RP #1 - Captain Sagara. Posted 11-12-05

Kalas walked out of the town, a little embarassed, but still retaining his dignity.

He went over the conversation he had with the half elf before, and stil couldnt figure out whats was what.

He was lucky his second time around, he found an elderly woman to talk to. He started to ask about a girl, but cut his sentence short about half way through, he knew that no one would would know her by the name that he did, let alone know her at all.

The elderly lady looked into kalas' eyes, and he felt akward to be stared at by someone he considered a bit below himself. His eyes darted from side to side. The elderly lady chuckled slightly and sent him on his way, which apparently was east.

Happy to be on the trail once again, Kalas pulled out some meat he had bought in the town, a treat he had not been able to experience for quite some time. Wrapped up in his meal, he did not see the forest looming up ahead.

He saw it and dropped his meat, he again, felt so at home, and knew that Mizuho, if it had been rebuilt at all, should have been rebuilt somewhere near here, it just seemed so right.

Kalas made his way into the forest, fully re-juvinated. He would have stopped for a drink, but knew that he had to see his sister, he started joggin, and eventually into a full sprint, but just as he had started sprinting, however, he sensed someone up ahead. He stopped, but skidded, and foolishly made a recognizeable noise.

He knew he was too far off to be seen well covered, so he hid himself behind a bush and stared out at the company of four. Half of him wanted to run out and meet them, but he was still unsure about them, so decided to follow instead.

Kalas walked along for what seemed like hours, and watched some impressive battles put on by them.

Finally, they reached the boreders of new mizuho, kalas was taken aback in all of its glory, it seemed so similar to his old home, yet so much more daunting in its bigger size.

He followed the party some more, and watched them enter a building, perhaps it was the building that housed Sheena, he knew that it probably wasn't, but he had to start somewhere, so he crept up to a window. He watched the discussion, but alas, he could not hear it.

After the talking subsided, Kalas walked up to the front door, as he walked he felt the blood pumping through his head, he wondered the fate of his grandfather, the old cheif, and then it hit him. If the old cheif had passed, Sheena would be the new cheif. Kalas was destined for that spot, and he felt ashamed that he had thrown that away, and brought such disrespect to his families name.

It was really the first time he had ever felt sorry for what he had done.

Kalas opened the dorr a tiny bit, jsut to peek in at first, but noone was there.

He went into the next room, where he was abruptly stopped by a commanding voice.

"Halt!

Who dares trespass in my hut? At such a time?" Kalas felt a shiver down his spine, he knew Sheena was here.

Taren and Rusty turned the corner to look upon the intruder.

"uh... Sheena?"

"you might wanna come here"

RP #2 - Jawni. Posted 11-12-05

"What? What are you saying! I don't understand! No, I haven't done anything! No, NO! Please, don't! Aaarghh!"

"Waaaaah! …… Aaahhh… Oh… it was just a dream…"

Aros woke up in a puddle of sweat. His nightmares had come back to him. He breath heavily. Everytime he tries closes his eyes the shadows of his past come to haunt him. He stod up from from the bed and rubbed his eyes. It was morning already. He went and washed his face and then sat on the bed and tried to shake off the nightmares.

Two days ago Aros Narnes went to see the meteorite that crashed near Gaorachhia Forest to see if there really were angels there. There were some people there who also came to see the meteorite. Some of them were from Luin and some came from as far as New Asgard. Aros spend a whole there looking for anything unnatural, but he found nothing. The others that were there had left hours ago, but Aros didn't. He had a feeling that there was something there.

Just as he was about to head back to Sybak, he saw a small piece blue fabric under some debree. Aros picked the fabric up and examined it closer. It was partially burned and felt very durable.

"Why is this burned?" Aros thought to himself. "Did the meteorite hit someone?"

Aros took a closer look at the area near where he picked the fabric. The area was untouched so it couldn't been from any of the people that were there earlier.

"Strange…"

Aros stared at the fabric. He couldn't tell from what it was from. He had never seen anything like that. Still, there was something about it that Aros found weird. He put it in his bag and took a final look around the meteorite. It was starting to get dark. He walked down to the center of the crater and climped on to the meteorite. It looked like a big rock to Aros and because it was quite dark already he couldn't even see if there were anything intresting there. A little disaponted he climped down from the meteorite and made his way to the top of the crater. He decided to spend the night there and go back the Sybak the next day. Little did he know that he was going to have a sleepless night full of nighmares.

Aros stod up from the bed and looked at himself in the mirror. There was a handsom young man looking back at him. He was a lot taller than elves usualy were at his age. His long light blue hair toned down his strong facila figures. His eyes were bright and full of determination, but not this time. Aros only saw fear in his eyes. Deep fear. Fear which could paralyze even the strongest will. Aros pitied himself. He had fought off his nightmares countless times before, but now he was powerless against them. He felt weak and useless. The shadows from his past were taking over his thoughts. Twice had he felt weak before and twice had he lost someone he loved. Aros bursted into tears. He cried long and hard. An hour, maybe two passed before he got a hold of himself. He wiped the tears off from his face, put on his clothes and cloak, packed his belonings and walked out from the inn.

Sybak, as well as Luin, were both crowded with people who were going to go see the meteorite. Aros had been lucky to get a room at the inn. Many people were forced to sleep on the streets or in the outskirts of the city. Aros felt hungry. He went to the same café where he ate few days ago before he left to see the meteorite himself. An elderly couple had just finished their meal so Aros got their taple after they left. Aros sat down and looked around the café. Like the inn, the café was also crowded with people. Waiters and waitresses ran around the place taking orders and serving food. Aros knew he had to wait for awhile for a waiter to arrive to take his order. He pulled down the hod of his cloak and let the sunrays caress his face. A small smile appeared on his face. A waitress arrived.

"May I take your order?"

"I'd like the daily special, thank you." Aros said with a trembling voice.

"Are you ok, sir? Has something happened to you?" the waitress asked.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just fine…" Aros replied, still with a trembling voice.

"Well, if you say so… Hey! You are the traveller guy. You ate here few days ago, didn't you? So, did you go see the meterite? What was it like? Where there really angels there?"

"….."

"Don't go all silent on me again. You really hurt my feelings before," The waitress said with a serious voice.

"…I'm sorry."

"You should be. Now, I'm about to take a break. Mind if I join you?"

"Actually, I…"

"Great!" she interupted. "I'll just get your special and then you can tell me everything you saw back there at the meteorite."

The waitress ran along to get Aros' meal. Aros felt like he should go, but something inside him told him to stay. It didn't take long for the waitress to come back with the daily special, vegetable soup. Aros just stared at it.

"Don't give me that face. It's the same soup you ate before. Now, eat up!"

Aros started eating it. The waitress stared at Aros as he ate the soup. Her eyes were locked on Aros' face. Aros didn't pay any notice to her. Once he finished the soup, he glanced up and saw the wairesses eyes locked on him.

"W-why are you staring at me like that?" Aros asked, now with a more confident tone of voice.

"You have such handsom facial figures. You really should cosider on tieing your hair back. It would bring out you face more."

Aros turned red.

"Ha ha haa! No need to blush. I was just saying that. Heh. So did you find anything intresting there, by the meteorite? Angels or such?"

"I'm really not in the mood for talking right now."

"Why? Did something happen to you back there, or what?"

Aros pulled up the hood of his cloak. The waitress looked stuned.

"Wow. That's an odd reaction. So something has happened to you, right? C'mon. You can tell me. I can keep a secret."

"It's nothing like that. It's just that I'm not comfortable talking about my personal matters. It has nothing to do with the meteorite or anything. I have my past and… umm. Never mind."

"Hey, you were just getting started. Please, continue."

"I appologize."

Aros stod up and paid for his meal. He took his bag and left Sybak. The waitress was left alone by the table with an amazed look on his face.

"He did it again!" she thought to herself. "But next time you come here… hi hi hii!"

It was already past noon when Aros reached the edge of Gaorachhia forest. He had decided to stop by at Luin before heading to New Palmacosta. He was reluctant to go through the forest so he took an alternative route around the forest. It was a warm day. Aros took of his cloak nad enjoyd the sunshine. Flowers were blooming on a nearby meddow and birds were singing beautifuly. Aros felt like the thoughts of his nightmares were melting away. He felt happy again.

It had been a peaceful day. Aros didn't see any monsters on his way which suited him just fine. He wasn't in the mood for fighting. Aros climped on top of a nearby hill to see the view. Suprisingly enough, he saw corn fields and a village near them. Aros hadn't been there before so out of curiosity he decided to stop by and ask about the place. He walked down the hill and headed towards the village. Somewho he felt like someone was watching him. He looked around, but saw nothing out of ordinary. He continued to walk towards the village. Then he heard something. It sounded like someone was walking behind him, but there were no one there.

"I'm sure I heard something," he thought. "I wonder…. AIR THRUST!"

A fierce wind blew around the land. Rocks were threwn around and nearby tress were shook. When the wind calmed the land was turned around, but there was no one there. If there were, the wind would've threwn them from their hideouts.

Aros' then continued to walk towards he village confident about that there were no one following there. He was wrong. When Aros got to the side of the fields three men dressed in blue jumped from the ground and two from the fields. Aros was surrounded.

"Don't move," one of them said, "if you cherish your life."

Aros took a quick look around his surroundings. There was nothing useful around him and he was greatly out numbered. He could've easily take out two or three of them, but five was just too much.

"Humph. Guess I have no other option but to surrender." Aros said a little disappointed.

"Good. Now turn around. You two. Tie his hands."

Two men walked to Aros andtied his hands. Then they pushed him into the back and pointed towards the village. Aros started walking and the rest followed.

"Don't try anything funny," said the same man who talked before. "We'll take you to our Chief so she can decide what to do with you."

"New Mizuho?" Aros thought. "Never heard of that place. Sounds like I'm going to have a hard time here."

The men took Aros to the village and threw him inside a hut. There were two guards standing next to the door.

"There's no point in trying to escape," one of them said. "There are others outside waiting to come to my aid if I need them which I doubt."

The man chuckled a bit.

"Enough talk. Kage. Go inform the Chief about this."

"At once," he said and ran along.

Aros sat down and looked around. There was no way he could run away from there and take out dozens of guards at the same time. He was a prisoner. The guard stared at Aros without blinking an eye.

"So, have you heard any good rumors lately?" Aros asked and grined.

RP #3 - Re'Ya'Salkas'Yassin'Huine. Posted 11-19-05

As a medium size panther watched several groups of people enter her forest. She watcheed as several of her race attack the group, they were protecting their home.. but they were defeated. The human and half elves continued on their way... She continued to follow the small group.

RP #4 - cepussinboots. Posted 11-22-05

while riding the drillbird back to wherever he was headed, merlin had forgotten... he decided to head off somewhere. 'theres something strange about this land, and im not sure what it is' he whispered to himself, as he turned back around, and headed in the direction of the hidden elvish village, heimdall. as he flew, he came accross a cry for help that he heard directly below him. he flew down, and called the drillbird back into his staff, and looked about for the noise he heard. merlin headed towards a nearby cave which he saw, realising that the noise came from there, and he decided to explore.

'its dark in here' he whispered to himself, as he turned around, seeing that he was now very far from the enterance, so there was no sound. he raised his staff in the air, and mumbled a short spell, which lit up his whole staff, giving off a radiant light, which lit up the whole part of the cave he was in.

'oh my...' merlin said, flabbergasted by what he had discovered. he was in a room, full of strange carvings in the walls, of what looked like an ancient language, and at the same time, pictures of ferocious monsters, with wings, that were preying on, could it be... angels? merlin realised he had discovered something vital in the wonderment of what had happened to kratos. for this seemed to be in the language that the angelic spoke, so some angels must have been down in this cave at somepoint, and carved into the walls a danger that exsisted in their world, which still had a name that was unknown to merlin. he ventured deeper into the cave, looking around for more clues as to why this was here. he reached a pendilum with a book sat at it, and as he approached it he heard a voice, that made him shiver. 'get away from here, this place is not for humans to go creeping around in, get away or die'

'urm...' merlin coughed. whatever that was, it didnt sound too threatening. so he opened the book, and looked in it. as he could not decipher the ancient language, he decided to take it back for research, to show that nice young lady named raine. there was only one inscription that was written allover the inside of the front, and back cover of the tattered book. in the same handwriting, Dherris Kharlan was written over and over again, hundreds of times. Now merlin had heard of that place before, and realised that it was probably the name of the land of the angels, where that strange red-brown haired man had come from supposdly.

'perhaps this is the answer to it all' merlin said, as he put the book in his bag.

'fine, take the book, but be warned, you will not make it out of this cave alive'

merlin ran for the enterance, and called his drillbird, but as he just reached the light, with the book in his bag, in his arms, and as he reached outside, the bird disappeared, and he collapsed into a heap, on this unknown cave, that was just off the shores of mizuho, and merlin was unconcious, but still with the book.

RP #5 - Re'Ya'Salkas'Yassin'Huine. Posted 12-11-05

As the panther like creature continued to watch one of the groups, a scout found her and gave him intructions to watch but not to interfer unless they are causing damage to the forest. She continue to kept her distance to the group she was watching as the scout joined others to keep watch on each of the groups.

RP #6 - Re'Ya'Salkas'Yassin'Huine. Posted 12-28-05

Anna turns from the group as they grow boring and goes to stalk, some prey that she can actually eat, a large white tailed doe which calmly eats in a clearing. The birds attempt to warn of inpending danger, but the black cat is too fast for the paniced creature as she lunges for her thoat, a loud cry of death echo out into the darkness of the forest as she sinking her canines into the esapogus sufficating the deer as it stuggles to shake the large humanoid cat, the deer slowly sinks to the ground gasping for breath as Anna's claws dig into the soft flesh, tear the skin from the flesh.

RP #7 - cepussinboots. Posted 1-6-06

Merlin looked up. judging by where the sun was, he could tell that it was at least nearish the evening. how long had he been here. He gradually stood up, and walked over to the enterance of the cave, and in trying to enter again, a magical force threw him back. 'fine' said merlin 'i wont go back in'. he noticed an old book on the floor, he had obviously managed to bring it out with him. 'yes!' he yelled, as he picked up the book. merlin was quite weak now, and could not sum enough energy to fly back to new mizuho, so instead, he started walking. he should be able to make it in a few days. he continued for a couple of hours, and when he eventually got near the enterance to new mizuho, (it hadnt taken him as long as he had thought) he collapsed in a heap, the book lying a couple of feet in front of him

RP #8 - Jawni. Posted 1-7-06

Quite sometime had passed since the guard left to tell the Chief of New Mizuho about the prisoner they caught wandering around in their fields. Arod was sitting on the floor of the building, which probably was someones home since there was a table, stove and beds there. Aros had found some dolls on the floor and was admiring them. They didn't have any faces at all and were dressed in colorful clothes Aros had never seen before.

The guard was still standing next to the door and had his eye on Aros. He had a hard time containing himself. He thought it was funny that a grown man, a magiv user and a prisoner was playing with childrens dolls. The guard smirked a little, but quickly hid it behind his hand and continued to watch what Aros was doing. Boredom was getting to him since it had taken longer than usual for the Chief to arrive. Maybe she was busy, the guard thought and shruged.

Neither Aros nor the guard knew what was going to happen to this prisoner. Surprise would be an understatement.

RP #9 - White Rose. Posted 1-15-06

Colette walked nervously to the restaurant, just as Terra was getting up from the table. The two approached opposite sides of the front door at the same time, and each got smacked on the head as they tried to both open it. Colette stepped back, rubbing her head, and Terra opened the door, rubbing her head as well. "I'm so sorry ma'am!" Terra said as she shook her head slightly, and looked at the woman in front of her. She startled a bit. "Mom!" Terra gasped and touched her shoulder. "I'm sorry! Are you alright?" Colette shook her head a bit and looked at Terra with a warm friendly face. She chuckled a bit. "I'm just fine." Terra chuckled some, and the two headed to a bench parked outside of the front of the restaurant, by the door. They sit down for a moment. "You never change do you?" Colette pauses and sighs. "No. I suppose I don't." She shuts her eyes and greets Terra with another happy smile, and laughs some. "But you should watch out yourself." They both laugh at one another. Colette opens her eyes back up, and begins to stare at Terra. Her happy smile slowly changing...

"Mom?" Terra saids as she tilts her head slightly to the side. "Why are you staring at me like that?" Colette sighs a bit and smiles at her. "Nothing." She shifts her body towards Terra's and place her hand on Terra's shoulders. Terra startles, and blushes a bit. "Mom...what is it?..." Colette's body begins to tremble slightly. Fighting back emotion, Colette sinks into thought as she continues to look at Terra...

Anger at Lloyd and herself for their cowardice in hiding everything... Sympathy towards Terra, for what she was about to be put through... The more Colette thought about what her and Lloyd were about to do, the more Colette hurt on the inside...and the more she worked to fight her feelings in front of her daughter. 'Sheena and Zelos are right...' She thought sadly as she looked Terra over. 'Lloyd finally agreed to this...' She sighs again, and smiles once more at Terra--who returns a slightly more embarrased look. 'I hope we're ready for this.' She had one last small emotional thought. 'I hope you are too...' Colette wipes a single tear from her eye and continues with her thought. 'I'm sorry Terra... really I am...' Colette releases her daughter and rises off of the bench, with her head down turned away from Terra--obviously masking emotions that were about to escape. Terra stared back at Colette, trying to understand what was going on. She tilts her head to the other side and steps in front of her mother. "Mom, are you crying?" Colette began to walk away. "Terra." Colette saids. Terra startles. "Yes?" Colette turns around for a moment, staring at Terra once again. "Your father and I have something very important to discuss with you, okay?" Terra's eyes narrow some. "What do you mean? What?" Colette begins her walk once more. "Just meet us tonight. Inside of that hut there." Colette nods towards the hut where Kratos was at. Terra turns to look at it. "What? There? Isn't that where that injured man is at?" When Colette turned around to hear a response, Colette was gone... She looked left and right over and over. "Mom? Mom!" She sighs. "What was that all about?" She said with some irritation in her voice. "Mom sure isn't acting like her usual self lately..." She sighs again. "Oh well, I guess I'll see what's up tonight."

Activity is all hustle and bustle in the otherwise tranquil, and quiet New Mizuho. Much to the suprise of Zelos and Sheena, who are currently dealing with quite a few situations at the moment. The most recent are a man named Aros, and the long lost brother of Sheena named Kalas... as well as an unexpected wedding.

However... things still look bleek for the angelic human named Kratos Aurion... A man who, instead of being evaporated within the debris and chaos of the meteor shower which struck the new world just days ago...was instead... spared. His body at least. Whether alive or not was the question on everyone's minds. Those close to Kratos, those who secretly plot a hellish revenge against him... and those who have yet to know anything about him...

...For now though, his mind stirs subconciously...

Be it the last moments of his life, or, the start of his journey towards a questionable eternity beyond the world of the living, remains to be known...

As Lloyd looked at his father lying there helplessly, he wondered about him. "Dad..." He sighed as he lowered his head once again. He raised his head, got up off of the stool he was sitting on, and went over to the door. He slid it open, and peered outside, into the night sky. "This is it dad..." He said to himself as he sighed again, looking up at the night sky. His eyes shifted to a single star in the sky. One that seemed brighter than most. He stratched his arm, and ran his fingers through his hair. "I wish you were here to help me with this..." He lowered his hand again, and waited on Colette and Terra...

Meanwhile, elsewhere...

'Where am I...? The voice of a man whispers sluggishly. He rises up off of the wet grass upon which his body was resting, and places his hand on the back of his head, hoping to stop the throbbing pain that suddenly spread through it. "Oww... damn it..." His head felt very warm to the touch, and he felt a slight bump there. He pulled his hand away from his head, and looked at it. It was caked in blood, and debris... as was his chest, his face, his legs... everywhere practically. He moved his hand down to one of his legs, and felt a bone--in a place it wasn't suppose to be... He moved his hand to other areas, discovering more broken bones, cuts and bruises. He looked around in the night, and spotted a mangled Rheaird close by. Obviously unoperable anymore... "Great... now I remember..." He said painfully as he laid back down, and fell into a flashback of what happened...

The night of the crash...

Raiden Bryant, adopted son of Regal Bryant, left to trail Zelos and Sheena on their way over to the meteor crash. Unbeknownst to Raiden, he had company during his trip.

"Raiden, promise me you'll be careful. I don't want to lose my new president. Or my son." Regal said warmly as he helped Raiden prepare for his journey out on the Rheaird. "I've tried to keep her running smoothly, but this Rheaird is very old. She may not be able to handle like she use to, even with all of the repair she's received over the years." Regal finished. Raiden chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her." Regal looked at Raiden as he boarded the Rheaird. "You just take care of yourself." He nodded to Raiden, and smiled a bit. "I'm getting on in years as well, I'm afraid.' He sighed. 'I'm not quite the fighter I use to be..." Raiden nodded at him. "You're an awsome fighter. I only manage to beat you with luck." Regal shook his head. "With skill, Raiden. You beat me with skill... and with your youth." Raiden stared at Regal, and smiled moments later. "Don't be so hard on yourself dad. You're still useful. And you'll still be useful when you're 80. I know it." Regal laughed. "I'll be lucky if I make it to 80." Raiden shook his head with a smirk. "I should go. It's getting pretty late." Regal nodded. "Give my greetings to Sheena and Zelos, alright?" Raiden nodded. "I will.' He tilted his head at Regal. 'I'm curious though...Why didn't you want to come along?" Regal crossed his arms and turned his head. "...I'm not the adventurer I use to be... Besides... someone has to be here to look after things." He looks at Raiden. "I'll pray you'll have a safe journey." They look at one another. "Thanks dad." Raiden starts the Rheaird, and in just moments, it takes off into the night sky. 'Don't forget what you've learned Raiden... We have no idea what's out there. Be ready for anything.' Regal thinks to himself as he watches the last of the trail of smoke from the Rheaird dissipate into the air...

An hour had passed as Raiden's night voyage began. The atmosphere before him was violent and unforgiving. Waves crashed with force against the rock walls of the shore underneath him, winds howled with ferocity, mercilessly shaking the trees back and forth; and debris and dust were everywhere. "Gee. Nice night..." He said sarcastically to himself as he looked around. He ducked his head; covering what he could of it, with one of his arms. "Man, this weather is nuts!" He said again, wiping some sand from his eyes. Something banged the side of the Rheaird and it tilted for a moment, seemingly ready to stall. "Come on baby... don't do this." He said to the Rheaird, as if expecting it to respond. The Rheaird, though a bit shaky at times, was otherwise in pretty good shape, despite it's age and what it went though. Raiden looked at the the controls, and pressed a sequence of buttons, hoping to give it just a bit more juice. Luckily, that worked, and it started back up. 'Tough... and brave as hell. Just like Regal.' He thought as he was trying to invision all that Regal went through during his journey with Lloyd, Colette, and the others...

Clang!

Raiden snapped out of his thoughts with a shock as something else hit the back of the Rheaird.

Clang, clang!

Again and again, his Rheaird was being pelted, over and over. He looked back behind him through the dust and debris of the nearing crash site below, and could only make out shadowy figures. 'What the? What's hitting me?' He swerved from left to right, frantically trying to avoid whatever seemed to be firing at him. Continuously, for 5 minutes it seemed, he was dodging attack as hard as possible, being hit from time to time. He looked back again, and suddenly ducked again. What looked like a purple stream of light quickly whizzed by his head. "Whoa! What in hell!" He shouted as he peeked out from under his arms, scanning to see behind him once more. Only this time... the shadows were gone...

"What in the world is going on? And... What was following me?" A million questions flowed into his head as he thought about what to do next. He turned around to face his destination, and flew for about a few seconds when suddenly, he came face to face with his two pursuers; still cloaked in the shelter of the dust storm, and instantly stopped the Rheaird. When the dust seemed to calm and settle just moments later, Raiden finally got the chance to look at his attackers.

About 5 feet tall, oozing a green substance from snout like mouths on elongated spike cover faces, with skinny cloaked bodies, long arms with spiderish fingers, long sharp claws, frog like feet, and staring at Raiden with black opaque eyes, hovered two alien like creatures of which Raiden had never seen the likes of anywhere before. He stared at them--both with curiosity, and caution... "So, I finally meet my attackers." He said as he hovered on the Rheaird, fearing movement at the cost of his life. The two aliens looked at one another, and muttered something in another language in a low tone. He tilted his head, trying to get a grip of the situation. He thought to himself for a moment, as the two creatures continued to talk. 'No good... I can't fight up here on this thing. Damn it, I'm in deep sh..' His thought was cut off as the two stared back at him again. One pointed a finger at him, and said something he couldn't understand. "What do you want?" Raiden said with worry. The other one ran a finger at it's throat, and Raiden's eyes became filled with fear. "Ahh... I see." He muttered to himself, as he looked around for some kind of escape.

They could move faster than the Rheaird. They were armed to the teeth. They were uncaring. And they were after him for some reason. Raiden didn't care. He had to escape. He wasn't concerned with the crash site at this point. Getting away with his life, and some helpful information for the others was his top priority at the moment. He stared at them one last time, taking in every detail about what he saw. The creatures extended their claws... And in an instant, Raiden sped away from them as fast as he could.

Suprised, the aliens gave chase, easily catching up to, and outmatching the fast Rheaird. They had to slow their pursuit to stay in unison with Raiden and the vehicle. Raiden dodged and ducked upon the Rheaird as the aliens began their attack. Over and over again, the aliens hacked and slashed, hoping for a piece of the young man. Moving side by side, like lightning over land and sea, the three continued their aerial battle, knife like claws and all. Seeminly fed up with the young man, one of the aliens stopped in it's tracks. It started to charge up it's hand as it's comrade continued to fight with Raiden. Finished just a short time later, the alien launches at Raiden with great speed and ferocity--it's glowing hand clutched tightly out in front of it. The glow soon overtakes it's entire body, and Raiden has only seconds to look and react before being pulvarized by the glowing alien. "Gahhhhh!" Raiden screams in pain as he and the Rheaird are caught in the glow, and are being ripped and broken. The alien careens towards the land at breakneck speed. It grabs ahold of Raiden and the Rheaird. Squirming with all of his might, Raiden tried desperately to break free of the aliens grasp. "No! Damn it!" Praying for his life, he some how musters up something from within at the last moment possible. "Bastion!" He shouts as his body is covered by a weak green sphere of mana. The alien then lauches him and the Rheaird hard into the ground. All Raiden has time for is one quick scream before slamming hard into the earth...

...Raiden blacks out upon landing on the ground. Rolling over and over, he smacks into a rock and falls unconcious. The Rheaird tumbles over and over, cracking and chipping everywhere. The engine goes out, and it explodes just moments later, sending shards all over the place. Some stick into trees, some into the ground, and some... despite the protection of Bastion, manage to stick into Raiden... narrowly missing vital areas...

Inspecting everything, the aliens take off, certain their targets were dead...

Coming out of his flash back, Raiden weakly rises and stands on his feet, falling over right after. "Damn it all..." He mutters in pain. He tried to get up again, struggling with all he had left inside. Failing at that once again and falling over, he struggled just to sit up. A failed attempt at best. "I can't even move..." He muttered again, wincing at the throbbing pain in his body. He spotted a piece of the Rheaird lodged in his leg. "Wonderful..." He said as he rose up as hard as he could, going to pull it out. He screamed at the pain, and stopped. "No way I'm getting that out..." He moved his hand to the upper part of his left arm, and felt another piece of debris lodged in that as well. "You've got to be kidding..." He sighed, not bothering to try for this piece. "I can't just sit here. I've gotta get help..." He looked around, and spotted a long branch lying on some rocks by the shore in front of him--several feet away. He sighed again, dreading the crawl over to it. "Great..." He said as he started to crawl slowly to the branch, wincing and groaning in serious pain. 'Mind over matter... Mind over matter...' He thought over and over, trying hard to ignore the severe pain coursing through his entire body. Reaching the branch many minutes later, Raiden grabbed it, and stuck it into the ground. He then struggled to his feet once again, managing to get up this time. He held onto the branch for dear life, and looked around... spotting what seemed like some lights off in the distance. "I can't believe my luck. New Ozette!" He said with shock and happiness. "Presea will be there... I know it." He said again, beginning the painful walk through the woods towards the villaged at the end...

...Back in New Mizuho, that night...

"Mom? Dad?" Terra said as she warily approached the small hut where the injured man was. The door slid open a minute later, and Colette peeked her head through. "We're both here. Come on in..." She said both nervously, and sadly. Terra tilted her head. "Okay..." She said nervously. She stepped into the tiny hut, only this time it was lit up by the light of two small lanturn's which hung adjacent to one another at opposite corners of the room. A small pot of tea was brewing in another corner, and the injured Kratos was still lying there, helplessly. "Shut the door." Lloyd spoke softly to Terra, who seemed shocked that he even spoke anything. Collecting herself, she acknowledged him, and slid the door closed, locking it from the inside. Colette ushered her over next to her, where an empty stool sat. Terra came over to it, and sat down, looking at her parents the entire time. "Sooo..." She started to say, not really knowing what to say. "Terra... You're old enough now... so I... we owe this to you." Lloyd said with a shameful tone in his voice. "We should've came clean years ago Terra..." He hung his head. "Forgive us..." Terra looked at her dad with a perplexed expression... "Owe me what? What's going on?"

The conversation both Lloyd and Colette had been dreading since Terra was born had finally started...

...And they began to explain it all...

About the world 20 years ago...
About the journey of 'Chosen Ones'... how all had failed, except for Colette's...
About the history of the Half-elves, Elves, Humans, the Rheairds ... and Noishe...
About the ancient Kharlan War, Mithos, Yggdrasil, Yuan, Botta, the Desians, the Renegades... About everyone that they had met or travelled with...
About Lloyd's past...

And finally...

About the man that lay before her...

The 4000 year old human called Kratos Aurion...

...Her own Grandfather...

In a matter of many hours of happy times, bittersweet moments, and terrible memories... they explained everything to Terra, who was left completely speechless, shocked, dumbfounded, scared... you name it. She sat in her stool for about 10 minutes after the conversation had ended, with a blank stare on her face. Trying on the inside to take everything in, trying to make sense of any of it... trying, just trying to restrain herself from lashing out at her parents one way or another... She slowly turned her head a bit to look at Kratos, then once more to look at Lloyd. She returned to her blank state of mind soon after that. "...Forgive us Terra..." Said a distraut Lloyd with tears rolling down his face. Colette leaned on him, allowing her shoulder for him to weep on. She wiped her own eyes off, and looked at her daughter. "We never meant to keep this from you... honestly..." But Terra didn't respond... Not suprising to Colette, or Lloyd, who sat against each other. Lloyd looked at Kratos. "I'm sorry I waited so long... I'm so sorry..."

Fed up with hearing it all, Terra finally got up with her head down... her eyes shadowed from her parents. She undid the lock on the door, and slid it open. Stepping out into the pre-dawn light, she began to walk away from the hut... passing Raine, Genis, Zelos, Sheena, Presea, and many others who had easedropped on the conversation... Zelos and the others looked at Terra as she started to dissappear from view, headed out of the village--going God knows where... "Terra..." Zelos said with remorse as he stretched his hand out, expecting to somehow reach out to her. He recoiled it and put it down, lowering his head in sadness and disappointment. "Damn it. If only I had known sooner that Lloyd didn't talk to her about any of this... I could've--" Sheena touched his shoulder, and leaned on him. "She needed to hear it from them... You know that Zelos." He sighed sadly and shook his head, then nodded. "Yeah... I know..." Raine backs away from the hut and ushers to the others. "Come on... we've all heard far more than we needed too. Let's let this family pull themselves together in peace..." Everyone around agrees and starts to leave the area, except for the main group. Genis looks towards Presea, and then to where Terra is headed. "Poor Terra..." Presea looks at him with sympathy. "There is no telling what waits outside of this village... We should watch over her tonight..." He nods, and they head off after Terra...

RP #10 - cepussinboots. Posted 1-15-06

Merlin had been lying in the bushes at the enterance of New Mizuho for a while now, passed out. He woke up, and it was dark, judging by the position of the moon, it was way after midnight. He managed to crawl to his feet, but he couldnt manage to carry the book. he was to weak, so he decided to look for someone, hoping they would be up at this hour. he slowly limped his way into new mizuho, and got confused with all the huts. 'which one is she in?' he whispered to himself. he continued to look amongst the huts, peering into the windows. he looked into one window, and it was the room of terra, who seemed to be crying. he watched her for a while, as she sulked into her pillow, and threw her bedding accross the room in a fit of rage. clearly not the right person to get at this time. Merlin moved on. he peered into a window of a hut two doors down from terra's, and it was just who he wanted, although she was asleep. he moved to the door, and creaked it open. he crept past genis' room, and into raine's room. "raine?" he whispered.
no response. "Raine!" he said slightly louder, until he drove himself to start shaking her resting body! Raine woke with a start "what is it ge-" she looked up at the grinnning face of the old wizard. "aaaah!" she screamed. "merlin? what are you doing here?"
merlin sighed "i think i just found something that may give us a clue on what happened to that strange man"
raine looked at him blankly. "interesting..., but how would you be able to find something like that?"
merlin laughed "well, lets just say, okay, well lets not JUST say, its just that"
"spit it out!" Raine yelled, quietly, trying not to wake other people.
"okay, well i heard a screaming voice from a cave, and i found this book in it, but i was attacked on the way out, and im afraid i was too weak to carry the book here"
raine considered this for a second. "attacked by what exactly...?" she asked merlin "well... it was kind of like a voice, muttering spells. i saw nothing" he responded
"okay, wheres the book then?" she asked him, and he lead her to it. she picked it up and examined it. "this requires a more careful study in the morning, i shall gather everyone round, in the mean time, you should get some rest"
merlin nodded, and went off to his own hut, and went to sleep.

Merlin woke with a start. it was daytime, and he felt FINE! he jumped out of bed, threw his robe on, and walked out of his hut singing. "oh what a beautiful morning!" he saw lloyd run pass him, knocking him over. "hey watch it!" merlin yelled.
lloyd paused, and came back and helped Merlin up. "heh, sorry merlin, i was kinda in a hurry"
"well i see that!" merlin said, staggering back onto his feet " just why?"
"raine called us to kratos' erm... that strange mans hut, she said shes discovered something incredible... in a book she aquired last night, from... well you i think it was" merlin smiled "ah yes, quite a day i had yesterday!" he looked smugly at lloyd, who was already gone. "wait a second, whos kratos?" merlin yelled, running after lloyd, eventually reaching the inners of kratos chamber.
everyone was there, zelos, genis, sheena, lloyd, colette, presea and raine, just no terra, just the old adventurers. Raine looked up at merlin. "ah merlin, im glad you were here. i think your book may help us have an idea on what happened to Kratos"...