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[MegaAbsol]

(Woops! So sorry. I haven't been getting notifications for this. I wonder why that happens.)

The battle was over before Miko could do much more than shoot an arrow - that only served to distract. She blinked, and suspiciously eyed the hawk as it was getting butchered. She would've thought that a beast of the fourth rank would've put up a tougher fight...but then again she appeared to be the only first ranked person here. She returned the second arrow she had drawn and slung her bow back, adjusting her arm guard and fidgeting as the population in the area suddenly increased. She didn't do so well with people - at least not in groups. She noticed the male - ...Lao? Well, Eastern Empire after all... - looking at her, and while she gave him a very deadpanned face, unwilling to come over and say hi to the new arrivals, she didn't exactly wanna leave either. While slightly annoyed that she'd get no training in today, and that so many people had clustered here, her interest was piqued, and so she hung around the outskirts of the group, hoping no one would notice her...just skulking there. (I know, it's suspicious xD)

She inspected the two new additions from afar, the two females, both evidently practitioners of Fire Battle-Qi, and it seemed that Lao possessed Light Battle-Qi. Would anyone realise what her element was? She'd done nothing overly flashy to reveal it...so...well, having it known wasn't exactly a bad thing either, but knowledge was a weapon in itself, and Miko was going in no holds barred! Her ruminations were interrupted by a second glance by Lao and he walked over, offering some meat to her. She blinked a couple of times in surprise and stared up at him.

"Um, I don't think I should. I didn't really participate in the battle..." She cast a glance at the child digging in - the meat did smell delicious. Another pause of hesitation, then she nodded her gratitude to the male and dug in. She'd grudgingly accept that it was rather delicious! She didn't mean to wolf it all down, but she'd been hungrier than she'd thought, so the black-haired archer polished off the meat in a couple of minutes. Stifling a satisfied sigh, she smiled at Lao - the first smile she'd actually given him. Well, anyone who offered her food was okay in her books!

 

[Gamefreak1996]

Lao returned the smile and sat beside her, happy to have earned Miko's trust. Taking a bite of his own dinner, he looked up at the stars and moon, recalling a tale his mother had told him long ago. Out of all the people in his past, his mother was the only one aside from his two friends from the village and his uncle that he could consider a family. Those days were, however, long passed and short-lived. Trying to take his mind off his past, he decided to try and strike up a conversation with the archer. "So...how long have you been practicing archery?" he asked.

 

[Kyuukon]

Blair glanced at Lao and Miko as she finished her meat. "Who are they..?" She started thinking to herself. When she did finish, she was full. She hasn't had a good full meal in days. As she returned to tend to her rifle, she looked at them again. "An archer huh..?" She thought herself. "Maybe I should introduce my self..it would be a pain to try to do it later." She thought again. She stood up and looked at Aerin. "Do you know them?" She asked her.

 

[Yifun618]

"Can't say I do. They saved my life in the previous battle, though. I trust they are good people." Aerin said in reply. She noticed that the sun was about to set, meaning that the nocturnal beasts were about to come out. They needed somewhere to shelter in. "It's about to get dark. Maybe we should something up to sleep in?" Aerin asked towards the group. She lit a torch in the fire as the last bit of sunlight receded behind the horizon. The only light was from the fire. "We could try to go up a tree, as the Windwolf packs can't reach us up there." Aerin offered. She knew Windwolves were quite vicious in packs, and you never wanted to fight one.

 

[Kyuukon]

"Wind wolf packs? I recall fighting one earlier. Yes, they are extremely powerful. It was able to tank out the power from my rifle. Go up a tree? I guess it's better than staying down here. Let's do it" She replied to Aerin's offer. As to what she said before, "I see..well, I guess we're all strangers to each other." She responded. We should at least prepare our weapons if we are going to stay up in a tree. Who knows what can ambush us from above."

 

[Yifun618]

Aerin tightened her grip on her sword. "You're right. I can take first watch, if that's fine with you." She offered. She knew they had to have a watch cycle if they wanted a better chance of survival. "I'll just watch from a branch and wake you in about four hours. Sound good?" She asked.

 

[Kyuukon]

Blair agreed to her plan and nodded. "That sounds good, but what about afterwards? Will it be someone else?" She said while loading up her rifle. She knew it would be a good plan but she was curious on who would watch after her turn will pass.

 

[Gamefreak1996]

Noticing the setting sun, and the defensive measures Blair and Aerin were taking, Lao looked to Miko. "Shall we take a page from their book and get to the treetops as well? Or do you have a shelter nearby?" he asked. As he said this, he glanced around, scanning the visible horizon for any signs of danger.

 

[Yifun618]

"Whoever wants next watch can take it. If not, I'll wake whoever looks the most comfortable in sleep." Aerin said with a smirk. She strapped her sword to her waist, and set her foot in a foothold on the tree. She slowly climbed her way up the mighty oak, and settled down on a branch after testing its sturdiness. She rested her back against the trunk, getting as comfortable as she could from the high point. She looked down, and estimated that she was about 30 feet up. She set her sword on her lap to polish, in case she got bored. She really had a nice view from up here of everything around her.

 

[MegaAbsol]

Miko nodded at Lao's suggestion, hesitating for a moment after. Being of a somewhat suspicious disposition, while she knew people banding together wasn't necessarily common, it had its perks - but having her survival chances increased didn't quite appeal much to the reclusive archer. She continued to hold the other two females in suspicious regard depsite them getting along very well with the rest of the group. She had little reason to trust the group she'd barely known for a few hours. And the second reason was...

Miko did indeed have a shelter nearby - while unsafe, the girl was used to living on the fringe of the forest, with magical beasts for regular conpany. It was a walkable distance, albeit possibly just barely for someone not used to trekking through the thick, dense undergrowth. She bit her lip, staring at the ground. Her house was undoubtedly a safer place to spend the night, but did she really want these people over? She barely knew them, and what she did know was what happened to those who trusted too easily. She sighed, and resigned to accepting the half-baked consolation that it wasn't safe to walk back in relative darkness. She'd hate to run into a pack of Goldmane Mastiffs. Or worse, Vampiric Iron Bulls. In any case, they seemed to be getting comfortable anyway. "Let's grab a tree," Miko nodded at Lao, walking over to a tree she deemed suitable. She noted that he'd asked a question about her archery, and despite being cautious, there couldn't be any harm in letting him know, could there? Well, plenty of time to answer once on the tree. She tightened her arm guard and began climbing.

 

[Gamefreak1996]

Lao followed suit, grabbing a low branch of the tree and hoisting himself up after her. Pushing his hat back, he continued to climb until they were at a good enough height. Looking up at the sky, he recalled the times he had run around the forest with his friends as a child, and how they would always climb the trees to make sure none of the hostile creatures could reach them. How he missed those days...

 

[Kyuukon]

As Blair was climbing up, she noticed Lao and Miko walking off in the other direction. "Hey. Are you guys going somewhere else?" She asked. She turned to face them. "It's fine if you are. But I'm just wondering.." Blair added. She knew only having 2 people would be a bad thing.

 

[MegaAbsol]

Miko swung her lithe frame over a branch, looking down at the one Lao had chosen. It was barely a couple of feet above his, so she could probably dangle her foot in his face if she wanted. Not that she would, right? She shook her head, looking out in the same direction, watching the night set in. The obsidian sky was scattered with a smattering of twinkling stars, and their hope reflected in the archers eyes. It was a wonderful end to an unusual day. Her reverie was broken by the address of the younger addition to the combat group. She turned to blink at the...gunner? She possessed a gun, so. "Um, no," she hedged, uncomfortable with starting a conversation with a new person...all over again. "I guess its our company too, for the night," She shrugged non-committally.

 

[Yifun618]

"So who wants second watch?" Aerin asked to the temporary party they had formed. She continued shining her sword, leaning comfortably against the trunk of the tree. She got as comfortable as one could get up in a tree.

 

[Gamefreak1996]

"I'll do it." Lao volunteered. "Wake me up for my shift, please." With that, he leaned against the trunk and adjusted his hat over his eyes, quickly falling asleep as the night sky looked over them.

 

[Kyuukon]

Blair nodded and her big, blue eyes softened a bit at his request. "Alright, that's good." She said. "That means that you, ma'am, will take the last shift." She turned to face her. Afterwards, she went up onto a high branch covered with some leaves to lay and relax on it. She held her rifle onto her stomach and yawned. "Wake me up in about 2-3 hours Aerin, I'll take that shift next.." She said.

 

[Yifun618]

Aerin sat, alert as could be as she silently polished her sword. The first two hours passed pretty fast, with not much activity. Aerin looked down at the baby Thunderwing in her lap. She realized she never named it. She decided to call it Zhang. Zhang slept peacefully in Aerin's lap, curled up in a nice position. Aerin felt it was time to change shifts, so she got up, carefully setting the Thunderwing down without waking it up. AS she started to climb up towards Blair, she heard something. A faint rustling, just at the base of the tree. She froze in place. She stared down, and saw three figures emerge from the bush. They were wearing all black, barely visible. Aerin identified swords at their waists. Bandits. They were silently climbing the tree. They must have noticed her, until Aerin noticed they were climbing towards Miko's branch. Aerin knew she had to act fast. She still had surprise on her side, so she didn't yell out in warning. Reaching into her pack, she grabbed a throwing knife. She took aim, and chucked it. It hit its mark on one of the bandit's chest. He let out a guttural sound, coughed up blood, and fell from the tree, landed on the ground with a soft thump. That was when Aerin jumped down, tackling the other two out of the tree and drawing her sword. She yelled out, hoping the party could hear her. She was still a little dazed from the fall. She raised her sword, blocking the blow from one of the bandits aiming for her head. The sword clanged loud enough to wake the dead.

 

[Kyuukon]

As Blair was sleeping, she had heard the scream of Aerin and immediately woke up. "Aerin?..Is everything okay?" She asked. She did not hear a response though. Curious, she climbed down her branch, only to see that she was being attacked by bandits. "Ugh..really? Bandits at this time..?" She sighed. "This shouldn't be too much of a problem." She added. "Don't worry Aerin, I got this." She grabbed her rifle and stood on the branch, aiming at one of them. "Oh please god of the fatherland. Please bestow the power of the gods to take down this enemy." She prayed as she aimed. Afterwards, she shot a round of a powerful fire spell that came from her rifle. In result, one of the bandits seemed to have burned to death. "There we go...that's one..." She said while sounding exhausted. The spell took a lot from her energy.

 

[Yifun618]

"Thanks!" Aerin yelled, parrying another sword blow aimed at her torso. She quickly ignited her Battle-Qi, a fiery red glow surrounding her torso. Aerin didn't notice, but she leaked out a small amount of lightning Qi as well, making her have a slight yellow grow around her head area. She condensed all the Battle-Qi onto the tip of her sword, and stabbed out. Amazingly, the opponent blocked the blow aside as if it were nothing. Aerin was tired after that much condensing in a short period of time, and was barely able to block his blows when she noticed something. There was a sinister black glow around his sword, as if seemingly went in and out of shadows. It was Darkness Battle-Qi. Suddenly, the whole area seemed to go pitch black. Aerin knew this was a dark spell. A warrior who knows magic? Aerin thought in her head, stuck in the dark prison. Aerin couldn't see anything around her, except for the blade of her assailant. She rapidly dodging and parried, growing more and more tired. Sweat poured down her back. She had no idea what rank this person was, only that he was certainly higher than her. The blackness grew more and more deep, and Aerin started making mistakes. Her blocks were sluggish, and she even received a few cuts on her arms. Blood pouring down her sides, Aerin knew she was in trouble. She lost sight of the blade, and knew that was a bad thing. Suddenly, Aerin felt a sharp pain in her side and saw the blade of the bandit stuck in it. Aerin felt her vision go red, and then fell over, blood pouring out of the wound. She flickered in and out of consciousness, and hen knew the best route to take. Play dead. That way, he wouldn't finish her off. She closed her eyes, and lay as still as possible on the ground. She tried her hardest not to wince as the bandit pulled his blade out of her side.

 

[Kyuukon]

Blair's eyes widened as she stared at Aerin. She sort of had the idea that was she was playing dead. But since she would know the bandit would find out her location. She aimed her rifle again. This time. She widened her eyes and the pupils turned yellow. Aiming for the head, Blair slowly pointed to rifle towards it. "This better kill it..." She said quietly. Again, she shot another explosive fire spell towards the bandit, resulting in a lot of smoke towards the area.

 

[Yifun618]

(I have a suggestion I'm going to post on discussion, so everybody check that.)

Aerin flashed in and out of consciousness, visions of her family and her... father. Attempting to teach her magic, before finding out she had a low aptitude. Aerin thought that magic could really help out right now. She reminisced until she jolted awake by a loud explosion. Blair's rifle. Aerin watched the shot hit her near killed square in the face, watched him fall, but then slowly arise. Oh it was torture, knowing she couldn't help. She attempted to circulate her Battle-Qi, but nothing happened. She was too weak. The bandit stumbled a little, then fell over. Aerin assumed he was dead. She couldn't tell. Everything was slipping. Aerin forced herself up, onto her knees, and then attempted to stand. Too much at one time. She nearly passed out. To her surprise, the bandit seemed to be still alive. She could hear his breathing. He was lying not to far away from her, gasping for air and on fire. He suddenly got up and trudged towards her. Aerin, too weak to lift her sword, did the only thing she could: attempt magic. Putting her hands up, she recited the spell in the ancient language. Circulating all her Battle-Qi into her hands, letting the elements mix, she felt something of power emerge from her. To her surprise, it worked. A small ball of pure electricity, not larger than her fist, slowly and rather pathetically, came out of her hands and hit the bandit. He jolted a few times, and then fell. The last thing Aerin heard before passing out were his screams as he slowly burned to death...

 

[MegaAbsol]

(Can we assume that the timeskip occurs here? If so...probably disregard this post xD If not, it's a placeholder for editing and writing an actual post!)

 

[Gamefreak1996]

"So, that's the gist of it, pal. You help us defeat the Rhine Army, and we'd be happy to help you conquer Jiang Shi." The general said to the man in the straw hat. He was dressed strangely, this outsider, but he couldn't afford to be picky when the Rhine Empire were currently in control of the field of battle. "And, as a bonus, we'll throw in 100,000 gold coins." he added, pouring more whiskey into his mug. "Deal?" The man nodded, then stood up. "Alright. The camp ground's about 60 miles south, southeast from here. You can cut through the forest to save time if ya want. The stranger paused at this...then nodded again and left the room. "Huh...strange lad." The general muttered as he scratched his beard and downed another mug.

Had it been five years already since he last visited that forest? That was the question on Lao's mind as he strode out of the castle walls. It felt like only yesterday since he had been caught swimming about in the creek by the archer Miko. A smile formed on his face as he recalled how she adorably blushed as she looked away. Maybe he would meet her again, and hopefully under...less awkward circumstances. With that in mind, Lao entered the inn to rest up for his journey tomorrow.

 

[Yifun618]

Five years. That was how long it had been since Aerin left to enter the Mountain Range. She whistled, and her magical beast swooped down. "How are you, Zhang? Up to a little bit of flight?" Their mental connection was quite good, as they had been together for five years already. Aerin looked at herself. She was about to leave the greatest journey of self improvement she had ever had. Her features had changed since she entered, resulting in her being quite attractive. She had already turned down many guys who came asking for her hand. She was a bit famous towards the inner rims of the Range, as someone not to be messed with. Her personal prowess had jumped. As she rode Zhang high above the forest, she remembered one of her first encounters. Where she had tamed the Thunderwing that she was currently riding. "Land here, Zhang." She said mentally to her beast, immediately noticing the clearing where she had met the others. The archer, the warrior, and the girl with the gun. Aerin had nearly died here, and had finally learned to use magic. Her magic she was at the fourth rank at the moment, while her warrior skills were no less than the seventh rank. Her magical beast was slightly ahead of her, at the eighth rank. She rummaged through her bag, looking at all the valuables she had collected. She figured she could sell everything for about 100,000 gold coins or so, if the economy was the same as when she left. She brushed some her long hair out of her face, and leaned up against the tree. Her scar was still healing from the stab wound. Aerin hoped she might be able to meet them again, as they had helped save her life.

 

[MegaAbsol]

(I recently finished the series, so this is an opportune timeskip )

Miko looked up from her book, taking in the time with gradually sharpening eyes. With a sigh and a sweeping movement, she got to her feet, closing the book, and strode off to return it. As always, as she exited the library, she looked around with hopeful glances, lips pursed. It had been five years, but that hadn't stopped the young adult from expecting to catch a glimpse of a familiar face. She had nearly died that night, being ambushed by a group of bandits as she slept, and the fire warrior, Aerin, almost had, much closer to death than she had been. She hoped she'd been alright, considering how her supine body had been hurriedly whisked away in anxiety and palpable fear. That was the last she'd seen of the company; departed, with no more than a fleeting 'goodbye'.

Biting her lips before allowing them to part slightly, the female's eyes softened as she looked down at the book in her hands. One had to be rich to live in the city, so she chose the power she required to live in the forest. It was out of the way, perfectly isolated, and she had taken to teaching herself the skills she needed to survive - magic. She had since made a realization most made much later; that those who taught themselves couldn't rely on the endless manuals that existed on the plane, one could only rely on themselves. Miko had always loved to read, so when she made her monthly trips to the closest town and made a beeline for the library, she always only glanced over the manuals available for reading. It was the best when methods were learnt and customized for her own use. After all, everybody's prowess was different. So, slowly, painstakingly, the mage had learnt the basics of magic, learnt incantations when she could, and guaranteed a peaceful life in her surroundings. She'd even formulated a few of her own incantations when she could understand them, and was scrutinizing what she'd later learn to be the Profound Truths of Sound.

Considering her surroundings, where there were ample amounts of wind-type magical beasts, Miko had taken to watching them almost exclusively, learning from them, their techniques, their lifestyles, their secrets. She'd always had a connect with nature, and by further strengthening them, she realized just how much nature had to offer. Her insights in the laws were solely based on what she learnt from the magical beasts, and customized for her use. In fact, based on understanding itself, she outstripped her rank, and so tended to passively absorb elemental essence while focusing on other tasks, such as reading or watching the creatures of the forest. She sketched concepts she had difficulty understanding, such as the wind blades Windwolves could form, and had compiled together a small spellbook to refer to and learn; the one that she leafed through now, even as she walked.

She paid little attention to her surroundings until she found herself in the fringes of the forest, and tucked away her books, rummaging in her bag for a small dagger. Closing her eyes, she exhaled slightly, whispering the words for the low-level spell, Windscout. An elusive, intrusive wind rustled through her immediate surroundings, revealing to her where life lurked, and Miko decided to speed through the area altogether. She was a fairly powerful magus, and not many magical beasts confronted her these days. However, every so often, she had to go foraging for what she could scrounge together; perhaps some herbs, or the rare magicite core. Every so often, she needed gold coins as much as the next person. But for now, dagger held at the ready, she cautiously paced through the forest, before breaking into a speed spell - Supersonic.

She found herself at her house almost instantly, and blinked, beginning to climb up to her arboreal house. Less threat of night-time beastial ambushes that way. Today Miko had brought back the volumes of Advanced History of the Yulan Plane, and she was eager to begin reading them. She paused and turned; she thought she saw a flicker of cyan from the corner of her eyes, but when no further movement attracted her attention, she turned and resumed her climb. She could have floated her way up, but there was something about the excitement of a climb up a vine that left her aquiver. Hauling herself over the window, boots securely landing against the sturdy wood, Miko gave a little feline stretch and curled up on the windowsill, eyes running over the words. But today, they blurred into unintelligible dashes of black and white. She frowned, finding herself unable to extract her thoughts from that fateful day five years ago. And she dreamed she encountered that familiar smile once again.

(I'm so sorry; this is what happens when you try to rush a large post ^^' Also, I wondered if one could find a Windripper fox in the Yulan Plane. Would it be possible?)

 

[Yifun618]

(OOC: that's fine!)
Aerin pet her magical beast, and just reflected inn that night at the same tree she now stood at. She suddenly felt a gust of wind kick up the grass and rustle the branches. Most wouldn't notice this, but to someone who had been in this forest for as long as she, she knew it meant one thing: a windscout spell. Aerin quickly gripped her sword, her senses heightened. Her body glowed in a fiery light as she circulated her fire Battle-Qi. She recently started relying on the explosive and unpredictable aspects of fire and electricity, to result in one powerful attack followed by many quicker attacks, as fast a lightning. Aerin looked towards the direction of where the windscout was cast, and decided she was up for a little exercise in the morning. Many who dwelt in the outer rim of these mountains where not very powerful, and Aerin wanted to see this mage. Mages were rare, and this person could be a powerful ally.

Aerin told Zhang to circle near her in the sky, and she would call for him if needed. She trekked through the thick foliage, attempting to follow the direction of where she had felt the scouting spell come from. She quietly drew her sword just as she noticed something. A home. Aerin knew it was dangerous to live here, so she was able to figure out this person must be fairly powerful. She could sense a strong presence of wind magic coming from inside. The wind mage who had scouted her earlier. He or she lived here. Aerin caught.a glimpse of a figure climbing into the cottage, and she thought they looked a little familiar. Aerin dismissed the hunch, brushing her hair out of her face.

Aerin didn't know if she should stay there, or just leave. But Aerin felt she just had to know who this was, and why they looked so familiar to her. With one nightly leap, she was at the door to the house. Aerin just stood there for a few moments, and then knocked. This was going to be awkward if it was a stranger, Aerin thought to herself.

 

[Kyuukon]

It's been 5 years since Blair had been in this forest. During that time, she had been trained under the empire she was in and had grown tremendously within her magic, range and accuracy. Although she was trained so well, she still had not improved under her social skills.

After the training, she had gone out and bought a new rifle to use. It was called the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle. It was known to be a very powerful weapon so she thought it would suit her well. She had been involved in large amounts of battles and during those times, her mercifulness towards enemies had been decreasing.

Her height had remained the same but her hair had grown a little, she kept her antenna sticking out from her hair and developed quite a build. Even through all the training, she was still underestimated due to her height. Afterwards, she left the empire to find the only people she considered "friends". She traveled to many places in order to find them.

Then it hit her. She remembered that the first place she met them were in a forest. She started to walk into the long route that led into said forest. On her back, she had her new weapon attached to her back. She was determined to meet them again after it has been quite a while since she saw them.

 

[MegaAbsol]

(Need to stop appearing once a week. Also, would it be possible to tame a Windripper fox? I mean, it is a divine beast, innate ability and all...)

Miko was bookmarking her pages when a knock interrupted her otherwise peaceful evening. Jolting to attention, the mage cursed herself for letting her attention lapse. Another lapse like that could have gotten her killed. Her breath becoming shallow with a practiced air, she dropped to the floor silently, mouthing the first few words to the Windblades spell. Muttering the spell almost the whole way through, she paused at the end, ready to release the attack at a moment's notice. At the same time, she rolled across the room and swiped up her dagger. Thus armed, she cautiously approached the door.

Logic said bandits would never knock and lose the element of surprise, but then again, such behaviour was exactly what she didn't expect. She didn't know who stood on the other side of the wooden frame, and of what strength, so she couldn't hardly be blamed when what she took to be a perfect stranger showed up at her house. Atleast she had been mostly silent, so the surprise visitor wouldn't expect it when she flung the door open...to a familiar face of fiery hair and slightly changed, but recognisably poignant facial features. The fire warrior... "Aerin..."

(Since Blair had mentioned Aerin's name repeatedly...but Miko probably won't know Blair's name though)