Pokemon: Blissful World (RP Thread)

[handymankg2]

Pokemon: Blissful World

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History Repeats itself. This is not theory. This is not speculation. This is fact, and a fact that proves itself correct over and over again through countless generations, until finally something breaks the loop, but in doing so creates a new loop which begins the chain of repetition all over again. Humanity knows this, or at least, they should know this, but yet they seem to forget so often, to neglect their knowledge and continue with their actions over and over until they’ve driven themselves and all around them into their graves, and beyond in some cases. Never before has this been more true than in this world, Symphina. Symphina, one of the most peculiar realities of them all, in which from the beginning was destined to be a world of great things, but also a world doomed to fall, as you will very soon see.

You see, the origins of this world were completely different to those of most others. This world wasn’t manufactured by the gods, or any of their minions. This world wasn’t manufactured by the humans, or any of the other insignificant species in the alternate universes, no. This worlds origin is in fact unknown to the gods, the people, and the creatures alike. The world was there long before the gods arrived, and most likely will be there for many years longer. The people of the planet, however, are a completely different story. When the gods discovered the planet of which they had not fashioned, they were extremely angered, all believing another god to be lying, as if one of the gods didn’t create the planet, who did? Who had the power or the strength to create anything that perfect other than the gods themselves? Soon, as all arguments eventually lead, the gods started a war over the planets, lead by two gods in particular, Shaymin and Arceus. On Shaymins side, the Pokemon of universe, far more powerful than Arcues soldiers as well as more varied. On Arceus side, the Humans. Capable of much more advanced thought and tactics, as well as being far more disposable, the armies were equally matched, fighting with eachother on the planet for countless years.

The war lasted for countless millennia, with neither side budging and inch due to the often mentioned fact that both gods could create as many of their chosen soldiers as they want with the snap of their fingers, so in the eyes of the other gods the war was simply a pointless waste of lives, and time the gods could be spending on other planets in the universes. After a long period of time, one of the Gods finally decided to take action. Deoxys, the least social of all gods, took it upon herself to stop the fighting permanently, and in secret began many years of thought in order to find a way to stop the fighting for evermore. Emerging from her slumber finally, she put the well designed plan into action, using her massive psychic energy to aid her on the way. Her plan was a simple one, but also one that would require great sacrifice from herself in order to work to its full extent. She had planned it for many years now, and had fully accepted that it needed to be done, so she valiantly did what she needed to do.

She gave her life.

The effect of the gods death was unbelievable, but it also did exactly what it was supposed to do. Stop the fighting. Meeting finally after what was over nine thousand years, the two gods agreed finally to a cease-fire, as well as the promise to never fight over this world again. In order to seal the deal, the pair each took a drop of their own blood, and fused it together to make a stone tablet. This stone tablet was known from then on as the Keystone, and it formed a link between Human and Pokemon that would hold out for billions of years to come, the keystone being sealed inside the deepest corner of the largest cave of the lands, hidden from view of the humans and Pokemon forever. Even if the gods trusted each other, they didn’t trust their servants to be as honourable as themselves, in fact, they were counting on humans and Pokemon to betray their trust, so they added a little extra magic into the mix to seal the deal.

From that moment on, all Pokemon and Human were partners in a non-optional binding contract that would keep until the moment they die. The contract was simple. Every human would be connected in a unbreakable link to a Pokemon, and would therefore be forced to treat their fellow comrades on the planet in high regard, simply because if they killed the Pokemon or Humans, they would also kill off a soldier on their own side. The death of one side of the spectrum would instantly result in the death of the other side of the spectrum. Of course, this change of the way they lived wasn’t taken very well by some people. Protests of how the humans were going to survive without eating the Pokemon, or likewise how that if Pokemon or Humans killed each other in their same raced fighting, why should the opposite species have to suffer in death? The gods responded to the first accusation by creating a third species for the planet. These creatures weren’t capable of learning moves and powers like the Pokemon; all they had was whatever tough hide or claws they were provided with, these ‘animals’ being very similar to the species on our Earth today, but the animals are seen as only food in this universe, and nothing more.

I response to the second plea, however, the gods were less merciful. They gave the Humans and Pokemon very little help in the matter, simply stating that they needed to work out their own societies, and their own differences from that point on. But, the gods were still compassionate towards their creations, and granted both sides of the spectrum a chance to help themselves live a better life from that point on. Both groups, the Pokemon and Humans, were each offered one collective request, which the god would accept regardless of how stupid it was, but they also told the pair this would be the last request that they would grant them, and that they should make a decision which they are certain that will aid the generations below them for evermore. The Humans and Pokemon went away in their collective groups, and began to discuss the thing that they wanted the most for the years to come. The Human elders discussed for little under a week, and came up with something that they thought vital to their survival. The Humans asked for the ability to defend themselves. The Pokemon had energy attacks, tough armour and various other means of protection, so why shouldn’t the humans? The animals even had ways of surviving which the humans didn’t posses. The gods, being kind, went away to think how they would grant humanities wish.

The gods returned to the humans and granted the wish with the snap of their fingers, the humans giving puzzled remarks to the gods as they explained the wish had been granted. One of the humans, a man who had been previously linked to a Magmortar, accused the gods of lying, which the gods denied instantly. Extremely angry at being tricked, he lashed out his arm towards the gods, and found himself launching a huge burst of fire at the gods (which, of course, did nothing). He apologised immediately after for doubting the gods, and his life was graciously spared by the gods. Leaving the humans to test out their powers (after warning them to be careful, mind), the gods moved over to the Pokemon, giving them the same chance of making a wish. The Pokemon spent a lot more time on the thought than the Humans did, and didn’t respond to the gods for three whole years. When they did respond, however, they gave a wish that in the gods eyes was a lot more to be proud of than the humans wish. They wished for eternal freedom, being captured by no man for the rest of their days on the planet. The gods satisfied their wish, and then seeing both groups as happy, left the world, and departed into other parts of the universe to continue their job of creation once again.

Ten Thousand Years after the Requests

Both Man and Pokemon alike eventually grew to forget the work that the gods had done for their people, but nonetheless, they still retained the link between each-other, and now held each-other in the highest respects possible. The humans had advanced far more in the years, and had now split into many different factions of people, building large cities and towns with technologies thought impossible in the older days, having huge amounts of people living in what had now become several different country states. Likewise, the Pokemon population had soared through the roof with no natural predators, having exactly the same amount of people as the humans, simply because of the link that meant when a Pokemon was born, a human would be born too. It was the law, and nobody questioned the laws of nature, ever. Except one person.

His name was Aragi Soressen, a thirty year old professor from one of the smaller towns, who had devoted his entire life to finding the link between the Pokemon and the humans, mainly in an attempt to find a way to switch his partner Pokemon. You see, Soressen was born to two small town parents, in a small village in one of the quieter parts of the world. From a young age, he always thought bigger than his moral place in society would allow. It annoyed him deeply, and drove him to the point where he hated all of those who were higher in the ranks than him, secluding himself to laboratories in his home town, funded by the money he could win by gambling in the village. He was determined to get higher in the ranks of society, but to do so he needed to get rid of the thing tying him down the most. His partner Pokemon, a Rattata. He tried everything possible he could think off, including killing other humans in an attempt to gain their partners, but none of it worked. In the end, he surrendered his efforts and went via a more simple way. Praying. Even though the world of Symphina was a godless planet, he still thought it was worth a try, as surely someone was watching somewhere. Surely someone would care. And apparently, someone did care. A lot.

This gods name was Darkrai. Perhaps the most corrupt Pokemon in existence, Darkrai had been banished to the deepest pits of an empty universe for countless years, sitting, watching, and planning his revenge on the worlds. At this point he had still not thought of any worthy plans to fight back against Arceus, rather, he was interfering in many of his finest creations, changing history for the worse simply to annoy the stronger gods. He wasn’t even particularly looking for anything at this point, but when he heard the prayer, he saw an opportunity to mess in one of Arceus finest success stories, something he would not pass up willingly. Happy to help the man, Darkrai informed Soressen of the only possible way to remove yourself from your Pokemon partner. Murdering the partner yourself. At first, Soressen was reluctant. Even he somewhat believed the stories of the Pokemons holiness, and wasn’t sure if he should trust the god. But soon enough he gave in to temptation, and headed out to find the Pokemon.

As any other human, Soressen could summon his spirit partner to meet him at any time should he want to, at any place also, and the Pokemon would be forced to oblige. So, Soressen summoned the Pokemon to meet him in a dark, deserted part of some woods near his home village, and upon meeting Soressen picked up his partner and promptly smashed his head against a tree, killing the poor Pokemon. Instantly, Soressen lost the limited normal type powers he possessed, but yet, he was still alive. He found himself free at last from the spirit, and felt completely alone in the world. At least, until Darkrai seeped in. Finally finding a way to regain some form of power, Darkrai sent his entire soul into the mans body, Soressens little conscience soon vanished, as well as all the mind and willpower left in him. Darkrai was now in a human body, and without a spirit Pokemon connection to hold him down, he could truly wreak havoc of his own once again.

Searching through Soressens old plans, he came across the design for a ball, which had the perfect design for capturing Pokemon and shrinking them down to fit inside the ball until called for action. Apparently, the reason that the item had been scrapped was the fact no real energy source could provide it with the power to capture the Pokemon. Thankfully, Darkrai knew of an energy source he could use to power these Pokemon Balls, a energy source not often discussed by the world. Aura. The reason aura is so rarely discussed as a power source choice is what you have to get through to obtain it. Aura can only be gained through the murder of either a Pokemon or a man, and then absorbing the residue from the link that connected them to their partner. Using this energy, you can power almost anything, or even command it in battle if you’re powerful enough to do so. Darkrai was a clever god, mind, and had worked out fairly quickly that any one of these Pokemon Balls would only require one batch of aura energy to power permanently, but he also figured out it would only be able to control one Pokemon at a time, and more importantly, any mortal man would most likely be overwhelmed by simply holding more than one of these balls at any one time. Lucky for Darkrai, he was no mortal man.

Creating over 50 of these Pokemon Balls, Darkrai decided that even with his power the maximum he would be able to control was five or six, so he needed to gain a few followers, and by a few, forty seemed an adept amount. In order to prove to the people he would meet that his Pokemon Balls really worked, he grabbed one and headed towards the first place that popped into Soressens head; his parents house. Walking inside, Darkrai killed Soressens mother with a flick of his finger, absorbing the bond between her and her Glameow and using the aura power to create the first working Pokemon Ball. Darkrai was pleased with the success, and instantly began to plot what Pokemon he would capture with the device. Things like Rattatas and Pidgeys were far too small time…he needed something big. Deciding at last, he made his way to the deep caverns underneath the planets crust, and made his way out with the first captured Pokemon since the days of the original war. Glad of his power, he afterwards made his way to one of the more populated areas of the region, thinking fear would most likely be a perfect way of getting soldiers on side.

Walking straight into the town center, he released his Pokemon out into the square, a large armoured tank of a Metagross, who instantly overwhelmed the people of the town. Within hours over 200 had been massacred by the creature, before it was returned to its Pokemon Ball. Darkrai was pleasantly surprised to find that his plan had worked, and he had much more than the required forty he needed. In fact, he probably had double what he needed. A perfect amount. He told the eighty that only forty of them would be able to join him, and the other forty would die. Anyone that tried to run would be killed. He smiled as he watched the people fight each other to the death, and absorbed the auras from the dead and imprinted them into the remaining pokeballs, handing them to each of the survivors afterwards. He told them all to capture fairly powerful Pokemon and meet him in another of the largest cities, in fact, the capital itself.

Meeting as a group in the town center, they went unnoticed until Darkrai gave the order to a attack, at which point 41 angry Pokemon came ripping out of their balls, fighting and killing many of the people in the town. Darkrai smiled. He had captured the Pokemon of the planet, something thought impossible, and would soon have destroyed one of Arcues greatest successes. Or at least, he thought that was what was going to happen. He didn’t count on one thing though; The Pokemons request working. Suddenly, in the midst of the battle, all of the Pokemon Balls simply snapped in two, the Pokemon immediately stopping in their tracks, and turning around, extremely angry at being captured by the men. A bloodbath occurred soon after. Of the 7 men who survived, six where sent to prison, and the last one, well, he ran. He ran as far away as he could, across continents and oceans to get somewhere to hide, and eventually, he died of old age, Darkrai finally fleeing his body, and returning to the space he inhabited once more, and once again pulling pranks on Arcues feeble creations.

Now, 80 years after the Slaughter

A thirty year old professor had discovered the lab where Soressen did his research, and most importantly, his blueprints. He has taken the blueprints for the Pokemon Ball for himself, reading the various notes Darkrai had scribbled on, and decided he would do what the ‘great’ Pokemon trainer could not. Andrew Marshall is his name, and with a collective group of about twenty different volunteers, (who will willingly kill their partners when the time comes, but have not yet at this point), he is confident that this time round the Pokemon Balls will be able to capture any and all Pokemon that he will throw them at. After he deals away with a little bump in the road. You see, Marshall is a clever Professor, and has certainly done his research before this point, believing that he has discovered the location of the keystone which was created by Shaymin and Arceus all those years ago. He personally believes that the keystone, if broken, will allow for the capture of Pokemon, and therefore allow him to do what Soressen failed at in the past, and become a true master.

Marshall bragged a bit too much about what he has done, however, in fact, it is now common knowledge to the authorities of many of the nations what he is about to do. As such, the leaders of most of the separate nations have decided as one body that something needs to be done about this. So, each individual nation has put out a request for any people wanting a real adventure, an expedition to previously unknown territory. Depending on the nation, people of any age or type can join the campaign, but be informed that the governments will tell you very little of what’s going on until you’re so deep in that you can’t wade yourself back out again. This man needs to be stopped from doing what he’s attempting to do, as none of the separate bodies want to see what happened prior to now happen again. And they certainly don’t want anything to damage the peace that has been held in the nation for so long prior to the event. They need you, but are you willing?
 

The Council Hall of Relgran is truly a beautiful place. A large, marble building, almost completely absorbed in a pure white colour, the natural marble feel making the entire building seem like it truly was the most important building in the world, and as the union of four of the largest nations on the planet, you’d expect it would be, and it was completely awesome when all of the councils seats were full, and it just so happened that the seats were all completely taken today, some men even standing up behind seats, the Council not used to so many officials coming at one time. They had every right to come, as well, considering the very fate of the world would depend on the people that were soon to walk through that door, and if nobody came in at all, well, there would be punishments. The actually seats were set in a simple and organised fashion, the entire council split into four different segments, all of which depending on which nation the councillors came from. On the far left were the Lazian government, wearing armoured robes as if they were expecting to go to war any minute, their highest seat taken by Zaldin, his children and spouse sitting underneath him, and high powered officials from then on down. On the left center was Narsir situated, the Desert Nations people wearing the clothes that they always wore, seeing no reason to change for simply discussing matters with the other nations. The highest seat of their nation was held by their spokesperson, Elijah, although they have no true leader there. The far right was split up even moreso than the rest of the nations, and was in fact several smaller subnations each having their own individual bit. Usually, their seats would remain empty, but tonight they chose to travel all this way, including the elders of almost every village. The spokesperson sat in his usual chair up at the top, looking slightly hot under the collar today from all of the potential bosses bellow him.

The center right was perhaps the most impressive sight, the nation of Relgran taking much pride in their government. Up the top was their King, Alexander VI, who was scowling towards the king of Laze, who had apparently made a particularly nasty comment about someone in the room. He was feeling fairly anxious today, sitting on his grand throne, much grander and decorate far more finely than the other three leaders chairs, and nervously staring up at the clock every few seconds. He was expecting great things from the people that would soon be arriving in the room, and if great things he did not see, he knew his head would be on a silver platter any moment now. The Kings of Relgran and Laze don’t exactly see eye to eye, you see, and as such, he knew that Laze would definitely take things into his own hands should the results he see not be good enough. However anxious Relgran may be, he was nowhere near as anxious as the man standing directly bellow him.

Unlike most of the standing people, Marcus actually had a seat, and one which was specially reserved for him, directly under the King. Most would think it would be a great honour to sit bellow the leader of the country, but not Marcus, he would in fact rather be anywhere else in the world right now. He was waiting for the adventure team to arrive, and had remembered about an hour ago that he forgot to put a certain little detail on the fliers and adverts that were given; he didn’t mention where or what they were going/doing. He just mentioned they would be going on an adventure to serve their country. Once telling him his King this, he was furious, and reserved Marcus the seat below him just so he could extract his fury should they get a bunch of twelve year old idiots like Marcus had once been. He sighed, and decided if he was going to receive fury, he might as well receive it while standing in front of a large audience; it would make the experience more memorable. Walking down the grand steps to the stage of the Council, he stood patiently, eyeing the clock again. Ten minutes to go, and nobody had arrived yet. He just wondered what a shock they’d be in for when they arrived. The Council knew they weren’t allowed to tell the people anything, and some people didn’t even know what task they were giving to the adventurers, but they were all here to see them off, and in some cases, train them before they left. Marcus grinned in excitement as he swore he heard the front door open. Surely the people must be arriving now, and any second now he would find himself surrounded by hugely muscled adventurers, all of whom would burst through the side entrance onto the stage, and make everything seem okay.

If only things were ever that simple.

Right, your first post should be you coming through the front doors of the Council Hall, and heading to the room that everyones in, entering the side door and going straight onto the stage as instructed by the men guarding the door. You may roleplay peoples reactions, as long as neither Fovia, Laze, Relgran or Narsir (the spokespeople) are directly mentioned.

[fishyfool]

The journey from Shaara to Relgran had been a long one for even the flying-attuned, yet here the vertically-challenged man was, standing outside the council building, the marble blocks forming the construct akin to those mud houses at Narsir, yet the air itself was of a much cooler temperature, something that brought only mild discomfort to Alastayre as he twitched slightly. He hadn't lit up since touching down on these foreign soils, and already his knapsack of smaller belongings, including his stash of grasses that would likely result in a pair of burly men grabbing his shoulders with the words "You're nicked" if anyone were to notice them. True, he had handrolled a few cigars before leaving for the place, yet his time aboard the ship between Narsir and Relgran was one spent in great discomfort, the notion of the simple planks being between him and the ocean blue causing him to shudder. However, here he was, opting to head to the building out of nothing to do.

Entering the building, he was stopped by a guard, the man at least a foot taller than him, boots excluded, and as the man enquired for his name, he gave it in a simple grunt, receiving a command in return. Following the man, Alastayre took the sights of the building's interior to mind: Most of the buidling's corridors seemed to be based around trying to be as white as possible, the sort of white associated mainly with the teeth of celebrities rather than anything else, with the gold trim blatant evidence of where half his homeland's resources were exported. Eventually, he was shown a large steel door, with the simple order to go through and to wait for others to arrive. His ears heard slight mumbling from behind as he slowly pushed against the door's handle, the heavy device creaking with minor echoes.

Stepping through, he let the door close behind him with a slight bang, one seemingly loud enough to kill any conversations briefly before the murmurs started once more. Sauntering forward, his general attitude towards being in public places with many people started to show, but he kept the urge to blast whoever spoke out against him with a fiery torrent inside, for that would be rather unsporting. Instead, he walked out onto the stage, his hazel eyes darting around the large chamber picking out figures he had seen in pictures briefly, though nobody he knew was present as far as he knew. Looking towards one side of the room, he noticed that one group seemed akin to one of war, as though analysing him for signs of weakness for erasure, one man in particular seeming to mutter to his colleague about his lack of height. Then Alastayre noticed the ornate chair in the centre of the room, the man seated below said throne grinning for some odd reason, yet the one in the throne pretty much killed whatever straggling endurance he had.

He reached into his pocket, his aware eyes returning to their general unamused state as he pulled one of his cigars out, as well as a small box of thin twigs, a party trick he used to hide the fact he never used matches to light his paraphernelia, but his own powers. Sticking the cigar into his mouth, he cupped both hands and box over the end of the match, hidden from view as he clicked his fingernails together to forge a false idea of a match lighting as he took his spare thumb and pressed it gently against the tip of his smoking device, channeling heat into the covered thumb and feeling the soft glow of the lit cigar, removed his hands while shaking the smoking twig he had placed between two fingers as to keep the illusion he had used a match to light his cigar. He didn't know Relgran's smoking policy, but quite frankly, he wasn't giving much of a damn about it as he placed one hand into his pocket while holding the cigar with the other, taking a draw of the grass-filled paper.

[Slipomatic]

(OOC: after reading the post above, I feel ashamed at my description now.)

Kio, taking the scenic route to Relgran, arrived in front of a large, marble building. He stopped for a moment and observed the building, noting on the high quality and elegance that the architects had given to it. He idly stood there finding the air around him a bit warmer than it was in Fovia. He looked around the building and didn’t find much plants or trees around the building. Then again, he always found lots of vegetation in Fovia and it was normal to have a tree growing close to your home. He turned his attention back towards the door and walked in through the main doors. Once inside, he surveyed around the room and found just about everything to be white. The very few items that weren’t white were a shade close to white. He continued walking around the room until he found a guard and the guard noticed him. When he stopped close to the guard, he had to look up to see the guards face.

The guard peered down at him and asked him for his name to which Kio replied with no emotion. The guard shook his head and inquired about the weapon that Kio had on his waist. He simply told the guard that back where he lived, it was quite necessary to defend one’s self and that he wasn’t going to take it out in the room he was suppose to go to. The guard shrugged and led him through a hallway with many corridors leading to other areas of the marble building. Kio noticed one pathway that had a few statues along the wall, but he couldn’t make out the names that were carved below the heads. Arriving at the side entrance, the guard opened the door and gestured for him to step through. When Kio walked by him, he heard the guard snicker a bit and he chose to ignore it. He was used to being laughed at for being real short, but those who knew him knew better than to laugh at his size. The door shut behind him with a soft bang and he heard the crowd stop murmuring for a few moments to take a look at who came in.

He walked forward slowly, making sure that his sword clink a little on his waist as he took his time walking towards the stage. He heard numerous people in the crowd snicker and point at him with grins on their face. Kio, again, chose to ignore the rude gestures he was receiving and walked closer to the stage. He looked around the stage and saw several of his leaders on the right side from the center. He smiled a bit and continued on and noticed a man that looked a bit old and was smoking a cigar. He also noted that his clothes were quite worn and old. He shook his head slightly and walked up onto the stage and stayed a small distance away from the man. Kio wanted to say something smart to the man, but he didn’t dare do it in front of everyone that was gathered here. He rested his left hand on the hilt of his sword, idly feeling the finish he had put the hilt.

[rotrum]

(I am not that good at RPing...ESPECIALLY first post. Anyone whose rped with me here knows that)

MIchael had decided to make the trip on his own four wings, practice for the so-called adventure advertised. With a light pack of necesary supplies he set off. He planned to cross the border to Relgran before night fell (I don't think you had a map or anything so...). He spread his wings out, they fluttered a little, and used his increased speed and weaker agility to get him to the castle faster. He quickly crossed land, his sword dangling down but never falling. He spiralled and practiced, dodging birds and bugs. He looked around at the nature that was below him, pokemon and normal animals were clearly visible. He passed villages and cities as he quickly approached Relgran, preparing to land. He swiftly landed before approaching the capital, not wanting to draw too attention to himself. He went to sleep outside the city walls and entered through the large gates that next day, his pack nearly empty.

He quickly found the building he needed to be at, ignoring the scorn thrown at him on the way there from his attire in the bustling city. He entered the large room, he politely shut the door without a sound. He looked at a person who had arrived not long before him. smoking in the building. He considered it rude and pointed his finger at the cigar, sending a small gust of wind with the intent to blow it out. He then walked down the aisle slowly, ignoring the insults about how informal his clothing was. He ignored it and moved on, wings fluttering somewhat-nervously as he walked down the aisle. He stared forward to the highest officials...

[Morgie04086]

"Excuse me, can you tell me where to find the council hall?"

Harper was wandering back and forth in the middle of the city of Relgran. She was used to being in busy places, but this was ridiculous. Everywhere she turned there were people busily bustling by her, shoving her out of the way. No one acknowledged her question. No one cared. She was dressed simply, with hardly anything in her small backpack. She looked like a nobody and she felt like one too. At this point, she was on the verge of tears. Utterly frustrated, she let her chin drop to her chest and her bluish hair fall across her face. There was nothing to calm her mood but the sound of cars honking and beeping and tires squealing.

With nothing else to do, Harper sat down on the busy street corner, completely oblivious to the fact that Relgran was known for thieves and the like. It was just like her to be so ignorant. She didn't even know where the grand hall was! She was a sitting target with just her little bag between her legs... and it wasn't long before someone noticed.

"What's wrong, little miss?" a soft male voice sounded over her shoulder. Harper whirled around and looked straight up at a thuggish-looking man. Her reddish-brown eyes spread wide with surprise. Although not very bright, she could easily recognize his intentions.

"I-I'm looking for the council hall... a-and I can't find it," she said, standing up and trying to keep their eyes level. He was at least twice her height. She hardly ever matched anyone with her size or stature.

"I can help you find it..." he said, inching closer. He was close enough for Harper to be able to smell his rancid breath and see the stubble on his chin. She took a step backward.

"No, I don't need--" she started to say but was cut off by another voice:

"You there! What are you doing?" a man dressed in police uniform was running towards them. Harper was slightly relieved and backed away from her oppressor. The thug looked away from her and nearly choked when he saw the police officer. Like a frightened animal, he took off down a nearby alley, leaving Harper to stand there like a ghost; her face was quite pale. It didn't take long for the officer to reach her, winded and out-of-breath. She felt sorry for him, his job must be difficult.

"Are you alright? That man is one of the many petty criminals around here. You might have been hurt if I hadn't gotten here in time," the officer asked once he had caught his breath. Harper shook her head.

"I don't think he could've done me much harm," she replied. If he had tried to get physical with her, she would have been no match for him: that was certain. But the officer looked at her doubtfully, his eyes sweeping over her petite form.

"Whatever you say... What's a young girl like yourself doing out here anyway? Don't you know it's dangerous to walk alone?"

Harper shyly tucked a strand of her short blue hair behind her ear. "I'm looking for the council hall. That's where the adventurers are supposed to meet," she explained. The officer laughed at her, kneeling forward to brace himself on his thighs.

"Ha! Missy, I suggest you go home right now. Pardon me, but you don't look cut-out for the job!" He straightened himself up again and wiped a tear from his eye. Harper clenched her fists at her sides.

"Please. Can you just tell me where to go?" she asked softly. She was tired of searching. The officer gave her one last flabbergasted look and then grabbed his baton and pointed behind them.

"That way, miss. You can't possibly miss it. See that big building? You've been right near it all along," he told her. Harper thanked him graciously and sped away, not wanting to linger in conversation anymore. The officer watched her go, bemused.

Harper felt small inside the large council building. Everything was quite spacey and made of lovely white marble. She felt if she were to touch anything it would surely break. So she walked carefully and deliberately towards a guard.

"Um, excuse me, I'm an adventurer. I'm here for-"

"Through those doors and onto the stage," the guard replied, cutting her off. Harper was taken aback by his curt response, but thanked him anyway and pushed the double-doors open, slipping quietly inside.

As expected, the hall was full of important-looking people. Just like on the street corner, she was immediately overwhelmed. She stood rooted to the spot for nearly a minute before she recomposed herself and found the stage. No one seemed to notice her as she drifted up the steps and took her place at the back. Her reddish eyes scanned the other adventurers before her... one of them was smoking, and another one was carrying a sword (odd). Would she have to work with these people? At least the last person seemed semi-normal. Harper was determined not to be judgmental but she couldn't help but notice how odd they were. At that moment she wanted desperately to disappear. Maybe she never should have come...

[Ysavvryl]

Meeting with officials was one of those things about adventuring that Blair did not like. Officials were generally stubborn, they thought they knew everything, and they could completely ruin one’s life if one wasn’t careful. No matter how important a project was to scientific progress, if it countered the official’s belief system, it was going to be rejected. So she often had to resort to using less important reasons to get to where she wanted to go. If she wanted to go into a temple, it was better to tell the financial backers that there might be golden treasures involved. In reality, the gold pieces were only part of the puzzle, equal to the clay, the granite, the concrete, the wood...

Or, as in this case, a possible ‘save the world’ premise (which was utterly ridiculous; there was no threat anywhere that could endanger the entire world itself) made a marvelous cover for her need to get a wide range of rock samples from many places (many restricted places) in order to make or break her current theory on planetary development.

The geology professor was more than happy to go along with the stated premise, as flimsy as it looked. Her peers at Wesden University had been skeptical that she was taking the mission. But since she was hardly there to teach classes anyhow, the leave had been approved. So here she was in Relgran, prepared for the unavoidable meeting with officials, financial backers, and so on.

It was rather impressive that the officials this time were the world government leaders. Blair had gotten a ride with her brother-in-law, a government official from Laze who organized the transport system. From her sister (well not really her sister, but that was a long story), she had borrowed a burgundy dress suit with a pale yellow blouse underneath. It wasn’t her normal style, but for a meeting with officials, she wanted to look as professional as possible. With it, she wore her own necklace, a large irregularly shaped crystal of brown topaz, polished nicely. She had declined high heels, instead cleaning up her nicest black shoes for the occasion.

With her travel pack left at the hotel room, the guard seemed just a bit skeptical. “You’re one of the adventurers?”

“Yes, and I’ve been to more dangerous places than you have ever been,” she stated firmly. Of course, part of those dangerous places included walking the streets of Linten, so...

“Fine. Go on in, down the hall on your left to the entrance to the council room’s stage.”

“Thank you.” She went into the grand building.

She didn’t have time to closely examine the architecture, although she would have liked to. It was all in white marble, or white, near-white, and cream materials. An absurd amount of effort and expense, she thought, both in constructing and maintaining such a building. But if one wanted to show off wealth and power, white marble was a good way to do it. It would require careful research to find the right quarry for perfect samples, possibly some bleaching if almost-perfect was all one could find. Then the shaping, sanding, polishing, and so on, all requiring great care lest the marble break. The gold trim was pretty much icing on the cake.

Mmm, cake. Anyhow, there were better and more practical building materials out there. Not many that were more expensive, though.

Blair spoke to the guard at the stage door, primarily to make sure that it was the right one. Then she walked onto the stage with the other adventurers gathered. Not a lot, but that was fine. She often hired another adventurer or two when out, and most of them were local teens who thought it was all a good time. It was better to be with a group than alone. From the looks of things, these ones were steady travelers or drifters, still hanging onto their supply packs and contrasting greatly with the crowd (and herself). There was a good chance that none of the adventuring group would be anywhere near as rich as the governing body waiting for them to arrive.

On glancing out at the crowd, she found a great many more people than she had expected. ‘Well at least it’s not a party,’ she considered. Those required mingling sessions could be tedious. She spotted her brother-in-law with the Laze officials. For a while, she had been tempted to tease him for wearing the battle armor (particularly as he grumbled about taking it out of storage, dusting it off, polishing it up, and putting it on just for this meeting). But she didn’t want to anger him, so kept quiet about it.

[greywolf123]

Jacob Karma was smiling. A wide smirk was canvassed across his face as he prepared himself. It was time to meet the ruling nations of this world, and he would have nothing less than perfection in his looks. This promised to be one of the more exciting things he’d ever do in his life, and he wasn’t going to pass it up just because he felt like not dressing up for it. Besides, for once, he could wear his full attire and not look overly formal, as was normal. No, this time he’d look only slightly out of place as a well dressed adventurer. Right now he was putting the finishing touches on his attire, finishing it off with a slight twist to unwrinkled his jacketsleeve. Placing his last little trinket underneath his jacket, he nodded. Time to go and meet his destiny; however this might end.

Nodding to himself, he walked out of the place he was renting, having gotten here yesterday, not wanting to be late, and headed off towards the arranged meeting place. It was hard to miss, to be honest, sticking out in the marble whiteness that was its elegance. It wasn’t long before he was there, walking into the solemn and powerful place. A light grin was curling up at the corners of his cheeks, as he felt like this was the kind of place to be. This place was powerful, elegant, and concise, fitting for even the most elegant of dragons. Still, that thought was soon pushed out of his mind by a crushing nervousness. He didn’t feel ready for this kind of thing, and worse yet, he knew that this would be his first appearance for many of them. What if he slipped? A thousand occurrences slipped though his head, but you wouldn’t have seen it on his face, which was perfectly posed.

Jacob wasn’t alone, it seemed, as several other people were with him. All of them were rather interesting, he had to admit, and he felt that perhaps he would have at least some interesting company. He kept a cool aloofness, not talking to anyone as of yet, mainly because within a few moments, no more than two or three minutes, it was time to put the show on the road. He’d been focused in on himself during this time, one hand pulling around his neck to pull out his good luck charm, and held it tightly, breathing deeply. It would not do to have anything less than perfection on this day, and he wasn’t about to get too nervous. Not now.

The doors soon opened, opening into quite a sight, almost staggering. There were simply put, more people in this one room than Jacob had thought possible. It looked bit, but he hadn’t thought there would be this many people crammed into this meeting room. They seemed to be popping out of the cracks, some not even being able to sit because of the amount of people. Jacob however, refused to betray even an inch of surprise. In fact, he seemed to almost be smiling. “Well, this is interesting.” Now that he was here, he couldn’t help but feel that he was ready. It was now or never, and he wasn’t about to back down now. No, he was in this, come hell or high water, and he planned on finishing it.

Walking forward with a graceful but steady air, he surveyed the entire room, watching intently for signs of anyone he knew for being told. There was the rules, and the ruler of Relgan in an especially ornate throne. Laze seemed to be here, to no surprise, and in fact, every place that ever existed had seemingly sent an official to represent them. Not surprising to be honest, but it did have a way of making it harder to pick out the important ones. Still, as the doors closed behind him, he watched, stopping in the middle and watching intently, wondering what they would ask next.

[handymankg2]

Update

Angry murmurs began to spread through the hall like wildfire as the ‘adventurers’ walked in, and the looks of disgust on the faces of many of the officials wasn’t making it a particularly friendly atmosphere around the area. And as the final adventurers walked in, the mood around the hall was very clear indeed, people gasping and shouting up towards their officials in anger; even Laze was joining in the argument, staring angrily up at Relgran who seemed to be completely channelling him out, staring ahead towards an invisible spot on the wall ahead. The only nation that seemed to not be angrily shouting out, not surprisingly, was Fovia, who were engaging in some calm chit chat between themselves, although the Elders stayed well away from each-other, rivalries between the villages being common. Some people on the Laze side of things had begun to stand up, and were attempting to force their way out of their seats, but one look of Relgrans guards changed their minds completely, as they sat down, still infuriated, but wise enough to know not to attempt escape. One of the major rules of the court was that if it was in session, nobody leaves. Whoever leaves the court is declaring a huge treason against the company, and will be executed if found. This includes the King, should he leave without adjourning the court. Relgran had no wishes of adjourning it at the moment, mind, and in fact, was starting to look slightly annoyed himself. But not for the same reason as everyone else; his reason was simply that he was getting slightly peeved by the loud talking and arguing in his court. With one look around, the large bold voice of the King erupted “ENOUGH.” Causing everyone to instantly be silent. Marcus, who was frowning up at the council until this point, smirked happily as he stepped forwards to speak, the King beckoning him.

“My King, my lords, regardless of what you may be saying right now, I am certain that these are the people who are right for the job-” One of the officials attempted to interrupt, but was stopped by a quick glance of the King, “-and will definitely do what it is we are all hoping for. We will find this new location, and we will do exactly what must be done, making sure to finish before any other competition finds it. We have one of the finest warriors in the land-” He points round to Alastyre, “-One of the greatest scientists-” He pointed at Blair quickly “-and myself, the greatest adventurer of all time.” Several sighs came at the sound of Marcus statement, but Relgran was smirking and then nodded to Marcus to continue. “Of course, I am legally not allowed to make this trip unless you give your consent for your citizens to go, so I’m asking you very nicely, please allow us to go on this adventure, and finish what was started many years ago.” A few people cheered, but the Lazians just stared angrily at Marcus, and then back up at their king, who was also glancing intensely at Marcus. He was certain he was about to speak, when Relgran decided he would do a bit of interrupting.

“So, then, it’s time for a vote. If all four of us give our okays, then they can leave immediately after visiting our professions master. If any one of us denies, the mission will not go ahead. So I’d first like to say that Relgran is fully supporting our adventurers to go.” Several murmurs of uncertainty spread through the section, but no major objection was raised. It was a this point that the Fovian spokesperson, a rather timid man generally, decided he would voice the elders beliefs. “The elders are also backing their people to go, and wish all of them good luck.” Marcus smiled upon hearing this; his country was behind him, what could possibly be a greater feeling than that? Next he glanced at both of the remaining nations, and watched them closely. Narsir was in a heated discussion with the three men sitting bellow him, but they were still to quiet to be heard from where Marcus was sitting. Laze was just sitting there, emotionless. Marcus assumed he wanted to go last. Narsir finally silenced the three bellow him, and proudly proclaimed “Narsir supports the councils decision.” Marcus smiled, he knew they would go for a cop out like that. They were practically saying ‘I’m a sheep, I’ll go which way the flock goes’. Not that it really mattered, it was obvious what the Lazians would say. All eyes went straight up to Laze, who was sitting there tapping his fingers on his armrest. The Lazians all had huge grins on their face; they were waiting for the moment their king would rip the others to part in anger. So, it was a huge surprise when all that Laze said was two words. “Laze accepts.”

If Marcus had seen a greater uproar in his life, he definitely couldn’t remember it, five of the Lazians standing up instantly and firing electric bolts at their leader, who flicked them away easily with his hands. Seeing that these men attacked their king, three more men stood up to defend him, blasting electricity back at them. Eventually, in a chain reaction like affect, the entire Laze portion was now firing electric bolts at each-other, narrowly missing their own heads by very small fraction. Marcus longed to watch, but he had his orders from the king. He must leave immediately, so the job could be finished as soon as possible. Running towards the group of adventurers, he shouted “Follow me” above the noise, and ran straight for the gates the adventurers came in through, the entire group coming in after him. Marcus had no idea what was now going on in there; for all he knew, the entire Laze army may be sitting there dead, but it wasn’t his concern for now. Instead, he walked swiftly over to another room in the council, and knocked on the door three times, a voice from inside shouting ‘come in’. As the group walked in, Marcus admired the room he had known so well for a large period of his life. Relgrans training room is a simple dojo, with an enchantment placed on it to make it a rather small room, similar to many fighting dojos, with a marked out fighting area. The rooms enchantment didn’t do just that, though, it could create any training equipment in the world and put them in the training area, even making human enemies to fight against, who will actually act like real living people. The instructor himself was a fourty year old, who specialised in his fighting types, despite the fact his partner is a Medicham. He is specially trained to unlock abilities in people, and as such, he would be advising the group today. He simply stated “I will be teaching each of you two new abilities today for your journey. You will follow every instruction I say. Every, or you’ll find yourself in world of pain. Of course, you may find self in world of pain anyway, but I cause it if you don’t listen, yes?” Marcus shuddered quickly; Yais temper was not one to be messed with. He threw Marcus through a glass window during one of their training exercises, and as such, Marcus wasn’t totally looking forwards to his training exercise. He grinned, and pronounced “Any volunteers to learn your new ability first?”

Basically, you’ll need to roleplay out your reactions to this post, and then act out the learning of the two new abilities I assigned you in the Sign Up thread. Yai will teach you them, in front of the rest of the group, in any order. Remember, the training room can create absolutely anything which is needed for training, so feel free to be imaginative with the way you train.

[rotrum]

(now I'll do better..)

Michael stood in the middle of the aisle, his arms crossed, as he watched the king and Marcus talk. His wings flapped, annoyed at the bug-hating people beside him, and blew wind at the people next to him. He simply stared at the electricity that fluttered through the air and spread throughout the large room. He walked down the aisle as Marcus disapeared behind the stage. He swiftly drew his blade and let out a burst of wind from it as he ntoiced a large spark of electricity from the corner of his eye. He resheathed his blade and continued down, jumping up onto the stage and walking through and following the others into the trianing room.

He sat back, leaning against the wall, looking at the rest of the people that stood around the room. Boredly, he walked up to the center of the room infornt of Yai and volunteered to go first. Yai stared at him, Michael's wings flitted nonchalantly as his hand held the hilt of his blade. His hair convered his eyes but he could clearly see Yai infront of him. He began to beocme anxious as he waited for sometihng to happen, his hand turned white as he gripped his blade. His wings flapped fasty enough for Michael to be lifted about an inch off of the ground.

For what felt like eternity, but wasn't that long, the silence continued before the trianing items needed began to appear around the room. Glass walls surrounded Michael from no where, a large screen appeared as well, no one was in there. Before the walls closed onto the ceiling Michael heard something about having to get out quickly as a 5 minute timer and a "000" appeared on the screen. He looked around, a secodnf tihncker glass wall surrronded his; Everyone else stood outside of the glass, watching his trials. He looked at the timer go down to 4:30.

"What the.." he said aloud, noticing the "000" become "045" (I don't know much about decibels).

He flapped his wings quickly, floating near the top of the Glass structure. He unsheathed his blade, the blunt blade was quickly surorunded by a visible barrier of air that wavered and span. He put his feet on one of the glass walls, sword in position. He jumped off the walls with his increased abilityies, the sword beginning its slash before he even got within a foot of the glass wall. A crescent of air was slightly visible in the split seocnd beofre it crashed into the wall, the acutally blade following it. Michael, after flaoting back ato the wall because of recoil, nearly gasped, or atleast made a face, as he saw that not even a scratch was planted upon the glass wall. A 110 decibel ratingt was visible for a few seconds after the attack. He put all of his strentgh into another slash, which rebounded and sent him back into the other wall. His wings hadn't taken any damage though. He got back up, his wings flapping furiously. The decibel rating increased as his wings went faster and faster, he was down to 1:23, he conitnujed to increase ihs speed, preparing to break the wall with a super charged air slash. He launched his air slash, sweating with his wings pulsing greatly. The entire glass "building" shattered before the air even hit it, the decibel rating clocked in at over 200from his flapping wings. The entire glass structure, shattered, inner and the outer wall, disapeared. Michael landed, panting, as he got a Final glimpse of the timer, 0:13.

"Now. Try to hit me." Yai stated, a fighting positon visible. "Without your sword" he finished.

Michael nodded before charging at Yai, attempting to use his increased speed and strentgh to hit him before Yai could move, surprised when he almsot ran into the wall. He quickly turned to Yai and tried to attack him several times. Micahel visibly got faster as his increasing speed took effect. He angriyl stared at Yai, getting acalm stare in return. He suddenly burst off his left foot, charging at Yai even faster then normal. Yai was nto surprised as he caught the him. He walked back to the side as a series of obstacles appeared throughout the room.

"Now. Cross this in under 20 seconds" He said, compltely serious as Michael looked at the 7-10 different obstacle fields before him.

He rushed through the obstacle force as fast as he could. He looked at he timer. 28 seconds. He flapped his wings hard and put as much force behind ihs hit as he could. He concentrated on passing the course and ran through it, jumping, climbing, crawling, and dodging his way along it. He finally passed through the course, down on the ground nad lening aginst the wall. Yai showed a sign of a pproval before walking back ot the middle and waiting for the next. Michael though about what he had just done, an ability strong enogu to shatter thin glass, and going muchfaster thne he had before. He sat down, looking at the next "contestants" as he thought it over.

(Not exactly sure how to have done this so..Do you tihnk I did well?)

[Slipomatic]

Kio watched with apprehension as the crowd started to get antsy and the officials started bickering, especially the Laze officials. He heard the king of Relgran call for silence and he beckoned the guy seated below him to come forward and speak. He stepped forward and spoke about how the adventurers standing on the stage were the right ones to do the job and that these would receive help from their best warrior, scientist and himself. That is, if the countries voted for them to proceed. Relgran was quick to approve with Fovia following afterwards. Kio smiled a bit when Fovia agreed. He knew that the elders did quite a bit to keep on Relgran’s good side. He then heard Narsir’s decision to approve and he waited anxiously for Laze’s decision. He was certain that they wouldn’t approve. All but the king from Laze, had grins on their faces which further made him feel more anxious. The king said, “Laze approves.” Kio nearly dropped his jaw at the statement. Then he noticed that the Laze officials fired thunderbolts at their king and he merely flicked them away with a flick of his wrist.

The guy who introduced himself as Marcus quickly ushered him, along with the other adventurers, off the stage back through the door they entered in. Kio longed to stay and watch the fight and see who won, but that wasn’t his option right now. He looked at the other adventurers and saw that some of them weren’t affected much or didn’t show it much. Marcus escorted the adventurers into a dojo like room and closed the door behind them. Kio turned his attention on the man standing in front of the group. He gave a short speech about who he was and what he was here to help them learn. Kio saw the group hesitate a bit when Yai asked for a volunteer and decided to step forward and be the first guinea pig. “I will volunteer Yai.” Kio stood there, trying to look determined, but his leg wouldn’t stop shaking a little. He turned and looked back at the group which a few were smirking and yelled, “I’m not scared, I’m just not used to being pressured on something like this!”

Kio turned back to face Yai and pronounced he was ready. Yai studied him a bit longer and said to Kio, “You… have the abilities of dragon and flying correct?” Kio nodded and Yai continued. “Well, let us begin with you using your claws instead of that sword sitting there.” He closed his eyes for a moment and then took the sword that was on Kio’s waist and lifted it up and moved the sword over to a bench and set it down. “Let’s begin shall we?”

“But I need my sword Yai…” Kio protested, starting to walk to where his sword was, but he was immediately rooted in place by Yai. “Aw c’mon… Why can’t you let me?”

“The answer is simple, if you rely too much on a weapon that can break at any moment in battle, you will be defenseless if that weapon is all you know how to use. We will use your hands and turn them into a lethal weapon. Now get move back onto the mat and let’s see how well you are with your claws against these fully armored human dummies.” Yai moved away from the center of the room and went to the back side of the room and stood there. He released his grip on Kio’s feet and snapped his finger and a fully armored dummy appeared in front of Yai, holding a metal club. “Show him what your claws are made of. Show him that even steel armor is no match for your claws.”

Kio grumbled a bit and morphed his body so he had his claws out and unsheathed. He lunged forward and swiped at the dummy. The dummy saw the attack coming and easily dodged it and whipped his club at Kio’s head and whacked it hard. Kio saw the evasion and tried to evade the counterattack, but he couldn’t dodge it, he felt the hit connect with his skull and he was sent skidding on the floor barely conscious. He groaned and tried standing back up, but he blacked out and fell onto the floor. Yai shook his head, disappointed in Kio. He snapped his fingers and the dummy disappeared. He walked over to Kio and picked him up and carried him to the bench and laid him on the bench. He walked back to the center and looked at the group and asked, “Who wants to go next?”

[Ysavvryl]

The Laze officials didn’t seem too happy with the assembled group. Blair wasn’t surprised; she’d tried to work around them for her entire career, after all. What she wasn’t expecting was for them to get spark happy about the king’s decision to approve of the group and the mission. She tried not to break into an amused grin and was somewhat rescued by Marcus. He led them out of the council room.

They were taken to a holo-dojo, where an old master named Yai offered to discover new skills in them. The scientist had to think about that for a little bit. Thus far, she had managed well enough with what she knew. Laze didn’t have many problems with thieves and thugs, not with the strong-fisted Electrics in charge. And if there might be violence problems, she relied on more combat-oriented adventurers to take care of them. Still, even here in Relgran, things weren’t the same. New skills should be helpful, particularly if just approving the mission was going to start fights.

Two others went ahead of her. One swordsman failed to do as asked (using claws and natural fury) and wound up getting knocked out cold. Hmm, so the master was truly strict and efficient. The second one to try was also a swordsman, but his blade refused to do anything against a cage of glass. He wound up getting nervous and stirring his wings into a flurry. That caused a piercing noise which destroyed the glass. The other tests he was given seemed to come much easier.

With that done, Yai looked at the rest of them expectantly. Blair came to the center of the room. “Master,” she bowed slightly.

The old man looked at her intensely for a moment. Psychic types dodged each others efforts, she reflected as she felt that familiar mental searching. Even in situations like this, it was hard to avoid doing it. One just had to acknowledge that the other was not a threat and hope.

“That outfit doesn’t belong to you,” he stated. “Except for the pendant.”

“It belongs to my sister.”

He raised an eyebrow, so she shot him a hard look that the others didn’t see. Yai relaxed some and smiled partway. He raised a hand, but the only thing that appeared was one of the training dummies and an energy shield around the central square. “Then you’d better be a quick learner or she’ll be mad at you. Focus your energies on blocking.”

With a snap of Yai’s fingers, the dummy drew a steel sword and rushed at her. Blair managed to step out of its initial rush while she considered his instructions. Energies…. Rock was more familiar. Blocking… well it would make sense to use rocks to block steel. While the dummy twisted around to swing its sword at her, she summoned a mass of quartz-laced sandstone to surround her body. The sword clattered harmlessly against the rocks.

That skill worked better as an offensive tactic, Blair thought, so she dispelled the rocky mass and sent it to surround the training dummy. The dummy tried to fight its way out, but broke its sword in the process. To the side, Yai commented, “I don’t think I told you to do that.”

“I have a little voice in my head that thinks she knows better than you,” she stated as a fact, much to the amusement of someone she had never met.

“Then you’d better tell her not to be cheeky. Let it go and try blocking again in a different manner.”

Blair nodded as she dismissed the rocks. Now disarmed, the dummy gathered dark brown energy around its hand. Her other option was Psychic energy, the reason why she was getting commentary thoughts out of a fit of boredom. Such as how it would be nice to have some marble cake… Blair refocused her mind on her own Psychic powers (please) and considered blocking again.

This time, she got a rainbow force field in front of her. When the dummy released its attack, a stream of mud flew at Blair, bounced off the shield, and smacked back into the dummy.

“And how’s your aim?” Yai asked.

Blair snapped her fingers and sent the fragments of steel sword through the dummy’s head. “I’ve practiced it for years.”

“You need practice with your blocks, though.” He clapped his hands and summoned three new dummies. “Know them well.”

For the next three minutes, the three dummies sent various attacks at Blair. It was quite a test, although maybe less of her new skills than being able to identify which attacks required which one. Something that went right through the rocks would be stopped by the psychic shield, and the same in reverse. A few attacks got through.

But as she reflected over the result, Blair figured she could fix the dress suit and clean it tonight to return it in good condition.

-+-

“How did you summon rocks out of nowhere?” one of the group asked Blair after she returned to them.

“Do you want the three hour lecture or the quick answer?” she replied.

“The quick answer.”

“It’s the same way Water types get their water in the desert.”

[Morgie04086]

It started with those two words: “Laze approves”

Harper saw the astonished faces surrounding her. She lived in Laze, and although she never really kept up with the news, she knew her country well-enough to know that this was odd. Laze never did anything like this. She slowly turned it over inside her head, not quite reacting in the same way as everyone else. Just as she was formulating an opinion on the matter, chaos broke out. The Laze officials began beating on each other and the room exploded in violence. Harper screamed and pressed herself against the wall. What just happened?

“This way!”

She didn't know where the voice had come from but she did her best to follow the crowd of adventurers through a nearby door, which turned out to be a dojo. She was breathing hard and she could still hear the noise outside, but felt much safer in here. Glancing around, she spotted various training paraphernalia. Why were they all told to come in here? Almost as if in answer, a man began giving them all instructions. Harper looked up and tried to pay attention. Instructions were vital in any situation. The old man standing next to him was named Yai. Master Yai. He would training them. This worried Harper very much. She had never been to any sort of training session in her life. All she knew were her own raw attacks, which she learned all by herself. Wringing her hands together, she stepped to the back of the crowd and watched as others stepped forward. If she was going to have to do this, then she might as well be last.

As Harper watched the other adventurers training session her anxious expression deepened: and the longer she watched, the more frightened she became. She wasn't cut out for this and she knew it. How was she supposed to compete with these other people? They were far more skilled than her, and at that moment, Harper decided within her mind that she was done. That was it. Tossing her bag over her shoulder she turned to leave. Her hand was on the knob when a firm hand gripped her shoulder and a voice said:

“Leaving so soon?”

Harper whirled around and her reddish eyes grew wide. Master Yai was standing two inches from her face.“I don't think I can do this...” she said in a very small voice. She felt herself shrinking away from him. What an intimidating man...

“How can you know if you don't try? Come now. You are a fighting type, so show me what you know you CAN do,” he said, coaxing her forward with two fingers. He backed up into the arena. He dropped low and assumed a fighting stance. Harper was astonished by this. How did he know she had fighting abilities? No one ever guessed that first try. Although she was nervous, Harper knew she had no choice. Taking a deep breath, she threw her bag off her shoulder and stepped forward. Her legs shook as she readied herself for the test. She had to think for a moment what move she was going to use. Closing her eyes, she envisioned a perfect set of mach punches. That would work if she was fast enough. Leaping forward like a bullet, Harper let her fists fly straight at Yai's face. He had been meditating at the time but his eyes flew open a fraction of a second before her hands reached his face. Her arms were shaking with the effort to resist him, but Yai held fast and threw her to the side. Harper easily rolled and stood back on her feet.

“You're going to have to do better than that. A few fast punches won't do you thing unless you can prepare them better. Try focusing your mind for just a little longer,” he instructed.

Harper nodded and closed her eyes. Focus. The next move had to be critical. It had to be strong. After what seemed like ages, Harper finally broke out of her trance and moved into her next attack. If she couldn't get him with her hands, the next choice would have to be feet. She leapt into the air like a bird and stuck one leg out, ready to hit Yai square in the chest. This one would hit for sure. Except it didn't: Yai looked her square in the face and Harper caught a twinkle in his eye. At that moment she knew she had made a bad choice but she couldn't abandon her move now. Yai disappeared from her range and Harper crashed to the floor, doubling over in pain. Her heel burned and she struggled to get up. This was what she was afraid would happen.

Before Harper could move, Yai came back at her and threw a punch to her gut. Spit flew out of her mouth as she tumbled backward, but this time she was ready to get him back. She was tired of being kicked around. With her mind refocused, she grabbed Yai by the shoulders and hurled him across the room. The instructor seemed a little surprised when he got back up, and Harper couldn't help feeling better about herself. But the small victory didn't last long, Yai was back for more and in a matter of seconds she was seeing stars.

“You can't lose focus for one moment. While your opponent is down, use this time to prepare yourself for whatever is coming next,” Yai spoke in her ear. Harper's legs and arms were shaking again and she found it difficult to stand. She had never been in this kind of pain before in her life. She had never been so angry at person like this in her life. Couldn't he give her just ONE break?

The answer was no. As soon as she was on her feet, Yai was on her again. Harper feebly tried to deflect his moves but her fire was going out. This irritated her instructor.

“Come now! DETECT ME!” he bellowed. Harper shook herself and widened her stance, readying for the next move. Then: everything seemed to go in slow motion. She saw it. Yai was coming straight at her but she knew what to do. She easily moved to the side, avoiding another dose of pain. As soon as she was out of the way, everything returned to normal speed. Her temporary immunity had run out and she felt her legs buckling beneath her. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the next attack... but nothing happened.

Harper opened one eye and saw a hand in front of her face. Yai was staring at her sternly, but here was a slight hint of a smile on his face. “Well done,” he said, “You have learned what I wanted you to learn.” Relieved, she gratefully took his hand and allowed him to help her to her feet. She limped back to the group and sat down again on the floor. That... was amazing. She had never felt so exhilarated in her life. All of her emotions just seemed to run right through her body as she fought. Is this what the adventure was going to be like? If so, Harper was ready. “Count me in!” she whispered under her breath.

[fishyfool]

The scrutinisation of the four kingdoms upon the motley crew as they arrived in disorderly fashion was lost on Alastayre as his potential allies came round, the first with a sword at their waist, while the second of them pointing a finger at him as a sudden wind blew, but a swift whirl of his mouth saved the glowing ember of his cigar from the fatal zephyrs as he noted the man's sword, something quite common these days. The third seemed to be younger, a girl at that as a few memories attempted to surface, his mind pushing them away for the time being. The final two were also among the more motley of the crew, but nevertheless after a short time none others seemed to arrive.

As it were, the fellow in front of Relgran's apparant leader gave a cocky smirk before opening with a boisterous speech, hinting towards him as he stated a great warrior, and the sudden puff of smoke from his mouth was all Alastayre could do to prevent his breaking out into blasphemous laughter. True, he had skills in terms of controlling fire, but to call him the greatest warrior was perhaps egoistical overkill. Nevertheless, at the end of said speech, the situation was vaguely known. According to the man, him and the others on stage were to go on some journey somewhere, and would be voted by the four regions. If one rejected, the whole meeting was a waste of time and many people would have tantrums. As he listened to the first two, he gazed at the other two regional rulers, one being Narsir, apparantly. As his homeland accepted, he sighed, knowing the submissive nature of that island he lived on, before turning his sight towards the fourth of them, one by the name of Laze. 'Unusual name for a country, that...' he thought, before his ears picked up the sound of "Laze accepts" and the lights above suddenly flickering.

Before he knew it, not only had the mission been given the go-ahead, but Laze's governing system was engaging in civil war as the spokesman beckoned for them to follow him, to which Alastayre was less than reluctant to do as he tailed the group out the room, questioning how much Narsir coal this firefight would cost his homeland in electricity bills. A small run later, the six piled into a small room which was quickly explained to be enchanted to create anything necessary for training, the instructor Yai stating that he would be teaching them two new abilities. As he was first to arrive at Relgran, so it seemed that Alastayre would be last to do training as he puffed at his cigar and watched the skills of his allies.

While the first seemed to have grasped his skills relatively fast, the second failed rather majestically after complaining about their sword being confiscated for this test, while the third unleashed interesting psychic abilities in crafting stones and rocks for combat. The younger girl seemed more capable after some focusing, and eventually it came down to Alastayre. While he watched, he considered what he knew and realised that he lacked any latent melee ability, something which would be rather dangerous if the situation arose to someone swinging a large sword nearby came towards him.

"You seem to have the power of steel in you, so it shall be that you harness not the defensive measuremenet but the offensive measurement of it," Yai stated in his voice experienced of a thousand battles as a brick wall suddenly appeared before the man. Staring at the obstacle, Alastayre was instructed to break it down. Frowning as he looked at it, he suppressed the urge to blast it with fire, knowing that the stone was designed to resist fire unlike wood and mud, and as he curled his fists, focused energy similar to that used in making rivets for his boilers he built around them, the steel energy developing before he gave a punch towards the wall, stopping a foot from it in fear of breaking his fist when the orb flew off one and smashed a hole in said wall. Turning to Yai, who merely stared, Alastayre nodded before turning back to the wall and driving the other fist, still coated in metallic energy, into the brickwork, another hole emerging. Giving a smirk, he coated his hands once more and started to pummel the wall, the structure falling apart in a few moments as rubble stood around him, only to see a large block of what seemed to be ice in his path, and a number of thin strings strung from the ceiling. Looking up, he noticed said strings were attached to a large sack of small stones, enough to cause quite some pain to him.

Thinking of how to tackle it, Alastayre realised that even if he were to blast a hole in the icy block, he'd be squished by small rocky doom due to snapping strings, before hearing Yai's voice once more.

"Fire itself may hold great destructive power, but it can also provide warmth and insulation if used correctly..."

Taking said words to heart, he looked again at the ice block before focusing his fiery powers in his body, this time not fuelling into his hands but rather to his entire body. As he felt himself warm up, a sudden whumping sound as his body suddenly ignited into an inferno, his clothes strangely not being rendered into cinders and his pants not burning up into wiener-exposing nothingness, he realised that being a walking flame could be advantageous as he pushed against the ice, the hiss of the object as the substance melted into water, a thing he hated yet had to live with, flowed past him, his shield of fire protecting him as he made his way through the block before being confronted with a hardened bamboo tower, one which he burnt into ashes with a blast from his hands as the treated structure's natural resistance to fire was overwhelmed with intense heat. As the flames died down, he panted, Yai merely nodding as he noted his newfound skills and pondered what awaited him...

[Slipomatic]

Kio woke a few minutes later and found everyone working on learning their skills. He groaned as recalled what happened to him a few minutes before. As he sat up, he was confronted by Yai who had a slight frown on his face. “Are you ready to try again Kio?” Kio groaned and nodded his head. His head was going to leave him one headache. “Alright, since you are not used to your claws much, you will attempt to slash through this 1 steel pole.” He stood back and watched Kio as he morphed his hands again and brought his claws out.

You know you can do this, just believe in yourself. He focused on his claws and he felt them start to glow a bit. He focused a bit more and they glowed even more. He roared and leapt forward and swiped at the pole. When he looked back, the pole was sliced clean into four fragments, the ends longer and the inner two real short. Yai smiled a little and said, “That is Dragon claw, with that power, you can slash through more enemies and leave a deadlier wound in them. Now, try again and this time, do not become cocky.” The dummy from before that he first attempted popped back up. This time, Kio was ready for them. He dashed towards the dummy with his right claw held up to block any attacks from above and his left claw poised to attack. He saw the club being swung by the dummy to his right side and he moved his right claw to block the attack. A clang was heard as the club was blocked. Kio then slashed at the dummies neck with his left claw and the dummy disappeared after the head was severed. He sighed with relief as Yai didn’t summon anymore dummies.

“Well done indeed, you will have time to work on your combat skills with your claws later. For now, let’s get you to learn an offensive move with your wings. You’ll need to use those wings as another tool to give you an edge in combat. Whether it is in air on ground, knowing this skill will give you an edge.”

A dummy appeared and Kio sprouted his wings and started flapping his wings for some height. The dummy shot his right hand forward and an electric sphere formed in front of his hand. He shot it forward and it raced towards Kio. Kio flapped his wings hard, trying to make a gust strong enough to deflect the sphere as it rushed towards him. The sphere seemed to slow down, but it didn’t slow down fast enough as it struck him on the chest. He tumbled and fell on his stomach as the electricity flowed through him. He gritted his teeth and stood up as he felt the aftershocks still going through him. He leapt into the air again and prepared for another sphere as the dummy formed another one. As the dummy released it, Kio flapped his wings at a slower rate, forming a small vacuum so he could force more air out. As the sphere came closer, Kio closed his eyes and flapped his wings as hard and fast as he could. He could hear the air rushing past him as he tried repelling the sphere. He didn’t dare open his eyes, but he heard the sound of the sphere cracking as it hit the dummy that formed it. He opened his eyes and saw the dummy lying on the ground with the shock just leaving it. The dummy disappeared and Kio collapsed on the ground exhausted from using his wings that much. His left wing cramped up and he winced as he tried straightening out the wing.

“Hmm… You’re exerting too much energy on the gust, it’s much easier if you simply focused you wings to towards in front of you instead of all around you. This can be done by tilting your wings so it is flapping towards the center of your vision or target. If you do that, you’ll expend a lot less energy that way. Good job on learning it though, even if it is a little rough.” He turned and walked back and surveyed the other people training. Kio just laid there catching his breath as he tried to keep his left wing from cramping up again.

[handymankg2]

Update

Marcus eyed the rest of the group uncertainly as they all made their way up for their training. Flying types, fire types, rock types, he was at least glad that he had managed to recruit some variety, even if not all of them were…adventurer material. Still, from what Marcus had seen thus far, they all seemed to be able to hold themselves in a fight against Yai; that’s no mean feat. He watched as the last adventurer completed their training, and gulped as he was called forwards by Yai, who smiled in what Marcus deemed an evil way as he walked into the middle of what was currently the average gym that Marcus knew fairly well. Last time Marcus had come here, Yai had shown him his Bubble Orb attack, a move which was indirectly thought up by Marcus, but then taught back to him as a technique. If Marcus knew the look on his former masters face, he knew the ability that would come next, and he even had a good opportunity to dodge it if he acted now, but no. Marcus would give Yai the satisfaction of knowing his old student had forgotten his ways, and then slam it back into him later on. In a sudden flash of expected speed, Yai zoomed forwards at Marcus, his arm covered in a psychic coated energy. Yai leapt forwards and sliced Marcus rapidly, the Psycho Cut coming across Marcus, pain soon spreading through his body. He fell onto the floor, and winced in pain, slowly pushing himself up and staring into the cold eyes of his master, who was looking rather disappointed. “Marc. I trained you for three years, using that same move every day. Have you forgotten all that I have taught you?”

Marc smirked and nodded, and received a small smirk in return, before being picked up and flung across the room into the wall. The room hadn’t adapted to a padded area, it hadn’t changed to a oceanic arena for Marcus to fight to the best of his abilities; no, it remained completely normal, in order for Marcus to be able to truly test himself. Picking himself up, he soon found another Psycho Cut slamming into him, and this time he cried in pain, being flung into the air and landing slam down on the floor. Now it was time for Marcus to fight back. He had been subject to these training regimes twice daily for a long period of time, and he knew exactly what his master would want from him. He’d want him to fight back with all his ability, not holding back, and that is exactly what he’d do. He leapt forwards quickly and gripped onto Yais arm, rage pouring out into his vicegrip as Yai winced in pain, but smiled, happy to see that his student was actually attempting to fight. A painful feeling erupted in Marcus stomach as Yai slammed his foot upwards; it didn’t even have to be an ability to cause that much pain, and Marcus let go quickly, before being thrown once again across the room. “Come on, Marc, you know that your old skills aren’t going to defeat me. You have to be new, creative, and find another way. Your defence is too weak. And your offence for that matter” Marcus grunted angrily and decided that perhaps physical attacks against a fighting type wasn’t the best idea. He focussed his water energy downwards to his feet, and kicked forwards, a ball of water flying through the air at Yai, who simply smiled and disappeared in a wave of illusions, Marcus least favourite move of his master (double team) being put into affect.

Marcus eyed each of the clones quickly, and decided the best way to react would be his Rain Dance ability, as the water would simply go through those whom it didn’t soak. Getting rather quickly into a pose, he began to do various movements, the water energy leaving his body and heading upwards. A orb of water formed in his hands as he did so, and then was thrown upwards, the water turning into a cloud of rain which poured down and destroyed the clones. He smiled as the clones vanished one by one…until they were all gone. Frowning, he turned around, and promptly received a fist in his face, a Focus Punch having been prepared especially. “Come on Marc…do you really expect you’ll beat me with tricks you used years ago? No. Try something new, or you’ll lose every time.” Marcus stared angrily up at the master, and quickly considered his options. He wouldn’t be able to pull off a Bubble Orb in time, and his vicegrip would soon be rejected…the fully charged focus punch would hit him any moment now…he was done for…SLAM. Yai smiled happily, although in major pain, as the site before him. His fist slammed deep into the floor. It appeared that Marcus had found a way to either teleport, turn himself invisible, or the most likely, tap into his dark powers. And that was exactly what Marcus had done, and it felt rather peculiar indeed, slithering through the shadows as if he was a snake. He found the shadow he was looking for, and pulled himself back up to the surface, staring down at his master, who was stuck in the ground and beaming at nothing in particular. This was Marcus chance, and he would take it. Focussing all his water energy into his hands rather than feet, he clenched them together, and slammed them downwards, slamming them straight into his former master with the strength of a Tsunami, and knocking his master out of the ground and skidding along the floor, slamming into a post, before getting slowly to his feet.

“You have learned well…all of you. Go now to complete your journey, I have almost complete confidence in you. Almost.” Marcus laughed. He shook his masters hand, and beckoned to the rest of the group, all of them going together and leaving the room, heading to the front entrance of the council house and walking out, before glancing back at the group behind him. “Our first port of call will be, well, Neserin Port, and from there we’ll take a boat to Sabian, where a man most vital to our expedition will be met to give us…well, details of the location we’ll be heading too. For now, however, I’ll give you all five hours to explore Deleras and get whatever items you’ll need for the coming journey; food, water, clothes, that sort of thing. Meet back here in five hours time; anyone who is late will be left behind. Have fun.” Marcus sat down on a bench. He had done his shopping last night, and was fully prepared for the journey. Well, he had what he thought he’d need, anyway.

[Slipomatic]

Kio nearly cheered when Yai announced that they were done training with him. He had a grin on his face as he left the room as Marcus led them outside. He thought he heard Yai laughing as they left the room. Once outside the Council halls, Marcus turned and faced the group and told them they had five hours to explore and shop for anything they need. He also announced that anyone that was late was going to be left behind so he urged all of them to be back a little early. Kio groaned as he didn’t carry much money with him. He took out his pouch and counted. He had enough money to buy a few days of supplies and maybe a change or two for clothes if he went real cheap. He sighed and sealed up his bag and walked towards the food market asking for directions from one of the guards nearby. He didn’t pay much attention to the buildings around him as he was focused on getting to the food market. When he arrived at the food market area, he was assaulted with massive amount of aromas coming from various food products. He shook his head a little as he tried to adjust to the smell overload and walked over to a bread vendor.

“Fresh bread here from the bakery!!! Come get them while they’re fresh!!!” One of the vendors yelled, trying to attract attention. Kio walked closer to the vendor and looked at the bread to see if it was indeed fresh. “You sir, do you want to buy a few of these fine loaves of bread?” Kio smiled a bit and asked, “Would you be so kind to break one loaf of bread in half for me please?” The vendor smiled and complied and showed him saying, “We bake ours from the bakery we own in this town. We make sure our quality is top notch.” Kio nodded and said, “I’ll buy nine loaves of bread.” The vendor smiled and replied, “That will be forty silver pieces.” Kio grumbled a bit and handed over the gold and left the vendor and bought other various food supplies. When he was finished, he checked his pouch and had just a few gold pieces left. He sighed and walked towards a nearby clothing store and bought simple change of clothing, a plain wool shirt and cotton pants, both colored green and a few pair of undergarments. Finished with business, he returned to the meeting point and looked at the clock tower and saw that he had about an hour to kill time. He set his bag down on the stairway nearby and sat next to and watched the scenery as he waited for the others to come back.

(OOC: I don't know what currency we are using lol. Also, I lost this post when I reformatted the computer.)

[greywolf123]

((Got home earlier than expected, so I got to post today! Hope this works.))

Jacob watched silently everyone finish after him, once more watching and waiting for everyone to finish as there were quite a few of them. Still, it didn’t take that long until finally everyone was done, something he was glad for, and then as their seeming expedition leader, Marcus, or so Jacob believed his name was, went up to practice, he wondered what would happen on this trip,. He didn’t sign up just to wander around some places, but since he realized he had no idea where they were going, or what they were even doing, he figured it would probably be pretty interesting. It was important seemingly too, as quite a few people had shown up to show them off. That sort of worried Jacob, the level of attention they had. What in the world could be so important as to bring that many people out?

However, it wasn’t too long until they were all finished, Marcus included, and they were soon ushered out, after the master gave some almost kind words to the lot. Marcus enlightening them that they had it free for a while, to pack up and gather whatever it might be that they needed, before they left, to find the man who would tell them where they were going. Which set off more alarm bells in Jacob’s mind. They didn’t even know where they were going, yet they had attracted this much attention? He wasn’t sure to be very excited or extremely worried at this information, so he decided to do neither, and just leave. He needed to grab his stuff anyway, and put his affairs in order.

Departing from the group, mentally noting the time of departure, he arrived back at his apartment with plenty of time to spare. His stuff was already mostly packed, as he had planned on leaving, while his parents had offered to take his stuff. Which was a load off his mind, as he only had packed a backpack of essentials, along with a duffel bag of less important, but still nice, things. Right now however, he merely went down to the apartment floor, and told the landlord he was moving out for a time, and that his parents would take care of his stuff. He had this arranged as well beforehand, not wanting to leave anything to doubt after he’d been accepted, something else he’d had no doubt of. With that, he decided he was finished with all his essential things. Now he had to just go back, and wait. After a change of course.

A swift change out of his formal wear, which he cast aside, not planning on needing it much at all, and having a less expensive one packed anyway, he shrugged, much more comfortable in his new attire. Formalwear was nice, but it got a bit stuffy. He still had on that necklace though, his good luck charm from a long time ago. Last thing he wanted was to have bad luck on this trip. He had a feeling he’d need all the luck he could get. Shouldering his pack, and carrying his duffle bag, he was off, taking no more than two hours in total to return to the group.

[Morgie04086]

Harper was massaging her legs when the last adventurer finally finished their training session. They were sore and it hurt to move. Yai had certainly taught her a lesson and she now had more than three moves in her arsenal, but boy did it come with a price. What kind of an adventure was this anyway? She didn't even know where they were going! Somehow though, this didn't bother Harper much. Her mindset had shifted radically since she fought with Yai. Instead of being afraid about the unknown, now she felt... anxious and excited.

These were the thoughts drifting through her mind when people started standing up and walking towards the door. Harper groaned and hobbled after them. Apparently the man guiding them around had more say. So, she cleared her head and blinked her eyes to refocus on the new task at hand.

“Our first port of call will be, well, Neserin Port, and from there we’ll take a boat to Sabian, where a man most vital to our expedition will be met to give us…well, details of the location we’ll be heading too. For now, however, I’ll give you all five hours to explore Deleras and get whatever items you’ll need for the coming journey; food, water, clothes, that sort of thing. Meet back here in five hours time; anyone who is late will be left behind. Have fun.”

Harper looked down at her small knapsack. There certainly wasn't very much in there. When she had left home she didn't even think about how long she would be gone. All she brought with her was three pairs of clothes and the necessary toiletries such as a hairbrush and toothbrush. It would be a good idea to explore the big city, but she had make she she watched out for thugs. Yes, she didn't need a repeat of her earlier experience.

Looking up she noticed everyone else was gone and she had to hurry on her way, but once outside the door she had no idea where to go or what she needed to buy. Her excited and outgoing nature quickly disappeared. What was she going to do now? She searched the crowd for a familiar face. Her best option was to follow someone from afar. She was still nervous about talking to other people so it was best not to let them know she was nearby. Hopefully he could spy on someone and figure out what to do with herself. She quickly spotted the spiky white haired boy who had failed earlier. She adjusted the shoulder straps of her backpack and set off after him, making sure he didn't notice her following.

It was hard to follow him when she was so in awe of the city. The buildings were huge and she was constantly getting distracted by them. It especially didn't help that she had no idea where he was going. At one point she even lost him the crowd and she wasted several minutes weaving in between people who were all taller than her just to find him. In the end, she gave up and found herself at the food market: how convenient. Maybe this was where he was going. Lucky for her! After a minute or so of wandering she saw the boy again, buying bread from a vendor. That seemed like a good idea. Not wanting to be spotted, she watched from a few feet away, pretending to look at watermelons. When she saw him walking away, she raced over and asked the vendor politely for two loaves. She didn't think she could fit as much in her bag as he had bought. Nine loaves? No way.

When she was finished shopping around and eyeing the food, Harper started walking back in the general direction from which she had originally come. It was much easier coming back now that she could find the obvious building. The white-haired boy and the man who had given them all directions were both sitting on benches just outside when she arrived. Shyly, she sat down nearby and set her bag in her lap. It was significantly heavier with new things added to it. Now, she was ready for what was ahead and her some of her confidence returned.

[Ysavvryl]

Blair went back to the hotel room upon being let free to roam for five hours. She changed into her preferred clothes, for today jeans, yellow t-shirt with a paw print motif, a baseball cap with the Wesden University logo, and short hiking boots. Then she took care of the dress suit, as Lauren would prefer to have it back without bits of mud or wear. She also swapped out the necklace she had for a similar one of tiger eye. The brown topaz was primarily for impressing sponsors and such, so was too valuable to take out on a real trip. It went straight back into computer storage.

A knock came to the door, soon followed by Derek’s voice. “You best behave yourself on your school trip.”

“You may come in,” Blair called, putting down her backpack for a moment. She was about to leave; there were a few things she needed to pick up before going. But she had a hunch, so stayed.

Her brother-in-law came in, talking with his cell phone in one hand and his helmet in the other. His hair was flying away at all kinds of crazy angles. “I’m sure you will,” he replied over the phone. “Here, your aunt’s here; you want to talk to her for a bit?” He glanced at Blair, who smiled in agreement. “Yeah, I have to get out of this armor. I’ll be returning home in a bit. Okay, here you go.” He tossed the phone on one of the beds and smiled back at her. Then he went into the bathroom.

A small spark crackled when Blair picked up the phone. Thankfully, he hadn’t handed it to her directly. “Hi Tess! How are you doing?”

“Hi Aunt Blair!” the girl crowed happily. “I just got back from school. Didja get into that group of heroes?”

“Yes, I did.” She thought over watching the others learn their skills. “There’s only a few, but they seem strong. You got me at a good time, since I’ll be leaving Relgran today.”

“Wow, already? Where’re you going?”

“I can’t tell you that.” A playful light came to her eyes as she said, “We’re on a special secret mission, so we have to keep quiet about what we’re doing.”

“Oh, really?” Cantessa asked, intrigued.

“Yes, because there’s dastardly evil folks out there that will stop at nothing to keep us from reaching our goal.”

She laughed. “But you’ve got to stop the dastardly evil folks, right?”

“Of course we do.”

“Then you’d better. Are there any Electric people with you?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“Maybe I shoulda come along.”

“No, you’ve got to go to school. Speaking of which, I heard you’re going on a school trip.”

That got her on an excited spiel of another subject, which led to others… which passed nearly an hour in chatter. But that was okay. They both had interest in collecting things. Blair had always collected rocks, while Cantessa… well Tess just had a habit of picking up any little bit of scrap or trinket that caught her eye. Lauren and Derek had their hands full controlling the habit from becoming full out kleptomania. It was the influence of her soul twin, a Pokemon somewhere out there that also had a habit of picking of any little scrap or trinket no matter what it was truly worth. However, Blair was quite grateful to that little Pokemon, as well as her own partner.

By that time, Derek had gotten out of his armor, had smoothed down his hair, and was in a less noticeable outfit also suitable for traveling. He was heading back to Linten in Laze. After Tess got shooed off the phone by Lauren, Blair gave the phone back, talked to him for a bit, then said goodbye.

In the hotel elevator, she checked a list of stores she had gotten from the phone book. She had most everything, but her travel lab kit needed a few refills of chemicals. That, and she was running a bit low on a few types of Pokemon bait. While it was the grand cosmic agreement that no human could force a Pokemon to do anything, it was never a bad idea to treat them well. A bit of food different from what a Pokemon usually got could get her a local albeit incomprehensible guide, or an unseen silent bodyguard.

Much of her afternoon was spent checking out the list of stores, trying to find one that sold the proper chemicals. Proving her qualifications to use these items was no problem, as she had made certain that all her permits were up to date. Not that she would be carrying around enough quantities to make a bomb or anything. Some of them were poisons, though, so she kept her lab kit locked no matter how much she trusted her traveling companions. There were always strangers to consider.

With a bit over an hour left, Blair went to a grocery store that had public Pokeblock blenders. She preferred using berries for Pokeblocks for her bait. They kept extremely well, it was simpler and more cost efficient than other baits, and, although some would turn their noses up at a particular type, she had never run into a Pokemon that disliked all Pokeblocks. However, she disliked people using the term ‘candies’ for them, as they were not empty sugar calories. Some Pokemon that she bribed into following her for long periods seemed to be extra peppy and attractive when they exchanged goodbyes.

Was that everything? It seemed to be. But then, the unexpected always happened and one just had to hope preparations were enough. Blair headed for the meeting spot.

[Froggle]

M felt like the wolf in a story she had read about a wolf that huffed and puffed and blew houses down. Except she wasn’t a wolf, and she wasn’t blowing houses down, and in fact the only true similarity between herself and that wolf was that she was huffing an puffing, though that was more because of the fact that she was running full-speed through a rather large city than that she wanted to blow houses down.

She was wearing extra layers today, as this journey she had heard about seemed like it would be a long one and she couldn’t really fit that many clothes in her small green bag, no matter how small she folded them. Her necklace (currently worn as a belt) jangled as she ran, as paperclips and valuable stones and plastic cards that acted as proof of her existence collided with each other around her waist. She knew she was late, which obviously was why she was running so frantically. That extra hour it took to convince her parents she wouldn’t die or something was 60 minutes wasted. Of course, she herself was worried too. She had never been outside of Fovia, and going directly from a place like that to a big city like Relgran... especially since had heard rather bad stories along the lines of Ghost-types being killed there. She figured she could probably hide it well enough if she concentrated, but it was quite the blow to her self-esteem, being an Omen. She couldn’t help but feel a bit angry at Ghost types for setting such a bad example for themselves.

But, that was all unavoidable. In actuality, she was lucky to have managed to sooth her parents last-minute worries in under five hours. And she couldn’t change the ghost problem... at least she wasn’t all ghost, and could pretend to be just ice for the time being. The thing that she could avoid was missing the group and ending up stranded in a huge, unfamiliar town.

She came to a stop as a huge marble building loomed over her, immediately feeling very small, insignificant and stupid, but not deterred from her mission. Outside of this giant building was what looked to be a promising group of adventurers. In fact, there was no doubt in M’s mind that this was the group she was trying to join into. They all departed in various directions after being told something by a man who seemed to be the leader, who, much to M’s relief, took a seat on a bench nearby. The girl repositioned her backpack, adjusted her pigtails and tried not to feel too intimidated by the huge building towering over her. She walked up to the man and apologized for being late, then unclasped from her belt and held out her ID and a letter of permission from her parents, saying simply “please let me join”