prick. _You believe you're some sort of hotshot friend hmm? Well I'm not going to let you hurt Lucia. I swear, if you lay a finger on her, I will kill you!_ The deep demon voice he'd been hearing this in turned to a high pitched mad-man's cackle. _But before I do, I'll teach you your rightful place beneath my heel!_

But Kinzey didn't say this. Instaid he casually greeted "Hey Lucia. Who's this douche?"


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## Zoidberg (Mar 29, 2010)

Since Herpethia's overweight masters were too busy showing off their clothes at the theater, she decided to sneak away and look for something worth selling. It's not like any of the humans would notice it gone anyway. 

Her wanderings eventually led her to the great courtyard of Alexandria, where there seems to be trouble afoot concerning the prince. Perfect, she might score a chance to save the Alexandrian heir, giving her a better job opportunity that slugging around keeping an eye on stupid nobles.


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## Zorokiller (Mar 29, 2010)

Ark stands out of the balcony awaiting the arrival of the girl, he turns around as she enters and asks
"Your Royal Highness, may I ask why you have summoned me?"

Ark has a genuine smile on his face, almost dumbstruck
"Uhm...Please...Call me Ark he-he..." he says as he scratches the back of his head

He slowly walks in the direction of Lucia
"I-I'm just...Well...You got my attention...I would like to ask you to join me to--" 
But he suddenly gets interupted by a voice
"Hey Lucia. Who's this douche?"
Ark looks behind him in shock
"How did you?! The insolence!!"

Ark immediatly grabbed his wooden pole and twirled it around
"Guards!!"

In a few seconds the guards who were always on standby entered the room holding sword and shield.

Before the trespasser could notice his head gets smashed in the stone of the balcony, from out of the air Kain has landed on him with his palm behind his head, wielding his spear in his other hand
"Trespassers are not tolerated." Kain states to Kinzey.
"Throw him into the dungeon!!" Ark shouts
"Yes sir."
Kain picks the boy up and takes him with him.

Kain takes the boy outside of the private quarters and throws him into the crowd
"You're lucky I'm more tolerable then the young master, but don't repeat this same mistake or you will end up in the dungeon..."

Back at Ark's room
"I'm sorry about that...Was that a friend of yours? Well knowing Kain, he'll be fine..."

Ark was confused about what happened and due to his low social skills with normal people didn't know exactly what to say


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## Kinzey (Mar 29, 2010)

Kinzey was still a bit dazed from getting his head smashed as he listened to the guard tell him how lucky he was not to get thrown in the dungeon or some crap.

"OH, YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT LUCKY?!" Kinzey screamed at the guards. "YOU'RE THE LUCKY ONES! I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T LET LUCIA GO RIGHT NOW, I'LL-" Kinzey charged one of the guards and was smashed back into the crowd. "GOD DAMN IT!" He charged again, and got thrown back again. he punctuated each word with an attack and a subsequent beating. "LET! ME! IN!" Soon he was bloody and bruised and hurting all over, but still he wouldn't stop. "MOTHER! FUCKERS! I'LL! KILL! YOU!" He just wouldn't quit. He would keep going till he was dead or Lucia was safe. And at this rate one of the two were probably going to happen soon.


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## Zoidberg (Mar 29, 2010)

"Give it up boy." Herpethia said, placing an arm on the boy's shoulder. He was determined to see his friend, but in his predicament that would be impossible. 

"You've a better chance fighting off a Behemoth with a chair than getting back into the castle." She advised. It would be stupid to press on, especially if the Prince realizes he wasn't thrown in the dungeon as he ordered. It would just cause harm for everyone.


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## Kinzey (Mar 29, 2010)

In his fit of rage Kinzey turned to this new arrival and growled "Back off, bitch". There was a crazed fire in his eyes as he held up a singe fist. "You have no idea. I'd fight that Behemoth with four limbs sawed off to save her". Then he began to sway back and forth, tears streaming down his blood soaked face. In a brief moment of clarity, he said "Sorry". Plopping down on the ground he said "I suppose you're right. I'm just a bit blinded by...nothing" he quickly turned away. "I need something to distract me. What's your name? Tell me about yourself".


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## Zoidberg (Mar 29, 2010)

Herpethia raised an eyebrow, or at least the Bangaa equivalent. For one thing, he could tell whether a Bangaa was male or not. For another, he was actually feeling sorry for him.

"Stop crying boy." She said. "And my name's Herpethia. I do bodyguard jobs and the occasional bounty hunt. You got a name too, boy?"


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## Damaris (Mar 29, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria Castle*


Lucia struggled not to let shock paint her face as Prince Ark began to speak. Gaining the courage to raise her eyes enough to face him head-on, Lucia studied her Prince as he scratched the back of his head and told her to simply address him as _Ark_. Lucia would have hardly described herself as the most patriotic citizen of Alexandria--the royal family had never changed her life for better or worse; they were simply there, a fact as unchanging as the sun in the sky or the rotating planet--but the thought of addressing the Prince of Alexandria without a title still seemed blasphemous. He was above her, after all. Maybe after her adventures, after she'd proved herself and accomplished heroic feats, Lucia might be comfortable with calling him simply_ Ark_...but for now, Lucia couldn't wrap her mind around it. She was still struggling to think of a reply when the Prince began to walk towards her, stating his reasons for having her brought to the balcony. Lucia looked straight at Ark (with only the slightest bit of nervousness, this time) and abruptly her eyes widened. Kinzey stood panting and out of breath behind the Prince, a ferocious look on his face--and the words that tumbled out of his mouth were surely enough to get him killed.

*"K-Kinzey,"* Lucia stammered. *"What are you doing? Don't talk like that towards the Prince!"* But neither man seemed to take any heed of her words, much less acknowledge that she had spoken. Whirling around, Prince Ark commanded his guards with natural arrogance, ordering Kinzey to be thrown in the dungeons. All of this happened in a moment; Lucia felt that she had barely had blinked before Kinzey was out of the room and the Prince was addressing her again, his face as calm as if nothing had happened. His words slightly soothed Lucia's worries (Kinzey wouldn't actually be taken to the dungeons? He would be let free. She hoped so.) and jolted her back into speech. *"I--yes, he is a friend of mine. I was supposed to see the play with him tonight, your High--Ark.  Which, forgive me, but you were explaining why you had me come here before my friend interrupted. Would you mind telling me?"* Lucia's interest had been piqued now, especially since Ark had assured her of Kinzey's safety. Her adventure...yes, this was the beginning. She _knew_ it.


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## Kinzey (Mar 29, 2010)

Smiling tiredly, Kinzey joked "Nope. Ain't got one a those. Where I come from we can't afford names". He gave a small chuckle and said "It's Kinzey. Kinzey Warholic. I'll admit, it's rare for one of us slummers, as the rich call us, to see a Lizard. Do you have work around here?" Allthough most people believe Lizard is a derogatory slur for the Bangaa, Kinzey was raised in a poor area with little education. And, though he's smart and usually tolerant of other people (at least to the extent where he didn't feel more superior to a person because of their race), he was raised among people who use "Lizard" as an informal term for a Bangaa. Baisically, that was the common name for them and Kinzey didn't see it as wrong.


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## Zoidberg (Mar 29, 2010)

"Watch your tongue boy." Serpethia chided. She was used to people being ignorant of Bangaa customs, and she didn't expect the boy to realize he wasn't suppose to say that to her. "If I weren't like the others of my kind they'd rip your innards right here right now." 

"Now go home." She told the boy. "Whoever this girl the prince fancied is, you won't see her for a while. For all we know his royal highness may have proposed to him. Nothing you can do then except sneak in to the sewers..." Herpethia snapped her mouth shut and slapped herself in the forehead. Great, now she just gave the boy ideas.


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## Kinzey (Mar 29, 2010)

"Sorry about that" Kinzey reconciled. He didn't want to anger a possible ally. He reeled in dismay at the idea that the king might've proposed to Lucia. _She wouldn't agree to that, would, she? No! Lucia's strong, and would never bow to a worthless prat like him_.

Suddenly he gained hope at the Bangaa's unexpected suggestion. "Sneak in through the sewers, hmm? A great idea!" But then he saddened. Who knew what monsters he would face? And the guards would definetly be on alert after the last time he'd snuck in. He was no fighter.

Once again that mischievous gleam in his eye returned as he said "I'm going to sneak in...and you're going to help me!"


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## Tyrael (Mar 30, 2010)

_The truth is, I’m beginning to think that I’ll never find her. May I am destined to roam eternally, never once hearing the words-_​
“Yeah, I’ve seen this Scheherazade,” said the barman.

Reylan flinched, “what?”

“You asked me about one of yours named Scheherazade right? I’ve seen her in here before.”

“Really?” It seemed...too easy. Suspicions and hope blossomed inside Reylan in equal measure.

“Yeah, don’t get many of you furry folk in here,” he made a gesture with his hands that Reylan didn’t understand. “Makes those of you I do see pretty memorable.”

This inn was one of the best ones he had been to – mostly they were scared or threatened by him. Here they just didn’t seem to care. In a city where even the weather hated you, a little bit of indifference seemed as welcoming as a hug. Reylan rubbed the cutlass on his belt uncomfortably. “So where did she go?”

“She hired Ted and Dilliad to show her where the pilgrims gather to look at the Shimmering Island.” He nodded to himself, “won’t find many at this time of the year though. Those religious sorts may be stupid (I mean who worships a bit of rock, if you see what I say sir?) but they do tend save their journeys for times of the year that aren’t likely to see them freezing to death whilst worshipping. Not that this year is bad, last year my sister lost three tows.”

“Frostbite?” Reylan asked. He was humouring the man, surreptitiously surveying out of the corner of his eyes. The only light came from the fireplace and moonlight. Any of those men could have been eavesdropping in the shadows. Reyland had gotten used to knowing when someone was more interested in him than anything else, however, and none of them looked they cared. It was worth the risk looking further into this.

“No, she pissed off Ol’ Collins’ mongrel.”

Reylan focussed on the barkeep again. “What?”

“My sister got three of her toes chewed off by a dog sir. Got fir in your ears?”

“No.” Reylan made a dismissive gesture. “Are Ted and, er, Dilliad here at the moment?”

“No, but they only took her up to Pilgrim’s Point which is easy enough to find for yourself.” The barman’s grin was half hidden in the shadows.

“Thank you,” said Reylan. He slid an extra coin for the information onto the table and left.


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## Zorokiller (Mar 30, 2010)

Ark smiled, simple commoners that invade don't shock him, he acts like they don't exist at all, only this single commoner exists in his eyes now.

"Lady--Uhm...How rude, I didn't ask your name yet."

He waited for her reply and continued

"I would like to hereby invite you to the play of tonight, it's the show 'I want to be your crow', have you ever heard of it? It's a love story of a royalty in love with a commoner, he even wants to go that far by throwing away his title and live like a commoner just to be with her."
He glares at Lucia and immediatly a bright smile appears on his face again.
He bowes down
"We could watch it the show together and afterwards you could join me to the dance.."


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## Tyrael (Mar 30, 2010)

_I am not without allies, even in this frozen city. Tonight, it seems, they have all made themselves scarce. Damn them. Driekel, you are my last hope it seems._​
Driekel stood in the doorway staring at Reylan with the same expression all bangaa wore. It looked angry, but when you’ve got eyes that small and rows of sharp teeth permanently turned up into a sneer then you tend to look angry all of the time. In the month or so that Reylan had known him it had not gotten easier to read the monk’s expression.

“Reylan,” Driekel grunted, “why do I have a bad feeling about this?”

“Come,” said Reylan, turned away from the light streaming from the doorway and into the darkness of the streets. He heard the bangaa mutter and follow him.

“A job?”

“No, this one is a personal errand. I have information about Scheherazade.”

“Really?” Driekel had to speed up to keep up with Reylan’s long stride. “I was beginning to think that you had just made her up.”

“So was I.”

"I don't understand. Was that a joke?"

"Yes Driekel," said Reylan, "that was a joke." It wasn't, but he had no wish to explain himself. Not now.

They passed into Esto Gaza's main street, Mount Gulug a monolithic shadow rising above them. As ever, the late night businesses brought life to the night. The burmecian and the bangaa must have stood out amongst all those pale humans. Reylan could hear songs and violence intermingling with each other. Out on the streets the smell of meat being cooked tinged the air. Reylan's stomach reminded him that he had only had one meal that day. It was an easy enough impulse to override, however. Scheherazade dominated his mind.

Could it be?

No. This had to be some sort of dead end. Or maybe a trap.

It couldn't be his search over already.

"The Brotherhood are closing in," he said.

Driekel gave a laugh. "Here? Really? Where will you go?"

"If this isn't far enough," said Reylan, "then nowhere is far enough."

"Exactly. No more running Mr Magpie." The bangaa glanced sideways at Reylan: "Once this night is over I don't owe you anything. Whether or not we find your girl."

Reylan didn't reply. It was beginning to snow.


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## Damaris (Mar 30, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria Castle*


Lucia fought to keep her head raised (though instinct told her to bow, she was now more worried of appearing overly subservient before Ark, instead of overly bold) as the Prince asked her name. *?My name is Lucia South,? *she answered, keeping her voice steady. *?I'm afraid that I'm not a Lady at all, though you flatter me by calling me one...Ark.? *There. Calling the Prince by his full name was becoming easier, even if she wasn't completely comfortable with doing so yet. There was a brief pause in the conversation and then the Prince charged onwards, shocking Lucia even more. He was inviting her to the play? 

Was this some sort of joke? Lucia knew that the play she had been going to see tonight was a famous one, a companion piece to the well-renowned _I Want to Be Your Canary_, but she had had no idea of the actual plot and themes. This was almost frightening. But as the Prince smiled at her and?bowed a little? Bowed? She couldn't believe it?proceeded to invite her to the dance afterward, Lucia found that her body was reacting on its own. Separate from her bemused, shocked mind, her vocal cords took control, telling the Prince that she would be honored and thrilled to accompany him to the play, and more than excited for the dance. Lucia wondered what in the world had gotten into her as she even went so far as to extend one arm to the Prince in preparation for advancing to the royal balcony with him. This was stranger than she had ever imagined.


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## StrawHat4Life (Mar 30, 2010)

*Lindblum...*
"Going somewhere Miss Sarah?" Gormley the old family butler asks. 

Sarah stands frozen in front of the cabinet that contains the Mythril staff. She looks back at him with wide eyes, like a thief caught in the act. Her face becomes bright red and her mind races as she tries to come up with some kind of explanation. 

"Um...I was feeling better so I decided to go sleep over at Olivia's house," she tells the butler meekly, and closes the glass door that holds the glittering Mythril staff. 

Gormley nods thoughtfully at her with those penetrating gray eyes of his, almost covered by two snow white bushy eyebrows. "I see," he mutters. He stares at the rugged knee length black travelers boots she has on, and her very utilitarian clothing, rugged beige pants, a white long sleeved tunic, and a brown leather vest thrown over it. Nothing like what Sarah would ordinarily wear.

"Were you going to do a bit a hiking after as well?" he asks her. "Also how did you get the key to your father's study?" he adds, apparantly deciding to see how far Sarah will take this ruse. 

Sarah sighs audibly and literally feels all her dreams and hopes for adventure deflate in that one moment. In her mind she sees a future in which her father forcibly arranges a marriage for her with some wealthy noble, and then she'll be trapped, trapped forever in this world. "I'm sorry...I was going to run aw-"

"I know what you are doing Miss Sarah, and I will not try to stop you," the butler interjects. 

"I will not blame you for telling father..." suddenly Sarah stops short however and does a double take at Gormley. "Wait, what did you say?!" she exclaims, hoping against all hope that her ears are not playing tricks on her. 

Gormley smiles back at Sarah, "I said that I will not try and stop you." 

"REALLY?!" Sarah exclaims joyously, feeling her spirits suddenly rise as high as the sky. In fact she feels like she could just rocket right through the ceiling. She runs towards the kind old butler, who she's known for as long as she can remember and hugs him tightly. "Oh thank you, you don't know how much this means to me!" 

Gormley nods slowly and pats her on the shoulder, "I remember what it was like to be young, and to long for a greater destiny," he says in a bittersweet voice. Then he looks into her eyes and grins, "Perhaps you will find what I did not." 

"Now hurry up. Your parents may be back at any moment!" he warns her. Sarah nods and walks towards the wooden cabinet that contains the staff. As she removes it she can feel the weight of it, but it feels right in her grip for some reason, as if she's supposed to have it. 

"Come on then," Gormley says. 

_Five minutes later..._
Sarah exits out of the back door of her families mansion, located in the higher levels of Lindblum where most of the affluent members of the city live. She carries the long Mythril staff in a brown silk wrapping, and wears a dark brown cloak to make it easier to get out of the city unnoticed. Before leaving she gives Gormley one last hug and her eyes water. "I left a note for my parents in my room...on the bedstand" she says in a quiet voice. 

Gormley nods, "Good luck and may the gods be with you Miss Sarah."

With that Sarah heads off into the night and into the unknown.


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## Zorokiller (Mar 30, 2010)

Ark brought Lucia to the balcony and held his arm behind her lower back.

"Do you enjoy the scenery?" He says as he gazes off in the distance, birds fly past

He slowly places his eyes on hers
"You're like one of those birds, although you have no big influence on the sky, you are free to soar through it.."

He suddenly walks from the balcony and grabs stuff from his closet, he holds something in his hand and stretches it out
"Here, put this on please."
In his hand he held a white mage robe.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience...But you have to conceal yourself until the start of the show..."

Suddenly he hears a knock on his door
"Your highness, the show will start in fifteen minutes please prepare yourself."
"Yes, yes, I will." he said calm and loudly.

He faced the girl again and held her hands and placed his other hand over it
"Please lady Lucia, you go ahead of me, just follow the guard to your place. Oh and...Try to refrain from speaking before I've joined you..."


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## Vanthebaron (Mar 30, 2010)

Beowulf-Alexandria Castle

Beowulf was pulling a cart full of grain into the castle. This was his delivery. He worked all summer to grow this crop and now he would get payed for seeds for next year. He stoped in the hall way and took of a skin pouch of water and drunk it down. He continuded and delivered the cart to the chef's and got his money. "the play is tonight. I guys I'll head out tomarrow." he said to himself.


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## Zoidberg (Mar 30, 2010)

"It's a wonder your species is still alive today..." She muttered. There was no way she was going in those sewers. For one thing her inbred masters might realize she wasn't guarding them from the shadows all day right now while she traveled with the boy, and for another, it's demeaning. "Do it yourself boy, I have work to do." 

Herpethia left the boy in the courtyard to return to the theater. There, she found her masters still chatting with their felllow nobles. 

"Raagh!" Her master shrieked. "Herpethia, don't barge in on our conversations!" 

"Yes ma'am." It looked like they still had no idea she was gone for the last few hours. Herpethia looked upwards to the clocktower, and saw that it was 10 minutes till 8. The theater was about to start their play, which meant that she'll probably be loitering outside her masters' box.


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## Damaris (Mar 30, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria*

This day grew only stranger and stranger. The Prince?no, if Lucia had to call him just Ark, she might as well think of him as Ark, as well?Ark, grasped her by the waist and led her to the balcony. The view was pretty enough, Lucia thought, certainly better than the view of Alexandria from her house. Instead of the run-down slums and shabby buildings, the lake spread out before her, and the city of Alexandria beyond that. But Ark's comment brought her attention up to the sky, where a flock of birds wheeled and cried above the castle. Free to soar through the sky...? *?That may be true, Ark, but even the birds are at the mercy of the wind?which would be yourself, in this scenario.?* But even as Lucia's words hung in the air, the Prince was turning away from her, striding back into his room. Lucia trailed after him as he rummaged through his wardrobe, then turned around to extend whatever he had uncovered towards Lucia.

Lucia took the robe with trembling hands, barely aware of Ark apologizing to her as she examined the cloth. The material was thin, but finely made, the weave of unsurpassed quality. As she unfolded the clothing to get a better look, a knock on the door startled her and Lucia clutched the robe guiltily against her chest, throwing a look at the door. But Ark seemed unconcerned about the dwindling time and dismissed the speaker before taking Lucia's hands. The white mage robe coiled to the floor as Lucia watched him speak. ?*I'll talk to no one but you,?* she promised and then gathered the robe from the floor, pulling it over the clothes she was already wearing. Stealing a moment to revel in the graceful swoop of the material and delight in the contrast of the red triangles on white (as well as slip the magical tome from her father into a handy pouch at her waist?though perhaps, Lucia thought, she shouldn't have been surprised; this was a royal robe, they would have all the little luxuries like that), Lucia snatched up her bag and slipped out the door, thanking Ark one last time.

The guard gave her only a cursuory glance?whatever she thought of her Prince taking home commoners and dressing them up like dolls, no hint of it was betrayed to Lucia?and then motioned for the girl to follow her once more through the winding halls. Lucia nodded, followed and kept her head down, just as Ark had advised. The robe was hard not to trip over at first, but by the time the two had arrived at the royal seating for the play, Lucia felt comfortable in her new garments. The guard waved her to a chair to the right of a gilded seat that could only be Ark's, and Lucia nodded in thanks, then took her seat and waited for her most interesting companion to arrive.


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## Kinzey (Mar 30, 2010)

Even though Herpethia had said no, Kinzey would not be swayed. He'd expected an initial rejection, and had planned to try to convince her. Unfortunately by the time he'd caught up with her, she'd all ready entered the theater. "Fuck" he muttered. Kinzey surely couldn't enter the rich area. He wouldn't get the same mercy he'd gotten from the castle guards.

_Fine, I'll just wait for after the play_ Kinzey thought. He went inside the commoner's area, intent on waiting her out.


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## Damaris (Mar 30, 2010)

*Rinnea de Rose: Lindblum*


Rinnea crouched on the roof of the building, her leather vest creaking slightly as she reached behind her to unclasp a dagger from her belt. The telling noise didn't annoy Rinnea, not tonight. This wasn't a job, she wasn't stealing on someone else's dime. Just a freelance mission for herself, a little thievery to ease her boredom. And the target had simply been too tempting to pass up; the Lindblum Inn, where the Bobo Bird Statue had been handed down for years, from innkeeper to innkeeper. Although Rinnea wasn't interested in the statue for its own value, the thrill of stealing away so precious an item was irresistible. After staking out the building for a week, Rinnea was finally confident enough to make her move. The night mostly shielded her from view, as Rinnea always made sure to dress for the chase—thigh high black boots, black pants, a black leather vest strapped with buckles and worn over a black long sleeved shirt—and black gloves of course. Rinnea lived up to expectations. Her natural coloring proved a strange contrast to her chosen attire, however—her skin was creamy and smooth, while the whisker markings on her face, as well as her cat ears, hair, eyes and tail were all purest white. Rinnea was far too vain to dye them a more suitable color however. A weakness maybe, but never one that had cost her before. 

Easing her way down the roof, Rinnea reached out and grasped the nearest windowsill with her left hand. Stretching down far enough to see into the room and verify that it was empty, she began to fiddle with the lock—not the easiest task when hanging upside down from a roof, bare minutes after midnight—but after a few moments and some muffled curses, the lock popped and the window was pushed up. Then Rinnea was free to tumble down into the room, landing lightly on her feet. She remained still for a minute, ears twitching, as she waited to see if someone stirred or came to investigate the disturbance. There was no noise. Smirking, Rinnea picked her way across the room, cracked open the door, and was promptly sent flying backwards by a hearty punch. Catching herself in mid-air, Rinnea snarled and landed on the empty bed, blankets rumpling around her feet. There was a high, sharp pain on her cheekbone that was probably going to be a purple bruise tomorrow morning. The man who had punched her stepped through the door, a slight smile on his face. “Sorry, milady, but I can't have you in my Inn. A customer recognized you hanging out here a few days ago and tipped me off. I'm glad you finally showed up tonight. I was getting tired of losing sleep.” Rinnea scowled, but remained silent. Was she really becoming that easily identified? It was true that she'd made some high profile snatches, and the filthy hypocrite nobles who bickered and warred with each other also hired her...but was it becoming so that even the commoners knew her? Disgusting. 

She leapt backwards off the bed, meeting the man's eyes and smiled. The message was clear; your lucky night. And then she was gone, out the window and back up onto the rooftops, bounding to freedom. Right now, Rinnea wanted to be as far from her failure as possible. Slowly, the stout buildings melted into gilded, expensive houses as she switched districts and felt safe enough to move the ground level. Darting down the street, Rinnea took a hard right into the alleyway behind one of the nicer looking houses—and promptly ran right into someone. Snarling, Rinnea clutched at the stranger's wrist as they both fell to the ground, making sure whomever had further ruined her night wouldn't escape right away.


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## Zoidberg (Mar 30, 2010)

The theater was just as ritzy as Herpethia thought it would be. The creme-de la creme of Alexandrian society were gathered  in their finest robes, fitting as the theater was the most ornate place Herpethia has ever seen. 

She stood just outside her masters' box, fulfilling her role as intimidating bodyguard as well as she can. While she performed her duties she noticed someone familiar at the front of the theater. "That must be the girl that boy was looking for." Herpethia mused. The girl looked comfortable enough, but there were moments she acted rather jumpy. She couldn't do anything about her situation though, and even if she did it wouldn't pay much.


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## Zorokiller (Mar 30, 2010)

A shadow stalked the narrow corridors of the theater ship
"Let's see...Up this stairs is the engine room...The whole crew is busy with preparing for the show probably..."

While climbing the stairs his hat keeps falling over his eyes
"Ugh...Annoying commoner's hat."

He stands before a control panel
"I'll just press every button there is...I hope the machines are ready for lift-off"
He starts bashing all buttons and pulling all levers, smoke appears out of several pipes and the whole ship starts to shake.

The ship suddenly starts to lift, shaking the ground and making the commoners lose their ground, the anchor drags across the courtyard, destroying everything that comes across it's path, the crowd trying to push and jump themselves to safety.

In the engine room a little moogle with a monocle jumps at the back of the man
"W-What the hell are you doing?! You're destroying the entire courtyard!! Hell!! You're destroying my entire ship!!"

The man turns around and looks pissed off
"How dare you to touch me?!"

The moogle is in shock
"I-I'm sorry, your highness, but w-why?" 

Ark starts to laugh like a maniac
"I'm getting out of here and use your little ugly ship Mogstar!"

Meanwhile at the royal seatings Brynhildr steams from madness
"W-What the hell is happening!?" 
She looks around herself
"Where is my son? And who is--This?" She looks at the girl in the seat
"Where is miss Cornelia? Who are you?" Brynhildr remarks with a mad voice
"Guards!! Arrest this commoner!! Interrogate on the case of Ark's disappearance."

Guards prepared the cannons ready to shoot down the ship
"Fire!!" The Queen yelled

The ship got struck by Bombs, the got out of their shells and start to cast fire across the ship damaging it greatly

"My ship!! Nooooo...Prince stop this, hand me the controls!" Mogstar yells in vain
"Hahahaha!!! And now my mother must have found the distraction scapegoat for my disappearance, sitting right next to her!! Hahaha!!" He yells like a madman

The bombs explode and the ship shakes, Ark falls down the stairs and rolls through the corridor, he grabs the hat that fell from his head.

The ships starts to lose height and Ark runs to the lowest part of the ship
A crewmember tries to stop him from doing so but Ark simply rams him with his pole.
He grabs the chain and spins down to the outside, hanging on the chain of the anchor.

He looks around himself as he reaches the anchor and stands a top of it, from this point the sight on the waterfalls of Alexandra were a magical sight
"Soaring like a bird...Heh..."

He released his grip, holding his pole in one hand and placing his hand on the red mage hat with his other he soars down, diving straight down to the ground, the height was unbelievable and crashing down like this would most certaintly forfeit his life, but Ark didn't care, this was his freedom and the trees of the Evil Forest came closer and closer.


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## Kinzey (Mar 30, 2010)

As Kinzey watched the playhouse fly away, he said "Well, that was...interesting..."

Looking around, he saw that the balcony was still full of people, even though the Airship was gone. "Aaand now I just have to get up there" But it was a no go. He sucked at climbing walls, so he was stuck on the ground. He couldn't get through the sewers without Herpethia's help, and she was still guarding some noble. So, he was going to sit down, and wait for one of them.


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## Tyrael (Mar 30, 2010)

_I've never seen Shimmering Island before. Tonight, all I can see is the shadow of a large rock in the black ocean._​
Pilgrim's Point was the place that pilgrims would go to worship before they made the short journey, through the snow and ice, to the cathedral. It was a wide open square, perhaps as big as the city centre, and that was it. No great big alters, no statues, no words or buildings or anything that might be expected of such a holy spot. Just emptiness. Reylan glanced sideways at Driekel and made a signal that the bangaa missed. They were being watched.

"I don't see anyone," Driekel said.

Reylan did. There was a figure at the edge of the square, where the land dropped away into a cliff. Someone dressed in white looked out over the sea, their back to the newcomers. He could see the figure clearly, but could make out nothing about it.

He touched Driekel on the shoulder. "Watch the darkness and follow me slowly. We're not the only ones here."

As he approached, the figure turned. She was a burmecian. Shorter than Reylan, darker too. The clothes were a startling white gown, almost like wedding attire. She had no face.

Reylan stopped as if the night's darkness was a physical wall, holding him in place.

The woman reached out to him and started forwards. Her fingers arced as she beckoned to him. She did not move normally; she looked as if she were floating. No rise and fall of putting one foot in front of the other.

He felt cold. A scream rose up inside of him, but could not escape. The world was vague now, unreal almost. Only she was real.

"Come."

And then she fell backwards and off of the cliff and the world sprang up again. He dived forward, a scream ripping from his lips. "No!" Towards the cliff he raced, almost tipping over, but amongst the rocks below there was no sign of a body. Instead, the water boiled and distended.

A shape rose from it suddenly, violently rending its way through the sea, and rose upwards. He saw it's face, a bright yellow smile and dancing eyes. It was huge, constantly growing larger as it surged up towards him, at least as big as the cliff itself. It looked almost like a man, but only a general shape. It seemed to be made up of some kind of dark purple liquid that was constantly moving.

The creature past him, rearing up into the night sky. Reylan could feel his hands, cold and slippy against the handle of his sword, shaking. He couldn't remember drawing his sword. The creature reached towards him with it's clawed hand; Reylan brought his own weapon up and charged.

Someone hit him on the back, knocking him over.


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## Zoidberg (Mar 30, 2010)

Seeing the entire stage take off, Herpethia ran into her masters' box and lifted them both by the arm. She ran off with the two still in tow towards the exit, and then threw them both into their carriage. 

Herpethia could barely believe what just happened. Outside the theater she could still see the Airship leaving, though how it was able to fly even after the multiple explosions that erupted around it was beyond her. There was one thing though, that she was sure she saw. "The Prince was on that ship." 

It must've been a kidnapping attempt. It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. The Bangaa sharpshooter placed her scope over her left eye. In a few days, perhaps even tomorrow, a great manhunt will begin. A manhunt with a big prize. 

She approached her masters inside their carriage, still dazed by what has happened. Herpethia yanked out the gold leafing embossed on the door, scaring her masters. "This'll be my last pay. I quit." She left her masters inside their carriage as she pocketed the gold. Right now her main goal was to find a couple of stage hands, and squeeze as much info out of them as she could. After that, the hunt begins.


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## Tyrael (Mar 30, 2010)

_Scheherazade_​
"What are you doing?" Driekel demanded.

Reylan dragged his gaze fearfully upwards, but the creature was gone. "Where is it?"

"What?"

"That...thing."

"What thing? What are you talking about Reylan?" Driekel sounded baffled and angry.

"That," Reylan said as he dragged himself to his feet, "thing."

"An animal? Reylan, I can't see anything. You just shouted and tried to throw yourself off of the cliff."

"What about the woman? The burmecian?" He scanned the surroundings, but all that met his eyes was night.

"Calm down, there was no woman. Did you drag me out here just for this? Just to go crazy on me?"

Reylan put his head in his hands, squeezed his eyes closed. He could still feel himself shaking. "There was no one else? No monster that looked like, I don't know, a summon or something?"

Driekel shook his head.

What was wrong with him? Was that just a hallucination? The adrenaline was real enough. He forced the shaking to stop, controlled his breathing. The need to run, to get away from this place, bit into him. "Sorry about that. I think we should go."

Driekel began to reply, but all that came out was a splutter. He looked down, towards his chest, and Reylan followed his gaze. A blade was protruding from the leathers he was wearing. Blood leaked down his front. Behind him, four men appeared from the night.

The man that had stabbed him withdrew his sword as Reylan leaped forward to pull his friend away.

Driekel made an attempt to speak, then died.


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## Kinzey (Mar 30, 2010)

As Kinzey sat in the courtyard, he saw Herpethia run out of the theater. This time, he _had _to convince her.

After she quit her job, he caught up to her. "Please, Herpethia, don't be so narrow minded! Think of what we'll be doing! Sneaking into the castle! Can you imagine what they have there? You're out for money, right? They must have some amazing stuff for you to steal! Much better than what these fat nobles pay".

"Here," He pulled out his bag of gil that he'd taken from his house. "Help me, and in adition to the riches you can get from the castle, I'll throw in 200 gil. Please, you're the only one who can help me!" By this point he was no longer reasoning. Now he was pleading, on the verge of begging. He hated to admit it, but he needed her help.


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## Zoidberg (Mar 30, 2010)

If Kinzey had made this offer a few years ago, Herpethia would've laughed and accepted it. Too bad for him she knew how to look at the big picture now. "Compared to the pay I'll get when I find him, this'll be nothing." Herpethia snorted. "Besides, the Knights of Alexandria are probably in chaos right now. If you try a stunt like that you'll likely to get your head on a pike." 

She walked away from the boy, not wanting another word from him. However, just as she was about to enter the theater she stopped. "The prince is gone, kidnapped. Just thought you might want to know." 

Going into the theater turned out to be a waste of time. No one answered her coherently, and those that could were being kept busy by Alexandrian knights. She did overhear one of the knights saying that the airship couldn't have gone far with the damage it took, so she left town in search of it.

She marched through the open fields outside the city, keeping away from as many wild creatures as possible. It takes her a few hours, but she arrives at the location she thinks the ship crashed. Her hunch was right. She saw a couple of men lead by a moogle scrambling to salvage the remanants of an impressive ship, no doubt the one that spirited away the prince. It was located below the great waterfalls of Alexandria though, which meant her travels weren't down. 

The cliffs were near-impossible traversed, unless of course you had claws sharp enough to serve as climbing gear. Herpethia carefully traversed the steep cliff, climbing downwards with delicate care. One mistake would could cost her her life, and as such she had to be careful. Finally she gets down, but it was already late at night. She sees a moogle dozing off near the wreckage, and approaches him with her gun aimed. 

"The boy. Where is he?" She asked, revealing the muzzle of rifle underneath her cloak.

"It was the prince, kupo! That prince guy forced our stage to take off!" The moogle reasoned nervously.

She didn't trust his explanation one bit, but even if it were true, it didn't matter. She was going to get the prince, and get paid doing it."I don't care what happened. Where is he?" 

"In...the forest...kupo!" 

"Tiamat's scales." She cursed. There was only one forest the moogle was talking about, and it was the one with the giant plant monsters. Still, she was already this far. There was no use chickening out now. "I suggest you and your friends leave for Treno before the authorities figure out where the ship crashed." She told the moogle. 

Herpethia checked her weapons before going into the forest. She counted all the shots she had left, and made sure her back-up weapon, a single-shot pistol that was more useful as a mace than a gun, was loaded. She tapped her broken helmet, allowing her scope to emit a faint red light through some technosourcery Herpethia didn't understand, and entered the forest. It might take her weeks to find him, and by then the prince might be dead. Even so she went on, since the prince's corpse will still fetch her a pretty penny.


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## Kinzey (Mar 30, 2010)

Kinzey stood in shock at what Herpethia had said: The prince was gone? Did that mean Lucia was safe? If she could get out of the castle, she'd be fine.

Kinzey sat on a bench in the courtyard to await her return. There was nothing else to do. The guards were all ready on the edge and wouldn't tolerate his presence this time. He would just have to wait for Lucia.

It was at this point that he realised the extent of his wounds: His face was covered in blood, he had cuts all over, and his ankle was sprained. To pass the time, he used some of his bottled water to clean himself.


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## StrawHat4Life (Mar 30, 2010)

*Lindblum...*
_Dear Mother and Father

If you're reading this right now then that means that I'm gone...and I'm not coming back. I tried to live life your way and under your rules, I really did, but I just felt like a caged bird, with no reason to live and no future to look forward to. You said my gifts were a curse and that I should ignore them...well you were wrong. I'm going to unlock my potential and see the world, the real world. I still love you both with all my heart, and I realize you were just trying to do what was best for me, but this is just something I have to do. I'll miss you very much and please don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. I know I can do this, and maybe one day you'll see and be proud of what I've become.  

Your loving daughter Sarah

P.S. Tell Georgie and Alicia that I love them. _

George Freedmont Lansing III angrily crumples his daughters note in his right gloved fist after reading it over a dozen times. Over by the couch several servants fan the face of his wife Helen, who lays back prostrate in an absolute delirium. The moment she found out Sarah had run away, the woman had screamed like a banshee and fainted. 

How could she do this to us, he thinks, after all the love we've given her! 

He looks over at the old butler Gormley who stands calmly by the fireplace. "So you checked her room and she was already gone?" he asks her. 

Gormley nods matter of factly, "Yes my lord. I had prepared dinner for her and when I knocked several times on her door I received no answer. I opened it and she was gone. I checked the whole house top to bottom, and thats when I discovered that the staff was missing from your study." 

"Yes, the staff," George responds through gritted teeth, and narrows his eyes in a look of absolute anger. That staff is worth more then the rest of my fortune...a priceless antique! He thinks inwardly with rage. Suddenly he smacks away a very expensive and very old vase from the mantelplace. It shatters all about the lush carpet, causing the servants to jump back in alarm.

"I WANT HER FOUND AND I WANT HER BACK HERE WITHIN THE HOUR!!" he screams, his face turning a bright shade of red. He has high connections here in Lindblum, and he plans to use every one of them if he has to, and gods help whoever gets in his way. 
_
Elsewhere..._
Sarah feels a rush of excitement as she makes her way past a row of nice looking houses. To her it feels very like the start of a new journey, and even though she has no clue where's she's going, it makes it all the more exhilarating that way. Who knows where she'll sleep tomorrow, get her next meal, and who cares she adds inwardly with a grin. I'm free now. 

She turns into an alleyway, lost in her reverie and imagining what it will be like to travel the wilderness, and see the other great cities. She's always wanted to go to Burmecia. So lost is she in her fantasy in fact, that she doesn't even notice the figure who suddenly appears around the bend of the alleyway. They both collide and the figure snarls angrily, grabbing at her right wrist. Sarah lands onto the pavement on her rear end with a thud. Her Mythril staff, covered underneath its silk wrapping, flies out of her grip and clatters across the floor.

Sara shakes her head, still looking down at the ground in a daze, and is about to apologize, "My goodness, I'm so s-" but she stops short and realizes that the figure still has her wrist in a vice like grip. She tries to release herself but can't. It's then that she looks up at the figure and her eyes widen...

"You...you're an Elvaan!" Sarah exclaims in surprise, but more in a tone of pleasant surprise. Her father didn't think much of their race (not that he thinks much of any race that isn't Human really), and always encouraged Sarah and her siblings to stay away from them. 

"Um you can let go of me now if you don't mind," Sarah adds with a smirk.


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## Kyuuzen (Mar 30, 2010)

*Sesshomaru Sokken; Forest Area Outside of Alexandria*

Sesshomaru gazed down from his spot, perched high in a tree.  He calmly and serenly scoured the earth beneath him.  His trap was lain, now he must wait for it to be sprung.  A pile of varius herbs and shrubbery.  A few rabbits had taken nibbles, but they were a waste of time.  He was waiting for big game to come along.

A strange horned beast, like a deer and goat fusion, made its way towards his trap.  He readied himself and slowly drew Bakusaiga, the red blade.  The beast stopped and sniffed the pile.  Sesshomaru leapt down and delivered a downward slash to behead the beast, but was countered by its horns.

_'So you can think strategically and defensively and react accordingly?  A good meal comes from a challenging chase.'_

He readied his sword and dashed towards the beast, sword and horn meeting and parrying each other.  The beast was strong, but he was a trained swordsman.  He spun to avoid its attack, a ramming charge where the beast put it's force into a very damaging move, but risky.  Tunnel vision ensued, and not only that, but the move made it incredibly hard to turn, and the user could merely veer to the right or left.

Upon dodging, Sesshomaru sliced downward into the beast's neck.  The beast lashed out and he had to cut the attack short, his sword only making a small gash in the beast's neck.  It charged again, and Sesshomaru held up his blade.  The beast increased its charge speed.

Sesshomaru drove forward, impaling it right between the horns.  The blade shout out of the back of the beast's head before it fell to the forest floor, long dead before the blood seeped around it.

"Gotcha."


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## Damaris (Mar 30, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria Castle
*
Lucia fidgeted in her seat. It had been nearly fifteen minutes, but Ark still hadn't arrived. Casting one last glance at the seat beside her, Lucia shrugged and leaned forward, fastening her eyes on the stage. Regardless if the Prince ever showed up or not, she'd still get to see the play. And besides, Lucia thought as she played with the sleeve of her robe, this white mage outfit was more than enough of a gift. Perfect for the start of her adventure. Now she finally felt like someone more than Lucia South, a poor commoner from the slums of Alexandria. She felt like a proper explorer, someone who might even be a hero. Someone who deserved to carry a book of spells. And speaking of which...Lucia slid a hand into the pouch containing the tome. It surely couldn't hurt just to read a few while she was waiting, right? And yet...she didn't exactly want to advertise the fact that she had a spell book. Casting a glance over her shoulder to make sure that the Prince wasn't approaching, Lucia flipped through the book, trying to get a feel for what was in store for her once she had time to properly learn the spells. _Cure: a spell that restoreth minor wounds and renews the user with vigor. Reflect: a curse that allows the user to turn back attacks of an arcane nature._ Lucia sighed. The entire book wasn't going to be written like this, right? But her worries were forgotten as she saw the next spell. _Holy: The spell that allows the user to summon the light of heaven to destroy her foes. _The description was accompanied by a full-page embossed illustration that depicted a white mage, glowing with power, in the act of casting Holy; around her were fallen enemies, trembling with fear.

_Amazing_, Lucia thought, tracing the picture dazedly with one figure. One day, can I do that? But her reverie was interrupted as the commotion erupted. Looking up and shoving the tome back inside the robe, Lucia watched with horror as the theatre actually broke away from castle and courtyard and pulled upwards into the night sky. Getting to her feet, Lucia craned her neck upward as she watched the airship fly ever higher. Her attention was soon diverted however, as the Queen swept onto the viewing balcony, yelling about her missing son. _Ark's gone?_ Lucia wondered, but she barely had time to consider the situation beyond that, as the Queen than proceeded to tell the guards to arrest Lucia and interrogate her on the Prince's disappearance. Lucia stumbled backwards as the guard who had brought her up to the balcony advanced towards her. *“Please,”* Lucia managed to stammer out. *“You know I didn't do this. When you brought me here, the Prince was still in his room. I haven't left since then.” *The guard's stoic expression slipped for a moment, then she continued moving forwards. Lucia stepped back, shook her head, stepped back again—and then there was nowhere to go. Just the edge of the balcony. Lucia eyed the guard's spear, and flung herself backwards. She was going to die. This was obvious enough either way. But falling through the air, she was strangely resigned...until she crashed down on a stone bench, though her impact was slightly softened by whomever was unfortunate enough to be sitting there. Lucia didn't know any of this, though. She had blacked out at first contact.


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## Maria Antonia (Mar 30, 2010)

Sonara stared at the crackling flames of the fireplace, mesmerized by the shifting shapes and colors. She flexed her fingers, letting the feeling return to them. She twirled them around to the movement of the fire, pretending to control it. Her soup sat at the dinner table, untouched. She wasn't feeling hungry tonight.

The house was silent except for the usual noises; her older sister scrubbing the pots, her youngest brothers sparring in hall, the creaking of the floor when someone moved. It was a typical night for her. She had nothing to do but practice her magic, but of course, that was fine for her. She focused intently on the tongue of a flame, watching as it rose and fell and flickered. She concentrated on her finger tips, allowing them to heat with magic. The calm was broken when one of her older brothers slammed open the door.

"Evan, Adelbert, Laurel! You won't believe what I just saw!" Orin exclaimed, striding into the room with a near blinding grin. He took the closest seat and gathered his sister and brothers in. Sonara remained on the floor in front of the fire, listening from where she sat. "One of the theaters that the Prince Ark was at tonight just took off, right into the sky! Nobody knows where he is, and his mother is going mad about it."

Orin continued to explain, but Sonara could not hear over the gasps and comments from her sister Laurel. Her brothers Evan and Adelbert were jumping up and down in their excitement, adding to the noise.

"What was that?" She asked, standing up and looking back at Orin. He must not have heard her, because he kept going into detail about the pandemonium in the theater. "Orin, speak up, I can't hear." Sonara asked again, clear and abrupt. This time, Orin turned to look her. They locked gazes for a few moments, her emeralds clashing with his saphires, before he turned away with a scowl.

"And in the seat was some other girl that nobody knows. The whole place is..." His voice was drowned out by their siblings, each trying to shout out something different. Sonara, hardly disheartened, decided it would be easier to see for herself rather than to talk to her own brother. With that in mind, she wrapped a scarf around her neck before setting off out the door. Her brothers and sister did not seem to notice.


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## StrawHat4Life (Mar 30, 2010)

*Treno...*
Moridin heads towards one of the many taverns that are open in this city of everlasting night, where no one ever sleeps it seems. He passes by a short and "Cute" looking Moogle who stands next to a wooden post which reads, _Mognet Delivery_. The Moogle notices Moridin and waves at him. 

"Kupo! Hello brother. Kupo!" he greets Moridin cheerfully. 

Moridin stops in his tracks and turns towards the Moogle with an impassive face. Brother? he thinks, no this fellow isn't his brother. A brother is one whom you have bled with on the battlefield while facing down impossible odds. "Do you ever tire of being the laughingstock of this entire world...to cater to the whims of a people that do not even acknowledge your existence, and take you for granted?" 

Finally Moridin adds, "And do you ever tire of the saying the word...Kupo?"  The clear and utter revulsion in his voice as he says the word Kupo literally bites the air. 

The delivery moogle looks back at Moridin questioningly as if puzzled. "Got any mail you want to deliver? Kupo!" he asks, again cheerfully. 

Moridin shakes his head and sighs in defeat, his long ears almost droop down in fact. He quickly leaves his fellow brethren behind and enters a tavern just up ahead, a large and bustling establishment that is open around the clock. Moridin ignores the stares that he gets as he sidles up to the front counter. Afterall it's not often that you see a Moogle in samurai robes, carrying a katana. He gracefully hops onto the bar stool and eyes the bartender, a tall and husky looking Human. 

"Tea please..." he asks the bartender. 

He smirks at Moridin, and looks him up and down, as if finding him amusing, "We don't serve tea here little master." 

Suddenly Moridin slams a bag of coins, his hard earned severance pay, onto the counter. It doesn't escape the notice of several seedy looking patrons who sit nearby.

"Tea please..." Moridin repeats. 

The bartender nods quickly, "Right away!" 

He turns his back to Moridin, but then stops short and turns around at him, "Er...would you like a Kupo nut with that?" 

Moridin sighs and rests his forehead against the bartop.


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## Kyuuzen (Mar 30, 2010)

*Sesshomaru Sokken; Alexandria*

Sesshomaru stepped into the Blacksmith's, waving to the grizzled old man.  "Hey, Sidonis, got a job for ya."

Sidonis looked at him quzically.  "Lemme guess.  You expect t' pay me in meat?"  He said, eyeing the sack Sesshomaru was carrying.  It smelled of fresh meat and was lumped.  

Sesshomaru waved him off.  "No, no, don't be foolish.  I'm here for you, buddy."  He reached in the sack and yanked out horns.  "I found some weird horned thing out in the forest.  Y'know, like a deer and goat cross-breed.  The horns are strong, though.  Melt them down, infuse them with steel and you should have a high-quality weapon, pal."

Sidonis chuckled heartily.  "Ah, it's refreshing when you're not attacking me for discounts and charity.  Truly.  Thanks, Sesshomaru.  Yeah, these are good quality.  Not as good quality as th' swords you get.  Where'd you say you got 'em again?"

Sesshomaru smirked.  "They were an apology gift.  Anyway I've heard some rumors lately.  Some Prince named Ark something-or-other went missing?"

Sidonis barked a laugh.  "What?  You speak like you care!  Why would you care whether or not a prince is missin'?"

Sesshomaru pinched the bridge of his nose.  "No, no, you're not getting it!  If I find him, I could get some reward, no?"

"So, you're only in this for the money.  You don't care about Alexandria at all, do you?"  Sidonis asked, with a calm, somber face.

Sesshomaru was thrown off.  "I, I didn't--"

"Ha!  Just pullin' yer leg!  Well, you earned a reward for the horns!  What can I do for ya?"

"Maybe you could clean Bakusaiga and sharpen Tenseiga?"

"Yeah, yeah, no problem!"

The grizzled man sharpened the blades and cleaned them both.  "Here!  I'll be seein' ya!"

Sesshomaru nodded and took his leave, looking around.  _'Now where can I find information on Prince Ark?'_


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## Damaris (Mar 30, 2010)

*Rinnea de Rose: Lindblum*

This was really not a good night. First, Rinnea's reputation as a thief had been utterly trashed. Recongized by ordinary people? Stopped in the middle of a robbery? Unacceptable. Second, she'd run into someone and it hurt like blazes. There was a headache beginning to pulse in time with bruise she'd acquired from the innkeeper an hour ago. Not fun, not fun at all. As the two fell to the ground, Rinnea made sure not to lose her grip. Whoever had run into her would be sure to enjoy as much misery as Rinnea was currently. But as her semi-attacker opened her mouth, Rinnea's entire perspective changed. The girl who'd run into her stuttered out half an apology before apparently being taken aback by Rinnea's appearance, and at her comment, Rinnea sat up, bemused. *“An Elvaan...? Kid, do I look like an Elvaan?”* With her free hand, Rinnea waved at her ears. She wrinkled her nose, the white whisker markings on her face becoming apparent. *“I'm a Mitoq'te. We're not the same at all. Superior in every way.”* At the girl's comment that she could let go, Rinnea obliged, though she curled her tail around the girl's wrist for a bare moment, smiling. *“Very different.”*

Now that she was free to pull away from the girl, Rinnea adjusted until she was crouched on her heels, eyeing the girl. She was pretty enough—brown silk hair, light blue eyes—but she had that pampered look about her. And considering the part of the Lindblum they were in, Rinnea could guess that this girl was of a much higher—what was the word for it?—upbringing then her. Well, not that it was very hard to beat Rinnea's upbringing. All you needed was a regular roof over your head and someone to teach you that stealing was wrong and killing was worse. Not that Rinnea really regretted her lot in life. She enjoyed herself, and that (along with a steady influx of gil) was all she needed.* “Now,”* Rinnea purred, *“It's very late at night, and you don't look at all like the type of person who's usually out. Look how dangerous it is just in the rich areas. I mean, you ran into someone like me, after all. I'd hate to think of what might happen to someone as beautiful as you in the Industrial District.”* Speaking of beautiful objects...

Rinnea looked at the mythril staff, half-uncovered and lying a few feet away on the ground. *“Did you steal that? Or are you the oppressed heir of some noble house who was forced to work after your family died. Are you running away because you have to seek your destiny in some unknown country for the fate of the world?”* Rinnea clamped her mouth shut for a moment before standing up. She really shouldn't be talking this much. But it couldn't be helped. She was a sucker for the ones like this. Such a situation had only happened once before, and the memory both intrigued and repulsed Rinnea from this girl. This night had already been so strange...but perhaps that meant she had nothing to lose from taking the risk. *“Regardless of what sent you darting off in the middle of the night—my name is Rinnea. What's yours?”*


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## StrawHat4Life (Mar 31, 2010)

*Lindblum/Office of the Constable...*
"Listen up boys, George Lansing's eldest daughter has run away," the Chief Constable tells a squad of his men. He smokes a cigar and has the look of one who hasn't been out into the field in a quite a while. "I don't have to tell you who George Lansing is I hope."

"He's the third richest man in Lindblum," replies one of the guards, a young man. 

The Constable nods matter of factly and slams his meaty right fist onto his oak desk, "Damn right and he's one of our largest contributors...so that means we're gonna find that girl of his pronto. Anyone who finds her will receive a generous reward. Now fan out and spread the word. I want watches posted at every gate as well, even the airship terminals!" 
_
With Sarah and Rinnea..._
Sarah's face turns red with embarrassment for a second at not even getting this woman's very species right. Oh what a dunderhead you are she chastises herself inwardly. She can't help but apologize to her. "Ah I am sooo sorry, my head must have been rattled in the fall and it _is_ dark. Right you are a...Mitoq'te. Forgive me If I insulted you." 

She slowly gets to her feet and dusts off the seat of her pants. "My name is Sarah. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Rinnea," she tells the cat like woman in an amiable enough voice, and with no hint of distrust at all. 

Sarah is if anything a trusting person by nature, it is both her flaw and greatest strength. However she's no fool either, especially not after living a life with the ultra vain queen bees of high society, which in its own way can be just as cruel as the seediest underbelly of Lindblum. She figures that if this woman really wanted to, she could easily take her valuables by force, and speaking of valuables...Sarah spots her Mythril staff lying a few feet away. She walks towards it and picks it up, covering it fully in its silk wrapping. 

As she looks back at Rinnea she ponders just what this woman does for a living. She seemed to be running very fast, and at this late hour of night who knows for what nefarious purpose. Could she be an assassin or a bounty hunter? Sarah muses. She eyes the dagger on Rinnea's belt, but instead of this inspiring fear and caution in her, it fills her with a nervous excitement. This is exactly what she wanted, adventure. Just like in one of those penny dreadfuls she's read so many times in her bed at night. Though in her mind, the notion of death, and murder, don't even enter the equation. The thought of her own mortality, or that of anyone close to her for that matter, is totally foreign. 

Sarah mulls it over in her head and an idea suddenly occurs to her. This woman probably knows all the in's and out's of Lindblum far better then she does. In fact she might make the perfect guide to get her out of this city undetected. Sarah can't help but smile giddily to herself as she imagines them both partnering up and becoming famous adventurers, questing across the land for hidden treasures of all varieties.

Sarah walks towards Rinnea and speaks in a low hushed voice, just as she imagines a spy would do from one of the novels she read. This might be a mistake but she's willing to risk it. If it's meant to be then it's meant to be. "Actually your words are not far off from the truth. I have indeed run away from my family, and _I am_ on a quest to seek my fate. However, I am in a bit of a quandary at the moment. You see my father is Lord George Lansing III...and leaving this city without detection might prove very difficult, and may be something that is beyond my skills," she says with a frown. 

She locks eyes with the cat like woman and her frown suddenly disappears as it quickly as it appeared. "However for one such as yourself...perhaps such a thing is not beyond your skills hmm?" Sarah reaches within her dark brown cloak and produces a thick leather purse filled to the brim with gil thats she's been pilfering away for the last month. All in all a small fortune by any normal standards, but for her it amounts to just a months allowance.  

"I would pay you most handsomely if you could help me escape this city unnoticed..." Sarah then winks conspiratorially at Rinnea, not realizing the fire she's likely playing with.


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## Chaos (Mar 31, 2010)

*Romolus Mingan, Lindblum*

What the hell was he even doing out here at this hour? Romolus couldn't help but keep asking himself this same question over and over while stalking trough the dark night of Lindblum's streets. His hood was pulled low over his face, he didn't want people to mistake him for some monster, so he had figured to just hide his whole face. Not that it did anything to hide his paws, but he just felt more secure this way. 

The moon beckoned. Romolus looked up to the silver spectacle that had forced him out of the safety of the inn that night. Although Romolus was not one of his tribe any more by any measure, the silvery disk still held great attraction to the werewolf, as well as memories of his past. 

_The great bonfires. The hunched forms of werewolfs, of his family, performing a ritual. Howls rising up from the circle, calling to the moon itself to grace them with it's blessing. The silvery light that somehow found it's way into every single one of the tents of the encampment. And the smell... The intoxicating smell of blood... Warm blood... Go-_

Romolus snarled, breaking himself free of the trance of the past. He was over that. He wasn't one of them anymore. He would never again eat a reasoning creature. He chastised himself for even coming out to the moon, and even more important, to let his attention slip from the not-so-safe place he was threading in. 

Suddenly afraid of having missed something, Romolus glanced around frantically, taking in the surroundings and any possible dangers. Dark alleyway, dark building, main road, two girls lying on the ground next to each other with one seemingly ensnaring the other, dark building, dark alleyway, wait... what? Romolus' head snapped back to the main road, to the strange spectacle going on. 

Immediately his thoughts started racing. What was it? A robbery? A coincidental meeting? A nightly excursion of two lovers? All options were just as unlikely to Romolus. He wondered what he should do. Maybe help was needed. Maybe not. And even if help actually w?s needed, he wasn't about to go barging in against an opponent he didn't know. 

Romolus took a tentative step forward, fingering his spear anxiously. He hadn't been in a fight since... well it was long, he knew that. He bolstered his resolve. When shit got down, he would just get the hell out of there. For now, he might just as well act a little braver. 

His steps were a little more confident when he came upon the crossroads where the girls were. Meanwhile, they had both stood up, and since no one had weapons in hand, Romolus felt a little easier. Actually, the girls were in casual conversation now. He didn't understand what had happened, but he was quite relieved that it hadn't asked for any action. He was still a bit anxious though, when he tentatively closed in. 

"Good night girls, I was checking on the commotion, but it seems it wasn't necessary" Romolus said from under his hood. "Might I ask you what you're doing outside at this hour, though?"


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## Zorokiller (Mar 31, 2010)

Ark opened his eyes and looked around himself, he tried to get up but felt something squizy below him, laying on a giant tongue he shook up.
"Ugh...What is it?"

He looked up and saw gigantic trees
("So I survived the fall somehow..") He looked at the thing he landed on, it was a big ugly thing with a big tongue.

The thing woke up
"You land on Quan? Fell from sky, you bird? I eat?" The Qu remarked

Ark fell down and tried to get himself away from the thing
"Uah...?! W-What? I'm not food y-you filthy creature..."

Quan looked sad towards Ark
"Quan sad, no food."

Ark stood up and grabbed the hat and pole that lay on the ground.
"Just leave me alone." he sighed and walked away stumbling over a tree root.

A fang jumps out of the bushes and takes Ark by suprise, but before Ark can react to it it gets blown away by a frying pan.
"Food be careful, baddies like food."
Ark adjusts his hat and walks on ignoring the Qu.
Quan follows him
"Not nice, Quan is here. Food not talk?"
Ark sighs
"The name is not food, it's Ark. Now leave me alone."
Quan happily hops after Ark, his tongue waving from left to right and so forth.

"Ugh...Annoying..."
From the treetops something suddenly falls down and grabs Ark, flipping around walking away
"W-What the hell, let me go stupid monster, I'm the friggin prince of this country!"
"Quan, Prince? Is prince yummie?" Quan remarks

Ark goes mad trying to get out of the Prisoncage plant monster
Suddenly a symbol consisting of two stripes connected by a upper and lower line appears on his right hand.
Ark's eyes go white and the next moment he knows he stands on a corpse of the Prisoncage.
Quan looks terrified at Ark
"Y-You scary..Quan not like!"
the Qu runs away in a odd hopping way, Ark looks confused
"W-what happened? Is that ugly creature afraid of me? Why?"

Ark looks around himself and decides just to walk in a direction.
From the shadows a person observes Ark
"The first one has awakened, so the cycle has begun..." a grin appears on his face.


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## Kuno (Mar 31, 2010)

*Seoni…*

“I don’t think I will ever be able to get this dust out of my fur!”  The humanoid wolf said to her companion as she clapped a large paw on her chest causing an explosion of dust.  “Achoo!”  She sneezed then shook her head.

“Oh come now Coia.  It’s not that bad.”  The woman walked next to the massive beast with out a care.  “Why don’t you lick yourself clean.  Isn’t that what dogs do?”

The creatures eye twitched slightly.  “That’s what cats do.  If you haven’t noticed yet.  I’m not a cat!”

A laugh like music came from the woman.  “Of course not Coia.  Don’t get your fur all ruffled now.”

“Hmpf.”  Coia turned her head and sniffed the air.  “I do believe we approach our destination Seoni.”

“Really?  So soon?”  Seoni looked slightly troubled as they walked silently through the mist.

“It is but a short distance ahead.”  The massive wolf pointed ahead of them into the gloom.

“Yeah…”  Seoni thought on the mission they had been paid to do.   The item that they had recovered weighed heavily from her waist, gently tapping her leg at each step.  As if making sure the thief knew the burden she had been carrying over the distance.  

“Are you having second thoughts?  We have gone through much to deliver the item…”  Coia looked down at her friend slightly concerned.

For a moment the woman didn’t answer then she sighed.  “No.  There is no turning back now.  I just want to know what significance the thing has.”  She shrugged squinting slightly into the mist making sure it was actual lights she was seeing.

“Who knows.  The mages are a strange bunch as far as I am concerned.”  Coia sniffed the air again.  “I would not make it your concern either.”

“Your right Coia.  What would I do with out your voice of reason?”  The laughter returned to Seoni’s voice as they approached the door.  “Anything?”

Again the wolf sniffed the air for a moment.  She shook her head.  “Nothing more than the man and a few others inside.”

With that Seoni opened the door and entered.  The place was shabby without enough lighting to diffuse the shadow’s along the walls and in the corners.  It smelled of smoke and other things which the pair refused to think about.  “What can I getcha?”  The bald man behind the counter called but before they could answer the gentleman they were seeking spoke up.

“They are with me.  Just bring a couple more mugs…”  His voice was gravely and rough yet made you relax with his words.  “I see you made it.  I was beginning to think you wouldn’t.”  He gestured toward the empty chairs near him.  The blackness of his hair returned none of the meager light that played across his face emphasizing the four slash like scars.

“I told you there would be no reason to worry.”  Seoni walked in front of Coia and led her through the few other empty tables.  

The man’s eyes flickered from her face to the leather pouch swinging at her hip.  He licked his lips in anticipation but made no move to take it.  “You were successful then?”

“Of course, Marcus.”  The duo sat at the table as the drinks were brought to them.  They ignored the mugs for the moment as they concentrated on the man.

“Let me see it to be sure…”  Marcus’ eyes glowed with eagerness, locked onto the Seoni’s hand as it moved toward the bag.  

She untied the strings and set the bag on the wooden table with a thump almost laughing as the man tried to keep himself from reaching forward and ripping the bag open.


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## Damaris (Mar 31, 2010)

*Rinnea de Rose: Lindblum
*
As the girl gets to her feet and tries to clean herself up a little, Rinnea can't help but stretch out to her towering full height of 5'6. She's always been average in height, and it never bothered her?sometimes she even wished she were a little smaller for the more difficult missions?but the fact that this society princess has a good five or four inches on Rinnea rankles the Miqo'te. But Rinnea shoves the bubble of pride down (arrogance will only get you killed, vanity will only make you weak?this has been her mantra. When you live in the shadows, work in the darkness, you're just doing yourself a disservice by worrying about how you appear to other people) and attempts a disarming smile as the girl introduces herself. *?Sarah? I'll be sure to remember it,? *Rinnea says. _As well as be sure to tap one of my contacts for your entire lifestory_. *?The feeling is most decidely mutal.?*

Rinnea can't help this kind of categorizing and compartmentalizing of people. That's how she's survived for so long. She studies the girl's every move as Sarah walks over to pick up that very, very nice looking staff.  Sarah certainly doesn't walk like a trainer fighter or warrior. She's smart enough to not give out her last name, which is a start. But she was on the ground while Rinnea stood above her long enough to slit her throat three times over and she's just now clambering over to what appears to be her only weapon. So the question comes down to this; what's more profitable in the end? Kill her and take her staff? Sell her back to her family or the Lindblum government? Or let her go? A question of ethics for anyone else, perhaps, but the only sworn code Rinnea followed was the that proclaimed: _Let gil be your god, and take none above him._

Sarah grasped her staff and turned around, staring at Rinnea. Rinnea tried to keep a straight face under the girl's steady gaze, but when Sarah suddenly began smiling to herself, Rinnea couldn't help the flicker of incomprehension that passed over her face. _Is this a trap? Gods above, don't let the girl be mental. Even I don't deserve to be saddled with that._ But soon enough, Sarah seemed to regain herself and walked back to Rinnea, though she spoke in such a low whisper that Rinnea had to flick her ears forward just to pick up what she said. But oh, what she said. Such a goldmine. The daughter of a Lord? Not one that Rinnea had ever had dealings with, but still. Enemies of his would probably pay dearly for his little girl, all wrapped up in a bow, and Rinnea disappearing into the night with a bag of gil and that gleaming staff. But as Sarah kept talking, Rinnea reconsidered her plans?especially when Sarah pulled out the bulging purse of gil. That got her attention. 

So, she wanted someone to help her escape from the city? Rinnea weighed her options. The easiest, and most appealing, was to simply return the girl to her family?for a hefty sum of course. Killing her and taking the staff was next on that list. And third; the choice to actually help her out of Lindblum, for whatever sum of money was in that bag. Normally, Rinnea might have laughed internally for a few seconds before knocking the girl out and proceeding with contacting her darling father. But this was no ordinary night. Look at what she had been reduced to in Lindblum: stealing silly bird statues. Being identified and beaten back by idiotic fools. Rinnea knew enough to realize that she had outgrown Lindblum (or perhaps Lindblum had simply outgrown her), and besides, there weren't many places the girl could have in mind to go. Alexandria would be nice. Lots of nobles, ripe for the picking. Really, anywhere was better than Lindblum, after the events of tonight. Rinnea smiled, and in stark contrast to her earlier smile, this one was genuine.

*?I'll be more than glad to help you,?* she purred with a sweeping, slightly-mocking bow. *?Now, just put that away until we get you to where ever you want to go. If we want to leave, you'll have to follow me. Don't question me. Got it? Good.?* Barely waiting for a response, Rinnea turned around--and with the most infuriating sense of deja vu, came to a screeching halt after barely three steps. A tall hooded man loomed over her, and Rinnea choked back a snarl. This was not her night, not her night at all. Palming her dagger, Rinnea listened as he explained himself. When he fell silent, obviously waiting for a response, Rinnea only rolled the blade across her knuckles in a flashy display and smiled at him. *"Shouldn't I ask the same? A man hiding his face, in the dark, approaching two young women he doesn't know? What exactly are you doing here, my good sir, and what's your name?"* The final question was punctuated by Rinnea sheathing the dagger in her belt. The action wasn't meant as a threat, just an acknowledgement. _Here is my weapon, here's what I've said. What's next is up to you._


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## Vanthebaron (Mar 31, 2010)

beowulf-Alexandria

Beowulf left the castle counting the money. "4,998...4,999...5,000. perfect. TIME TO PARTY!" he shouted into the air, getting weird looks from the people around him. He laughed nervously and headed to the wester area.

Beowulf- West Area Alexandria

Beowulf was looking all around. he was amased at the decorations. He entered a shop and got himself an apple. "I need to save money for seed" he said putting the rest of the money in an inner coat pocket.


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## Zorokiller (Mar 31, 2010)

Lucia hadn't notices that the dragoon had catched her in mid-air, he walked to a quiet area holding Lucia in his arms.
He layed her down on the soft grass.

He regained consciousness but was still drowsy
Kain placed his hand on her forehead
"It seems things don't run the way I planned for...I transferred the 'key' to the prince and afterwards it suddenly splitted in several parts...and now it seems he's spreading those fragments around unconsciously...How troublesome..." he remarks as a sign looking like a 'M' with a curl appears on Lucia's right-hand.

"Girl you are important...Don't lose track of the young prince and don't lose your life..."

He walks away and turns his head over his shoulder
"Oh and...It seems like our young friend made you a distraction for his getaway, it seems for the best if you flee Alexandria..." He says with a faux smile.

Leaving Lucia alone in the grass patch in the castle garden.


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## StrawHat4Life (Mar 31, 2010)

*Lindblum...*
For a second there, Sarah thought that Rinnea might say no. However it never once occurred to her how close she came to becoming a hostage, or even having her life taken right there in that darkened alleyway. But life is like that, splitting off into a million what if's. 

The moment Rinnea agreed to help her out of the city, Sarah could barely suppress a laugh of pure unadulterated joy. I knew it! she thinks to herself. Rinnea accepting her offer, from a stranger that she doesn't even know, not only confirms to her that this is meant to be, but it also affirms her worldview that if one is nice to others then goodness shall be returned a hundred fold. The fact that it took a bulging purse of gil to accomplish this miraculous feat really doesn't matter to her either. 

Thankfully she kept her cool though. Instead she was just about to hug the Cat woman from behind in thanks, which of course would've caused all sorts of other problems most likely. Right at that moment however, a cloaked figure bumps into Rinnea. Sarah tenses up a bit as Rinnea draws her dagger, but the man's words disarm her when he asks them if everything is alright. There is a genuine hint of concern in his voice in her opinion. 

When her new partner (because that's what Sarah considers her now) responds to the man in a defensive tone and sheathes her dagger as if in warning, Sarah frowns a bit. 

"Oh come now Rinnea...I am sure he meant us no harm!" Sarah responds with a chuckle, not even realizing that Rinnea might be a little annoyed with Sarah for freely saying her name in front of a stranger. 

"He just wanted to see if we were in some kind of distress is all."


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## Maria Antonia (Mar 31, 2010)

The walk to the palace was quiet, just the way Sonara liked it. Most people knew well enough not to wave at her or engage her in conversation, and those who didn't quickly learned. Their greetings went unanswered, their smiles not returned, and they turned away from the girl with a huff. Sonara kept her face void of emotion and simply continued on her way, unphased.

The whole mess had been swept under the rug by the time she arrived at the front lawn. Gaurds were milling about as usual, citizens were busy with their toils, and everything looked as if it were in its proper palce. But, after a second look, she noticed that the entire theater was missing from the outside pavillion. Just as Orin had said, it must have taken off into the sky. How else could it go missing?

"You there!" Sonara turned towards the harsh, accusing voice of the gaurd. "Away from here, this area is closed to civilians." The guard gave her a once over before returning to her captain, who was issuing search orders.

Silently, Sonara complied. There was not anything left to see anyway, she decided. She ambled casually towards the palace gardens, pulling her scarf tighter. She would go here on occasion to practice magic when her siblings needed the yard for training. It was very beautiful, with blooms of all shapes and colors year round. Even at night, there were flowers that opened under the silvery glow of the moon.

Twiddling her fingers, Sonara moved through the rows of flowers, wondering where the prince could have made off to. She was kept out of the news loop by her family, and was very unsure what to make of his disappearing act.

"Family..." She hissed the word with venom. Her vision faltered momentarily, and she lost her footing. She felt herself trip over something on the ground and pitch forward. Her hands shot out instinctively, and her fall was cushioned by the soft grass. Sonara blinked a few times to clear the dancing dots in front of her eyes, cursing her foolish emotions, before rolling over and sitting up.

She had tripped over a girl, strangely enough, dressed in a stunningly made white mage's cloak. She seemed to be unconscious and without injury, but as to how she got there, Sonara could not even begin to guess. She looked above her to see a grandiose balcony, but quickly ruled that possibility out. Any person that fell from such heights would be dead, even if they were a white mage.

Battling with her conscience, Sonara debated against calling for help or staying with the girl. She did not know any healing magic, and was of virtually no use to the mage save for her unnecessary first aid skills. Instead, she opted for giving the girl a gentle nudge in the shoulder, although she did not expect much.

"Hello?"


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## Tyrael (Mar 31, 2010)

_I?ve lost comrades, friends, allies, before. After a while there is a measure of numbness, but it never truly loses its edge. Oh god..._​
?Triari,? said Reylan. He let Driekel?s body slide to the ground and raised his weapon.

Of all of the people of the brotherhood to encounter. Most of the others would have let Driekel live; waited until Reylan was alone to attack. But not Triari. No. Triari had waited for the moment in which he could strike and Reylan would get to see Driekel die.

There were three other men, all with the stout build and sallow complexion of Esto Gaza natives. They carried a disparate arsenal that spoke of hired thugs; he probably could have taken them down, but the presence of Triari changed that. Trairi was a rogue, and boasted to being able to fight in both hand to hand and use magic. Whether or not it was true, Reylan had no intention of testing. Not now.

Sorry Driekel.

Triari addressed the hired thugs: ?Make sure he doesn?t get away. This is one has a, shall we say, predisposition for escaping. As good at running away as a rat in a corner, quite coincidentally.? He met Reyland?s gaze. ?Are you going to put that sword down??

Reylan struck at him. A standard fencer?s lunge, fast and direct, aimed squarely at Triari?s chest. There was a flash of metal, and the human met his strike with ease. A slim dagger somehow managed to block the attack. They both stood locked for a moment, and then Reylan moved backwards. He was aware that he could not retreat much further without stepping off of the cliff.

The three thugs moved forward, but Triari signalled for them to stay where they were. Reylan?s face twitched in annoyance. If one of them had moved out of position, he might have at least had a chance to escape. He met Triari?s stare for a moment. Would the human snap? No. Triari met his gaze evenly. With a sigh, Reylan tossed his sword backwards. It would fall down the cliff. ?Okay, I surrender.?

The dagger had disappeared somewhere into Triari?s attire. ?So easily??

?Well,? said Reylan, ?next time you let your guard down, maybe at night, I?ll come to you and slit your throat. Hopefully, in that moment, you?ll wonder why the fuck my companion had to die.?

?Bring him,? Triari said. Reylan did not resist as the thugs took hold of him.


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## Kinzey (Mar 31, 2010)

As Kinzey finished washing the blood off, he decided to stretch his legs a bit.

As he walked past a small patch of grass, he saw a pair of girls, one lying down and the other sitting over her. He was about to ignore it, but then he saw the girl who was laying down's face. "Lucia?" he wispered, confused. Though the thick material of her robes, Kinzey wasn't able to see her chest rising and falling "LUCIA!" He yelled, falling down next to her. He payed no attention to the other girl, as he felt Lucia's pulse. "Oh thank god, she's alive".

He slowly turned to the other girl, and asked "What did YOU DO!?!" He shoved her over, knocking her to the ground.

Getting up, he pulled her to her feet and yelled, "All right, you give me one good reason why I shouldn't beat you up right now!" There was a fire in his eyes, and he was oblivious to the armed guards nearby or the fact that she was obviously a black mage and could blast him away if she wished. Although maybe he had noticed these things, and just didn't care.


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## Damaris (Mar 31, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria Castle
*
Lucia exhaled and inhaled. The world was black. She couldn't see. Where was she? She felt as if there were thick iron bands on her chest. Breathing was a chore. Inhale. There was someone talking above her, in a low feminine voice. A nudge to her shoulder. Exhale. Someone had brought her here, but who? Lucia tried to focus, to remember his voice. He had told her that she was...important. There had been a sharp, burning pain on her right hand for a moment. And then she had lain here—she didn't know how long—until someone had come. Inhale. But who were they? What had happened. There had been the play...the strange Prince, and then the theater pulling up away. And she had fallen—no, she had jumped from the balcony trying to escape from the guard. Exhale. But now she was here, wherever that was. The sun was on her face. What was going on? No, no, she had to stop. Calm down. She was thinking in circles. Inhale.

Yelling. Noise. Someone was loud, and the sound pierced through Lucia's head like a serrated knife. She struggled to open her eyes. Had her eyelids always been this heavy? Her name was bellowed directly into her ear, and all progress was halted as Lucia shuddered in pain. Exhale. Someone fumbled for her pulse and Lucia drew on her deepest reserves of strength. Once they'd dropped her hand and turned their attention on whomever had first found her, Lucia forced herself to sit up and open her eyes. Everything was blurry for a moment, the world propped at a tilted angle, but she blinked hard and things slid back into place. Inhale. Now, for the people who had found her. Looking up, Lucia saw that Kinzey (so he was fine then; that was a relief. Ark might have been odd, and she still really had no idea what was going on with him, but at least he hadn't lied about that) was grasping a girl by the collar, pulling her off the ground, shouting at her. Exhale.

*“K-Kinzey,”* Lucia coughed, trying to attract his attention. *“Put her down. She didn't do anything to me. I jumped from the balcony.”* She halted for a moment to catch her breath. Inhale. She could stand. Certainly. Taking a moment or two to get to her feet, Lucia brushed down her robe. The clothing was certainly better than anything she could have come up with, and yes; patting the pouch at her side, Lucia realized that the tome was still there. All was well then. *“In fact, she found me before you did, so I think she was trying to help.”* Unconsciously grasping her right hand with her left, Lucia bowed slightly to the girl. *“Thank you so much. My name is Lucia South.”* Exhale.


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## Maria Antonia (Mar 31, 2010)

As she sat waiting for an answer, Sonara heard approaching footsteps. A boy slid down across from her, calling out a name and grasping the mage for a pulse. He appeared very frazzled and haggard, and whoever he was, he knew this girl. Perhaps, Sonara thought, he might have some answers as to what happened.

"What did YOU DO!?!"  He shouted at her.

Then, she was on her back. A pair of hands, his hands, had shoved her right over. It was not with enough force to do serious harm to her, but it still left her dazed. Sonara clutched at her side, searching blindly for her staff as the boy yelled at her.

"All right, you give me one good reason why I shouldn't beat you up right now!" The boy had lifted her into the air by her collar, her toes just barely brushing against the grass. Sonara felt a hot anger bubbling up inside her, and for just a second, her vision flashed white. She closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down; going blind in a fight would do her no good, especially when her staff was lying back by that girl, Lucia.

She contemplated her options carefully while the rugged boy shook her. She could explain, but that would require speaking. She could simply attack him and then try to escape, but that would be the cowardly thing to do. Her last choice was to somehow grab her staff, then put this urchin in his place. Sonara seemed to prefer the last idea over the others.

“K-Kinzey, put her down. She didn't do anything to me. I jumped from the balcony.” Sonara, startled, looked over at the white mage. She had awoken and was standing, though was breathing heavily. “In fact, she found me before you did, so I think she was trying to help.” The black mage nodded slowly in agreement, hoping that the boy would realize that she meant no harm and set her down. “Thank you so much. My name is Lucia South.” 

"Sonara." She answered shortly, wriggling free of the boys grip. She rubbed her neck, which was sore from being shaken, and returned a stiff bow to Lucia. She quickly snatched her staff, taking a step away from the wild boy and closer to the white mage. She felt her lips tug up slightly, the closest she had ever gotten to a smile, when she realized that she had just exchanged pleasantries with another person for the first time in years. It made her feel strange, but not exactly in a bad way. "Sonara Thespin."


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## Kinzey (Mar 31, 2010)

"Ah" Kinzey said slowly in response to the recent events. He turned to Sonara and, bowing deeply, said "Please forgive my rudeness. My...friend was recently kidnapped, ane I was just at wit's end. I'd thought you'd hurt her". He gritted his teeth on friend, as he wished he didn't have to think of Lucia that way.

Turning to Lucia, he said "speaking of which, are you ok? That bastard didn't hurt you, did he? Aparently he went down with the airship. I hope he's dead". On second thought, he corrected "Never mind. I hope he isn't dead". So I can kill him myself Kinzey thought.

Just then his stomach growled. "Are you two hungry? Why don't we get something to eat? My treat. You too Sonara. It's the least I can do for attacking you".


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## Damaris (Mar 31, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria Castle*

Lucia watched with relief as the girl squirmed out of Kinzey's grip and turned to face Lucia and bowed. *“Sonara,”* Lucia repeated, saying her name slowly. *“That's such a pretty name. Um, you aren't hurt, are you?”* Stepping a little closer to Sonara, Lucia dug out the battered book of spells and flipped through the pages.* “I'm not very good yet, but if the injury is nothing major, I'm sure I could at least try and help...” *The moment Kinzey spoke though, Lucia whirled around. The world slid out of a focus for a moment, but she simply remained silent, glaring fiercely at him, until she regained her vision.* “I wasn't kidnapped, Kinzey! He was the Prince! Ark didn't hurt me at all. He was very kind. In fact, he was the one who gave me these robes--”* 

Lucia illustrated her point by swirling the cloth outwards with her right hand. As she said Ark's name, a strange throbbing pain erupted for a moment, but just as quickly disappeared. Lucia frowned, and then continued. * “And don't wish for his death—oh it's no use,”* she muttered, trailing off as Kinzey retracted his statement. *“The point is, just because I went missing for a few hours, that doesn't mean you have the right to go around attacking random people...it's just wrong.”* But as he mentioned food, Lucia calmed. *“Something to eat would be nice. I'm starving, and I don't even know why.”* She turned back towards Sonara, smiling at the other girl. *“Would you accept Kinzey's apology and eat with us? If you have a bruise or such that this brute might have left on you, I can look at it after the meal and try to help, if I can.” *


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## StrawHat4Life (Apr 1, 2010)

*Treno...*
Moridin leaves behind the tavern, feeling much more relaxed after drinking some green tea. He has quickly come to the realization that Treno no longer offers him any challenges...of the blood and guts variety that is. 

Beating down small time hoodlums and wannabe warriors has lost its appeal. What he needs now is to face foes of a higher caliber, who are are much stronger then he is. Only then can he be the best he can be and grow to new heights. For as his old master was fond of saying, _'Steel sharpens steel...find steel Moridin...'_

Eventually Moridin enters a Chocobo rental office. At the front counter sits a bored teenage girl who reads a self help book titled, _Unlock Your Inner Chocobo: 101 ways living like a Chocobo can improve your life!_ The girl notices Moridin and puts the book down. She looks at him queerly for a second, as if not expecting a Samurai Moogle to walk into her establishment. 

"Hi there, names Jill. How can I help ya?" she asks him in a pleasant voice. 

Moridin walks up to the counter which is three feet taller then he is and clears his throat. "I would like to rent a Chocobo please?" he asks her. 

"Well how long ya lookin' to rent one for little fella?" Jill asks. 

Moridin bristles at being called "little fella," but this girl is young and most likely very ignorant afterall, so he lets it slide. He thinks over her question, not even sure where he would like to go next honestly. "Um I'm not sure really...a couple of months sounds good...I suppose," he responds uncertainly. 

Jill chuckles a bit and nods understandingly at him, "Well all of our Chocobo's are trained to return after the agreed upon time span." Suddenly she unfurls a contract and begins reciting a laundry list of items, "We're not responsible if yer injured while riding, there are no refunds if the Chocobo ups an leaves ya before the agreed upon time span...also if the Chocobo dies ya owe us the full amount of the bird or else we'll sick a Black Mage on ya!"

"I see..." Moridin responds thoughtfully. He didn't realize that this was so complicated. "How much then?" he adds, pulling out his money purse. 

_Ten minutes later..._
"Lucky we got one just yer size little fella!" Jill responds with a laugh from the entrance of the stable. 

Moridin sits uncertainly atop a miniature black colored Chocobo, as black as coal, and about half the size of an average Chocobo. It's loud warbling grates against his large ears, and he starts to think that this was a bad idea. 

"His names Tieoh. He'll treat ya real nice!" Jill says while patting the Chocobo's yellow beak. "Won't ya fella?" Tieoh warbles back happily and nestles its beak against her shoulder. 

"Well good luck!" she tells Moridin. "Take good care of him!" Though Moridin isn't sure if that last part was directed at him or the Chocobo. 

He shakes his head uncertainly at her and is about to ask if he can get his money back, but suddenly she slaps Tieoh's right flank and the bird takes off like a rocket out of the stable. 

The sound of Moridin's screams still echo from down the street long after they turn the corner.


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## Zoidberg (Apr 1, 2010)

Herpethia stalked the evil forest carefully, flicking her tongue out occasionaly to catch any human scent. She didn't catch the prince's scent when she was at the courtyard, but Herpethia has hunted enough humans to know how they all generally smell like. 

"Those goblins better not attack me..." She muttered after tasting the filthy smell of goblin in the air.


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## Chaos (Apr 1, 2010)

*Romolus Mingan, Lindblum*

Romolus issued a low growl. The girl standing before him had indirectly threatened him, both with her words and the obvious sheathing of her dagger. He quickly swallowed the bit that had been left of his pride after all these years though. The girl's question, if worded a bit harsh, was reasonable.

He pulled up his hood, revealing his werewolf heritage, and eyed the obviously surprised girl. "Romolus Mingan, at your service. I came to check if everything was alright." Romolus managed a small chuckle. "You do not often see two girls strangling each other in the middle of the night"

"I hope I have not startled you with my checking in, though your actions seem to betray otherwise" he said to the dagger-girl. He took an nonthreatening posture, arms comfortably by his side, not even close to the spear that was mounted on his back, as he turned to the other girl. 

"Still though, I'm quite curious why you are on the streets in the middle of the night" He had been quick to deduce that this girl wasn't quite used to being anywhere outside her parental house. Apart from her fine clothes and incredibly smooth skin, the girl was actually wearing a perfume out on the streets. 

"Show everyone that you're rich. That's one quick way to get you killed" Romolus mumbled under his breath, too soft for anyone to hear. The pairing seemed odd to Romolus, for the other one (who the rich girl had called Rinnea) clearly _was_ used to the streets, and knew how to handle her dagger.

More curious, and more certain that this wouldn't turn into a fight, Romolus continued. "Actually, I insist to know." He eyed the rich girl again. "You are not used to the streets" he stated, looking her deep in the eyes. 

Another idea popped into his head, both frightening and exciting to Romolus. "I might even be able to help you, depending on your answer"


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## Zorokiller (Apr 1, 2010)

Ark walked around still somewhat confused on what happened, the creature that had captured him was annihilated and the Qu suddenly left him alone.

As he proceeded further he suddenly heared some vague sounds coming from behind him, he turned around and only saw plants and even more plants.

"Ugh..I must be going mad..."

He walked further and the sound returned, looking back immediatly again he saw the same plants right behind him.
"I don't believe those plants were there..right? ugh..."

Suddenly one branch started to shake lashed out towards Ark, creating a cut across his face.
"..!!"
Ark pulled his wooden pole from behind his back and smacked the plant, only making things worse because suddenly all the plants started to move and scatter
"M-Mist monsters!!"

He started to run away as fast as possible screaming like a little boy
"Somebody help!! Filthy marsh-creature!!" he yelped for the Qu.
He didn't watch his footing and wrapped his feet unknowningly around a root and tripped twisting his ankle.
"Uagh!!" 
Accidently letting lose of pole, the monsters gained in on him he lay down trying to stretch to reach his weapon but it was out of reach.
"Filthy monsters!! Don't you know who I am?!" He yelled with a whiny desperate voice


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## Maria Antonia (Apr 1, 2010)

Sonara looked in cleverly hidden bewilderment between the white mage and her friend. The girl seemed to know the prince, and it sounded as if she too had gone missing. What had they said, kidnapped? And the other, Kinzey, did not like Prince Ark at all. 

Suddenly, the conversation had arrived back to her. Both of them suggested she join them for a meal, but Sonara was hesitant. Lucia seemed kind enough, complimenting her name and smiling and offering to heal her injuries, but she was talkative. Already, she had asked more questions than Sonara had answered at all last month. And, despite Kinzey's apology, she was still wary of him. He was obviously protective of Lucia, and should Sonara do something to accidentally offend her, she would find herself in his wrath again.

Her growling stomach seemed to answer for her though. She remembered that she had skipped dinner, and food sounded so divine at the moment. She nodded in agreement to the proposal, thankful it was Kinzey's treat. Most of her gil was left at home anyway.

"I'm fine though." She answered, indicating her neck. She gave her staff a reassuring pat, then fell into step behind Kinzey and Lucia.


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## Kinzey (Apr 1, 2010)

As Kinzey listened to Lucia rebuke him, an angry voice yelled at him in his head: _Of course she wasn't kidnapped you stupid ass fucking piece of shit! She's not a weak little fuck head like like you, You sexist pile of fermenting donkey excretions! Go fuck yourself_. Kinzey cringed at his own insults and said in a quite voice, staring at his shoes, "Sorry Lucia".

As Sonara agreed to go with them, Kinzey brightened, saying "great! Lets go".

A few minutes latter they'd stopped at a nice little family owned cafe. Perusing the menu, Kinzey chose "I'll have the...fried chocobo. What about you two?" He asked, looking at Sonara and Lucia.


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## Damaris (Apr 1, 2010)

*Rinnea de Rose: Lindblum*

Rinnea winced as Sarah said her name. She doubted the man knew her, but still. Caution was the key to survival. If the girl wanted to live for more than two miles away from Lindblum, she'd have to learn to be more careful, and Rinnea really didn't want to her to learn the hard way—at least, not if it affected herself as well. *“That's very nice of you to believe him,”* Rinnea answered, though she didn't look back at Sarah, still unwilling to take her eyes off the cloaked man. *“But from a distance, we do make a very vulnerable sight. You have to learn that not everyone has your best interests in minds.”* But her attention was snapped away from Sarah rather suddenly. Rinnea's ears twitched forward. Had the man actually growled? Maybe he wasn't just a curious bystander. The girl's father had to have enemies—everyone did. Taking up with a rich girl on the run from her family was disturbing enough without having to worry about assassin's coming at them from each way. Rinnea really hoped that she wouldn't have to go back on her word and ditch the girl or kill her, (she would do so in a heartbeat of course, but sometimes she got a funny feeling after pulling stunts like that) before she'd gotten her hands on that purse of gil. 

But if the growling had shocked her, what happened next was even worse. Maybe it was the cat in Rinnea—indeed, as the man shrugged off his hood and showed his true colors, her tail lashed angrily behind her—but the werewolf telling his name and showing his appearance for the first time didn't put Rinnea at ease at all. If anything, she felt even more unsettled—and his next words didn't help that. *“We weren't strangling each other,”* Rinnea bit off curtly. *“You haven't startled me, at least, anyway.” *But the werewolf simply continued on, and Rinnea felt a burn of humiliation well up in her as he turned away and addressed Sarah. Was she some child to be cast out of a discussion while the parent's talked and plotted. Dear gods, no. Never. Her disgust mounted as the werewolf—Romolus, he had said his name was?—stared into Sarah's eyes like a character in an absurdly acted play that wasn't worth the paper the tickets were printed on. Well, not that Rinnea had ever actually paid for a pay, much less gone in the front entrance, but the point remained. This was bordering on either comical or tragic. Perhaps both. 

*“Regarding both of those questions--”* Rinnea interjected, pivoting in between Romolus and Sarah so that she could view each of them at once. *“--we have no obligation to answer any question about ourselves when you still haven't cleared up your own mystery. Isn't the gentleman supposed to answer first?”* Rinnea didn't mention his second inquiry at all, though she did pray to whatever was out there that this night wouldn't turn into something out of a terrible novel.


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## Vanthebaron (Apr 1, 2010)

Beowulf entered the south area of of Alexandra and entered a resteraunt. He sat at the bar and ordered a beer. He looked around and saw all the rich people eating. He thought to him self _"how can they sit here and eat all this costly food while people starve."_ "What the cheapest thing you go on the menu?" Beowulf asked. "your drinking it kid" the barkeeper replyed. "well fuck me" Beowulf replyed with a chulckel.


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## Tyrael (Apr 1, 2010)

_The first thing I learned about Esto Gaza was this: the people keep to themselves. From the fearful pilgrims to the dour locals to the harsh environement; this is not a place to go for a warm welcome.​_
Triari peered up at the sky. It was beginning to snow.

Reylan admired the thought that had gone into the way he was being led. None of the men took hold of him, as such, but they formed a loose cube around him. If he tried to run, at least two of the men could grab him immediately. It looked nonchalant enough that a casual observer would see nothing wrong, and anyone who did look hard enough would be able to rationalise it as five friends on a night out.

He forced the squirming sensation in his chest out of his mind. His chance would come. He had no idea how, but he had couldn't fight back. Not yet.

A guard eyed them and Reylan founded nothing sympathetic in his gaze. He was alone.

They led him to a small cottage. Out on the outskirts of the city: more a few houses in the snow than any real coordinated street. It was a nice looking place, clean and pretty. A hanging basket of white flowers hung outside. Reylan found himself wondering how they survived the cold. He knew he should have been thinking about Driekel, but...

That would come later. Escape first, he swore to himself as he stepped through the threshold, revenge later.


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## StrawHat4Life (Apr 1, 2010)

*Lindblum...*
Sarah's eyes widen as Romulus draws back his hood, revealing a lupine face and snout. She gasps in surprise, unable to speak for several seconds. He's a Werewolf she thinks with surprise. Sarah's father had always told her to be wary of their kind. Savages he had called them, worthy only for the basest of professions. 

She notices Rinnea's visceral reaction to this strangers true nature. The cat woman seems to be of a similar mindset to her father when it comes to Werewolves it seems. The Werewolf introduces himself as Romulus Mingen. Oh what an interesting name Sarah muses. 

Romulus locks eyes with Sarah and offers her his assistance. His voice one of genuine sincerity. For her part she can detect no hint of veiled malice or cunning in his words or tone. He seems to actually care about her situation in fact. Rinnea however maintains her mistrustful posture and for some reason seems to become annoyed and agitated. Sarah has no idea why really. All this noble Werewolf is trying to do is offer two women aid in their time of need...well her time of need at least. 

"He seems quite sincere to me Rinnea," Sarah tells her and casts a wisp of a smile at Romulus for a second before looking back at her feline companion. Sarah however does realize that she promised Rinnea to follow and do whatever she asked of her. "However your words do ring true. It should be the gentleman who should reveal his story first...or rather, put all his cards out on the table as they say..." She narrows her eyes quizzically at Rinnea. "Um...that _is_ how they say it...do they not?" 

_Across the street from the alleyway..._
Two guards of the watch make their late evening patrol. Both men wear thick leather vests, metal gauntlets over their wrists, and silver helmets bearing the etched symbol of the Regency of Lindblum. Strapped to their leather belts are standard issue broadswords. Neither one looks incredibly high caliber honestly, and it's doubtful if they've even seen active combat. 

"So this girl...Sarah Lansing is it? They're offering a reward for whoever finds her?" one of them asks. 

His partner nods, "That's right...and quite a hefty sum as well I'm told." Suddenly however he brakes to a halt as he notices three figures standing together in the alleyway across the street.    

"Hey look at that!" he exclaims, patting his partner on the shoulder and pointing into the alleyway. That just doesn't fit in a neighborhood like this he realizes. They both cross the street and stride towards the alleyway, hands on the grips of their blades. 

"OI! What are you three doing over there!?" he shouts at them. Suddenly the guards eyes widen as they come face to face with a Miqo'te, a Werewolf, and an ordinary looking girl. WAIT THE GIRL! He looks her over, the long chestnut brown hair, light blue eyes, pretty tall for a girl her age, and the staff...it all matches the description they were given. He looks back at the feline woman and the Werewolf. Both very odd characters, and his mind jumps to the obvious conclusion. They are trying to harm this young daughter of the nobility. 

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP NOW!" he demands and draws his sword. His partner quickly follows suit and they move in on the feline woman and the Werewolf.


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## Damaris (Apr 1, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria 
*
Lucia was happy to see that Sonara, despite appearing rather reserved about the meal, agreed to come with them. *“That's great,”* Lucia said, falling into place beside Kinzey as they walked down the street. “*I'm glad you're fine.” *The three walked in silence down the streets, though Lucia listened intently to the conversations around them. _“The Prince is missing...I heard it was an attack by Lindblum.” “No, no, it was a group of Bangaa terrorists who want an independent country!” _A snooty looking woman with curled blonde gossiped to her friend loudly as Lucia passed by her._ “I was in Lindblum the other day, and though the city is so much more advanced than this one—and much more fashionable, I'll add.  I saw the most darling little girls of seventeen or so in the most expensive dresses one could ever dream of; the upper class there takes no shame in flaunting their wealth—the crime rate is astounding. I was robbed in my sleep my very first day there and none of the locals would give me a clue as to whom had none it, just laughed to themselves and muttered something about 'cats in the night'.” _

The woman stopped to catch her breath and then continued on in a rush: _“The point is that obviously the corruption in Lindblum has spread to Alexandria. I wouldn't be surprised if those thieves in that city are trying to extend their hold by upsetting the status quo in Alexandria with an attack on the Prince like this.”_ Lucia couldn't help but try and stifle a giggle at that comment; the idea was just ludicrous. Still though, she wondered where Ark had gone. Although the sinking feeling that she had just been a tool to help the Prince escape was becoming more and more definite in her mind, Lucia still couldn't bring herself to wish the boy-heir any malice. He had been genuinely kind to her after all—it was thanks to him that she had these robes, and that she'd met up with Sonara. In a weird way, he'd started her adventure. And besides, thinking back on those brief moments in his apartment, Lucia felt a strange sense of pity well up in her. _His comment on the birds flying through the sky...perhaps, perhaps he just wanted to be free? I can't be a hypocrite and hate him for that. Aren't I doing the same thing? Leaving my parents with only a note, trying to set out and find my own place in the world. No...Ark til Alexandros III...I wish you the best of luck in your adventure. I hope that it's a good one. _

Soon enough, the three were at their destination. Kinzey turned into a small cafe, a cheery enough looking place that instantly put Lucia at ease. Adventurers deserved downtime, didn't they? This would be nice. The three settled in and looked at their menus, with Kinzey reaching the first decision. *“Fried chocobo?”* Lucia asked. *“Aren't those pets? I wonder what it would be like to ride one...” *Her eyes glazed over for a moment as she retreated into her imagination, but she snapped back a second later. Back to scouring the options for something relatively cheap. *“That's not important, not right now though. Hmm...I'll have the grilled fish and the gourd potato stew, please!”* Lucia said to the waiter, handing over her menu with a flourish. Once Sonara had ordered as well, Lucia managed to restrain herself to silence for a whole three minutes. Soon enough, the questions came pouring out though. *“Sonara, if it's not too rude, what were you doing when you found me? Were you investigating the Prince's disappearance as well? Or were you merely going to see the play? I wish that I'd seen it...it really is a pity that the theater flew off like that. I had ended up with a lovely seat.” *Lucia smiled at Sonara, trying to appear disarming. *“And, er, just tell me if I'm talking too much.”*


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## Maria Antonia (Apr 1, 2010)

Sonara was thankful to arrive at the cafe. The streets were too busy, too loud, too full for her tastes. Despite the constant buzzing of gossip in her ears, the walk had been relatively pleasant. Fresh air was always welcome to her, especially since she spent so many days in her dusty old home, and she relished every moment of it.

As Kinzey and Lucia ordered, Sonara was still looking hazily at the menu. What in Gaia's name was a Moogle Burger? Could it possibly be made from real moogles?! Sonara's stomach tightened, but her disgust was masked on her face. She had suddenly lost her appetite when she heard Kinzey order Fried Chocobo.

"Salad please." She ordered curtly, picking the first item she noticed that was not made from pets. She handed over her menu to be collected, then sat with her hands folded neatly in her lap. There was clatter in the cafe, but it was not as overwhelming as that of the street. It was a cozy place, where people talked softly and casually, although it was much too bright for her liking. She could overhear somebody at the bar, talking very rough and crudely, but pointedly ignored them and instead focused back on her table.

Then, there were questions being thrown at her, left and right. Lucia must not have been able to stand the silence, because she began to speak and speak and did not show signs of stopping. Sonara was amazed that a person could talk for so long without stopping for breath. When the flood of questions subsided, she was left in a dilemma; to answer, or not to answer. Putting her goal of making friends before her desire for silence, Sonara inhaled deeply.

"I was going to practice my magic." She replied, forcing herself not to grit her teeth. That was more words than she generally spoke in a day, and here she was, saying them all at once. This Lucia girl sure knew how to get her talking. "But, I went first to investigate. I was curious about what happened... And you don't talk too much." In an effort to divert the conversation away from herself, she added a question that would require explaining. "What were you doing?"

Thankfully, before Sonara forced herself to speak more, their food arrived. She took a delicate bite of her salad, grateful to be done talking. At least, for the moment. With that in mind, Sonara chewed her greens very slowly.


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## StrawHat4Life (Apr 2, 2010)

*Treno...*
Two spills, one nasty run in with a brick wall and an old lady, and ten bruises later, Moridin has finally gotten the hang of riding his new Chocobo. The coal black bird, by the name of Tieoh, warbles happily as it jogs along at an even pace through the outskirts of Treno. 

Moridin isn't exactly sure how smart this creature is, but it seems to respond well to his verbal commands and visual cues. In fact he feels very much as if things are on cruise control as they pass a sign in bright neon lights that reads..._You Are Now Leaving Treno. Come back Soon!_ 

Moridin scoffs derisively at the sign. "Not likely!" he mutters under his breath. 

They eventually reach a metal signpost with arrows that point towards various destinations, including Lindblum, Alexandria, and Burmecia. Moridin takes a moment to assess each location, and his chances of finding the strongest warriors there. He's never been to Lindblum or Alexandria, but he's all too familiar with Burmecia. It's where he learned the art of war afterall.

"So it's down to Lindblum and Alexandria," he mutters thoughtfully. Both cities have their pros and cons. Lindblum is a huge city, the biggest in fact, and he's more likely to run into strong foes there. However he's always wanted to duel one of Alexandria's fabled Knights of Pluton as well. 

Still very much undecided, Moridin decides to let fate choose for him...or rather a bird. He pats Teioh on the neck, "Where do you think we should go eh? You pick..."  

*"KWEH!!!"* Tieoh warbles in a high pitched tone, before suddenly taking off into the wilderness.


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## Kinzey (Apr 2, 2010)

_Salad? _ Kinzey thought to himself with distain. _If you can't stomach meat how can you stomach killing? Or even fighting?_

Realising what he was thinking, he laughed inwardly. _Criticising people on their food choices? Realy? Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Unlike other people, you shouldn't begin with assumptions. Give this Sonara a chance. While she will be undoubtablely like the rest, she deserves the chance you never got. The chance to show her abilities. This unbias starting point is what makes you better than them_. He laughed inwardly once more. _A parodox! You are better than them because you do not assume you are? Ha!_

Returning to reality Kinzey decided to answer her question. "We went to see the play, but we were...waylayed". He didn't say more so as to avoid upsetting Lucia again.

Kinzey felt a slight warmth on his left thigh. It was a bit uncomfortable, but it went soon away. He was sure he heard a demonic laugh, but Sonara and Lucia didn't react so he just ignored it.


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## Zoidberg (Apr 2, 2010)

Bang.

A goblin went down without realizing it, a stone bullet striking the back of its head. 

Bang.

Miss. The rest of the goblin mongrels were panicking, trying to look for their enemy in the darkness. 

Bang.

Hit. One of the goblins fell to the ground as its kneecap was shattered. The rest scattered, unwilling to battle an enemy they can't see.

"There's more and more goblins the more I venture into this mess of a forest." Herpethia muttered. She had been keeping to the trees, making great use of her cloak and naturally dark scales to blend in with the night. Few monsters were attacking her as long as she hid herself, and even then she had the advantage of range. 

The smell of human was getting stronger now. In fact Herpethia could pick out 3 distinct human scents, pointing at a direction south of her current location. Chances are at least one of them is the Prince's. Still, many who venture into this forest get lost easily. The chances of these being other people was equally as high. But this was the only lead she had on the prince, and she was taking it.


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## Chaos (Apr 2, 2010)

*Romolus Mingan, Lindblum*

Romolus didn't know what to think. Clearly, the girl called Rinnea simply despised him for what he was, but still, both of them had a point. He still hadn't stated what he was doing out here. Of course, he'd done this with a reason. He felt quite insecure talking about things that were something that had lingered with him from the past. He had little choice but to tell it now, though.

"I'm sorry. It's a bit shameful for me to talk about" Romolus said "But since you insist... The moon compelled me outside" an uneasy pause followed, and Romolus felt he had to explain himself a bit more. "This is a long story, but I'll try to keep it a bit shorter... As you probably have already noticed, I am a werewolf. Werewolves usually live in tribes... ehm... clans? Something like that. I was part of such a clan"

_The fighting ring had been a place of glory. Hierarchy was determined here, and hierarchy was the thing that kept the tribe together. Hierarchy, however corrupt it was, was the only thing that kept the warrior tribe from erupting into chaos. And thus, the tribe was good at establishing hierarchy.

Romolus stepped into the ring, his body involuntarily shuddering as his opponent -a two year younger student- entered the other side, two swords in his hands and an expression that showed only one thing. Bloodlust. Romolus switched his spear from one hand to the other. He really didn't want to fight. He just wanted to get out.

The silver light of the moon reflected on both fighter's weapons, giving the whole spectacle some kind of eerie appeal, a silvery gloom on the place. This is why this place was loved and honored by the werewolves. The metal linings on the walls reflected the moonlight everywhere, stinging in everyone's eyes and giving the whole place some kind of surrealistic vibe. "What happened here was nothing but a dream..."

The battle was on... werewolves on the sides all shouting cheers. All of the cheers went to his opponent. Romolus nearly fainted when a sword swished an inch from his face, and literally wet himself when he brought his spear just up in time to parry another slash. He couldn't run. Runners would be executed. Romolus brought his spear up, smashing against one of the opponent's swords. The other dashed in, sensing his win. 

Romolus twisted a full circle, and the fluency surprised the other werewolf, dropping him off balance. The butt of Romolus' spear smashed into his opponent's head. The werewolf dropped. Suddenly the cheers were on Romolus' side. "Finish him off!" he heard. "One thrust in the back" he heard another scream. Romolus' spear dropped from his hands. He fell to his knees, covering his ears with his palms. He saw the downed werewolf standing up, saw him rising his sword..._

Romolus shook himself from his memories. It was clear that both the girls were waiting for him to continue. He cleared his throat. "To keep it short, our clan's beliefs were based on the moon. Even though I'm no longer part of my tribe, and I'm trying my best to forget everything about it, the moon still holds power to me... Full moon makes me come out, whether I want it or not." He hoped the girls would be content with this reasoning, for he would not provide any more. His past was still his. 

Before he got to know whether it was good enough or not, though, two guards closed in. They were clearly not adept with their weapons, but that the weapons were bared made Romolus take a step back already. Right into a dagger point. Rinnea was behind him, whispering in his ear. "If you're so sincere, then you could as well help us out now" The not-so-gentle poke of the dagger gave Romolus little room to argue.

Romolus pulled the spear of his back, hoping to pull this one off without having to fight. "By what order do you stop us?" He called out weakly, looking at the guard's expressions. There would be no talking here. Rinnea had moved to his side, but that dagger was still much to close to Romolus' liking. The guards had closed in and stood right before them now. "Great god, get me out of this..." Romolus whispered in his breath.


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## StrawHat4Life (Apr 2, 2010)

*Lindblum...*
As soon as Sarah saw the two guards, she backs away several tentative steps. Her first inclination is to run. If Sarah's wrathful father finds her, he will make sure she never ever takes a step out of the house again, let alone Lindblum. She'll forever be a caged bird, and then her parents will likely marry her off to some vain and self absorbed nobleman (who's wealth will no doubt increase their's as well). 

_I can't go back. What am I going to do?!_ 

Much to her surprise however, Romulus pulls out a spear. Though very reluctantly it seems, and with some "extra sharp" prodding from Rinnea. 

"By what order do you stop us?" Romulus calls out in a sort of halfhearted kind of voice. 

The Guard who faces Romulus scoffs at him derisively. "I'll ask the questions here mongrel!" He gestures towards Sarah emphatically. "My lady please step away from these brigands. We shall protect you!" he calls to her. 

He can't have her getting hurt afterall. It might affect the reward amount. He can only imagine the praise and commendations that will be heaped upon him and his partner (well more so him), as they return the helpless damsel back to her worried...and oh so very rich and grateful parents.  

Sarah shakes her head and looks towards Romulus and Rinnea with a worried face, "No you don't underst-"

The other guard cuts her off and points his blade at Romulus and Rinnea. "You are both under arrest for accosting and attempting to kidnap a Noblewoman. Now put down your arms or we will use deadly force!" 

He grips the handle of his sword tightly. A sheen of sweat starts to pour down his brow. His partner also looks slightly nervous. They clearly haven't done this before. But they're still dumb enough to think that their official status makes them somehow untouchable.


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## Damaris (Apr 2, 2010)

*Rinnea de Rose: Lindblum
*
Rinnea settled down a little as Romolus began to tell his story. Sarah seemed to have at least come around to the idea that it was smart to at least know who she was dealing with before trusting them with her name and lifestory, so Rinnea was happy to let the werewolf talk. Not that she was happy about him, of course. Wolves were far too close to filthy dogs for her liking. But she would let him speak, and maybe something useful would come out of it. A werewolf still carried gil, right? But his reasons weren't at all what Rinnea expected to hear. The moon had compelled him. For the first time that night, Rinnea raised her eyes to the stars, examining the thick velvet blanket that spread over the sky. She supposed the moon was pretty enough, round and full of a soft white glow, but it wasn't really useful in anyway. You couldn't steal the moon, or sell the stars. They were too far away. It was far better to focus on the now, on preserving yourself. And his talk of clans bored her, but perhaps that was her own bias talking. Rinnea had no need of clans. She'd scrabbled out a life for herself, alone. Had there been difficult times? Of course, but nothing other people could have helped her with. Even these two, Sarah and Romolus, were two more people than she was comfortable. Their presence itched at her, like a shackle on her movement, her freedom. The grudging responsibility that was taking care of Sarah, the unknown, unfamiliar Romolus; these were things that Rinnea would be more than happy to live without. With a lazy internal snarl, Rinnea shook herself out of her reminiscence as Romolus wrapped up his story. Pah. Enough thinking. Romolus had explained himself, and now it was time to come up with a quick lie and hope Sarah had the sense of self to go along with it—

But Rinnea's machinations came to a sudden, screeching halt. The guard's first yell sent her spinning, and by the time he had drawn his sword, her dagger was in her right hand, held low so that no stray light could gleam off the blade. That fool Romolus took a step back and Rinnea slid in behind him, the edge of her dagger laid against the back of his neck. She had to stand on tip-toe to whisper into his ear, but the inconvience of doing so paid off when the werewolf nodded and drew his spear. He called out something to the guards, but Rinnea wasn't listening. Moving to his side, she cast an eye at Sarah. The girl had stepped backwards when the guards appeared. Rinnea doubted these guards were working on her orders—if Sarah had had the foresight to manipulate a trap simply to catch a vagabond thief and a werewolf, she would have also picked more experienced guards. The two men facing the trio looked as ready to turn and run as the werewolf did. But they did have feeble sense of honor, apparently. One of the men gulped and called out to Sarah that they would rescue her from the brigrands. Rinnea tried not to laugh. Sarah stammered out a protest, but the guards either didn't care or didn't hear, because instead he swung blade towards Rinnea and Romolus. He informed them that they were guilty of attempting to kidnap a noblewoman. He informed the two that they were to put down their weapons, or he would be forced to use deadly force. Rinnea noted with no small amount of amusement that his forehead was shining with sweat like the ocean. 

*“I suppose that I have no choice,”* Rinnea admitted. Her dagger disappeared up her right sleeve and she raised up both hands, stepping in front of the guard with the sword. *“I surrender. I hope that coming peacefully will lighten the terms of my punishment.”* The guard hesitated for a moment, lowered his sword. Rinnea smiled at him. He took one hand away from the handle to fumble for the handcuffs at his belt, and in the instant he lowered his eyes, Rinnea struck. She blurred into motion, her left fist grappling with his meager grip on the sword, until the blade flew out of both their hands to clatter down a few yards away in the street. The harsh sound of metal on stone made Rinnea flatten her ears against her scalp, and she hoped no one had been disturbed by the noise. But then, that didn't matter, because her right hand was grasping her dagger. She hardly claimed to be a master with her weapon. There was probably some lunatic out there who spent his entire life learning the art of dagger fighting, but Rinnea didn't care about him. She'd chosen a dagger for two reasons; it was small enough to hide, and it could kill people. Both reasons had saved her this time, and many before. The guard sank to his knees as Rinnea chopped his throat with her elbow, and then she was on top of him. A slash across his stomach to keep him down, and then the dagger was quivering in his throat. Rinnea watched him until his eyes glazed over and took on the dull sheen of death, and then withdrew her blade, wiping it down on the dead guard's trousers. 

Remebering who she was with, Rinnea kept her body over him, shielding the guard from Sarah's view until she'd turned the guard face-down. He looked merely asleep on the cobbled stone street. There was no use in upsetting her new...partner, was the first word Rinnea could think of, though she didn't think it was the right one. There was no use in upsetting her new partner, at least not until the girl had gotten a little more used to the world. Rinnea didn't need her money source checking out on her. And now that Romolus was here, if the girl tried to run back home, Rinnea suspected she would have to kill him as well, and that wasn't a fight she wanted to get into. For all his nervousness at the sight of the guards, the werewolf was still massive, towering over her. Well, enough what-ifs. Giving the dead man a friendly pat on the shoulder, Rinnea rose to her feet and turned around, eager to see what had become of Romolus and the other guard. And if there was still more killing to be done, well—she wouldn't shy away from it. Nothing reminded Rinnea that she was alive quite so much as death.


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## Zorokiller (Apr 2, 2010)

The plant spiders closed in on Ark, almost connecting their sharp claws in his flesh until...

Nothing, Ark looked down and felt a stinging pain in his gut. 
The pain was intense, he coughed and blood dripped out of his mouth.
His vision was shaky and he tried to look up, there he saw a familiar sight of a dragoon armor, it walked closer to him and pierced one of the plant spiders with ease, squating down on it and looking Ark in his eyes

"K-Kain...H-help m...me..."
Kain shaked his finger
"It would be a shame to let you perish now, all that potentional go to waste...King kong would not be pleased by this..." A odd grin appeared on his face

Kain retracted his spear and took on a relaxing pose.
"Use that sleeping power you used before..."
Ark couldn't even bring up the strength to speak and just thought to himself
("Power, what power? Why is Kain not helping? He is my servant, am I going to die here? I can't reach my weapon from here...It's hopeless, I'm done for, I should never have left, I've been away for a short while and already get killed like this! Why does this happen to me?! I need help! Someone to recover me...White...Mage...Lucia...") Afterwards his mind goes on blank and only a high-pitched tune resounds through his head, the last thing he sees is a spinning crystal with a symbol on it.

Ark's pupils disappeared and holds his hand sideways, a grin appearing from ear to ear.
A black aura surrounds Ark's right hand and he grabs the Plant spider, it immediatly withers away.

"Oh oh...It begun...Better move out of the area..." Kain remarks

Ark spreads his arms and pushes the black waves away with a gust, withering everything around him, afterwards he collapses.
("The crystal aided me...Gemini...")


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## Chaos (Apr 2, 2010)

*Romolus Mingan, Lindblum*

Kidnapping a noblewoman? _MONGREL?_ Now that Romolus had discerned that the fight was a total necessity to get out of here alive, every word the guard said only heightened his anger. After all, _they_ had forced him in this ridiculous situation. A big part of Romolus' bravado came from the fact that both guards looked about as fierce as a bag of potatoes, but that didn't mean that he wasn't prepared to fight now. He let out a low and threatening growl. He'd trained quite some time on that sound, since it more often than not allowed him to get out of dangerous situations without fighting, but now it was genuine, every inch of Romolus' body wanted to rip these guards to pieces. Romolus watched in amusement as the faces of the guards drained of all color. It seems that they weren't used to victims who didn't like to be insulted. One of them even took a slight step back. Romolus' face turned into a wicked smile, another one of those tricks that had allowed him to thrive without trouble. He had them almost running away, he could see that. Just a tiny bit more and...

Rinnea stepped forward and surrendered. Romolus almost dropped his spear to the ground and his mouth fell open. He looked rather ridiculous, but didn't really care. First this catwoman was telling him to get ready to fight, then she was turning herself over? Romolus' let's-run-away-side took over in the next few seconds, and he was on the verge of wheeling around when Rinnea suddenly exploded into motion, attacking the guard with abandon. Romolus snapped back into his aggressive mindset. He was more scared of Rinnea than some random city guard who could barely hold his weapon. The other guard hesitated, looking over from his companion to Romolus and back again. Romolus noted in glee that this had been the guard who'd made the mongrel remark. He didn't wait to see what the guard's priority would be as he made a quick-step forward, thrusting his spear high and then low. The guard had seen some mock battle for sure, since his sword clanged of the spears in a two quick taps, rendering the attack useless. Romolus smiled though. The guard had clearly never seen real combat.

At the same time of the low thrust and subsequent parry, a hairy paw shot up from the ground, hitting the guard in the head. The guard almost fell, but just held his balance. Romolus didn't want the guard to regain it, knowing that his opponent was vulnerable now. The butt end of his spear swiped sidelong at the guard's head, the sword coming up in a predictable parry. The spear pulled up short however. Romolus' hands reversed their grip on the spear quickly. The guard saw his predicament with wide eyes. His sword was well out of range and up, parrying a swipe that wasn't there. The point of the spear was angled straight at his collarbone. Romolus thrust forward, then cursed and slightly angled the tip of the spear, the point burying itself in a less lethal position in the ribcage. He just couldn't straight-out kill someone. As he saw that the guard was still standing though, and more than that, muttering some curse (Wild beast?) while getting his shaking sword back in line again, Romolus roared in anger.

He drew his spear back, then got into a stabbing flurry which the guard in his wounded state could not hope to keep up with. Romolus suddenly stopped, then smashed the sword from the guard's hand with a forceful sweep. Romolus smiled as he brought his spear to bear again. The metal head of the weapon smashed sidelong into the guard's head. "YOU" Romolus snarled while smashing the butt of his spear into a certain vulnerable spot of the male's anatomy "SHOULDN'T" Romolus' fist found the guard's nose, which bended a weird way with a painful crack "HAVE CALLED ME" Romolus' spear smashed into the guard's left foot, pinning him to the ground "A MONGREL!" Romolus stepped forward, besides the already swaying guard's body, lay a huge paw on his forehead and then slammed the head into the building behind him. The guard dropped down in a heap as Romolus retrieved his spear. 

The red veil before his eyes faded away as Romolus stood watching at the body that had once been a city guard. He suddenly remembered where he was and more importantly, what he was doing here. He turned almost apologetically to his two "nightly companions", trying (and totally failing) to keep the body behind him from the other's view. He saw Rinnea's guard lying in a heap, a stream of blood flooding from a single wound. He was disgusted at the sight. He didn't dare to look back, knowing that the guard he'd attacked in his blind rage would probably look worse. He took some comfort in the fact that his guard might just survive, though. He tried to covertly wipe his spear on the dead guard's clothes, but it was painfully obvious that even that was in full view of the wide-eyed Sarah. 

Suddenly Romolus cursed. "We should be gone from this place." His paranoia had taken back over, and right now two shady, blooded persons and a obviously shocked noblewoman were standing over the corpses over two city guards. Romolus cringed. "Gone from this city, actually, and fast" Despair-filled eyes trained first on Rinnea, then on Sarah. "Don't just stand there!"


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## Damaris (Apr 2, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria
*
Lucia was happy. She felt like maybe she shouldn't have been; she was on an adventure, after all. There should have been vicious monsters and rampaging demons everywhere she turned—according to the novels that she had read. But this was fun. Eating nice food in a restaurant, meeting someone new after an encounter with the Prince. Lucia could already see the story unfolding in her head...Lucia, Sonara and Kinzey, the three heroes who saved Alexandria from er...something, and went on to win great renown, honor and fame, all across the land. They would become legends, myths, like people out of a storybook. Their tale would be told all over the continent for ages, long after they had died. People would idolize them, little children would hold them up as role models and swear to be as good and strong when they grew up. Lucia could picture it all already. She had no idea how it would happen of course, but she was postive that such an adventure would come about. 

Sonara's reason of what she had been doing snapped Lucia's attentions back towards the other girl again. *“You're a mage? What kind? I guess you can tell that I'm a White Mage, because of my outfit, but I've never cast a spell. I'm just a beginner. But if you were going to practice, then you've used magic before, right? That's amazing!”* Lucia quieted as Sonara asked her what she had been doing, retracing her steps mentally. *“Well, I'd bought tickets to see I Want to Be Your Crow, so I invited Kinzey along, but when I was waiting at the gates to meet up with him, the Prince passed by and invited me up to the castle. So I went with him—it's not really like I had a choice, I mean he's royalty—and he gave me these robes, then sent me to wait for him on the royal balcony. Only he never showed up, and then the theater airship pulled away. The Queen ordered me arrested because she thought I was the reason the Prince disappeared, so I jumped off the balcony to get away from the guard, and then when I woke up, you and Kinzey were there!”*

Lucia panted, nearly out of breath. Now that she had said it aloud, the whole story seemed unbelievable, the mere workings of her imagination. Looking down at her folded hands, Lucia blinked as her right hand shimmered lightly. *“I swear, I swear it's true. I guess there's no way to believe me, but I hope you do anyway.” *Her dark mood fell off of her as soon as the food arrived, though. Thanking the waiter, Lucia speared a chunk of fish with her fork and chomped down happily. Yes, she was happy. This was an adventure.


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## StrawHat4Life (Apr 2, 2010)

*Lindblum...*
Sarah stands almost petrified with shock, looking at the handiwork of Romulus and Rinnea. It had all happened so quickly and all she could was stand there like a scared little girl. Sarah looks at the guard that Rinnea had dispatched, laying face down on the cold hard pavement. The Catwoman had tried to discreetly hide the fact that she had slit his throat, but the pool of blood slowly forming under his neck reveals the truth. 

In that moment her perception of Rinnea totally shatters and she sees the woman in a new light...a dangerous light. She thought she knew what Rinnea was capable of, but thinking something and seeing it firsthand are two things entirely. But that isn't the worst of it however, as she looks at the bloody pulp that lays beside Romulus. His ferocity had taken her aback...the way he just smashed that guards head in so casually. 

_They were both someone's father, son, brother. Those guards had lives and families to go back home to...
_
Sarah points at both guards and suddenly begins to hyperventilate as she stares back at Romulus and Rinnea. Her blue eyes fill with tears. "YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL THEM!" she screams. Suddenly Sarah feels lightheaded and has to steady herself against the alleyway wall. She feels a wave of nausea hit her like a freight train and she heaves right onto the pavement. 

It takes her a few seconds to compose herself. She wipes her mouth with the sleeve of her expensive tunic, her body trembling and her face as pale as a ghost. It wasn't supposed to be this way, she thinks. Now those two men are dead because of her, not directly maybe. She didn't do the slicing or skull bashing after all, but she may as well have. If she hadn't of gone on this crazed escape attempt they'd both still be alive. 

"I...I can't do this..." she mutters weakly towards Rinnea. Sarah slumps down to the ground with her back against the wall, and a look of defeat on her face.

Suddenly the lights go on in several windows of the houses nearby. The incident in the alleyway has not gone unnoticed apparently.


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## Kinzey (Apr 2, 2010)

Although Kinzey didn't agree with Lucia's view of the prince, he nodded, saying "It's true" in confirmation of her explaination. _If she doesn't believe us, then...well, I've got to admit, I wouldn't blame her. Well I would, but I shouldn't, anyway. It was pretty crazy. Lucia got to experience most of the exitement. I almost got to sneak in through the sewers, but the lizard girl ran off_.

It was the first time that he'd thought of the bangaa in awhile. She'd been a bit of a bitch in not helping him, but he didn't know her well enough. Maybe she had other things to do. Still, she could've done _something_.

Kinzey layed back in contentness. His stomach was full, his friends (or friend, anywa) were safe, and the only complaint he had was he was a bit sleepy. Yeah, adventuring was sure dangerous he laughed.


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## Damaris (Apr 2, 2010)

*Rinnea de Rose: Lindblum
*
Romolus had certainly dispatched of his guard, Rinnea realized. The ferocity he'd unleashed on the man rivaled anything even Rinnea had seen. The Mitoq'te certainly didn't have a problem with death but she liked all of her kills to be neat and clean, the mark of a well-done job. The werewolf in battle appeared to have no such thoughts, if the smear of blood and gray brain matter on the wall behind him attested to anything. Wrinkling her nose, Rinnea watched as Romolus began to panic. Perhaps it was the shock of the kill—Rinnea suspected it was his first, but certainly wasn't going to ask right now—setting in, but his eyes were shadowed as he looked first at her, and then Sarah, begging to leave.* “We probably should get moving,”* Rinnea sighed, shrugging her shoulders. Turning to Sarah, Rinnea's eyes narrowed. The girl looked horrified, and Rinnea realized that maybe she should have just knocked out the guard (or at least been more discreet about killing him) if she wanted the girl's innocence to remain—no. If Sarah wanted to leave her home and family, she should learn about what she'd need to do to keep that freedom, to pry her life away from those who would chain her. If sometimes that meant you had to place your existence above anothers, well you could take that up with whatever gods existed (if they existed at all). Besides, the guard had gotten a good look at all three of them. There was no use in giving away their identies to the authorities, something he would have been sure to do once he came around.

Sarah screamed, eyes widening. A few tears stained her face, and Rinnea turned her face away as the girl vomited. Strangely enough, in Rinnea's mind the vomit was more disgusting than the death. Such is the way of the world. Casting a steady gaze on Sarah once again as the girl wiped her mouth and slid downwards against the alleywall, even Rinnea's sharp ears barely heard Sarah's defeated murmur. _'I can't do this'...I'm sorry my dear, but you're going to have to do this. Now that those men are dead, I've entangled myself too deeply. My past murders were other thieves, or deaths condoned by the hypocritical aristocracy. Now I'm afraid that it's impossible for me to stay in this city._ Rinnea growled low in her throat as lights flashed on in a few nearby houses. Newly illuminated, the puddles of blood from the dead men appeared as a glossy stomach-turning sheen of red on the pavement. All three of them were running out of town. They had to leave now or never. 

Striding over to Sarah, Rinnea hauled the girl to her feet.* “If you can't walk, I'll carry you,”* Rinnea stated, tucking the mythril staff into Sarah's hands as she cradled the girl awkwardly in her arms. “If you're going to come with us, follow me,” she said over her shoulder to Romolus, and then without looking back, darted down the alleyway, back down the path she had come. The going was much slower this time around; Rinnea didn't have the best endurance in the world, and she was burdened with carrying a much taller girl as well, but the three had gotten to the Theater District before Rinnea stopped, panting for breath. Falcon's Gate was just before them. The air ship dock was a few dozen yards away, bolted for the night. Depositing Sarah on her feet, Rinnea brushed herself off.* “I'm going to get us an airship. Whether you're here or  not by the time I get back, that's up to you.” *Rinnea spoke to Sarah, but a look at Romolus let him know that he was included in this announcement as well. *“And if you're going to leave, do me the favor of at least dropping that gil purse.”* With that last statement hanging in the air, Rinnea turned her back on the group and made her way to the dock. The lock was easy enough to pick, but the time weighed heavily on Rinnea's mind. As she slipped inside the shadowed building, she noticed the edges of light peeking through the windows. The sun would be fully up soon. 

Most of the air ships stationed in the dock were massive, hulking machines, designed for long distance flight with fully outfitted crews. Nothing that would be of use to the three on the run. Rinnea had only the dimmest idea of how airships worked, and she didn't have much faith that her companions would be of any more help. She roamed through the building until her gaze finally landed on a smaller-than-average cargo ship. It would have to do. A moment or four, and Rinnea was through the shoddily locked door and in the cockpit. Pulling various levers and hitting every button she could reach, the thing finally grumbled to life. Ah. Time to get the rest of the party then. Roaring out of the dock, Rinnea hovered over the Falcon Gate, leting the airship idle as she rummaged through the supplies. After finding what appeared to be a rope ladder (it was a little on the frayed side), Rinnea dropped it off the side, smiling cheerily at Romolus and Sarah. *“Are you guys gonna come up or what?”*


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## Maria Antonia (Apr 3, 2010)

Sonara simply nodded politely in acknowledgement to the chatty Lucia. She was more at ease listening and picking through her salad than speaking, so it was very fortunate that her companion liked to talk. She felt her cheeks flush under the undeserved praise from Lucia, but she grit her teeth and willed the emotion away.

She listened as the white mage spun a fabulous yarn about princes and airships and daring leaps of faith. Sonara suddenly felt very boring. Her grand adventures were nothing more than walking through the park or cleaning the house. Even Kinzey had had a piece of the action. As a mage, a black mage, she shouold be out fighting the forces of evil, or whatever it was that heroes did these days. She wanted to feel adrenaline rushing through her, for once in her life. She wanted to break rules and fight criminals and meet strange new people... But all of that would undoubtedly require her to speak.

"I believe you." She answered as warmly as she could muster. Being friendly was a completely alien mindset to her, and Sonara did not want to ruin a perfectly good chance to make friends. She poked at her salad some more, not quite focusing on anything in particular, until something caught her eyes. Her peripherals had spied some palace gaurds, looking rather angry and annoyed, marching into the cafe. They whispered something to the owner, who gave them a baffled look in return, but pointed warily in their direction.

"Lucia, Kinzey, its not safe here." Sonara told them, trying to act composed and normal. The three guards began moving through the cafe towards their table, hands on their swords, looking hostile. Lucia had mentioned that she had almost been arrested, but escaped. Were they here for her? "We need to go." She added, gripping her staff tightly under the table. She had no intention of letting them take the innocent mage away, but if they were to escape, it would have to be now.

"Lucia South, by order of her majesty the queen, you are under arrest." The lead guard ordered, stopping in front of their table. The other two had their swords drawn, ready to respond to any attempt of outbreak. The other customers had stopped their mindless chattering to watch the scene unfold with wide eyes. "Come quietly and there will be no need for violence. Do not make a scene."

"Now." Sonara whispered coolly, nudging Lucia and Kinzey. It would be now or never.


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## Chaos (Apr 3, 2010)

*Romolus Mingan, Lindblum*

Romolus pitied Sarah for two reasons. The first one was quite an obvious one, it was the one reason that made her sit panicking and wide-eyed on the ground now, asking for explanations... no... begging for explanations and wishing she hadn't seen what had just happened. She couldn't bear a fight, yet where she planned to go, the world wouldn't be all that simple and non-traitorous. She planned to live in the wilds but she lacked one very important thing. She'd never seen a man get killed in her entire life. Romolus didn't think it weird or anything, for she had clearly led a sheltered life, but it was quite a sorry disadvantage in the open. If she refused to fight -no, to kill- herself, she wouldn't make it. Romolus still remembered the terror of the first kill he'd watched. His father...

_The silver arena was crowded again. Romolus sat first row, a privilege given to those who were related to the fighters of that evening. He didn't feel like it was a privilege. He felt like puking his stomach out. His father had discredited the clan by being caught on an assassination. Although there were no real _rules_ for this, everyone had known what was going to happen. And indeed, merely days after the incident a steady stream of challenges from most every warrior of the tribe had started to drip in. His father would battle every day for more than three months if he were to survive. His father would have to beat two third of the tribe's warriors. 

Today was the third. And it would be the last. Romolus' father had suffered a garish leg-wound the day before, and thus, his right leg wouldn't support him anymore. Rodan stood in the ring with a cane. Topping that, his opponent was the tribe's leader, a hulking behemoth wielding dual axes. The silvery light reflecting everywhere sickened Romolus. Yesterday he had stopped thinking that the battle was a beautiful game. Yesterday he had first seen his father's blood flying trough the air. In this tribe, there was no room for traitors. The tribe's leader snorted and growled, his eyes showed naught but insanity.

As soon as they moon reached it's peak, the fight started. It wasn't much of a fight though. The tribe's leader, an almost three meter long halfbreed (which meant he was only half werewolf, the other half pure wolfish instincts) jumped forward, slashing his twin axes in unison. Rodan managed to get his lone sword forward, slashing a long gash into the leader's hide. It wouldn't help a thing. Twin axes slashed in, cutting trough the feeble defense of cane and sword alike, blasting two cuts out of Rodan that reached the other side. Romolus screamed as his father fell apart, stubborn look still on his face, in three pieces. A moment of silence enveloped the arena, then everyone burst out in cheers and applause for their brutish leader who'd once again done the job. Romolus ran away, crying, screaming..."_

Romolus growled. Although these guards hadn't been close to her, that difference should be resolved by the fact that he'd been raised in a warrior clan and she in some puffed up high society house. He knew how she felt. He wanted to comfort her, but then her second issue barged in, lifting her up over her shoulder and started running. Yes... Rinnea. For the sake of her sanity and conscience, Sarah couldn't have chosen a worse partner. Rinnea was a killer, and if her facial expression just after she killed the guard was to be counted, she was a killer who enjoyed what she did. If Sarah really wanted to rip her own innocence away, she had done great in selecting her.

Romolus ran, just because he had no choice. He'd probably killed a city guard. And not too inconspicuous, either. There was only one solution. Get out of the city, and fast. They ran towards the theater district. Romolus was surprised Rinnea could carry Sarah all that time, and he was glad that she did, because otherwise she'd probably have outpaced Romolus. He'd only been here for a short while, and didn't know his way around that good. They stopped at Falcon's Gate, and Rinnea announced that she would get them an airship. She dropped off Sarah, who just sat like a miserable little heap, still in shock. Romolus walked over, putting a huge paw on her head. He hoped the motion wouldn't yet again remind her of the smashing he'd given that guard.

"Girl, I have no idea why the hell you were out there, but if you want to live your life outside of the city, you gotta get used to some things" he tried to keep his face nonthreatening, which was quite an achievement with his canine maw "If we hadn't silenced them, then both Rinnea and I would be waiting for our executioner now, and you would've been sent back to your parental house, no doubt into the fury of your parents." Romolus almost laughed at the comparison. Yes, that was the difference between Sarah and them. "Don't worry, you'll get trough this. If for no other reason than the horror I cast on you, I'll get you trough this" The buzzing in the air made Romolus look up.

Rinnea had actually stolen a fucking airship. Romolus was surprised how quickly it'd gone, and when the ladder went down, he motioned to Sarah to get on it first. Not purely altruistic reasons, this time. He wanted to know if the ladder would hold them, since it looked a bit... ruffly and secondly... Romolus was afraid of flying. He had little choice in the matter though, and decided he'd get on no matter what Sarah would do. He looked anxiously at her. "There will be a pursuit now. No matter what you decide to do, you'd better decide now" The words came out a bit more harsh than he'd intended them too, but he was kinda hasted. He didn't really feel like ending his life being hung for kidnapping a noblewoman and killing a city guard. "Come on, Go!"


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## StrawHat4Life (Apr 3, 2010)

*Lindblum...*
As soon as Sarah had slumped to the pavement in that bloody alleyway, her brain seemed to short circuit. And whether due to some kind of inner defense mechanism to protect her fragile psyche, or perhaps something more profound, Sarah feels her mind withdraw into itself and close off from the outer world. Rinnea's words come at her muffled and nothing more then a distant echo. In fact you might as well put a sign on the door to Sarah's mind with the words..._Out To Lunch: Be Back In Five_.

Somewhere could be anywhere, Sarah awakens with a start, and stares up at a bright blue and cloudless sky. Suddenly she feels an intense cold and realizes that she's laying face up in the snow. She sits up boltright and stares at the vast tundra of ice and snow all around her. It seems to stretch endlessly in every direction. 

"Where am I?!" she exclaims frantically, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.

"You are with me," a female voice responds from behind.  

Sarah jumps in alarm and spins her body around to face the source of the voice. Her eyes widen as she comes face to face with a seven tall blue skinned woman of such beauty and majesty that it renders Sarah speechless. The woman's eyes sparkle like diamonds, and her skin is a light blue while her lips and long shoulder length hair are of a darker shade. Also she's practically naked Sarah notes with chagrin. 
_
How is she not freezing?_

Sarah points a trembling finger at the woman, "Who...who are you?" 

The woman smiles warmly towards Sarah making her feel much calmer for some reason. It's the kind of smile that let's her know that this woman means no harm to her. 

"I will be your first," the woman responds simply. 

"First? What do you mean?" Sarah asks in confusion. She gestures at the Tundra all around them. "Where are we?!" 

"Come and find me Sarah..." 

_What in the name of Gaia is she talking about?!_ Sarah wonders. However before Sarah can respond, she literally feels the entire world around her fall out from under feet. 

Suddenly Sarah finds herself sitting in the middle of an airship dock. Falcon's Gate in fact, she realizes. How did I get here? she wonders. Then she notices the familiar hulking form of Romulus standing over her. He pats her head with his paw and she can't help but flinch slightly. How could she not after what she saw him do to that guard. She listens silently to his words, which if they are meant to reassure her, fall far short of the mark. 

Out of nowhere, Rinnea flies overhead in an Airship, which confuses Sarah even more. However she was just having a conversation with a giant blue woman in the tundra, so she rolls with it. As Romulus motions for Sarah to climb up the ladder she locks her iceberg blue eyes with his and a look of intensity appears in her gaze that wasn't present before. 

"I will go but you must promise me something. What you did to that guard...promise to me that you will never do such a thing again to another living rational being." She reaches out her right hand and grasps his paw tightly, "I am not asking you to never defend yourself, but that scene in the alleyway...the ferocity...you are better then that and I think you know it." 

Sarah however doesn't even wait for him to respond and quickly begins climbing the rope ladder. She just hopes that he will take her words to heart.


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## Zorokiller (Apr 3, 2010)

"So what do we do with him?"
"Well we could treat his wounds and take him to the capital but..."

Ark awakens, before him stand two tall rat-like people clad in armor discussing what to do with him.

Another appeared, he had a feather on his helmet, probably displaying a higher rank.
 "What are you two numbskulls doing, this is..." He removes the hat from Ark's head and sees his face

"The heir of Alexandria...We are lucky to find him and that the Alexandrian guards from this post recently moved to the Ice cavern for inspectation..." A grin appears on his face.

"Tend to his wounds, then transport him to Burmecia, the king would be most pleased, not only will be attack Lindblum soon, but we also have something to extort Alexandria with!" 
The higher-ranked guards yells overjoyed, yes if there was one nation that loved to war it would be the Burmecians, even though have maintained peace with Alexandria over several generations, even creating the North Gate together, with Lindblum it never went well, the only passage between those two countries was the Gizamaluke's grotto.

Quan the Qu looked sad outside
"I hope food be okay, Quan see him again."
He lets his frying pan hang and drags it across the ground, walking toward the east again.


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## Kinzey (Apr 3, 2010)

Kinzey wasn't sure how they were going to get out of this one, but the gears were turning in his head.

"Well," he said slowly, addressing the guards, "If Lucia is under arrest, then she's under arrest. But we had nothing to do with it, sooooooo...we'll be leaving". He took Sonara's hand and began walking away, the two guards with their swords drawn looking to their superior for guidance.

"HALT!" yelled the leader. Kinzey turned around slowly, a puzzled expression on his face. "Because you two were found with her, you are also to be taken in for questioning".

Stroking his chin with his index finger and thumb in the classic 'pondering' expression, Kinzey agreed "Yes. Yes that sounds reasonable".

He began slowly approaching the guards, when, quick as a flash, his hands darted out, his left grabbing a glass of water and the other a plate of food. At this range Kinzey's aim was perfect, his improvised weapons smashing into the guards' faces and shattering, leaving their faces riddled with glass shards.

"Run!"


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## StrawHat4Life (Apr 3, 2010)

*Lindblum/Falcon's Gate Control Room...*
From his perch high up in the control room over Falcon's gate, Captain Zane Garrick of the Lindblum Regency Airship Corps, can see practically everything. He's just relieved the night commander and is about to begin his shift as dawn raises smiling her face once again towards the city. Captain Garrick has been at this post for over five years now and still never tires of it. This place is truly a marvel of the world, with none its like anywhere. 

As he checks the schedule of daily departures for the upcoming day, Garrick notices an airship out of the corner of his eye. It's a mid sized cargo airship. Something about the way it moves, as if being flown by an inexperienced pilot, draws his attention. He quickly grabs a pair of binoculars and hones in on the ship. A female climbs up a rope ladder, followed by another...a Werewolf it looks like. Well that's very odd he thinks. 

Garrick turns toward one of the airship controllers and gestures at the ship. "Charlie that cargo ship over there. Is it on the schedule for today?" 

The controller quickly checks and then shakes his head at Garrick. "No sir," he says.  The Controller also hands Garrick an official notice. "We just got this over the wire as well sir..." 

Garrick grabs the notice and reads it carefully...

By order of the Chief of the Watch...
Please be on the lookout for a Noblewoman that we have reason to believe has run away or been kidnapped. The girl has shoulder length brown hair, age 18, height 5'10, weight 140 lbs, eyes blue, fair complexion. She is also carrying a staff with her. If there are others with her assume them to be armed and dangerous. 

Garrick narrows his eyes and suddenly presses the alarm button. Suddenly loud klaxon like bells ring out throughout the Airship Terminal. "Get some birds into the air now! We need to stop that ship!" he orders.


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## Damaris (Apr 3, 2010)

*Rinnea de Rose: ???*

Rinnea really hoped neither Sarah nor Romolus noticed she had no idea what she was doing when it came to the airship. Some of the controls were easy enough to figure out; the wheel controlled which direction the ship went, the large lever was connected to the speed—but most of the whirling meters and wires seeemd to serve a purpose that Rinnea couldn't even hope to understand at all. Well, not that it mattered very much. As long as they could go forwards, they could get out of here. Where they were going, and what they planned to do when they got there; Rinnea wasn't sure, but she didn't really care. Anything was better than Lindblum. And as for landing...Rinnea decided she could figure that out when they came to it. 

Sarah was the first one to come clambering up the ladder. Rinnea was relieved to see that the girl was obviously feeling much better, if she'd managed to haul herself up so quickly, but didn't speak to Sarah. If her reaction from an hour or so ago was anything to go by, Rinnea was not exactly the first choice of Sarah's people to talk with. Instead, Rinnea tried her best to keep the damned airship steady as Romolus  climbed aboard and hauled the rope ladder up after him.* “All accounted for,”* Rinnea murmured to herself as she banked the airship left, trying to turn it out of the city. *“We might actually pull this off.*” Of course, that was when the air sirens started sounding off, so maybe she'd spoken too soon.

Without a word, Rinnea yanked the lever that seemed to control the gas, and sent the airship flying over the Lindblum wall. Her arm ached from the action, and Rinnea shook her head. Her vision was blurring in and out, and she realized dimly that she was exhausted. She'd been racing through the streets since ten in the evening. She'd had to fight a man, and then carry Sarah through almost three districts, plus steal this airship. Rinnea was a thief, not a fighter. She should have been curled up in her nest back in the Industrial District, surrounded by her trophies and glimmering steals. Not running for her life with a  spoiled noble who now hated her and a werewolf who set her on edge. 

Rinnea's hands flexed around the wheel once, twice. She tried to open her mouth to tell Sarah or Romolus, but she was so tired, and everything was black, and then she was falling to the floor and it wasn't her problem anymore.


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## StrawHat4Life (Apr 3, 2010)

_*The Great Escape from Lindblum...*_
Sarah runs towards the downed catwoman and crouches next to her. She cradles the back of Rinnea's head against her lap. Thankfully she's breathing and seems to be fine. Just very exhausted is all. While Sarah doesn't care very much for Rinnea at the moment, she still owes her a debt for carrying through on her promise to get them out of here...well not yet at least she amends as the the loud alarms of Falcon's Gate ring out in the air. 

"Rinnea's fainted!" she exclaims at the Werewolf.  Sarah looks back at the airship controls. All the dials, buttons, levers, and gauges, on the large console simply overwhelm her just looking at them, and those are the the instruments that she even recognizes. 

Sure she's traveled aboard gigantic luxury high liners before, and taken so many airship cab rides that she's lost count, but Sarah never once thought to actually pay attention to what the pilots were doing. To her the pilots of airships are just fixtures, like the engines or wings even. They're always supposed to be there and she's always taken their vital role for granted. As Sarah stares at the empty pilots seat she wishes that she had had actually taken more of an interest when she and her siblings were invited to observe the pilots in action (thanks in no small part to her father, who himself owns an airship). She remembers what her response would usually be every time she was asked...

_'Let the pilots do their job. It is not as if I will ever have the need to fly one of these things anyhow...'_

Sarah looks back at Romulus with a panicked face, "I cannot fly this craft. You are going to have to pilot!" she exclaims. Then the next logical question hits her but she leaves it unanswered. 
_
Oh gods please tell me he can fly this ship! _

Meanwhile two midsized patrol ships, bearing the symbol of the Regency of Lindblum, rise from Falcon's Gate. Through cone shaped loud speakers they call out to the cargo airship that the hapless trio are currently aboard. 

*"PILOT YOU ARE IN AN UNAUTHORIZED ZONE. LAND YOUR SHIP IMMEDIATELY AND PREPARE TO BE BOARDED!!" *


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## Maria Antonia (Apr 3, 2010)

Sonara, taking her que from Kinzey, grabbed Lucia's wrist and pulled her through the cafe. They burst out the door and into the street, Kinzey following right behind. The guards, though mildly cut, were pushing towards them through a crowd of customers. Now, they were genuinely furious, and were more likely to cut their party to shreds rather than apprehend them.

Looking either direction, Sonara began sprinting down the street, tugging the others behind her. She did not know where they were going, but knew only that they had to get out of sight. Going home would be impossible now, since she was wanted as an accomplice. Her siblings might help hide her, but not two others as well, and leaving Kinzey and Lucia seemed to be out of the question at this point. They were all in this together.

"Stop! You are all under arrest!" The captain ordered, her troup gaining ground on them quickly.

She wove in and out of merchants and their kiosks, hoping to lose the pursuing guards. Her thoughts were slowing down while her breathing increased. Her chest burned, as well as her legs, and she only hoped that Lucia and Kinzey were faring better than her. With almost all her energy spent, she made a last ditch effort and turned sharlpy into an alley between a pair of town houses.

Breathing heavily, she sunk against the wall. She would have been embarrassed at how out of shape she was if she weren't more scared for her life. Sonara looked up at Kinzey and Lucia to check for injuries, when she heard the thundering of footsteps at the mouth of the alley. The captain of the guard stood triumphantly with her sword raised dangerously at the trio.

"Give up. Further resistance will lead to violence. Now, you're all under arrest!" She advanced on them, her other two guards on either side of her. Sonara felt like a terrible failure. She should not have led, she should not have tried to escape. Now, they were all far worse off because of her. Her vision began to blur at the edges, and she realized that her sight could give out at any second. It was all her fault.


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## Zorokiller (Apr 3, 2010)

"Wake up kid!!" A voice resounded.

Ark opened his eyes, immediatly he heared a explanation and debris and smoke flew past him. Before him stood a Burmecian dressed in dragoon armor.

"W-Where am I? What's happening?!"

The Burmecian grabbed some keys and unlocked the cage
"It seems you're kingdom is on your tail, Alexandrian forces are attacking us from the east, while most of our army has left the capital heading south towards the gizamaluke's grotto."

He hands over Ark's red-mage hat and turns around
"Let's fight off these Alexandrian forces, okay?"

"Y-You do know who I am right?" Ark says confused
The man smirked as he grabbed a javelin and threw it towards Ark, Ark grabbing it out of the air
"Sure I know, but you probably don't want to get taken back right? Otherwise you wouldn't be here anyway."

Ark laughed
"Alright, heh...This is a odd situation, but sure...I'll help!"
"Fratley."
"Eh...?"
"My name, call me Fratley."

Ark nods and they both head out, Ark found himself in a downpour
"Ugh...The true burmecian weather right?"

Outside they were confronted by four Alexandrian soldiers.
Fratley and Ark readied their spear standing next to each other side-by-side

"P-Prince Ark, please stand aside!" One of the soldiers yells
"Ark, watch and learn from a true Burmecian Dragoon."

Fratley twirls his spear around and jumps up high in the air

"Your highness, now is the time! C--" As he tries to finish his sentece Ark immediatly interrupts by laughter
"Hahaha...Fools! Your standing in the danger zone right now."

The guards looked up and a shimmering light appeared in the sky, Fratley aimed his spear down to the ground.
"Spear rain!!" From the tip of his blades several violet colored beams appeared raining down to the ground, cutting the soldiers up as they make contact.

two guards remained standing, Fratley landed down to the ground again, but Ark held his spear in front of him, halting his next attack.
He dashed forward and stabbed the first guard in sight with his spear, retracting it, blood sprayed across his face and the other guard's
"A-Ark!! Why?!" the guard yelled in confusion
Ark quickly spun around and slashed the guard diagonal across her chest.
"Address me properly you servant."

A clapping sound was heared, Fratley held the his spear to his shoulder while clapping.
"Remarkable technique young prince, this would be most troublesome to the position of the royal house of Alexandria."

Ark grins and looks up to the dark rainclouds.
"Like I care about that, I went as far as getting away from there, I might as well go all the way."

Ark, tips the javelin on his shoulder
"So what's next..."


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## Damaris (Apr 3, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria*

Lucia wasn't exactly sure how it had happened, but she had ended up in this alleyway with Sonara and Kinzey, on the run from the guards of Alexandria. Her adventure had once again burst into bloom, dragging her along wildly for the ride. In the cafe, everything finally seemed to be falling into place. The three of them had been companions, eating together and then—the guards had arrived, and Kinzey had smashed them in the face with plates! The face! Lucia didn't want to be on the run from her own country. She didn't like Alexandria that much, but the Prince seemed like an okay guy, and she didn't want to be hated in her own city; but she'd had no choice, and then Sonara was pulling her down the street, and Lucia's robe was hot and heavy, sticking to her body, slowing her down. Her legs pumped and her lungs strained for air. Sonara skidded into right and Lucia panted after her, aware of Kinzey close behind her. But it hadn't been enough. They'd run so far, so fast, and the guards were still right behind them. The leader advanced, raised her sword. They were going to be arrested, and it was all because Lucia had been so stupid. Stupid to think that she could have an adventure. Her arms wrapped around her chest and Lucia shook her head. She couldn't...she couldn't let this happen to Sonara and Kinzey. The guards were too close to simply run away from. She had to do something, she had to do something. 

Lucia's arms slipped to her side, and her right hand brushed against the pouch sewn into her robe. What's this? Her eyes widened, but Lucia kept her gaze focused on the ground, trying not to give anything away. The spells. There were spells in that book, of course! She'd read them, shortly before the play had started (or not started, really, but Lucia didn't care about that right now) so why couldn't she remember any useful ones? Cure? The last thing she wanted to do was help the guards, at least not while they were trying to arrest her. Holy? The gilded illustration in the book tugged at Lucia's heart for a moment. The rays of light obliterating her enemies, cleansing everything with a soft flash of pure white. But she could barely remember the incantation, just the idea of the spell. What else had there been? What could she use, would could she do? There was nothing except...the one spell she had nearly skipped over. It had appeared boring, but she'd memorized the incantation with nothing better to do. And now there was no other choice. Lucia's hands shook as she raised them palm-up in front of her, the words flashing through her mind. But at once she knew there was no need to say them aloud. The thought was enough. What she needed was a channel, a word of her own that would cause the spell to blossom. 

*“Protect.” *A thin spiral of blue pulled outwards from Lucia's hands, coalescing into a translucent barrier that hung between the three guards and Lucia, Kinzey and Sonara. The leader swung her sword at the curtain, but it only resulted in a shower of sparks. Still, the spell wasn't very strong. Lucia knew that it wouldn't last for long. Grabbing Sonara and Kinzey by the hand, she pulled them towards the end of the alley, where the three melded back into the crowds. Safe, at least for now.


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## Zorokiller (Apr 4, 2010)

Ark only finished his last words and Fratley readied his spears.
Ark looked behind himsel and saw a man in red robes and the upper-part of his face concealed by a metal plate.

Under the robe one arm emerged holding a spear.
"Holder of the Zodiac, you must perish." The man speaks
He immediatly strikes for Ark but only to be blocked by Fratley's spear, the latter pushing him back, his Spear tip splitted open slightly revealing a barrel.
From it he shoot several bullets towards the red-cloaked man, who let the bullets pass right through him.
The cloaked man followed up by holding his out his spear vertically emerging from his hand appears light beams going right through Fratley and finding their way back to the man

"D-Damn it...Lancer..!!" Fratley remarks as he feels his power fade away

Fratley tries to hold on as he turns his face to Ark the robed man pierces his spear through Fratley.
"A-Ark...Run!" 

Ark stands in shock, Fratley, the man he looked up more then Kain because of his battle spirit, suddenly getting mortally wounded like that, the world had much stronger people roaming it then Ark ever could have imagined.

Fratley throws safely towards Ark.
"T-Take this..."

Ark grabs it and looks at it, with eyes widenth
"It's name is Gungnir, it's a Gunspear, learn the ways of the dragoon...And find what you long for

Ark nods, Fratley turns his sight to the man.
"Now...Let's finish this shall we?"
His armor shatters and from his back grow black wings, his hands transform in large clawes and his feet take the shape of behemoth paws.
*"DRAGONFORCE!!"* Fratley shouts with a roar, ascending in the air with the man holding on to his spear.

Ark looks up amazed
"F-Fratley..." A single tear appears in one of his eyes, Ark didn't notice it himself as he runs as fast as he can, heading unknowingly towards the east, heading back to where he came from.
Running with a javelin attached to his back and the Gungnir in his hand.


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## Vanthebaron (Apr 4, 2010)

Beowulf south alexandria

Beowulf got up from the bar and paid, he had 3 beers and some chicken. He was following the guards. He came up behind the guards and bashed their heads together. "you kids need some help" he asked. He wasn't even remotely drunk. This was propably due to his elfen blood. "Names Beowulf, what's yours." he asked calmly. Beowulf's blood red jacket was blowing in the light breeze that swept through.


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## Chaos (Apr 4, 2010)

*Romolus Mingan, Lindblum*

Romolus watched as Sarah came to consciousness again. She'd apparently heard his words, though, and responded in typical naive fashion. Damn, this girl would have a hard time. "Trust me, girl, I won't do any of that if it's not absolutely necessary." Romolus gave Sarah a sympathetic look. "I despise fighting and killing as much as you yourself... But if I get in it, I've got no choice" Looking at Sarah's face, the face of a girl who was ready to burst into tears, he added "I'll try girl, I'll try" There was some sort of conviction in his tone, and really, he wanted to try. He just knew that the world wasn't as nice as one would have it. The proof were the city guards who were now chasing them for the simple sake of their own stature. Romolus sighed. Actually, they'd given the city guard a valid reason to hunt them now. He wasn't about to just walk in and die, though.

Sarah finally decided to get on the ship, climbing the rope ladder surprisingly nimble for someone who'd just puked and been ran around town unconsciously. Romolus couldn't complain though, since he wanted to be on the craft as fast as possible too. He grabbed the rope ladder and hoisted himself up, climbing the ladder with great speed. "Just... don't... look... down..." Romolus kept repeating to himself as he tried to hold on to the rope-made thing. He pulled himself into the airship. He'd made it.

Romolus huddled in a corner. He hated flying, and the thought that the person at the wheel had probably never piloted an airship didn't really work either. Romolus always felt insecure in an aircraft. The mere thought that if something, _anything_ went wrong, everyone on the thing would be sent spiraling down into oblivion was too much for Romolus. And thus he pretended not to be there, pretended to be in the old crashed aircraft that had been the tribe's primary children's playground. Well, playground... Battlefield was a better description. Romolus sighed. His tribe had been one of never-ending savagery. He'd still enjoyed his life there, though, at least until he was old enough to understand what was going on. Most werewolves were savages, from their birth on...

_Romolus slid off the gunning seat in the aircraft. The weapon that was mounted with the seat was not functional of course, actually, it was nothing more than a piece of rusted junk. Imagination did a lot for children, though, and a mere ten seconds ago Romolus had fought a huge lizard, flying in his very own airship. "Oi, Rommie!" Romulus looked over his shoulder to see Sindan, one of the girls of his age, happily running towards him. "Rommie, you gonna be a great warrior, no? Arcan says you are weak"

Arcan had been the bully of his age-group. He was not even stronger than the rest of them, but Arcan had a bigger mouth and thus automatically bigger friends. Romulus had taken quite a dislike of the werewolf, and now he was spreading rumors about him being weak? Romolus had thrown a tantrum, and Sindan had been pleased. Sindan had been a friend to Romulus since the first day they'd met each other. She was perhaps the weakest female the tribe had ever produced, and everyone but Romolus shunned her.

They walked out of the cargo exit, the metal boarding plank had long since sank into the ground, but there was a small clear way to get out of the ship and back to safe grounds again. "Ah, you've gone crying at your buddy!" The form of Arcan, as always surrounded by several larger species came walking trough the bushes towards them. Sindan scurried away, taking cover behind Romolus' bigger form. "What you want, Arcan?" Romolus said. He tried to keep his voice steady, but it cracked with a strange combination of fear and anger.

"Nothing... Just checking on the weak part of the tribe" Arcan said, an arrogant smirk on his face. Romolus was boiling with anger right now, and wanted nothing more than wipe that smirk of Arcan's face. He had to keep himself in check though. Even ?f he could do anything against Arcan and his friends, Sindan wouldn't be so lucky. "You know what they say, Romolus? That you and Sindan are mongrels" 

It happened before Romolus could consciously think about what he was doing. His claws were digging into Arcan's throat, choking and stabbing him. Arcan's face had also gone red with rage now. "How... dare... you..." he managed to sputter out. He smashed Romolus in the side of the head, but he would not relent. Spittle flew free from his maw, two enraged werewolves, barely ten years old, trying to kill each other. The others had formed a circle, not really sure what to do. Blood flew free as Romolus' claws finally dug trough the powerful hide that all werewolves used as protection.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" The voice split the air, a chill coming to rest in the hides of each of the werewolves watching, except from the two enraged fighters. Romolus felt claws in his neck as he was violently pulled off Arcan and lifted into the air..._

Sarah's horrified screaming smashed the protective memory-dome Romolus had built around him. And she was asking him to pilot the airship? Romolus became petrified, his eyes darting back and fro. HE? From all people, she was asking Romolus to fly the craft. Cursing, Romolus ran to the cockpit. Rinnea lay in a heap on the ground. Romolus cursed even louder. What the hell was that bitch doing, just falling asleep in the middle of an escape? He ran towards the pilot seat, plopping down into it. The sheer amount of buttons and handles scared him profoundly. It was even worse when Romolus lifted his gaze, looking trough the big panel-window. The panorama was beautiful, but Romolus didn't even see that. What he saw was the sheer height they were on. One movement... one wrong handle would send them spiraling towards the ground, crashing with lethal force. "Sarah, you idiot, why the hell would I be able to do this any better than you?"

The ship started to lose height. "Oh for the love of god!" Romolus threw a big lever forward. The guess was totally random, the only reason why he'd chosen this lever was because it was big and thus, important. He just hoped he wouldn't activate the brakes or something. The ship creaked, then blasted forward with terrifying speed, throwing Romolus back into his chair. "Throttle" he silently mouthed. The ship was at the least flying linear again, although Romolus wasn't too happy with the speed. "Too... many... buttons!" Romolus growled in frustration. "Why the hell did no one ever bother to tag those things?"

The blaring of the horns and the other airships that were in pursuit now didn't make things better. "Sarah, get the hell over here and try to help finding out what the hell all those buttons do!" Romolus was terrified. He was steering his biggest nightmare, with two persons depending on him and a whole city guard gunning for him. Not a good day. At all.


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## StrawHat4Life (Apr 6, 2010)

*Lindblum...*
Sarah half drags, half carries, Rinnea's body over towards a spare seat right behind the two pilots chair, and straps her in. All the while Romulus screams in a petrified voice, which was naturally drowned out by her own petrified screams of, 'oh my gods we are going to die...' and 'Does this craft carry parachutes?'

Just as she finishes strapping in Rinnea, the airship slams forward in a burst of speed. The sudden acceleration knocks Sarah off her feet and she lands on the back of her head with a palpable thud. She literally feels her brain jostle around in her skull, not the most comforting of sensations to say the least. 

Sarah groans in pain and bright exploding stars burst into her field of vision. The entire world seems to spin around like one of those carousel's she was so fond of riding as a child, begging for it to go faster. She almost blacks out for a second but thankfully manages to hold on to her consciousness through gritted teeth determination. Sarah slowly forces herself to sit upright and touches the back of her head. When she looks back at her hand she sees bright crimson that feels warm on her fingers. 
_
So you wanted adventure Sarah, well you got it my dear_, she thinks to herself grimly. A knocked out cat burglar, a Werewolf with anger management issues, and then of course there's her. She's not exactly sure where she fits into the equation of this motley crew.

A voice echoes dimly through her rattled skull and it's only then that she realizes that Romulus is speaking to her, a terrified look on his face. If he wasn't so furry she'd swear he was as white as a ghost right now. 

Sarah groans weakly at him. "Buttons?" she murmurs in a shell shocked voice. She once had a stuffed Moogle named Buttons, which is an odd thought to have at a time like this, but then again she most likely does have a minor concussion. 

"Here I come Buttons..." 

In her mind she sees her giant stuffed Moogle in place of where Romulus sits, except with the Werewolves shrieking voice. Sarah tries to stagger back to her feet, but the sudden change in levels causes her to go dizzy again and she blacks out, falling into a heap on the floor.


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## Kinzey (Apr 6, 2010)

Kinzey stood bent over, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Looking back, he saw that, while not entirely his fault, some of the blame did indeed rest with him. He'd chosen the restaurant, which had seemed popular, so of course the guards had been watching them, and he had provoked them.

Suddenly all the little events of the last day piled up on him: The sprint to Lucia's house, the sneaking into the castle, the ejection from said castle, his injuries from trying to break in, the stress of finding Lucia seemingly dead, and the escape from the guards. He was tired, and just wanted to sleep.

But he sucked his fatigue up and asked warily "So...what do we do now? Leave the city I assume". He doubted they bought his charade. Kinzey felt ready to collapse from exaustion any second.


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## Damaris (Apr 6, 2010)

*Rinnea de Rose: Lindblum Airship
*
Rinnea didn't often dream. Usually her sleep was comforting, a simple biological function that refreshed her so she could arise the next day (or most likely night, considering her line of work) and she was free of any nagging specters or memories that others might have to deal with. For some reason tonight was different. Logically, Rinnea knew that she was dreaming. There was nothing to be afraid of. And yet, the Mitoq'te was petrified. In the dream she was much, much younger. 
_
Running down the streets of Lindblum, Rinnea tripped over her own feet and sprawled against the cobble stones. This latest fall added a new set to the scratches and bruises that covered the young girl's legs, blood staining her knees, but Rinnea ignored the pain. She scrambled to her feet and continued running. As fast as she could run. Because despite the jolting agony that accompanied her every step, the harsh burn in her lungs, Rinnea knew that all of that was nothing compared to what was chasing her. Any amount of physical burden was worth escaping from that all encompassing darkness.

The girl turned a corner, ran straight into a roughly dressed civilian man who gave her a confused look before she scrambled to her feet and continued on. Should she have warned the man? Just speaking would have cost her precious seconds, not to mention that he probably wouldn't have believed her anyway. Safety. She needed somewhere to hide. But all that was before her were the streets of Lindblum, nearly empty and utterly useless to her. Stronger. She had to be stronger, or find someone strong enough to protect her. Or continue running. There were only two avenues before her now. The left veered off to run alongside the wall that encircled Lindblum. The right ran into the city proper, deeper into the Industrial District.

Rinnea halted for a moment. Which path? In the end, the left path was far too exposed for her liking. She plunged rightward, praying that the winding roads and overhanging buildings of the city would protect her for a little while. Not forever though—not even for more than a handful of years. Rinnea wasn't foolish enough to think that anything would stop the darkness. _

Her eyes fluttered open. Where was she? For a moment, cold curled about her very bones, and Rinnea was terrified. But memory returned. The noble girl who had requested her help, the werewolf. Killing the guards, and then fleeing the city. And now, the three of them in the airship. For a moment Rinnea laid still. She hadn't dreamed in a such a long time, and now to remember her earliest recollection? Perhaps leaving Lindblum had been the right idea. Maybe she had made the correct choice for once. 

She was strapped in. Squirming about, Rinnea undid the buckles and swayed to her feet, a bit disgusted with herself for fainting. Casting an eye about the airship cabin, the first thing she noticed was Sarah sprawled on the floor, apparently out cold. Rinnea sighed to herself and knelt by the girl, cradling her upper body. The back of Sarah's head was sticky with blood. This was shaping up to be a nice little adventure. Ripping off a strip of her shirt, Rinnea did her best to staunch Sarah's wound and stop the bleeding. Rinnea was better with taking things apart then putting them back together, but she chose not to dwell on the philosophical ramifications of this and prop the girl up in the seat instead. 

Once Sarah was secured, Rinnea staggered over to where Romolus was and tried to look as if she knew what she was doing. *“I think this one controls the speed,”* Rinnea said, cranking a lever backwards. Sure enough, the airship slowed down (with a few jerks and bucks, but that wasn't really important) and Rinnea smiled smugly. *“I knew I could figure this out, it can't be that hard.”* Her hand hovered over the board of controls as she chose which button to push next.* “Hey...”* A worried look crossed Rinnea's face, but she wiped it aside as quickly as it had come. *“Isn't this the fuel gage? Because that little needle is pointing straight at...”* There was no need for Rinnea to finish her sentence, because at that moment, the airship gave out with a startling lurch—the three were going down straight over Qu's Marsh.


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## Zorokiller (Apr 6, 2010)

Ark reached North Gate again, walking through the long passage while panting heavily, he has never been exposed to such physical endurance.
He grabs his chest, the wounds that were inflicted on him in the Evil Forest still not have fully healed.

His sight becomes blurry as light falls down upon it
("...The exit...Almost...")

Suddenly he sees a large crowd, all in armor.
("Oh right...Damn...The soldiers were tailing me...")

He walks through the crowd
"State your business!" One asked
"Are you a Burmecian..No he seems human..." Another stated
"Wait isn't that?"
"Could it be?"
"Your highness?"

Ark waves his Gungnir around, trying to clear his path as he struggled not to pass out.
As he moves in the daylight he suddenly sees a familiar form.
"Yummie food? You okay?" It said
"Q-Quan, help me get away..."
"Food named Quan, Quan, Quan so happy!"
Quan grabbed Ark and threw him on his shoulder, at this moment Ark lost his consciousness with a relieved expression on his face.
"W-What are you doing Qu?! T-That's Prince A--UAWH" A frying pan smacked into the guards face as he tried to finish his line.

Quan walks away while smacking away like flies.

Kain appears on the scene a little later
"That Qu wouldn't do, he needs to stay out of Ark's reach otherwise the zodiac might spread around even more..."


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## Zoidberg (Apr 6, 2010)

Atop the trees, Herpethia watched carefully as a gaggle of goblins herded 3 humans, and to her surprise 4 Burmecians, towards their burrow. None of them looked remotely like the prince, which meant that she had no reason to save any of them. It was time for her to leave...

"Over there! Please, help us!" One of the prisoners yelled, pointing towards the branch Herpethia perched. The goblins who wielded bows fired at Herpethia, while those with knives climbed up the tree to get to her.

She cursed her luck. Just what she needed, more needless, profitless fighting. Herpethia pointed her rifle at the bowmen and fired. One went down in an instant, and in her next volley another lost half its brain. A goblin trying to climb up the tree was shot in the head, and another fell off the tree when Herpethia swiped it with the butt of her rifle.

Despite her quick kills, the battle was steadily going to the goblins.The ones climbing up the tree were getting closer, and it looked like more goblins were coming out of the burrow. A few managed to land a couple of arrow shots on her, while one of them landed a stab before getting it's brains blown out. She had no options left, save for one.

The bangaa mercenary jumped off the tree, stomping one of the goblins dead. She bashed the head of another goblin with her rifle, and then kicked another away before it could stab her. She ran towards the chained prisoners, shooting the guards while she approached. The chains were nothing to her bullets, and with a few shots they were free.

"Many thanks." An old man who nonetheless looked formidable enough for even a bangaa like her said while he helped the other prisoners. A goblin rushed the old man, but had its skull stoved in with a single punch. The old man took the goblin's knife and joined in the battle. The other prisoners had managed to steal weapons of their own from the goblins, and were killing their former captors with relish.

Dozens of goblin corpses lay around Herpethia and the former prisoners. The speed and efficiency in which they wiped away the goblins was impressive. "I take it you and your friends are not normal travellers?" 

"We're soldiers actually." The old man answered. "Captain Galuf Baldesion, Alexandrian 4th regiment." 

"And I am Freya, Dragoon of the 7th Burmecian heavy cavalry." A burmecian in a tattered red cloak said.

Herpethia raised an eyebrow, or at least the bangaa equivalent. "So what are soldiers from two nations at war with each other doing miles away from the battlefield?" 

"Our regiments clashed. Miss Freya's force fell back and ran to the forest, and our forces followed." Galuf explained. "Then while we were entering the forest they charged in and broke our front lines."

"Textbook feint, and they fell for it." Freya said with a smile of satisfaction.

"Too bad that plant monster had to kill both our divisions. Mostly yours." Galuf fired back. "After that thing attacked both of our divisions' ranks broke, and the next thing we know we were captured by goblins."

"Until you came in of course.You have our gratitude." Freya thanked.

"Some gil would be better compensation." Herpethia sighed. Whatever that plant monster was that slaughtered both of the Burmecian and Alexandrian divisions she didn't want to face it. A prince's ransom was worthless compared to her safety. 

"Burmecia would give you a decent prize for saving its soldiers." The dragoon said. 

"As would Alexandria. But we'd give more." Galuf said, smiling competitively. 

It wasn't exactly the prince's ransom she wanted, but this would do. "Very well. But I'm charging extra for guiding you lot out of this forest."


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## Tyrael (Apr 7, 2010)

_I could sense some tension between the men and Triari: evidently they had no illusions as to who he was. Maybe, just maybe, that was my chance.​_
"You can leave the two of us," Triari told the three men. They shared dark looks and left without speaking a word.

Reylan knew that Triari was a skilled and feared assassin, but rarely one who actually fought. He was a terrifying foe to face because you didn't fight him; before you knew it he'd be behind you, putting a blade through your chest. Here, in this small room with no furniture, nowhere to hide, Reylan wondered if he could overpower the human.

First he'd have to work these bonds free. The chair they had tied him to looked weak, but felt strong enough. Maybe they were sloppy when tying it up? He wiggled his wrist subtly, but felt no give in the knots. Triari noticed, and gave a gloating smile. "Having fun?"

Reylan said nothing, continued to work at the ropes.

"I'm surprised, no, maybe disappointed. You were an auxiliary once right? A half member?" Triari cast about for somewhere to sit, but Reylan was occupying the only piece of furniture in the room. "So how come you are worth so much that Resard sends me across the world in order to find you?"

Reylan grunted. All that seemed to be happening was that he was getting rope burns.

Triari drew a knife and twirled it in his fingers. "If I was you, I'd want to keep yourself in my good graces."

"What if you were Driekel?"

"Then I'd be dead." Triari shrugged. "It'll happen again you know. You run and we chase and other people get hurt. Don't tell me this is the first time it happened."

A chill ran up Reylan's spine.

"I thought not. See, here is the thing; I like talking, but I also like listening. So I'm going to listen and someone is going to talk." He cast about the room mockingly. "And there only seems to be two of us here."

He didn't even see the knife coming. Reylan jumped as it struck the wooden chair, just to the left of his head. Triari gave him a smile as he pulled it out of the wood. "Sorry, am I distracting you? I do tend to play with this thing too much when I get bored. Tell me a story: an entertaining story. Maybe one about why I'm here and why you're important. Those knots aren't going to come loose, you're just boring me."

"Fine," said Reylan, "have you ever heard the name Scheherazade?"


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## Chaos (Apr 7, 2010)

*Romolus Mingan, Airship*

"Why the hell does everyone faint on me today?" Romolus screamed in a voice that was overflowing with panic when Sarah collapsed just behind his chair. He was in a total state of panic now and tried incredibly hard not too just start pushing random buttons and hoping. Suddenly, Rinnea stood up again. "Why the hell were you slee- Oh fuck it just come over and help already" Rinnea somehow managed to grab a seat and -Romolus hardly believed his eyes- slow down the craft. Just when Romolus thought he might make it out alive, Rinnea pointed at some gauge. The damning letters on the gauge of which the pointer had reached a small L read Fuel. Romolus had never hated a word more. "Yea, Rinnea. We're going down"

As soon as the words left his mouth the airship tilted and it's height started declining bit by awful bit. Romolus yelped in a very unwerewolflike way as the airship started making speed, as if the world itself had decided that these three creatures aboard of this pitiful ship were not destined to fly. Romolus agreed with the world. He hated flying. He hated flying even more than getting into useless fights. Romolus sprinted to the back of the ship, up the angled floor, pausing only to grab Sarah. Cargo ship... There must be SOME cargo... and if there was cargo... it should be- Romolus found what he was looking for. Several big wooden crates, fastened to the floor with ropes. He quickly cut the crates free, sending them bouncing down the ship and into the cockpit. Romolus just hoped that Rinnea was okay.

He grabbed hold of the ropes and quickly tied the unconscious Sarah to what he thought would be one of the safer places if when the ship would crash. A couch that had also been tied to the floor. Normally, Romolus would have stood there for minutes, trying to figure out why the hell this ship was carrying a couch in the back. Normally he wasn't stuck in a crashing airship, though. After securing Sarah (a bit awkwardly, but Romolus was a disaster at working under pressure) he crawled on the back of the couch, which by this time was almost a platform suspended in the ship. "Here we go..."

The front of the airship hit the ground with a devastating crash. The whole iron structure vibrated with the collision, shaking the craft violently. Romolus felt the first crash and heard his own right arm break with a sickening crack. Black spots danced before his eyes. They grew larger and larger. So... large. The black spots swallowed Romolus' consciousness, pulling him down into a void of nothingness.

_"What am I doing here?" The sentence was chanted over and over everywhere around. The grey swirls of mist that rose from the ground obscured his vision and somehow slowed his mind to a basic level, a primal level. The world... was this the world? This is... nothing. Slowly, as if he was somehow walking in some fluid, Romolus turned around, his eyes gliding over the plane. More grey mist. Only grey mist. Deep inside he heard a voice beckoning him, screaming for him to snap out of it. His corporeal body was in danger. The spirit of Romolus didn't care so much, or more precisely, didn't know to care. The voice inside grew louder, though... It might be important... What was he doing here anyway? It was... important..._

Two bloody werewolf eyes cracked open. The whole place was dancing around. Where was he? Strange twisted images of a metal plating, a couch. The airship! Romolus shook his head, trying to come back to consciousness quicker. A strand of auburn hair. Sarah! Romolus tried to move, tried to reach for the girl who was still secured to the couch before him. He hoped she was alright. He hoped she had survived. Romolus noticed that his left arm wouldn't respond to his movement. Instead, every time it shifted an inch, an excruciating pain burned into his mind. Damn... the arm was broken. His vision had returned almost completely. From his vantage point, Sarah seemed alright, if a bit bloody. This didn't say much though, since his vantage point meant that he could see nothing but the upper part of her back and the back of her head. Rinnea! The other name shot into Romolus' mind at the same time his dazed brain made something else out. Was it... water? WATER?

The greenish water was slowly but certainly filling the craft. They were sinking. Romulus growled and tried to move his legs. He would not die by drowning in some nondescript airship in the middle of... where was he, anyway? His legs moved, but not fantastic, and with every movement he made, his left arm hurt like hell. There was no way he was going to get out _with_ Sarah in time. "Damn..." His voice was barely audible as Romolus scanned the interior of the crashed airships for escapes. A huge hole was in the hull, but it was on the opposite side of the room. "Damn!" Opposite of the room meant that he had to traverse several meters of the mucky water. Several meters he could not hope to swim with a broken arm and an unconscious girl. So far for Sarah, Romolus thought as he slid of the back of the couch. It truly hurt him, but he knew that there was no way to take the girl with him. He slid into the water, giving a last look to Sarah, then started a slow swim towards the big hole.


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## Tyrael (Apr 7, 2010)

_I'm missing something here..._​
"Scheherazade?" Triari scratched his stubble. "The name has a familiar ring to it. Where though?"

Leaving the human to his thoughts for a moment, Reylan actually looked at the room. It was a large room, and it never looked like it had been lived in. Very large, in fact. He could only see one door. He glanced up at the roof and saw it was hidden by shadows above him. This whole cottage was only this room. There were no windows, but he was sure he had saw windows on the outside of the cottage.

Outside, someone had taken care of a basket of flowers. Made sure that despite the cold, the snow, the wind; made sure that the flowers had survived.

This cottage had been turned into a shell of house. Things like that, he imagined, would take time. Too much time. This cottage, he realised, was not for his sake. It had some other purpose.

"She was a queen wasn't she?" Triari snapped him back to the moment.

"Not quite."

"Someone important maybe? Someone that the Brotherhood has special interest in?" He tilted his head and paced. "I think you are far too relaxed; too willing to talk in riddles." He brought his hand around and backhanded the burmecian on the temple. Reylan gave a cry as he toppled sideways. "I think, maybe, it'd best if I gave you a night to think about it."

Reylan said nothing as he heard the human leave. He had found an answer of sorts: now on the ground, a trapdoor was on his eye level. There was something special underneath this house.

The question was, how could that help him?


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## Vanthebaron (Apr 7, 2010)

Beowulf-South Alexandria with Lucia, Kinzey and Sonara. 

Beowulf grabbed the legs of one of the guards. He placed the guard in a sleeping position against that wall. He did the same thing to the other 2 guards. He ran after them catching up was hard but he did. He couldn't believe he just committed a crime for people he didn't even know. He didn't even know why he did it. May be it was because the guards did nothing for him when his dad was killed and this was just subconscious hatred showing itself. "So what did you do to get in the guards after you guys?" he asked runing had to catch up with them, the alcohol affecting his balance.


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## Damaris (Apr 7, 2010)

*Rinnea de Rose: Qu's Marsh*

Well, that was pretty rude. All Rinnea had done was point out that they were in a bit of a predicament, and the werewolf had yelped like a little girl and dashed to the back of the ship, Sarah hauled over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Rinnea stood up from the chair and looked backwards, sincerely hoping that he wasn't doing anything er...immodest to the girl. But instead of a frantic werewolf, she only saw a veritable hail of cargo boxes flying her way. With a muffled curse, Rinnea dropped to the floor and covered her head with her arms. Most of the boxes flew over her, crashing into the control panel, although one tagged Rinnea on her right hip. *“Gaia burn that werewolf in the pits of the world,”* Rinnea grit out, looking at the smoking wreckage of buttons and levers. *“If he hadn't panicked so easily, we could at least have tried to steer the damn thing as it descended.”* The past was past though, and now Rinnea had to focus on the present. 

The airship was tilting forward at an alarming rate, and Rinnea had no intention of curling up like a rat to die in the back of the airship. Casting a smile at the back of the ship, she crawled to the side door where she had thrown the ladder. It had flung open in the confusion, and thrusting her head outside, Rinnea watched the rapidly approaching ground. Action. She had to move. Her hands gripped the frame of the door and she clambered with some difficulty to her feet. Rinnea braced herself and waited as the airship sank. One hundred feet from the ground. She took a deep breath. Fifty feet. There would be no room for error. Rinnea had jumped and leapt across the cityscape of Lindblum for most of her life, but she wasn't accustomed to falling. Thirty feet. She let go.

Rinnea's eyes were peeled open by the wind and she hung spread-eagled for a moment before plummeting. The marsh rose up to meet her and at what seemed to be the moment of impact Rinnea curled in on herself and took a deep breath. An instant later she was sinking deep into the water. And then she was clawing madly for the surface. Rinnea hated, hated, hated water. She hated swimming. And this water was disgusting, grimy with swamp muck and a strange green color that couldn't be natural. When she finally burst back into the air her ears were sodden and heavy, pressed flat against her head. Her hair was covered in some sort of weed. Rinnea was not happy, not happy at all. After blinking the water out of her eyes, she looked about for the airship. It had gone down about a hundred feet away from her, but Rinnea was thrilled to realize there was a strip of land about 15 meters across that connected her present location to the downed metal bulk. Hauling herself onto the slimy grass, Rinnea shook herself off furiously. (This action was rather more dog-like than that of a cat, but if anyone had been around to point it out, they would have been met with the full force of Rinnea's wrath.) 

Staggering to her feet, Rinnea sprinted towards the ship. She couldn't explain the worrying feeling that was gnawing away in her chest, but it was there and there was no use arguing with it. At the end of the land she managed a clumsy dive into the water and began circling the ship looking for a way to get in. Towards the back she found one. A jagged piece of the hull was missing and the opening was certainly big enough for Rinnea to get through. As she paddled inside her eyes landed on the werewolf, Romolus. He was swimming for the hole as well, though his left arm was crooked at an odd angle and was obviously giving him pain. Rinnea opened her mouth to speak to him, accidentally gulped some water and sputtered about for a bit. As she raised her head up once more her gaze found the other occupant of the room. Sarah was tied to a couch, a thin glaze of blood covering her face. She was obviously still out of it. Rinnea sighed through a mouthful of marsh plant. *“I never wanted to be a hero.”*

Regardless of what she wanted or didn't want though, Rinnea paddled over to the girl. Holding onto the couch with one hand, Rinnea fished her dagger out of her pocket—and cursed. The blade had been snapped in half somewhere along the ride. The jagged edge of the hilt was still enough to cut away at the ropes that bound Sarah though, and Rinnea did that huridly, aware of the rising water. The ties snapped away and Sarah started to sink into the water. Rinnea grabbed the girl under the arms and tread water for a moment, unsure of what to do next. Her method would have to be good enough. Hoisting Sarah up, Rinnea bit down on the back of her shirt and began slowly, slowly paddling backwards. The going was rough, and more than once Rinnea hit or bumped into something (she was going to be a lovely shade of purple once all this was over) but the two finally made it out of the hull. The water was only up to Sarah's chin and Rinnea resembled a semi-drowned rat, not a fully drowned one. All in all she considered it a resounding success. 

Once they were out of the airship, Rinnea adjusted her method of carrying Sarah. She had in awful crick in her neck. Now she merely pulled the girl behind her, swimming as fast as she could (read: not very fast at all) towards the narrow land that was her only hope. Upon reaching it, she hauled Sarah up, checked to make sure the girl was still breathing; and then assured that she'd done the best she could, flopped down on her back and exhaled. The sky was a lovely shade of blue. Where had that useless werewolf gotten to?


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## Tyrael (Apr 11, 2010)

I wonder if there is only one guard outside? If I was Triari I'd have them stand guards in shifts. I hope, dearly hope, he thinks as I do.​
His muscle cried out. Lying prone on his side, still strapped to the chair, he could feel muscles twitching involuntarily down his left side. The ropes were burning his wrists; soon, they may have begun to draw blood. He lifted his arms and wriggled, slowly, painfully, towards the trap door.

_Thump_.​
His head was sore. Was it the stress or fear? Maybe it was the blood flow. He kept bumping his head as he crawled inelegantly along, and the small blows might have been building up. He took another breath, forcing the pain out of his mind and continued to crawl.

_Thump_.​
Ahead of him the trapdoor was just visible. He thought had lost it multiple times: what if he couldn't find it again? What if it had never existed? Would he still be lying here, breath ragged, in the morning? But there it was, just noticeable against the flat floor.

_Thump_.​
Then he was there and the trapdoor was sealed shut. That was okay. That was fine. All he need was that sharp edge. Moving his arms painfully upwards, he tried to get the rope to catch on the edge. Failed. Again. It just slipped past the corner. He wanted to scream. To yell. To start beating at the ground.

After a few moments it stuck. He took a deep breath, tried to relax. Focusing, he began to work the rope across the edge. It was good enough rope to hold him, but he knew this shiny new trapdoor was still sharp enough to cut through it. All he needed was patience.

Well, patience and time.


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## Damaris (Apr 13, 2010)

*Lucia South: Alexandria
*
As the three ran out of the alleyway Lucia thought that maybe, just maybe, she heard someone behind her come upon the scene. But that couldn't be right, could it? Oh well. The point was that all three of them were safe now, and Lucia had finally done something useful. The thrill of magic...she couldn't believe it! The power that had come with casting that spell. Protect wasn't a spell that could hurt someone or kill an opponent (not that Lucia thought she would ever have it within her to do that) but it saved you. Behind that blue shimmering wall you were safe, untouchable. That was amazing. That was power. But Kinzey's words shook Lucia out of her reverie. 

*"Leave the city...?"* she parroted softly. They would have to do that, wouldn't they? It only made sense. And Lucia knew that she shouldn't be sad about this. She'd meant to leave from the very beginning, she'd meant to explore the world. Still, she had never pictured being run out of the only place she'd ever known. Lucia had always pictured her leaving as a triumphant procession, not a harried scurrying flight of the fugitive. But she had no choice. If the three of them were to survive, they had to leave. "I'm so sorry that we dragged you into this, Sonara," Lucia said, shaking her head. *"If we had been more careful, you could be home with your family right now."* But before Lucia could even begin to consider how the trio might get out of Alexandria, another person arrived onto the scene.

He was a tall man, older than all three of them for sure, and he weaved unsteadily on his feet. Still, his words were clear enough and out of shock Lucia automatically responded to him:* "The guards think that I'm involved in the disappearance of Ark--I mean the Prince, and they're trying to arrest me for information."*


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## Chaos (Apr 16, 2010)

*Romolus Mingan*

Romolus gasped for air as his head came above the murky water again. He'd almost drowned in there! He pushed himself to swim forward the last few strokes and clamped onto the land with his good arm, hauling himself up on a mossy piece of ground. Panting for breath, Romolus rolled over, trying to get a clear view of the airship that was steadily sinking into the bog. The foul water still stung his eyes, but he shook it out. The ship had almost gone under. Was he the only one who'd survived? A wave of despair washed over him. Was Sarah dead by his fault? Hadn't even Rinnea survived the crash? Suddenly the view of several heavy crates rolling down the cabin came back into his mind. Had he actually _killed_ Rinnea? 

The werewolf looked around, looking for any sign of the others. Anything would do, even if it meant they'd abandoned him. _Anything_. There was nothing. Only green water, murky land and sad, drooping trees. No sign of either Rinnea or Sarah. Then it hit him. He knew this place. The green of the water, land and trees started spinning in front of his eyes. Of all places they could have crashed, of course it was Romolus' luck to land in this one. The place where he'd been forced to fight far more than he liked. The place where he had almost died a multitude of times. This was the place where he'd grown up. 

Romolus swooned at the thought. This place had consumed him, had -not even counting the near-deaths- nearly broke him, almost torn away the very essence of his being. How often had he been at the breaking point between staying true to himself and just becoming one of them, becoming the warrior the tribe wanted him to be, the murdering psycho the tribe wanted him to be. The marsh still held these memories for him. The marsh had been the perfect stage for this brutal play, and it had served it's purpose. The entire marsh was a werewolf burial ground, and blood had become one of the primary foods for the trees around the tribe. Romolus couldn't bear the thoughts. Thousands of memories came rushing back at him, crashing violently inside his head. None were recognizable, but all were all too painful and real. A merciful darkness beckoned him and Romolus gladly complied. It was all too much. He lay very still.


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## StrawHat4Life (Apr 16, 2010)

*Qu's Marsh...*
"Faster Tieoh!" 

Moridin urges his Chocobo mount forward across the marshlands belonging to the infamous Qu Tribe. The energetic coal black Chocobo warbles matter of factly in response, as if saying, _'You don't have to tell me twice buddy!'_ and picks up speed. 

The going has been slow, trying to find dry paths (or at least as dry as possible) through the murky waters around them. Moridin's goal is to make it out of the marsh by sunset if he can. Camping overnight in this damp and smelly wasteland is the last thing he wants to do if he can help it. His destination is Alexandria and Moridin will let nothing stop his progress. 

As Moridin ponders what Alexandria will be like and more importantly, how strong it's warriors are, suddenly Tieoh warbles in an alarmed high pitched tone and skids to a halt. The laws of physics take over and the Moogle feels his body fly forward, but thankfully the stirrups hold his feet in place. His head still jerks forward rapidly and he slams facefirst into Tieoh's feathered neck for his troubles. 

Moridin groans and rubs his neck, muttering curses under his breath, and wondering whether Chocobo's are good for eating. Meanwhile Tieoh looks upwards at the sky as if looking for something, and warbles in a questioning tone.  

"Have you gone insane bird?!" Moridin asks. 

Right on cue a loud booming noise, almost like rolling thunder, fills the air, followed by a streaking object that casts a large shadow across the ground. Moridin snaps his neck upwards, feeling sudden pain, but he ignores it. His eyes widen as he sees an airship streaking across the sky. It leaves behind a billowing black smoke trail in its wake and descends rapidly as if out of control. 

"What in the name of the great Moogle?!" Moridin exclaims in wonder. 

Now he doesn't know much about the subtleties of airship piloting nor has he even flown in many airships to begin with, but he doubts that kind of flight path is in the pilots itinerary. The  booming explosion and impact that echoes across the marsh land a second later confirms this suspicion into a cold hard fact. They didn't land too far away the Moogle realizes. 

Moridin digs his booted heels into Tieoh's flanks and urges the black Chocobo towards where the airship crashed. Tieoh takes off in a fast sprint, kicking up clods of damp soil and green muck in his wake. All the while, Moridin doubts that anyone could've survived the impact, but it would be against his honor code not to go and find out.


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## Kinzey (Apr 16, 2010)

As he heard Lucia apologize to Sonora, Kinzey briefly rested his hand apon her arm, saying "No. It wasn't your fault, or mine, or Sonora's. It was just a combination of chance, bad luck, and perhaps fate. It is possible we were meant to join up". Lacing his fingers together behind his head, Kinzey closed his eyes and anticlimacticaly said "Or not. Either way we have to leave, and soon".

Watching the new arrival with disdain, Kinzey prepared a biting comment about how they didn't need help, then abruptly switched tactics. "How do we know we can trust you, sir? If you want to, find us a way out of the city".

There. Now they had another source to draw escapes from. The gates were out, as the guards would've heard there descriptions. They could try to climb the  city walls, but he doubted they could survive the fall. No, Kinzey supposed their only shots were either disguises or a secret tunnel of sorts.


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## Zorokiller (Apr 17, 2010)

Ark opens his eyes, he lay under a wool blanket colored in pinks and greens, a faint light shimmered through the waving curtain, it was a nicely decorated room mostly made out of oak and a fan gently breezed wind in his face. 
He stands up out of his bed, on a chair at a desk his red-mage cloth lay, he walks over to the desk and sees himself in the mirror, he is wrapped in bandages.
"Ugh...Am I still in Burmecia? Probably not...Otherwise it would downpour..."

He walks over to the desk and sees a small machine, it has a slot which would accept 10 gil, he reached for his pocket and found several coins and put them in the machine.

"You're color fortune is 'black'...Ah...That's not that fortunate at all." The machine says.

Ark scratches his head
"Great..."

He grabs his clothing, put them on and places his red feathered hat on his head.
He looked around and saw the Gungnir standing near the door
"I guess the javelin is gone...Oh well, this one was more important...It belonged to..." Suddenly he shocked thinking back at how Fratley sacrificed himself taking that red-robed man down.

Ark walked outside and saw a man sleeping on his desk
"Sir...sir...Where am I now?" Ark said as he shaked the guy awake
"Huh? Ah...The kid that got brought in by the Qu...You're in border village Dali. You owe your life to that Qu..."
"Ah right, the Qu, where is he now?"
"He said something about going home, probably the Qu Marsh in lindblum, you can walk to the south gate from here and take the cable train."

Ark waves and turns around
"Wait a second, aren't you pr--..."
"The name is Fratley, Fratley of the east."

He walks away not looking back at all.
Heading towards south gate.


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## Vanthebaron (Apr 20, 2010)

kinzey said:


> As he heard Lucia apologize to Sonora, Kinzey briefly rested his hand apon her arm, saying "No. It wasn't your fault, or mine, or Sonora's. It was just a combination of chance, bad luck, and perhaps fate. It is possible we were meant to join up". Lacing his fingers together behind his head, Kinzey closed his eyes and anticlimacticaly said "Or not. Either way we have to leave, and soon".
> 
> Watching the new arrival with disdain, Kinzey prepared a biting comment about how they didn't need help, then abruptly switched tactics. "How do we know we can trust you, sir? If you want to, find us a way out of the city".
> 
> There. Now they had another source to draw escapes from. The gates were out, as the guards would've heard there descriptions. They could try to climb the  city walls, but he doubted they could survive the fall. No, Kinzey supposed their only shots were either disguises or a secret tunnel of sorts.



Beowulf pulled his jacket aside showing off the handle of his sword. "This was my fathers, and that was he what would've done. My dad was a great swordsman. He would help anyone, give money to the beggers, board and meals to travelers, even though we were just farmers. Kindness is a trate that more people in this would should do. Plus those assholes tried to shake me down last time is was here. Karmas a bitch ain't it." Beowulf explaned to the three. "But I'm rather prefered to sneaking out during the play" he said pointing out the play.


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## StrawHat4Life (May 5, 2010)

*Qu's Marsh...*
Moridin held tight to Tieoh's reins as the miniature coal black Chocobo leaped over a tangle of vines, splashing past a shallow pool of water, the color a ruddy brownish green. The Moogle kept his gaze trained on the direction where the Airship had crashed, realizing that they must be getting very close now. 

_Could anyone have survived such an impact? _ he wondered to himself idly. Perhaps they might've crashed into one of the many lakes here. _More likely they drowned_, he thought grimly. _What a terrible death that would be... 
_
For a brief second, Moridin scanned the marshlands around them, more out of habit then anything, never losing sight of the fact that this place can be dangerous to those who make the mistake of not keeping their guard up at all times. As he shifted back towards the Airship's direction, past a depressing wasteland of foul water and low hanging trees that gave off an aura of desolation and emptiness, Moridin noticed something out of the corner of his dark hued eyes. 

"Whoa!" 

Suddenly he pulled on the leather reins of Tieoh, causing the Chocobo to brake abruptly to a halt, kicking up marsh grass al around them in it's wake. The Chocobo arched it's around up questioningly towards Moridin, staring at him with it's bright amber left eye.  

*"Kweh!"* 

Moridin quickly glared back at the bird, saying it all with his gaze...shut the hell up! He quickly returned his gaze back to the thing which had caught his attention. No not a thing, a person. A person laying face up amid a tangle of trees. With a whip of the reins Moridin set Tieoh on a quick trot towards the figure. As they closed in and Moridin got a better look at the figure, he instantly narrowed his eyes and instinctively placed his right furry hand on the black hilt of his katana sword. 

"A Werewolf," he huffed in a voice of distaste and brought the bird back to a halt. Tieoh seemed to sense the lack of enthusiasm in his tone and bristled it's coal black feathers. Moridin could almost feel the long scar running across his chest burn at the sight of this fellow. He remembered hearing that some Werewolf tribes lurked about foul and dank places like this marsh, but it could've been a rumor for all he knew. 

_The Werewolf laying in front of you is no rumor,_, a voice responded back in his mind, the sensible part or as he likes to call it, the coward. _You should just leave him and move on._

_He looks injured, it would be dishonorable to leave him in such a state, Werewolf or not,_ another voice answered, sounding more like his old master. 

"Stay here!" Moridin ordered Tieoh as he dismounted the bird and landed on the soft marsh grass. He could tell as he closed in towards the battered looking Wolf Man that he must've been through the ringer. That much was obvious. His left arm, tilted at a slightly odd angle, also bore the telltale signs of a break. 

_Was he on that airship?_ Moridin wondered. _Did he have any comrades? _

Moridin, his right hand still clutching the ebony handle of his katana, approached the Werewolf and circled around him. He could tell by the slow rise and fall of his massive chest that he was still breathing. So in his gentlest way possible Moridin attempted to wake the Wolf Man. He kicked his left arm (with just enough force that he'd feel it) knowing that might get a rise out of him. 

"Oi Wolf Man wake up!" Moridin said loudly in a blunt and straight forward tone. 

He needed to know if this fellow had been on the airship that had crashed, and more importantly if there were others with him.


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