A Struggle for the Earth

[Kalseng]

The small building was quiet, save the light breathing of the man in the middle of the room. The wood that made the building was rotted and falling down in some spots, gaping holes letting sunlight trickle down through the ceiling. Pews lined either side of the room, signifying that the old building was a church. There was a destroyed and rotting alter in the back of the building, where wanderers might sleep. The man was dressed in a huge, ripped cloak, an old and tattered shirt, and a pair of very loose pants that fell over his bare feet. The man wasn't any taller than six foot, and his slightly bulky figure gave him an intimidating appearance. The cloak had a hood that came over his head and blocked any view of his face, giving him a frightening air about him.

"You remember the orders?" A distant voice said from behind the door leading into the streets.

"Kill the two Ansyen, and get out," Another said.

"Don't forget. Burn him," A third voice reminded.

"Right," The second voice said again.

Loud footsteps were heard outside, approaching quickly. There were three men, and they each carried loud equipment that clanked as they walked. The man tensed up, closing his hands into fists as he heard them push on the door. It went silent for a couple of moments, and the door splintered in the middle before immediately bursting open.

Three men stood on the other side, each white with shaved heads and shades covering their eyes. They were dressed in well-ironed suits, but each toting a different weapon, that being the only distinction between them. Their heights and widths were almost identical, making it difficult for aany imposing attacker to tell who was already hit or drained. The one on the right carried a hand pistol, a shotgun strapped to his back. The one in the middle carried a sword, which was already poised to fight. The last had two claws strapped to his fists, clearly a master of martial arts.

The man in the middle, smiled, and leaped forward. The man with the sword jumped from his standing point and headed straight for the cloaked figure, ready to strike him down. The man swung his hand in front of him, and a bright blue flash signaled his weapon's appearance. A long dagger with a blue hilt and sharply tempered blade was clutched in his hand, locked against the opponents thin blade. The cloaked figure pushed off, sending the other man to the ground.

A gunshot rang out, and a bullet whizzed through the air. The bullet was blocked by the dagger, and it bounced off, landing on the ground to the right of the man in midair. He landed hard, skidding to a stop in front of the crumbling altar. Suddenly, the martial artist was in front of the man, having moved when the knife wielder had been trying to land. The claw scraped the very surface of the man's face, and he had barely managed to dodge the claw's intended spot of his neck. The man swung his dagger forward, and caught the man right in the side. He doubled over in pain, blood dripping onto the wooden floor. He head the sound of a blade scraping against the floor, and turned to see the same sword carrier running towards him.

In an instant, a ball of blue energy was rocketing towards the man, and struck him right in the stomach. The man was sent flying by the impact, and slammed into the back wall. The martial artist grabbed hold of the cloaked figure's arms, and held him still. The cloaked figure didn't move, and he heard the click of someone's finger on a trigger. The cloaked figure glowed eerily for a moment, and none of the men in suits knew what to do. A tear rolled down the glowing man's face, and he whispered quietly.

"Run," he said.

---

A column of blue light shot up from the old church, lighting up Kalseng's slightly tanned face. The wind toyed with his brown hair, sending it backwards. His torn white shirt was rippling gently, greatly contrasting the barely moving green jacket. A tear rolled down from his green eyes, and he wiped it off with his slender fingers. He quickly wiped them on his pants, and he fell to the ground, hugging his knees.

"Roland..." Kalseng muttered into his pants. The lone boy was sitting on top of a shed nearby, the steel roof still structurally sound. The man inside was practically his father, and he had planned to save Kalseng when they were coming. Kalseng had argued against it, telling him that he had to stay, but he was forced to leave. Kalseng took a moment to regain himself, and looked back at the remains of the church.

Rubble littered the ground, and there were no remains of the car that the three men had arrived in. The neighboring buildings weren't damaged by the explosion, but it wasn't as if they weren't going to collapse soon anyway. Kalseng heard he engine of a motorcycle, and saw a fourth man pull up in the bike. The man got down off the bike and removed his key. He casually walked over to the few remnants of building and kicked them around. All that was left were a few burnt rafters and part of the old alter.

The man pulled something out of his pocket and held it up to his face, looking around casually. He seemed to be talking but Kalseng couldn't hear him at all. The man looked around, and finally locked eyes with Kalseng. Both of their faces went pale, and Kalseng tried to stand up, a few shingles loosing themselves beneath his feet. He jumped off of the opposite side of the building, and looked around the corner of the building.

The man was making a dead sprint for Kalseng, a broadsword drawn at his side. Kalseng cursed under his breath, and did a barrel roll out from the shadows, pulling the energy up from the ground. He touched the dirt road, and pulled up the energy he could. The brief breeze that was going on before vanished nearly immediately, and wind started to kick up around Kalseng's arm. He concentrated, and the wind started to spin in a vertical column above his open right palm. It spun even tighter, and suddenly, a spear formed.

The entire bottom of it was a very light green, with a dark green cap on the bottom end. At the top, a simple blade stuck out about a hands with. Kalseng stood up promptly, and held the spear next to his body. In it's entire length, it came a little higher than a foot above his head. Kalseng smiled cockily, and laughed slightly.

"You sure about this?" Kalseng asked. The man didn't move at all, but a small bead of sweat rolled down his face. The fourteen year old pulled the spear down, and adjusted himself into a battling position. "Alright. Suit yourself." Kalseng gave a little shrug, and lunged forward. With a swift jab, he managed to cut the side of the man's arm before he got his spear thrown off. Kalseng quickly moved to the right, and swung left. His blade was stopped again, and the man got in close. He swung hard, but Kalseng jumped back in time to dodge.

Kalseng pulled in a bit more energy, and the air seemed to swirl around his palm. Kalseng smiled again and the wind picked up. Kalseng pushed his hand forward, and the wind shot out like a dart, slamming into the man's chest. He flew backwards, and looked at his chest. A moderately deep cut was where the wind hit, and it stung pretty bad. It was maybe an inch long, but it was painful. The man stood again, trying not to underestimate the kid's power. The sad truth was, however, that Kalseng was getting kind of tired. He probably couldn't beat this trained officer, but he could hold his own for a while.

A loud alarm went off behind him, and Kalseng whipped around. The city was built with huge walls surrounding it, with huge doors separating enemies from the inside. They were gliding together, closing up quickly. Large red lights at the top of the towers next to the doors were spinning and flashing, signifying that people needed to get in. They were typically kept open, but closed during wars or lock downs. Considering that there were no hoards of enemies charging the gates, it must be...

"Crap," Kalseng muttered. The doors were closing too fast, so he just turned back to the battle. He was now locked into a city with people trying to kill him. This was going to be one hell of a week. He felt something... Something reminiscent of what he felt in his magic... Something like Roland. "Another?" Kalseng murmured.

[[OOC: Longpost is loooooooooooong. So. This RP is invite only, but not only that, it's also got a couple of rules. While magic is abundant and plentiful, you can only use some basic magic, summon up a basic weapon, and have a little summon for use. However, I won't be opposed if you were to weight one with a lot of strength and make the others really weak points. That's fair, and a de-suifier. Also, when using magic, keep in mind that it comes from the planet itself, so when you use it, your surroundings relating to the element you use are going to weaken. For example; If you use fire, the fire around you has to die down for your powers to activate. If there isn't any fire, maybe it gets considerably colder. Find somethingto do. That's all.]]

 

[Shiny Motley]

((OOC: Hopefully this is alright. Yeah, I'm aware it's a little awkward and stuffs, and might not be what you wanted/expected... I'm just bad at RPing like that. ^^)

Lyn watched on her perch as a battle below commenced. Apparently a boy, no more than 14, at most 15 years of age was trying to battle a well-trained officer. In regular circumstances, this wouldn't have been of much importance to the girl, and the only reason why it would've drawn attention to others was the fact that a mere teen was battling a full-grown and trained adult. But this was something completely different.

Apparently the boy was carrying a spear, but that wasn't what had intrigued her. There seemed to be something emanating from him, a sort of magical power... then she saw the boy shoot a ball of wind at his opponent. And that was what made her know that this boy wasn't normal.

Lyn, in all aspects, looked like a regular 11 year girl. Her black hair, with a few blue highlights, were almost always pulled back into two identical pigtails, held by light blue ribbons tied into neat little bow ties. The girl enjoyed watching the city's people around her, walking about, doing their normal business. She usually sat on trees, roofs, or other high places she could find. Currently she was on top of someone's house, next to its chimney. They were practically her best friend; chimneys were great places to hide in, as almost no one used them anymore, so they were practically clean, and yet were big enough to hold someone Lyn's size. And being persecuted meant you had to be able to hide anywhere you could, even if it meant using someone's property without their permission. She heard the alarm that signaled the city's gates were closing sound, and saw red light flash around on the ground. It didn't matter to her much, as she wasn't going to be going anywhere out of the city. She was also lucky that no one knew what she really was, or what she could do, but it was always good to be cautious.

The boy, who now had a spear in his hand, seemed to be holding his ground, as his movements were pretty nice and fast. However, only the most observant of watchers might be able to tell that his movements were slowing down, as if he was tiring a little. Knowing he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer, and that he was probably going to be dead sooner or later, Lyn decided to to take action.

Concentrating on the air around her, the girl's dark blue eyes seemed to started glowing as water from the air started to swirl around her. The water eventually took form of a whip, a sort of dark turquoise in color. The handle was a sort of purple/blue color. At its full length, the whip could be about as long as a 3-story building was high. Though she usually didn't use her whip as a means of attacking, it came quite useful in many other ways.

Letting down the whip down from the roof of the house onto the ground, Lyn used it as a sort of slide and slid down it, being strong and slick enough for her to be able to do that. She then ran towards the boy and the man's way, hoping her presence might be able to do something good.

 

[Cody]

He looked up, his deep blue eyes scanning the sky. That blue pillar of light was something, though the young man couldn't be sure. He sat up a bit straighter, brushing some of his dirty blonde hair aside. The wind was blowing slightly, pushing his blue jacket around his averge built upper body for someone of his age. The white t-shirt beneath was a bit dirty, proof of the current life conditions.

"Well," he sighed, standing up, revealing his incredibly well built legs, "I might as well go see...."

He leaped off the roof, rolling as he hit the ground. Standing up, he wasted no time, and broke into a run. He was about a block and a half from the site of the beam, and would take a matter of seconds for him to get there. As he made his way through the somewhat poverish neighborhood, he pushed a few people out of his way, earning several dirty looks.

"Sorry!" he managed to yell back, continuing his run. His muscled legs seemed to fly across the pavement, giving Cody the illusion of flight. It was something he loved, which is why he had continued to run, all his life. The recent events had a bit to do with it, but it was more of an added bonus. Along with his running came great stamina, something that had always helped him, and something Cody never wanted to lose.

He stopped dead a short distance from where the beam had shot up. Near a shed, a sort of battle was going on. It seemed like the boy wielding the spear was starting to tire, and another young girl was standing there. Just standing. Cody couldn't help that was a horrible thing to do, standing aside and letting another one fight.

He took a deep breath, as he squatted and placed his right hand to the ground. The concrete deteriated instantly, revealing the soil and dirt beneath. It glowed with a strange golden hue, and soon Cody was holding an axe. It was made of the purest metals and elements, aside from the handle. It was made of the strongest avaliable, and was the perfect size for the seventeen year old to wield. The blade had a distinct golden tone to it, and it always managed to bring a slight smile to Cody's face.

He stayed in his squat, and concentrated. He closed his eyes, and soon the concrete and soil around him had worn away. As he stood back up, there was a rocky fist encasing his left arm. With his one arm wielding the axe, and the other encased, he walked closer to the conflict. His eyes seemed to change from the usual, welcoming selves, to a stone cold, almost frightning sort. He flung his left arm in a thursting motion, and the rocky fist shot at the man attacking the younger boy.

It moved through the sky, suspended by Cody's will. As it moved, it retained it's blunt shape, slamming the man in the back. He was flung forward by the impact, dropping his blade. He looked at the spear wielding boy, and the younger girl, trying to get a feel for the situation. As the man stood back up, Cody ran forward, and made a decisive swing of his axe, hitting the man in the back. He fell once more, possibly to never get up again.

"Well then." Cody sighed, scratching his back. "I'll be off" He wasn't talking to either of them in particular, nor was he yet looking for any sort of team. He wasn't sure of the boy, but just the look of the young girl decided the choice for him. He didn't want to feel responsible should anything happen to her. He turned on the spot, and jogged down the block, taking a seat in an alley.

(This is good, yes?)

 

[Midnight Shadows]

She had watched it all as it happened; the blue light appear in the sky, the boy with the spear and wind ability fighting the man with the blade. The battle itself seemed intense, though she didn't know its purpose. The boy was determined to win at all costs, but by now after all he did against a full grown man, he was starting to get tired. Any boy would though, fighting a full grown man seemed ridiculous. Then again, he was most likely fighting for his life. More power to him then.

That wasn't the only thing she saw in the shadows, no of course not. On top of a house there was a younger girl sitting next to a chimney peering down at what was going on below, most likely the fight between the boy and the man. The look in her eye and the way she concentrated told her that she was far from normal, just like the boy fighting the man. When she saw whip appear made form the water in the air, her assumption was correct. What would she be doing with...she certainly wasn't going to..Ah, so she was going to help after all. At such a young age though? She certainly hoped that she had some practice with that whip, after all it could be used against her if she wasn't careful.

She heard the alarm then, and saw the flashing red light from the towers and the doors beginning to close. Although she had no purpose to leave, it was fun watching every persons reaction to what was happening, even when it meant she had no idea what was going on.

She turned her attention back to the fight again, with the younger girl now some distance away from the boy still fighting the man. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another boy crouching on the ground, concentrating, and only mere moments later a golden axe was in his hand, with a small smile on the boys face. She knew what was going to happen next, he would be different, just like the other two, and most likely help the other boy fighting off the man. It did surprise her when he suddenly had a rocky fist and it was flung at the man attacking the boy. He wasn't done however, as the axe in his hand made impact with the mans back and again as the man tried to stand up. He had looked at both of them then, and jogged off. Well, that was interesting.

So where exactly was she anyways? She was everywhere and no where at the same time. She heard and saw everything and hated the sunlight. She was one with the shadows and could easily go in and out of them at will, though it did take some of her energy to do so. It's one thing to not be seen when your hidden in someone's shadow, it's another to scare them entirely as if haunting them, always making them have the feeling that they're being watched, always looking behind them.

It was true, she really had nothing better to do with her day then give a person a feeling of unease. That didn't mean it was the only thing she could do however. Along with being a part of any shadow, she could also change the shadow's shape into something totally different then what it was. Though if you counted that as messing with someone, then it was just another trick she had. If she was touching another person, and she went down into the shadows, then the person would be dragged along with her. If she wasn't holding onto the person when she came back up however, then the person would be lost in the shadows forever never to come up again. Maybe that was why there were, "have you seen this person?" fliers all over the city.

Finally after seeing what she needed to see, Midnight concentrated and only seconds later she appeared out of the huge shadow of an alley. There was a a mixture of dark purple and black that surrounded her when she got out of the shadow, but when she opened her eyes, it quickly vanished in a misty form.

Midnight wore a black and dark red corset dress that was laced up down the middle and stopped above her waist in a Gothic fashion. The majority of it being dark red, and the black down the middle of the front part of it. The long sleeves of the dress went a little past her hands, though the dress fit her nicely. At the end of the sleeve it came out in a bell shaped form, which was probably the reason why the majority of her hands were hidden in it. To go along nicely with her dress, she wore plain black shoes that were worn down at the bottom. Her dark hazel eyes scanned the alley for anyone that might have seen her, and to her surprise she saw the boy with the axe again, though the sixteen year old wasn't sure if he had saw her. Midnight tucked a piece of her shoulder length blonde hair behind her left ear and looked down at her shadow once more. Was this boy going to attack her? Well, if he was, she had better brace herself..

The black and dark purple aura swirled around her hand as she started to reach for the waist of her shadow. As her hand disappeared and touched were her waist was in the shadow, she felt the point of her sword and reached down further in her shadow to grip the handle of the blade. After concentrating once more, Midnight began to pull a large sword out of her shadow that clearly could not have been hid under any part of her dress. The sword seemed simple enough; a black stone handle with a silver blade made of steel. It wasn't until after she had completely pulled the sword out of the shadow that the same black and dark purple aura began glowing around the blade. The aura wasn't just for looks, it was helpful in many ways; being able to cut someone's shadow only for their body to feel it seconds later. She had no reaosn to harm the boy with the axe, only protect herself.

 

[Linkachu]

"So… it's started…" A female muttered bitterly as she stared up at the sky, an ominous beam of energy streaking up through the clouds to the heavens. Even though she was surrounded by other civilians, their chattering and murmurs almost deafening as they too looked to the skies, she could feel an all too familiar warmth radiating from the blue beam. Among the warmth, though, were forces that made her heart stop. It was like the energy - no, the planet itself - was crying out in sorrow… "Dammit, Roland… Why did you have to be a hero…?" Links heaved a sigh under her breath, struggling to fight back threatening tears. This wasn't the time for grieving.

A thought struck her then, and her eyes went wide with horror. No… he wouldn't do anything as reckless as seeking revenge… Or would he? Roland had been like a father to him, and Kal was still young… Who knew how he'd react to all of this.

"Kalseng… If you're not alive when I find you, I‘ll kill you!" The teenaged girl's deep green eyes flared. She was barely an adult herself - only 5 years older than Kal - but she felt for him like an older sister. In reality they were actually cousins but, apart from Roland, Kal was the only real family she'd ever known. No way in hell was she about to lose him too.

Links stretched out both of her arms, bracing herself and concentrating on the air around her. Being smack-dab in one of the busiest streets of the city, various people passing by took note of her peculiar actions - some making jeers and snarky comments, while others just stopped and stared. It wasn't until the air pressure around them noticeably changed did people start truly reacting. A light blue energy had begun to envelop her body, Links' hazel brown hair and long leather jacket blowing wildly around her - now the only source of wind in the immediate vicinity. Her worn, navy blue jeans were typically snug fitting, but even they were ruffling against the air pressure.

She heard the shrill cry of a woman then, encouraging several others to do the same, but the 19 year old ignored them, focusing harder; bringing all of the wind energy she now controlled to concentrate around her arms and legs. The rest was focused against her back - just for extra propulsion. At last she crouched down into a runners' stance… and the ground literally exploded as she shot forward and leaped high into the air. It was ridiculous to draw so much attention to herself, but the emotional state of her mind didn't give a damn. She soared through the air with amazing speed, landing upon a random rooftop and leaping off again (a patch of shingles being torn clean off in her wake), flying higher still and clearing several more buildings in the process. It wasn't exactly flight she controlled with this power, but it would do. At this pace she'd make it to the "gutters" in record time - the last place she‘d made contact with Roland and Kalseng. The girl could only hope Kal was nearby…

Suddenly several shots rang out, a barrage of bullets zipping through the air and narrowly missing her face. "Dammit all!" Links' thoughts screamed as she quickly focused her energy on her left, causing her body to sharply spin out through the air -- just in time to miss another ‘round. She landed like a brick upon a flat metal roof and skidded to a stop, the sky blue energy flaring around her furiously. Something was wrong. At her speed nothing should've been able to even target her, yet these attacks had been deadly accurate. They were locking onto her position somehow, and she couldn't even tell from where. Regardless, moving through the skies wasn't safe anymore.

Links' thoughts quickly returned to Kal, running for the edge of the building and jumping without hesitation - wind energy concentrating around her feet to slow her descend. Giving a quick look up and down the streets, she was relieved to find that no one was insight. Her observation gave her one other piece of information as well: she'd reached her destination.

"Now… to figure out where Kal could be…" Links' murmured quietly, releasing hold of some of her energy and letting it dissipate back into the air. It would take far too much concentration to keep hold of both it and lock onto Kal‘s position, which was possible so long as he too was currently tapping into his powers. Under the present circumstances, the likelihood of such seemed certain. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, searching for any disturbance in the flow of air. Even the tiniest of changes she could feel when in-tune with the planet, and that would lead her to Kalseng.

There! She felt it; a change in the air pressure a short distance away. At the moment the central cause seemed to be stationary, which was good for her. And yet… there was a nagging in the back of her mind that she couldn't ignore. While her ability to trace other forces in the environment were weaker, she could feel distinct changes in the flow of the planet's energy… These forces were also located nearby the air imbalances. Near Kal.

"Great. Even more surprises…" She growled, opening her eyes and looking around her once more. Still safe. Links' wasted not another second as she made her way down the street, keeping as close to the walls of the crumbling buildings as she could in hopes of not being seen. Along the way she concentrated on the energy still held within her being and the air around her right hand, focusing it into a shape; a weapon. In moments it solidified into the form of a sword with a sharp yet unnaturally coloured, white blade. The hilt was a mixture of light blues and greens, weaving in and out around one another almost like a cloud wisp. Grasping the newly formed weapon tightly, she hurried onward, closer still to where she'd sensed the disturbances…

At last she rounded a corner and stopped, staring across at the familiar boy and almost bursting into tears right there. Alive. The fool was alive! But clearly not unscathed. He wasn't alone, either. The motionless body of a man lay in the streets, and an unfamiliar girl was standing a short distance away. At the sound of a foot falling, Links' gaze quickly shifted to note another male as well, one appearing slightly younger than herself. For a moment she simply watched the male leave and said nothing, but the moment was shortly lived.

"Kal… I'm glad to see you, but…" she looked to Kal, surveying the scene around them once more before adding, "what the hell is going on?"

 

[Stark]

The wind dropped as a man of twenty three years left the local library with a few books under his arm. He stopped suddenly, as he reached the street and then walked back inside, depositing the books back in their rightful places. He left for the second time with a sigh, identifying a surge of electrons with his sensors built into every skin cell on his body.

"Right, I was planning on a peaceful day today, but what's become of it already?" muttered Alonzo to himself, brushing his black hair back calmly. It always seemed to spring right back to place though, Alonzo thought it was because of static electricity but he's never found out why.

He stood in silence for a moment, drawing a few passer-by's eyes whilst he collected his thoughts. Out of the blue, it came to him faster than lightning strikes. "Only… they… have the ability to create such a disturbance," murmured Alonzo to himself. He looked both ways down the street, and crossed when he felt it safe.

The street opposite was the main district for the city, housing thousands of workers and hundreds of offices among many factories. It was the main workplace of the city, also the most mechanically advanced sector as well. The skyscrapers of the rich district towered over the slums in the outskirts, and they were precisely where Alonzo was headed. He stepped back onto the pavement, and walked up to the automatic doors of the skyscraper in front of him, appearing to be abandoned.

"Gah! Locked…" cried Alonzo, a little too loudly perhaps. He gazed around, then, when no one was looking, waved his arm across the door in a horizontal direction. What little electrons remained in the battery were moving again, and the door opened a little before shuddering to a halt. Alonzo walked inside, forcing the doors shut by hand and then hiked across the ex-reception. Clambering over chairs and tables, he found an elevator at the other end of the room.

Summoning all his power, he sensed the electrons in the neighbouring skyscrapers and pulled them through Earth and up his skin into the elevator, using his positively charged body as an attractor and a conductor for the electrons. The lift whirred into life, and the door opened. A monotonous female voice muttered softly about what floor he wanted, but Alonzo ignored that. He simply summoned the last electrons from the buildings next door, seeing the lights go out, and forced them all into the elevator. He pushed the button for the top floor.

The lift took off like a rocket, flying upwards. Alonzo's grey-white shirt vibrated with the speed and as the indicator was nearing the top, going faster and faster…

"Oh, not good…" Alonzo declared, not finishing his sentence but instead summoning the electrons in the lift's circuitry to his own body. The lift grinded to a halt with a sickening screech and the doors half opened at the top floor. Any excess electricity that his body didn't conduct from the elevator could be seen forming a long, thin shape in front of him. Intricate patterns drew themselves in the air, and a scabbard could be seen being formed out of the power of electricity. He took hold of it and attached it to his belt, then stepped out into the polluted air; it could be seen forming faint wisps around his dark navy jeans that fell around his tall, lithe form.

His azure eyes glimmered as he looked up into the sky, spotting a cloud on its own, like a child not allowed to play. Alonzo felt the sky's pull, and he allowed himself to be drawn up into the cloud. From the sky, he felt the power once again through his sensors. Alonzo focussed his mind once more, speeding up the cloud's natural processes until lightning was near. He directed the power to the vibes he was getting, an area of the slums.

The lightning struck, and he felt himself forced through the air in mere seconds. His bolt hit a car, setting it alight. As the bolt diminished, Alonzo was rebuilt from the stray electrons left over from the strike, and his black trainers took a step forward as soon as they established contact with the ground. Once he was fully constructed, words directed at the source of the electron surge, a young boy with a spear, escaped Alonzo's mouth, whilst he took in the scene of chaos around him.

"Do I want to know why this is happening, or not? No, probably not…"

 

[Chibi]

((Jeez, I'm late aren't I? XD ))

"Get back here girl!!" The man behind her screamed.

Bambam!!

"Shit!" Chibi yelped as two bullets flew so close to her head they ruffled her long red hair that touched the base of her spine. The twin explosions that had come from so close behind her had her ears scream in pain, after all, having fox ears growing out of your head instead of human ears heightened your hearing, which made louder sounds a punishment to hear. It was a good thing the dirty streets she were sprinting down were totally empty, since crowds of people tended to slow you down. Or maybe they had just seen a guy wielding a pistol in one hand and another was holstered and a shotgun strapped to his back and fled to whatever pitiful shelter existed. The heavy footsteps behind her were terrifyingly close, but the 13 year old didn't dare turn her head to look, for it would be her death if she did. She waited for more shots, but then the clicks of reloading his weapon almost made her trip from relief. Now she had some time to get away.

"I'm warning you girl," the man shouted again, "get back here and you won't get hurt!" Yeah. And this was coming from a guy who had just tried to put lead through her brain.

Come on, come on, where WAS it?! It was around here somewhere, Aislinn had told her it was impossible to miss. C'mon, where, where, where, where, there! Chibi let out a wild hoot that was an insane parody of a triumphant laugh. To her right was an impossibly high pile of wooden boxes that totally blocked the entrance of an old alley, now if only she could run twenty more feet without getting shot...Click! Well damn, that was most likely the sound of the gun getting cocked. But it didn't matter, for she had already cleared the gap between her and her escape. She leaped into the air at an impossible height, using the fox-part of her to help her with the jump, and landed somewhere roughly in the middle of the tower. The whole pile swayed sickeningly. There was another explosion that made her flinch and clap her hands over her russet ears and a box a few feet to her right exploded into splinters as a hole suddenly appeared in it. Knowing it would be her death if she didn't go on, Chibi made another leap and caught the gutter of one of the houses near the top of the box tower. Then, she kicked at the top rows with all her leg strength, and this time the whole construction literally leaned forward.

Chibi pulled herself onto the roof as she heard the man scream a loud curse as the boxes fell onto the sidewalk and street, nearly flattening him. Gripping the loose grey tiles of the roof, Chibi hauled herself up until she had a firm position to where she could get off her stomach. She was about to stand up, but halfway between an upright position and a crouch another shot rang out, and Chibi ducked before her skull and brains became the roof's new decoration. No matter, she pulled her long plume of a bushy fox tail closer to her and scurried off on all fours. Sometimes having an animal in your DNA helped out a lot, better hearing, running on all fours, tons of endurance and stamina. At least, those were the pros. Anyway, running on all fours over the roof, she went to the other edge and leapt over the narrow alley separating her from another rooftop and landed. She yelped as a few tiles slipped out from under her, almost making her fall off. She made another, smaller jump and came onto firmer tiles. Okay, so far so good.

She repeated her actions multiple times until she must have covered at least two blocks by rooftops alone, at one point she even saw another person taking advantage of this sport as well, but her rooftop leaps were much longer. How cool. At the same time she was listening intently for sounds of pursuit, which were rather faint, but still following her. Looked like she'd have to find one of her multiple hiding spots. But, it seemed as if fate wasn't in a very generous mood today. No sooner than Chibi had cleared her almost 30th roof than a strong and very cruel hand grabbed her by her beautiful tail and yanked with the strength of a bear. With a yell of pain, Chibi toppled backwards and on top of a very muscular man. She scrambled a few yards away, brushing off her blue kimono (which was a great contrast to her fiery hair and fox parts) and holding her tail. Her pursuer was beginning to get back up, he was a deeply tanned man with a bald head and big sunglasses, his head was bald and he wore military pants and a black tank top which exposed huge muscular arms which would have made wrestlers run for mama.

Chibi winced and cradled her aching tail gingerly. "Do you know," she whispered in a deadly calm voice, glaring at him with jade green eyes that were both tearful and furious at the same time. "How much it pisses me off when people screw around with my tail?!" Her voice rose into an angry shout, and the man grinned, a thirteen year old who was only a tiny height 5' 4" and a slim figure that only weighed about 90 lbs certainly didn't look very intimidating. Chibi's cheeks were touched with a little red from anger, hiding some of her freckles. Well, it looked as if now she was going to have to get violent. Somewhere in the distance, the alarms for the city blared, but neither paid attention to it. She thrust out her arm, hand opened wide, the man held his pistol a little higher. Suddenly, a yellow and orange ball of flame burst forth in the middle of Chibi's palm, then two thin pillars of fire streaked out from either side of its source until the whole line was almost six feet long. Then her fingers fearlessly closed around the fire, and the flames disappeared to reveal a weapon in their place.

It was a type of pole arm, a Guandao to be more exact. But this was different, it looked like a regular Gaundao, but instead of one blade at one end there was a blade on each end. The man's eyebrows frowned at the weapon and the fire that called it. Slowly he put his handgun away and pulled out his shotgun instead. Just as he cocked it the girl rushed forward at the fastest pace he had ever seen and swung her weapon. He saw his face's reflection briefly as the blade whistled past his nose, and he caught a whiff of cinnamon. Cinnamon? What the hell? The girl took a few steps back and half of the shotgun toppled to the ground, sliced clean through. Her shoulders slumped slightly, and the fait reddish glow around the blades disappeared. She hated using her aura, for she was never good at it, she'd much rather call upon her expert fire abilities.

Damnit Aislinn why'd you have to go and leave the city?! Chibi thought angrily and sadly at the same time. Her friend had left the city a few weeks ago, promising she'd return. The fifteen year old had taught Chibi about her aura and even told her how to call upon fire, but it was odd how Aislinn mastered her aura while Chibi could do only the smallest things while Chibi could control fire as if it were her nature to and Aislinn faltered at elemental control. She couldn't use her aura much after this, her skills with it were pitiful. She saw a flash of movement as the hand drew his two pistols and fired. Chibi twirled her Gaundao in a circle and there were two identical pings that signaled the bullets being deflected. She rushed forward again and swung, the man roared as not only his weapons were flung away but one of the hands he used to hold them was neatly sliced off. His mouth snarled in rage when he saw the dark blood spurting from his severed wrist, he reached out his other hand and caught the pole of Chibi's weapon and wrenched it out of her hands. But Chibi's grip was firm, so when he yanked Chibi was actually pulled off her feet, into the air, and her hands slipped off, sending her tumbling through the air and crashing quite painfully into some empty trash cans. There was aloud clatter as the man threw away the weapon and heavy footsteps as he rushed at her again. Chibi hauled herself to her knees and didn't even look at the approaching beast and instead pulled back the hem of her kimono and reached for her bare thighs, revealing two large sheaths strapped to them.

Leaping up and pulling two knives out at the same time, she leaped backwards and the man plowed into the trash cans and stumbled. Both knives were special types of throwing knives (Dragon Knife to be exact) and one was pure lack from the hilt to blade while the other was a snowy white; their names were Ebony and Ivory respectively. As the man stood up to his full weight again, the two twin knives whistled through the air, Ebony cementing itself in his neck and Ivory penetrating his chest. With the gurgle, the man toppled to the ground, dead. Chibi sighed and walked slowly over to the corpse, turning him over with her foot, she didn't want to touch the vile thing. She dug out both Ebony and Ivory, Ivory's hilt was stained bright red with blood and Ebony was dripping with it. Chibi shook her head and sheathed the knives, promising to clean them later. With a flick of her hand, her Gaundao returned to it in a flash of fire, and disappeared back to wherever it came from with another pillar of flames. She knew what she had to do next, and thrust out her outstretched palm, a long cone of fire shooting from it. The air around the alley and come of the street dropped considerably as the fire enveloped the man, and dropped to almost subarctic temperatures as Chibi kept up the burning for a good thirty seconds. Then she turned and walked away, not looking back at the pile of ashes with blood polled around the grey substance.

"Great," Chibi murmured after she jogged two more blocks, "killed another guy. I should've just knocked him out with my aura...knocking me out in the process." She sighed, Aislinn could have dealt with the man much cleaner instead of having to take his life. But that was the way of survival. Why had he attacked her anyway? Maybe it was because she had been near the church when it exploded in a pillar of blue light. That could have been it, for she had fled from the place when the guy suddenly stepped out of the alley near it and started chasing her as if she had just murdered someone. She had just passed a group of people and a rather run-down shed when a bolt of lightning came out of the blue and fried the car she had just passed. With a scream of fright that was droned by the loud explosion, which yet again made her ears numb, she whirled around to see the energy of the lightning forming themselves into the shape of a human.

"Do I want to know why this is happening, or not? No, probably not…" Said that the man that stepped out from the electricity.

((Hrmm, that took longer than I thought. And for those of you who are wondering, this is a Dragon Kife.))

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

((Not nearly as late as I am...
I chose Earth, and made it into something interesting.
Hope it's alright. ^^)

The remnants of the dying wind blew the strands of short brown hair around the figures face. Atop the head of the feminine looking figure was a black, leather hat, bound with a green buckle to keep it in place. The girl had a somewhat youthful look about her, the vibe of aged wisdom throwing off the fact that she was 19.

Dwayna was crying silent tears, only apparent by them rolling off of her chin. As the world cried out in pain and sorrow, she felt it within herself as well, and it nearly tore her heart in two. The brim of the hat tipped up towards the blue beam of light ascending into the sky to reveal bright green eyes, seemingly crystalline, still wet with tears. She felt a pulling sensation towards the light, as if it were the center of the agony that the Earth was going through.

So, on intuition, she ran towards the light, looking around frantically for something out of the corners of her eyes, to get a better view of what was happening. She seemed to specifically be looking towards the trees, looking up at how high they went, looking at their branches... and then, out of the corner of her eye, she looked up at a particularly tall one. Pale fingers came up to grip it tightly, and though Dwayna was wearing black boots and a long, emerald green dress that hugged her form, she climbed up it with ease, as if the tree was helping her, and soon she leaned from a branch to look at what was happening below.

A fight enfolded before her eyes, a boy with a spear and what seemed to be a sort of a wind ability, fighting a man with a blade. As he appeared to be beginning to tire, others came to his aid, all with strange powers... A young girl wielding water, a boy wielding a golden axe, another one about Dwayna's age with wind abilities as well... A smile came to her lips as she realized that this meant she wasn't the only one with strange abilities.

Dwayna realized soon after that this was why she was being pulled towards the light. Being in tune with nature and the Earth, she assumed that it was calling out to her, bringing her to meet these other individuals... For what purpose, she had yet to decipher, but she figured that it had something to do with the fact that the Earth's sorrow was still screaming in her ears.

She looked towards the end of the branch with her crystalline eyes, and slid towards the end of it carefully. With a soft snap, one of the smaller, dead branches st the end of this larger one came off in her hand. Dwayna held it close to her chest as she slid back down the tree comfortably, again seemingly like the plant was helping her to do so. She smiled up at the tree and a deep ghost of a whisper came out of her pale lips.

"Thank you."

She turned and looked towards the light again, and started walking around the back streets, taking solace in an alley. Her eyes then fell back down to the dead branch in her hand. A soft sigh came to her lips, and her eyes closed tightly. She took in a deep breath of air, as if something very painful was about to happen.

The branch was covered in a green aura know, shifting and warping in her grasp, elongating into a silvery looking sword. It soon gained intricately weaved designs on it matching that of the branch that it was before, glowing green in flowing motions like blood pumping through veins. As this was happening, Dwayna winced and clenched her teeth, the arm opposite of the one clutching the sword seemingly turning a shade of gray. A few of the veins in her arms began to stand out, a darker shade of gray flowing down them and weaving into a design on the back of her hand. After the whole thing was finished, she clutched a brand new sword in her right hand, the left marked with a design that looked like a skull.

It was as if she had given a part of her life to bring life again within the dead branch. It was horribly tragic, the way that Dwayna was connected with the Earth. For everything that she put life into, she had to take the life from something else. Her arm was not lost for good, but to gain its former state she would either have to make the sword a dead branch again, or take the life of other plants or creatures...

Her greatest flaw was probably that she mostly took from herself to give to others.

((Insert obligatory Powers of Grayskull comment here.))

 

[Pheonix]

It was yet another ordinary day at the clinic, Fenix thought. There was always much to do round here, much suffering to ease. The large man, and he was quite large both in height and girth, was just finishing up with a young child, giving him a pat on the head as he ushered him out of the small building to his waiting parents sitting on a bench outside when he felt it. A very large release of energy laced with anger and sorrow. It had come from the run down section of town out where there were more streetrunners than there were true homes. He shook his head, his greying almost salt and pepper mousy black hair swinging with the motion. Someone was definitely causing trouble and he paused to think of who would be silly enough to do something like that, rubbing his sausage like fingers up and down his nose as he thought.

"Oh no... they must have found Roland!" Fenix thought quickly. Gathering up his travel medic bag he quickly closed his small clinic at the edge of the poor district and waived away the two remaining people. "I am so sorry, but something has come up, come by again tomorrow or go see the Healing Hands and tell them I sent you, they will give a discount. Now I must go. Again, I am sorry I couldn't get to you." He hated sending away people like this, but if what he felt was any indication, there would be much worse to tend to, if there was anything left of his friend to tend.

He rushed down the street in a rolling waddle, his slightly dirty doctor's lab coat flapping behind him, surprising many at how fast such a fat man could be. It had been ages since he had had to strain himself much, the military had trained him quite well back in the day, and even though he had gained much weight he still bore the base muscular figure underneath. He finally got around a corner and saw it. The remnants of a pillar of light slowly fading away, and if he wasn't turned around, it was coming from the last known hiding spot of his old friend and his young charge.

As he was rushing along he saw a peculiar sight, a young woman in a form fitting green dress, leather hat, and black boots seemingly to almost flow down a rather large tree, something that would have been dificult enough to pull off even without the dress and it made him stop and watch. She seemed to almost be talking to the tree before taking a dead branch and running off in the direction he had been heading, towards the remnants of the beam of light. Curious if she was one of the ones he might be concerned about he quickly followed her and watched as she quickly ducked down an alleyway and paused with the dead branch, seemingly concentrating to shape it into a sword in her hand, her opposite arm turning a sickly shade of grey in the process.

"Young ones, always eager to fight, seemingly rushing into it nowadays," Fenix thought as he came into the alley.

As he stepped towards her he calmly said, "Excuse me miss, but have you ever heard the expression 'Never show your hand unless someone has paid to see it'? I have learned never to show off any secret talents you have unless absolutely necessary, it will keep you alive and kicking longer than most." He paused, gauging her reaction. He continued in a slightly hurried tone, "Now if you expect to fight somebody, especially if it is the people who I think you are, then you had best come with me. With all the energy being released right now it seems my old friend has brought many with similar feelings as you to him, like moths to the flame. I suspect quite a few will need my services before the day is over, and it will be safer to travel in numbers. They seem to have trouble dealing with us in multiples when we are ready for them." Fenix finished with a grin as he brushed past the now slightly startled young woman.

"Oh, and by the way, name is Fenix, medic by trade," he called over his shoulder as he held up his small black medicine bag.

 

[Kalseng]

People just seemed to be swarming to Kalseng's position, all wielding some kind of weapon or slinging magic firebolts. He backed up a bit further, and heard an explosion in the distance. The man he fought lay dead on the other side of a girl wielding a whip of water, an axe lodged in his back. Kalseng was looking to find the killer, and saw a teenaged boy retrieving the axe. IT took him a moment to gather together his bearings, but he eventually figured out what was happening. He felt a familiar strand of energy coming near him, which drew his attention. Kalseng swiftly turned his head away from the battle, and saw her.

"Links!" Kalseng shouted happily. His spear disappeared as he ran towards her, his arms spread wide. His cousin, Links, was really the only family he had at the moment. He slung himself into her arms, and his words were choked out. "R-Roland, h-he..." Kalseng looked up at Links again, just hugging her. "C-Can we go? Roland said that was the signal to run..." Kalseng thought back a few days, remembering his talk with Roland in the church.

---

The corridors were still as empty as they had ever been, still hollow, and still full of wild acoustics.

"But Roland!" Kalseng whined, grabbing the man by his shoulder. His voice carried extremely well in the old church, much to the dismay of whoever listened.

"No buts," He reprimanded, thwacking Kalseng's ear. "They're coming for us. If I die, you and Links have to run."

"Ha!" Kalseng scoffed, throwing his head back. "You, die!" He couldn't help but laugh to the ceiling, his voice echoing loudly. But when he looked at Roland again, his face was dead serious under his hood.

"It might happen," He said solemnly. "And if it does, promise me you'll escape." Kalseng awkwardly shifted his weight between his legs, a look of concern on his face.

"Okay," Kalseng said reluctantly. "I promise." He looked up at Roland, who was smiling happily.

"Now, draw your spear," Roland said, summoning up his dagger. "I'm going to teach you to beat me sooner or later!"

---

Kalseng swallowed hard at the memories, and he pulled away from Links. "I think I can jump the wall," He said thoughtfully, staring at the large wall towering over the city. "Can you?" HE asked, turning his attention back to his cousin.

 

[Linkachu]

Even when tightly embracing the young teenager, Links' grasp never released from the hilt of her sword. She stepped back as he did and replied to his question, "Yes. Don't worry about me. But..." her words trailed off for a moment as she surveyed the unfamiliar people around them, "...what about all of them?"

Never in her wildest dreams would Links have imagined that so many of their kind lived within the city limits. Roland had alluded to such at times, but he'd never given a straight answer when discussing the numbers - only that, while limited, allies were out there. It was just a matter of time until key events would be set into motion which would bring them all together...

This must have been what he'd meant. But why now? And how could they be sure that others like them weren't still out there struggling to survive? Links didn't revel in the idea of leaving potential companions behind, but they were running out of time.

"This is just the beginning," she rose the volume of her voice then, speaking not to Kalseng but the strangers that surrounded them; even those she could not see with her eyes. "What we've seen thus far is just the tip of their ambition to wipe us all out. For what reason I'd love to know, but if we wait around to find out we're sure to be dead by sundown. Make your choice now." She turned back to her cousin and gazed into his eyes. "We're leaving."

OOC: Just moving things along. If I overstepped anything here, let me know and I'll edit it.

 

[Stark]

Alonzo’s agile frame swayed with the breeze that seemed to emanate from the cousins. He was reflecting on the events that had just happened, collecting and sorting his thoughts, so wasn’t paying attention for the moment to those who had turned up since his arrival.

‘They had an idea of what was happening,’ he thought. ‘They knew what was to come, what to expect. If I want to get anywhere, learn anything about what the heck is happening here, they’re the people I need to be with.’

Alonzo’s thoughts halted for a moment, as he gazed over to the others of similar calibre in the area, some others had appeared as well as those already here; a young girl with control of water, wielding a whip. An older, well built boy with an axe of massive strength lay at his side. A younger girl with an unusually fitting dress sense, and an even more unusually fitting sword waited in the alley. A woman clutching a sword with her live arm – the other looking rather dead – was accompanied by a man of the healing trade. The last one in the area was a fox-like female, fiery in personality and reality.

‘They all seem to be of the same… species, as myself. I suppose I can assume them allies,’ he thought to himself, gazing back to the stormy couple in the road.

“I think I can jump the wall,” said the younger of the wind-wielding teens.

‘So… he does know what he wants. He seems like the one to be following, though…’ his thoughts trailed off as he looked at the others.

“We're leaving,” said the older of the teens, with a determined look in her eyes.

“Not without me, you’re not. If you’re looking to finish this, I’m here to help,” Alonzo informed the pair, turning to the others as he shut his eyes. He focussed his mind, ripping electrons from the atoms in the air to form a holster that attached itself to the man’s tribal-like belt. Yellow-white lines of electricity flowed into it, forming a pistol with bolt-shaped carvings across it.

“If anyone else has a better idea, speak up and I might swap sides.”

OOC: So if anyone else desperately wants me, I'll form another group up quite easily. If not, I'm with Kal and Katie.

 

[Kalseng]

Kalseng smiled at his cousin, glad that one of them was definitely sure of what was best for them all. Kalseng was prepared to be a leader, but apparently lacked both age and the refined quality of your average champion. He took the two confirming looks of both the lightning wielder and his cousin that the time was appropriate, and he placed his spearhead to the ground.

"After this," Kalseng said, scanning the crowd. "They'll know we've left. We'll have to split up into groups, and more importantly, we'll have to travel fast. There are mountains to the north, a forest to the northwest, and a river to the direct west. They all lead in different directions, but that's to our advantage." Kalseng took a deep breath, and pulled the earth's energy into his system. A few blades of nearby grass began to wilt, energy being pulled from beneath them. "Let's go. Links, erm, Sparky," Kalseng said, nodding to the two. "Let's go. I suppose it's best if we take the mountains. Best for all of our strengths, I'd say."

Kalseng turned towards the wall, and pushed himself off of the ground. His spear turned directly into an upwards moving air channel, giving Kalseng an insane boost. The grey, metal wall turned into nothing but a blur as Kalseng tore through the air, coming to a weightless stop as he began to gently arc over the wall. Kalseng turned to face the city and pulled his back into an arch, curving himself around the wall. A group of guards were approaching him on either side, but they weren't moving nearly fast enough. Kalseng had already vanished before they were even close enough to see each other. Great luck in this case.

Kalseng began to nosedive to the ground, but he still had enough energy to pull off something as he fell closer. The time he'd have until impact would be about four seconds. Four... Kalseng wove the energy together, forming a solid net. Three... He pushed it in tighter, becoming a near column. Two... Kalseng began pushing it outwards, feeling the air around him rush down. One. Kalseng was only about five feet from the ground when a sudden rush of air caught Kalseng, cushioning his fall. Kalseng gently swung his legs beneath him, gently landing on the soft ground. He turned to his right, eyeing the mountains. At the farther left base, there rested a small forest, expanding farther north. A river branched off in front of him, curving strangely. A dense forest followed the river side, allowing great cover. Plenty of room for them to escape.

Kalseng bolted north, trying to link energies with Link, pushing a brief message through the channels. He felt the earth carry along his own energy until it collected up in Link's and Sparky's own energies.

"Hurry!"