Redemption

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=#9933ff][b]OOC: I'm going to lengthen my posts out a fraction. How many posts do you think would be good? 3-4? I'm aiming for that anyway.[/b] " Split up? Now who's great idea was that?" Kira growled. She took the middle path. It twisted and turned up the barren mountainside. Nothing but rocks and stones could be seen either side of the track. " Such a barren land. What a way to go! Note to self: never let Aron pick my path again." Trudging along, Kira found a small bubbling stream that flowed out of the mountain. She sniffed the water, testing whether it was safe to drink. Deciding it was safe, Kira took a handful and drank. It was cold and crisp. " Good stuff." She stood and yawned. The road up the mountainside grew steeper and steeper. Kira sighed in disbelief. " Note to self: kill Aron when I get back." Again, Kira set out. The sun was beating down on her. She could see the waves of heat coming off the barren mountainside. Her two katanas on her back were becoming increasingly heavier everytime she took a step. However, something caught her attention. Something was shifting out in the rocky wasteland at her left side. It was following her, flanking her a safe distance away - a safe enough distance that whoever or whatever it was thought they wouldn't be noticed. " If they had done their research, they'd know that samurai can feel the presence of others around them." Kira sighed. " Doesn't look like I will have any decent challengers in the near future." Keeping a constant knowing of their whereabouts, Kira trudged up the mountainside. She shifted her weapons on her back and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Soon the day began to turn into night. The soft calls of hunting birds now on their daily hunt echoed down the mountains. Kira's follower managed to keep up with her quick pace despite the steep hillside. Now Kira had found a grove of pine trees to rest in for the night. The grove was fairly large, spanning at least a few miles long - perfect for her if anything happened. She made a small fire and caught a few fish from a nearby mountain-stream. They were fresh-water fish, so their taste was a bit muddy. She cooked them over the fire. The smell was almost mouth-watering. Kira's stomach grumbled. " I know, I know. Soon... they'll be coming soon." Her stomach seemed to grumble in reply. She laughed. The sudden disturbance of animals nearby caught Kira's attention. Her sense picked up not only her lone follower, but now a whole troop of followers. She smiled to herself, seemingly ignoring their presence. However, she kept a close sense on them. Eating her two fish, Kira munched on them happily. That troop crept closer and closer. Kira kept eating, finishing them in a matter of minutes. " Ahh.... that was good. Nothing like fire-grilled fish in the wilderness," Kira said to herself, giving the impression that she had no idea that people were surrounding her, preparing themselves for an attack. Stretching, she laid down, ready for bed. She clutched her two katanas to her body tightly. Thinking it was the perfect time to attack, the troop charged in. In an instant, Kira leapt to her feet and unsheathed her mother's katana. " Heh. Idiots!"[/color][/font]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=#6666cc]Alex sighed. He was way too worked-up to be wandering around the city. It felt like he could snap at any given moment. " So then, I'm getting really hungry. Do you want to go get something to eat with me? My treat." Drew asked, amsile on his face. Alex sighed and nodded. It was too impolite to not accept his request. The two walked down the city streets by themselves, talking often. Alex wasn't in the talking mood, but he hid it well. The only time Drew knew something wasn't right was when he snapped at him about his drinking. He didn't understand Alex at all. " So where are we going?" Alex asked. " Hmm.... well, there's this really good Italian restaurant nearby. How about that?" " Sounds good to me." Alex smiled. " Ooo... I could go some Fettucine Marina right now," Drew said, putting his hands behind his head. " Some garlic bread and Angel Hair Bolognaise would be just nice. Maybe a broth of some sort," Alex said too, thinking about the Italian food he was about to consume. In unison, the boys' stomachs growled. Both of them looked at their stomachs, then at each other and cacked up laughing. Alex half coughed, half laughed as the two walked down the street, closer to the restaurant. " Well, I think we're thinking alike," Drew said, trying to gain back his breath. " Agreed," Alex replied, clearing his throat. The day was growing into night. The street lights came on. Alex looked up at the sky, at the appearing stars. There wasn't a breath of wind. " I hope Jace-chan is all right." " He should be. He knows how to take care of himself," Drew said. " That's what I'm worried about," Alex said softly. [i]You have to stop worrying about him. He's fine as long as he stays in the apartment.[/i] " Why are you so worried about everyone Alex? It's like you put everyone's burdens on your shoulders and carries the world on them," Drew observed, his face becoming stern. " I care about everyone in our year Drew. Even if I don't know them very well, someone needs to be there just in case. And I don't put the world on my shoulders Drew-san." " Whatever you reckon Alex." Accidently, Alex bumped into a bypasser. " Oh, excuse me!" Alex said, turning to the person. As he turned, his right cheek was met with a fist. It connected and Alex's face jerked to the side. " ALEX!" Drew yelled. Alex turned towards the man who had just punched him. " Excuse me sir, but why did you do that?" Alex asked politely, although, his eyes were burning with rage. The man just sneered. " You're our first target for our gang's new terrorising strategy." " Hey man, that was uncalled for!" Drew yelled from beside Alex, who had a thin stream of blood trickle down from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away. " What you say makes no sense sir," Alex said, very controlled. " If we terrorise this neighbourhood enough, we can get whatever we want. As leader of the gang, I chose you two because you seemed like easy targets to test this out on," the leader replied. Alex growled. His fists clenched. " That's sick. People and power. It must be a human instinct to always want power, to control events and people." Drew noticed that Alex was getting all fired up. He knew Alex was very strong morally, but physically? " Alex, you shouldn't start a fight. You're injured." " This will be over with quickly." The tone of voice scared Drew. Alex walked up to the leader who stood in a defensive position. " You'd better think about what you're planning to do," Alex said angrily. He punched the guy on the right cheek. A sickening crack echoed in the street. The leader fell to the ground, holding his jaw. Alex looked down on him. " Next time you think about doing anything like this, remember what just happened," Alex growled before turning to Drew and walking away, leaving the guy in pain. Drew caught up to Alex. " What was that?" Drew asked, astonished. Alex sighed. " Sorry to show you that. Please, don't tell anyone else about that. Jace-chan will kill me." " How did you get so strong?" " Jace-chan usually likes to pick fights when his odds are against him. Sometimes, things get out of hand, and I have to step in. It's been like that ever since we met. Progressively, I've become stronger." " Remind me never to make you mad!" " I'd never do anything like that to people I care about. Jace-chan might be an exception though." Drew chuckled. " I thought you'd say that." [center]------------------------------------------[/center] After their meal, Alex and Drew headed back to their homes. Alex said good-bye to Drew as he walked towards he and Jace's apartment. Climbing up the stairs, Alex realised one of the stitches in his back had opened. He sighed. " Jace is going to kill me." After climbing the few flights of stairs to his apartment, Alex saw Kina, her sister and the lady that lived under them at their door. Jace's head was barely visible out of the door. Putting his emotions inside, Alex put on a smile and walked up the last few stairs. " Good evening Tina-san, Kina-san, Kitoyama-san. What are you doing here?" Alex asked happily. Jace looked out of the door. " Where have you been Princey-boy?" Jace asked. Alex turned and smiled at Jace. " I went for a walk with Drew. You shouldn't be up Jace-chan." " Do I ever listen to you?" " True." Alex walked over to their doorway. " Why don't you come in Tina-san and Kina-san? Kitoyama-san, your soap will be on in a few minutes." " Oh, right you are Alex. Good evening all." The old lady toddled down the stairs to her apartment. Alex showed the two girls in and walked to the kitchen. " Would you two like anything to drink?" [b]OOC: Albel or DC, either of you can take lead. But before asking Alex out Albel, can DC post? Thanks. And everyone is doing a really good job! Remember that's it night now, and soon it'll be Thursday soon. AND REMEMBER THIS RPG IS ABOUT ROMANCE! SO LET'S SEE SOME ATTRACTIONS START TO HAPPEN! :D[/b][/color][/font]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=#6666cc]Alex smiled as he got up from the chair and left Jace there to find a nurse, as he said. He talked to Ken on the phone, making sure those two were all right. After getting off the phone, he was swamped by nurses and doctors, all telling him off about not getting his wound treated immediately. If it was an anime, Alex would have had a sweatdrop slide down the side of his face. " I apologise," Alex started, " I only wanted to make sure my friends were okay first, before I worried about myself." The nurse that had looked into Jace's room when he'd woken up and talked to Alex suddenly spoke up. " No wonder you're friend calls you Princey-boy," she said kindly, half sighing. Alex blushed. " Well... I'm not really..." " Let's get the back fixed shall we?" Alex nodded. " Mm." The nurse took Alex back into Jace's room and slide the curtain between Jace's bed and the one Alex sat on. Alex took off his blood and soot stained shirt to reveal his toned body. The nurse almost gasped at the large gash in his back. " You should have got this attended to straight away," the nurse said sternly. " I always put my friends before myself, miss," Alex replied, just as sternly, which was strange for him. The nurse nodded, gave him a local aethestic before starting to stitch up the wound. " You might have a scar now," the nurse said as she stitched up the wound. " A small price to pay," Alex replied. " You are truly noble, you know that?" " I don't mean to be. It's just natural." " You're innocent too. And polite and kind." " Um... excuse me, but are you trying to hit on me?" " No. I'm just observing. Sorry if I made you a bit uncomfortable." ' No, it's all right." Jace heard this conversation through the curtain and watched the black figure of the nurse work around Alex's back. Alex never winced once as she worked, even though the numbness of the aethestic worn off long ago. In the next few minutes, the nurse had stitched up the wound and tended the skin around it. " You will have some major bruising around your back from whatever fell on you. You also aren't allowed to play any sport until this wound has healed completely. Otherwise you'll tear it and it'll have to been stitched again," the nurse said as Alex stood. Alex put back on his shirt and bowed thankfully. " Thank you for helping me." The nurse smiled. " It's my job afterall." Alex nodded and opened the curtains to see Jace standing. " Lets go home Princey-boy," he said. Alex nodded and the two walked out the of the hospital room. [center]--------------------------------------------------------[/center] In half an hour, the two were in their apartment. Alex had ordered Jace to lie down on the couch and not move without asking. Jace dared not provoke Alex at that moment, because of the extremely serious tone Alex had said the order in scared even him. Alex made Jace something to eat and drink and gave it to him, before taking Jace's shirt off of him. He walked to the laundry, took his own shirt of them and began to soak them. Sighing, Alex walked back out to Jace who had finished his meal. " Hungry, Jace-chan?" " Very." " Do you want anything else?" " Nope. I'm right. You look after me way too much that it's beginning to get freaky." " I'm not the one who's so injured that they can't walk anywhere by themselves," Alex snapped defensively. " Whoa! Calm down Alex. What's wrong with you?" Alex sighed and sat down in front of the couch. He turned the TV and PS2 on, and started playing 'Need for Speed: Underground 2'. Jace looked at Alex concerned. He'd never usually call Alex by his name, but something was wrong with him. " What's up Princey-boy?" Jace asked tentatively for once in his life. " I won't always be there to save you Jace-chan. You have to look after yourself more," Alex said, not turning to look at Jace. Jace smiled and ruffled Alex's hair. " You worry too much about me Princey-boy. I'm all right cause of you." " That's the point." Alex sighed. Jace looked over Alex's back to see the 5 inch stitched up gash in his back. " You get that when you got me?" Jace asked. Alex didn't answer and continued to play the Sony. Jace sighed, getting a little frustrated with Alex. He always knew that Alex would save him no matter what happened to himself. That's what always happened. Whenever Jace got into too much trouble and was over his head in something, Alex would always come to his rescue. Talk about brotherly love. Feeling exhaustion take over, Jace fell asleep. Alex heard the soft snores of Jace as he fell asleep. Jace didn't normally snore, just the few minutes before he entered real sleep. Alex stood and looked at his friend on the couch. He went to fetch a blanket and put it over Jace before giving him a kiss on the forehead. " Don't do anything while I'm gone Jace." With that, Alex walked out their door and down the stairs. [b]OOC: Anyone can approach Alex. He's walking around the city so anyone can meet up with him. But be warned, if you want to tick him off, now is not the time to do it. Hee DC, I didn't think I'd do the thing I was scheming last night. Thought it was too soon. Anyhow, TAG ANYONE! Oh, and just do what normal 17 year old do. Get into a brawl, fall for some attractive person that passes by, get into trouble with some gangs, make something interesting to do. I'm sure other people will want to get involved.[/b][/color][/font]

[color=#6633ff][font=Trebuchet MS]Kei is a grad student and a field researcher. That's why she's in the party.[/color][/font]

[COLOR=DarkRed][font=Times New Roman]Rei walked along beside Matthew in silence, Kayin leading them. Her heart was beating so fast from being scared by those earth elemental beasts. They could pop up from anywhere because of their camoflauge ability. She'd been a bit shaken up by their sudden appearance. Breathing deeply, she tried to calm herself, her hands shaking slightly. " You all right Rei?" Matthew asked, concerned. She nodded. " Just a bit shaken up from those monsters. How they just appeared out of nowhere." " Don't worry about them. I don't think they'll be coming back," Matthew said, smiling at her. She smiled back softly. The trio continued to walk through the vast corridors of the mansion. " Hey, I just figured out something..." Rei started. The group stopped. Kayin turned around to hear what she'd say. Matthew looked over to her. " We can't still be in the mansion. From the size of it that we saw on the outside, there is no possible way that we could still be inside that mansion. Maybe... maybe it's all an illusion. A time illusion.... Or we could be going deeper and deeper into the mountain side that the mansion's sitting on top of." " But we can't be! We haven't gone down any stairs or steep slopes," Kayin pointed out. " That's not true Kayin. Ever since we stepped in here, we've been going down on a slight slope, so slight that none of you noticed until now," Matthew revealed. " WHAT!" Kayin yelled. Rei covered her ears as the yell echoed around the corridor. " Sorry," Kayin mumbled as Rei took her hands off her ears. " So we are going deeper and deeper into this maze. So how do we find Lea and Kaze? We can't keep wandering around aimlessly. We have to do something like using our heads. We just can't keep doing nothing and walking," Rei said, her tone suddenly becoming stern. " Like what?" Kayin asked, noticing this sudden change in tone for Rei. It seemed like she matured in an instant. Matthew noticed too. " Can both of you make a small elemental creature? If you can, we should use them to help us. It's pointless for us to waste our energy walking around with no idea on where to go," Rei said. Even her facial features seemed to mature. Her eyes glinted with maturity. " Right," Matthew said. The two boys made a small elemental creature each. Rei summoned another fireball to her ranks. The trio set the creatures off in different directions, telling them to hurry. Rei stood, looking around, her hea held higher than before. Matthew and Kayin looked at each other then at Rei. They were wondering where this sudden change came from.[/color][/font]

[color=blue]It's not supposed to just yet. Just organising everyone beforehand. ^_^ Beware of our evil plots. Reiku = event maker Dc = emotion player Just thought I'd warn you guys.[/color]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=#6666cc]The fire brigade had finally arrived and started to put out the flames. Alex had brought Miss Nevada and Mr Saunders out of the building. They were the last he could find. He took them to the paramedics to be treated, however, refused to be treated himself. Walking around to all of the people in his grade, Alex made sure everyone was ok. He walked over to Zeph who looked like he was having small trouble breathing. " Zeph-san, are you all right?" Alex asked. Zeph looked up at him and started to laugh but ended up coughing. Alex, however, got the drift. " What are you laughing at?" " You... so much for the prince act." Alex looked confused. He looked at himself in the reflection of the ambulance vehicle. His face was grubby with dark marks of soot everywhere. His silvery-blue hair was turned a little grey from soot and his shirt was red with blood from his gash in his back. Alex laughed. " I am a mess." Zeph nodded, took a swiff of his puffer and stood up straight. " That's better." " Is everyone all right?" Zeph nodded. " Everyone from our grade got out ok. Jace and Kaela are the worse of all of us. Everyone else seemed to come out relatively unscathed, except for a few cuts, bumps and bruises." Alex sighed. " That's a relief." He looked at the school building which was now smouldering on the right hand side. The principal of the school adressed the students and told all of them to go home and recover. School was going to start at the end of lunchtime tomorrow. The students that got out without an injury cheered. The mass of students flooded for the school gates. However, most of Alex's grade stayed behind. " So what now?" Amy asked. " Well, Jace and Kaela will have to be taken to hospital," Alex said, concerned, " I have to go with Jace. Maria-chan, you should come too." " Can't. Going to watch a movie with Ken," Maria replied. Alex looked a little hurt, but he didn't expect her to come with anyway. " What about soccer training?" Zeph asked. " I don't think we'll be having it. I think it's best to leave it for today." The boys in the team nodded. " Ok, everyone go home and have some rest, and I mean everybody. We'll all have trouble breathing in a few hours because of the smoke. Just relax, nothing too strenious," Alex warned them all. They all nodded. Everyone said godbye to each other and started on their way home. However, Alex started his way to the hospital to check up on Kaela and Jace. [center]--------------------------[/center] Alex smiled to one of the nurses who passed him, smiling. She was the one that told him where Jace and Kaela were. Luckily the two had been put in adjacent rooms. Alex sat in the middle of the wall, halfway between the doors. Passing nurses and doctors offered to help Alex with his injury, but he politely refused their help until he knew the others were safe. He'd been waiting there for an hour before a nurse came out and told him that he could go see Kaela. She'd been hurt fairly badly but the paramedics had done a good job patching her up. She was sleeping from the drugs they had given her to dull the pain. Alex walked back out to find that he was allowed to go into Jace's room now. When Alex walked in, he saw Jace asleep in the bed. He sighed with relief before taking a chair and sitting on it next to the bed. Looking up at Jace, Alex shook his head at him. " You always get yourself into those situations Jace. I'm always there to save you, luckily." Alex lay his head down on the bed, exhausted from helping people out of the school building and the walk to the hospital. [b]OOC: Alex calls Jace 'Jace-chan' to his face when he's awake. Other than that, it's just Jace. Tag, DC.[/b][/color][/font]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]Raven's weary eyes widened at the touch of Rubedo's lips on her forehead. Her heart fluttered slightly. She turned to Rubedo. " How are you feeling?" he asked emotionless, but Raven could have sworn there was a hint of concern in the voice, possibily even care. This cofused her but she was too exhausted to feel any emotions at this moment, nor argue. " Very tired... mentally, physically...... emotionally...." she said softly, looking out of the window, avoiding his gaze. Rubedo nodded once. " You've used too much energy in the past two days. You have to rest." " Is that concern I hear coming from you Rubedo?" Raven snapped slightly. " You need to rest for the sake of the Zodiacs," Rubedo replied shortly. Raven sighed. She shouldn't have done that. " Sorry." Rubedo stayed silent. Raven resolved that he was angry at her. Sighing again, she snuggled the best she could into the seat. She closed her eyes and tried to rest, or even sleep if it was possible. Soon, the peaceful state of sleep washed over her.[/color][/font] [center] ----------------------------- [/center] [font=Times New Roman][color=Navy]Zane watched Camilla curiously as she tried to sleep. Obviously she wasn't comfortable in planes. The way she gripped onto the seat as they took off showed him that much. He didn't need his abilities to see that. Looking around the plane, Zane saw Ima and Kariz sitting with each other, talking amongst themselves. They were in the seats behind he and Camilla. He turned to them, smiling. " Now what are you two happily chatting about? You should be resting," Zane said, looking at them with his piercing blue eyes. " We're just talking about what will happen in Japan," said Ima. " Ah." " I'm concerned about the crisis we have on our hands," Kariz said seriously. " How are we supposed to stop these powerful world governments from wiping each other off the face of the earth? What are we supposed to tell them?" " I agree. We are at a loss for an explanation of ourselves. No one would believe the truth unless we show them. Then, as human nature is, we will be shunned as freaks or something to that accord, probably arrested for being a danger to the public and experimented on like lab animals," Zane reeled off. Ima and Kariz did not look impressed. " Thanks for the moral booster," Ima said sarcastically. Zane smiled, embarassed. " Sorry about that. Got carried away." " But you do have a point," Kariz said, that worried look on her face. " The painful truth," Zane said softly. He looked concerned himself, but then he smiled at the two women. " I think that's enough worrying for now. You two need your rest. Everyone does." The two nodded and tried their best to make themselves comfortable. Zane looked over to Kadar who looked like he was deep in thought. Rubedo's harsh but true words had rattled the man - rattling him enough to devulge what information he had to the group. Zane was thankful for Rubedo's actions. He and Rubedo were thinking along the same lines, but Rubedo had beaten him to it. He decided to leave Kadar to his thoughts, even though Zane could see them clearly in his own head. Cursing about his gift to himself softly, he moved around in his seat, making himself comfortable. His gaze then diverted to Raven and Rubedo. Zane watched curiously as Rubedo moved Raven's head off the hard seat to his shoulder, obviously asleep. A smile came to Zane's lips. This journey was going to be an interesting one.[/color][/font]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=#9933ff][i]Kira's upgrades: Physical Upgrade: Speed Slash 1 Special Technique: Teleportation 1[/i] Kira sighed, her hands behind her head again. " This Aron kid has no sense of interpersonal skills. He hasn't even talked to me since we got arrested. Wait a sec! He hasn't talked to me at all! Geez, what a jerk!" She was making her way through a small bazaar in a side street. There were some interesting stalls and characters around. A dwarf selling beautifully smithed weapons. A male Elf selling Elven armour and weapons. A female Elf selling potions and magics of sorts. A Bangaa (lizard person) looking for challenges to a fight. There was a slight crowd around the Bangaa and his challenger. Kira pushed her way through to the front, despite the angry objections of the spectators. Kneeling, she watched the Bangaa advance towards a fairly well-built human man. Both had swords in their giant hands. Kira watched closely, a smile on her lips. After this match, she was going to challenge the Bangaa after this fight, if he won. The two fighters attacked each other furiously. The aim of the fight was to get your opponent in a submissive position where they had no chance to fight back. It was a skillful fight of about 10 minutes. However, like everyone expected, the Bangaa won. The crowd clapped in applause and dropped small amounts of gil into the Bangaa's colelcting tin. Kira stepped forward, her two katanas on her back. " Any challengers willing to face me for a mild fee?" the Bangaa roared, making the crowd jump backwards. Kira's eyes had that orange glint to them. " I'll challenge you." A loud gasp was let out of the crowd as they backed away from her. She unsheathed her father's katana and held it steady. The Bangaa looked like he was shaking with laughter. Kira's eyes sharpened. " You shouldn't underestimate me Bangaa." " You are just a child with a flimsy sword. You cannot win against the pure strength of a Bangaa." " For your information, I'm not a kid and this is not a flimsy sword. However, it may be true that I can't compete with the pure strength of a Bangaa, I will defeat you nonetheless." " Big words for such a small pest." " See how much of a pest I am then." And so the fight began. The Bangaa attacked Kira, but every time he attacked her, he missed due to Kira's extraordinary ability of agility. Her footwork was light but sure. She was careful to dodge the attacks but the smallest margin as not to appear too overconfident. Her mindset was becoming like that of a true samurai's. Soon the Bangaa was exhausted. He stood there panting like a dog, tonuge out. Kira stood in front of him. " Strength is nothing unless you can hit the target, and you have enough endurance to sustain it," she said rather condescendingly. She held her katana's tip under the Bangaa's chin. " You are defeated." The Bangaa growled unenthusically. He looked around at the crowd who stood there in disbelief. " Very well. You may keep your fee." " Meh. It doesn't matter about that. You can have it." The Bangaa's eyes widened. He didn't understand. Kira sheathed her sword and parted her way through the crowd to the main square. Walking around aimlessly, she became bored. " I wish one of the group would find me and talk to me or something!" [b]OOC: Anyone can approach Kira. Get something happening![/b][/color][/font]

[color=blue]*looks at DC with death glare* Naughty naughty.... Now what punishment should Jace have? *plots evilly*[/color]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=#6666cc]Alex stared out of the window, listening to Genki-san ramble on about politics of the ancient Romans. He was thinking about soccer training which was on this afternoon. He couldn't wait. Soccer was the only time when he felt he could let his agression out. That's why he was the centre mid player. He could run around like crazy, attacking any player he wished. Suddenly the building was rocked by a huge explosion. The fire alarm sounded. All the students in the History class stood. Alex looked around. " Fire alarm students. File out!" Genki shouted over the din made from downstairs. Alex looked out of the window. Smoke rose from the floors underneath them. " Jace..." The class filed out and took the stairs down to the first floor. Smoke covered the roof. They put their hands over their noses and mouths and quickly made their way outside. They stood around in a group. Alex, being fairly tall, looked around for other groups of their grade. Two were missing - the IT class and the Biology class. He overheard a teacher talking to another. " The Biology and IT class are trapped inside. Should we tell the students?" " No... better not tell them that that stupid Chemistry teacher blew up a lab and started a fire." " But what if they don't get out?" " The authorities are on their way. There's nothing more we can do." Alex stood there stunned for a second. The others looked around. " Jace.... Maria..." " Hey, where's Micky?" Aka and Drew asked together. Alex grit his teeth, wondering whether to tell them or not. Another explosion rocked the building. Girls screamed as everyone was knocked to the ground by the shockwave. " JACE! MARIA!" Alex yelled before sprinting inside the now burning building. He crawled along the ground to stop himself breathing in smoke. He made his way to the IT room. The door was jammed for some reason. Standing up, Alex put his nose and mouth inside his shirt and kicked down the door to the room. He dropped to the floor again to see people unconscious. " Oh no." He crawled around to fit Maria on the ground unconscious. He grabbed her, slinging her over his shoulders and walked outside with her. Teachers rushed to him but he swatted them away, laying Maria gently on the ground. He laid his ear on her chest, listening for her heartbeat. It was still there. Alex breathed a sigh of relief, before looking at the burning building once more. " Jace..." Alex looked to his fellow students in his History class. " Come and help me. There's everyone in there. We need to get them out." The teachers started shouting their rejections to it, but Alex didn't listen to them. He ran back inside to find the Biology class. Crawling around on the floor once more, Alex made his way around to the Biology room. The door had been blown off its hinges and laid on the floor. Alex cralwed over it and into the room. Miss Nevada and her students were unconscious too. He managed to find Jace under a pile of desks. Alex started to pull them off him when the building shook again. The gas bottles in the Chemistry room exploded. Pieces from the ceiling started to fall down. One smashed on the desk above Jace. Alex ripped it off of his friend and started to drag him out when a piece from the ceiling dropped onto Alex's back. The pain was excruciating, cutting him in the back, bruising him where he didn't get cut. " Jace... you always manage to get yourself into these situations..." In a few minutes, Alex has hulked Jace out of the building and laid him next to Maria. He had also noticed that some of his History friends had gone into the building, dispite the teacher's rejections. Genki came over to Alex. " That's a nasty but on your back son. Stay here and get it tended." " No. My friends are in there." Alex ran back inside. His next target was Zeph. [b]OOC: Ok, people in Biology and IT, you need to wake up, having someone of our grade saving you. People in History, save someone. AND DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE TEACHERS!![/b][/color][/font]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=#9933ff][b]Before the escape...[/b] Kira leant against a wall, anger boiling inside of her. " Yuri... you bastard..." She looked out into the growing night. She sighed. It was a half moon tonight. She loved to look at the silver form in the sky, night after night. The night was the best time to train. So many noises, so much peace, it was beautiful. Now looking at the cell's cold stone floor, she growled again as the image of Yuri crossed her mind. She started to remember her first encounter with the Leader of the Knights of Adrae. It was on a night much like this one - still and fresh. [i][b]Kira walked through the forest near her sensei's dojo, her mauve hair swaying slightly side to side. The night air was still and fresh, the night only a few hours old. Her two reverse-blade katanas lay in their sheaths upon her back. She had her hands on the back of her head casually. " What a beautiful night... a good night for training..." She made her way to her normal place for her training session at night. A small grassy glade with a running stream trickling near it. There was two large old knarly trees at the top of the small hill. Kira hid her after training snacks in the nook of one of the trees and took off her kimono to reveal her fighting attire. She unsheathed her mother's blade. It was light and elegant and glimmered in the moonlight. A full moon hung in the sky. A soft wind made the grass shift lightly. Kira sat down in the grass, meditating the way her sensei instructed her to. The sounds of the night echoed in her ears. The soft chirps of a cricket nearby, the hapy trickle of the stream, a cry of a hunting bird in the distance. She concentrated on becoming one with the elements. Her mauve hair shifted with the wind. Soon, her body began to imitate the sway of the long grass in the small wind. Standing up, Kira, without opening her eyes, held her mother's blade in her hands. There were dark inscriptions on the blade. Kira didn't know what they said because they were in some sort of strange language other than the common language spoken on Flora. It was beautiful cursive writing. She knew it had something to do with becoming a samurai but no one she had met could read it. It was the same with her father's blade. The blade was heavier and more powerful than her mother's, but it had another inscription on it, as if the two were meant to be together. Letting her favourite music fill her head, her body immediately turned into warrior mode. Swinging her sword around expertly, Kira began her training. Hour after hour, she continued her training, swapping blades constantly to get used to them. The words of her sensei echoed through her head.[/b] " You are too rash Kira... calm your soul... be like the water, not the fire... be fluid, calm, cool... You are trying too hard to become a killer... becoming a samurai is not becoming a killer... you need to have the soul of a samurai before you can become one on the outside... maybe you are still to young to understand the burden you have, but are not aware of..." [b]" What burden Sensei? What burden do I have?" Kira whispered. Then she heard the rustle of feet moving through the grass. Kira stopped her training, breathed in and out deeply then opened her eyes towards the oncomer. It was a young male a few years older than her. His dark brown eyes and hair almost blended in with the inky black sky. Kira looked at him with her icy blue eyes. " Who are you?" she asked, rather peeved that someone would interrupt her training. She was actually getting somewhere. " So you are Kira Mayaoko..." the young man said. " What do you want with me?" " Your sensei has suggested to me that you needed a sparring partner." " My Sensei? How do you know him?!?" " Do you always ask so many questions?" Kira growled at this young man. She didn't like his tone. " So, my Sensei suggested you and I have a spar. Then lets get this over with. I've got more important training to do." The young man smiled. " You shouldn't be so hasty in making assumptions about your opponent." " Whatever. Lets just fight." " As you wish." The boy withdrew his sword. Kira chose her mother's katana. She'd use her father's if things started to get desperate. She charged at this young man. He simply dodged it by moving out of the way. Kira flipped and sprung off the tree. The sound of clashing metal echoed through the night. She flipped over him and faced him. " Seemed I did underestimate you. That won't matter. My parents were great samurai. Their blood runs in mine. I'll defeat you and show my Sensei that I'm better than you." The young man simply smiled and let her attack him. He dodged each of her attacks easily, simply moving out of the way. When each of her attacks missed, Kira grew angrier. Her movements became quicker and more accurate. Clashing metal could be heard every second through the still night. " So, as you get angrier, your abilities become better. Your sensei said to beware of your anger. I see why..." the young man said as they were face-to-face, their swords together between their faces. " You haven't seen anything yet. You don't even know about Ryuugan..." Kira hissed and pushed the young man backwards. Both panted, having not found another opponent as strong as them before. They attacked each other again, pushing themselves to better the other. Soon both were at their limit. Kira's eyes started to have a strange look about them. The blue started to turn orange, red flecks appearing in them. They started to look like they were glazed windows. This was Ryuugan, Dragon Eyes. She had only touched the tip of it. Kira breathed hard, cuts all of her body from the young man's sword. The young man stood, panting as well, cuts all over his body, his clothes in tatters. " So, we seem to be at a draw. Let's leave it as that..." the young man said. Kira growled. " No. I have to prove that I'm stronger than you. For my Sensei." " You have no energy left. You should leave it as it is." " No.... I have to prove it so." Kira attacked only to find the man's blade under her throat. She dropped to her kness, her eyes wide. " I said you should have left it. Now you are defeated," he said before sheathing his sword. Kira kneeled there shocked as she watched the man walk away. " What's your name!" Kira yelled at him. He turned around. " Yuri Rein." He started walking again. " Yuri.... I'll defeat you one day... you hear me! ONE DAY!"[/b][/i] Kira stood, still as death, against the wall. Her eyes had those orange flecks in them. " Yuri..." [b]After the escape...[/b] Kira sprinted out of the castle, following Yuri and the group. She didn't care where they were going. What she cared was that Yuri had abandoned his king. There was going to be some punishment for treason. Her eyes narrowed. " I wanted to defeat the Leader of the Knights of Adrae when he was the Leader. Looks like I'll have to defeat him when he becomes it again..." Kira growled to herself, sprinting after the others. [b]OOC: just a little on Yuri and Kira's history. Hee... tension already. Oh goody.[/b][/color][/font]

[COLOR=#FF0066][FONT=Trebuchet MS]Kefira and Alec made their way from the skyscraper back to their new home. They landed inside Kefira's room. Kefira noticed something immediately. " Someone's cleaned up all the glass..." " Huh?" Alec asked as he helped her off the bed. " When I broke my window to get out of here, there was glass all over the floor and bed. Someone's cleaned it up," Kefira said as she sniffed the air. " It was Johnny." Tears started to well in her eyes, but she forced them back. Alec watched her anxiously. She straightened up, putting her box of kittens down on the bed. [i]I can't be weak and emotional. Papa never let me be like that. He said be like a rock in a storm - sturdy and unmoved. But that was how Papa was. Nothing could make him do something irrational. Mama was so soft and gentle. She always said let your emotions out. I miss home... everything about it I miss.... the wilderness.... that's where I belong now, these gifts making even more home-sick.[/i] " Kefira?" Alec asked. " Oh... sorry... just remembering things from home." " Where is home for you? You're not American. I can tell by your accent." " I'm from Kenya in Africa. I have white parents. They're field scientists. I was just thinking how much I miss home, and how much I would fit in there now with these gifts." Alec laughed. " You would, wouldn't you?" Kefira smiled. " Yeah. It would be wonderful to actually be with the animals... sorry... I sound weird don't I?" " No, not at all." Kefira smiled again. " So what now?" Alec asked. " I don't know." The two walked around the small quarters, looking for everyone. They'd all seemed to have disappeared. " Where is everyone?" Kefira asked. " I dunno," Alec replied. He looked out a window. " I think I found them. I see Cassie and Johnny, would you believe it, flying towards the NASA base." " What?! But we were supposed to go as a group! They could get in trouble!" " Agreed. But how are we going to get there? It's heavily guarded on the ground." Kefira smiled slyly. " Easily." She took Alec's hands and ran outside. " We can fly there. Hang on a second." Kefira took off her clothes, concentrated and turned into that gigantic bird, except this time she had golden plummage. " Wow!" Alec gasped. [i][b]Get on![/b][/i] Kefira said to him through his mind. Alec climbed onto her back. With a giant sweep of her wings, they soared into the sky. The wind buffered them slightly but soon Kefira got the hang of it. Banking to the side, she turned towards the Nasa and hovered. [b][i]Shall we?[/b][/i] " Sure!" Alec said. Kefira swooped after Johnny and Cassie, the wind flying through Alec's hair and Kefira's golden feathers.[/color][/font]

[color=#6633ff][font=Trebuchet MS][u]- Sign-up -[/u] [B]Name:[/B] Keilantra "Kei" Jordon [B]Age:[/B] 22 [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Reincarnate[/B] (if applicable): Merlin [B]Physical description or pic:[/B] See attachment - no glasses [B]Personality: [/B] Kei is usually the mediator in any fight. She doesn't like to take sides unless one does something very morally wrong. People say that she's very wise and can give you advice on anything. Kei doesn't think of herself like that. She's learned a lot of things, but that doesn't make her all-powerful and know everything. She's elegant and has high standards for almost everything around her. She values friendship and companionship, although, sometimes, her stuides take precidence over them. [B]Basic bio:[/B] Kei grew up in a small Scottish town halfway between Inverness and Perth, near the highest mountain in Scotland, Ben Nevis. Her family was fairly wealthy and lived in a castle that was handed down through the generations of her family. The castle was large and made out of sandy-coloured stone. It was magnificent to behold and many secrets of it still lay hidden. When the time came around to go to school, Kei was sent to London, to a prestigious all girls school. She boarded there and only came home over certain holidays periods. Given some of the best awards in her school for her extremely high achievement, Kei found that she had abilities to learn vast amounts of knowledge and retain them easily. After completing grade school and high school, Kei was offered a scholarship to Oxford university, and there she studied history. Her goal was to become an archaeologist of sorts and an expert on ancient and medievil history, as well as their myths. [B]Weapons or skills [/B] (if any): Control over the six elements - earth, fire, water, air, light, darkness. She is the reincarnate of Merlin remember.[/color][/font]

[COLOR=blue]Okie dokie. No probs! ^_^ And DC is actually a her. ^_^;;[/color]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=#6666cc]Alex sniggered as Jace 'complimented' Miss Nevada. They continued to walk into the school, Alex's messenger bag bumping against his leg softly. Jace yawned. " School... at least this is our second last year. I'm beginning to get really bored with it," Jace said, his hands behind his head. " It's not that bad Jace-chan. But I agree that it's good for it to be our second last year. I hope this year is more interesting than the last," Alex replied as they walked through the large school, towards each of their classes. " You have Biology first up Jace-chan. Nevada-sama isn't going to be happy with you," Alex said, waiting for the reaction of his best friend. " Let her be mad. It only make her tits jump up and down more," Jace said, a huge smile on his face as if he was imagining it. " What am I going to do with you Jace-chan?" " Absolutely nothing princey-boy." Jace turned off to his Biology class while Alex turned off to his History lession. They were in opposite ends of the building. The school was mainly a large builing. All the science and computer labs and arts classes were on the first floor; the maths, languages, English and Japanese rooms on second; and finally all the history, geography, business and media studies were on the third. Gym was in a smaller separate building near the oval and sporting facilities of the school. The performing arts had their own acoustic building for performances and the such. Alex climbed two sets of stairs before coming to his floor. The bell rang. Lucky he wasn't on the first floor where there would be a massive rush now. He flicked his silvery-blue hair out of his face and continued on to his classroom. The sounds of the crowd downstairs echoed in the empty corridor. He walked into the classroom to find Genki-sama already in there, already writing up what they need to copy on the board. Alex sighed before sitting down in his normal seat, the one nearest to the window. Alex waited for his classmates to join him, before the lesson began. [b]OOC: So school begins. Bear with us until next lesson. Then something will happen. Hee.[/b][/color][/font]

[COLOR=DarkRed][FONT=Times New Roman]Rei looked down. She'd made Kayin and Kaze mad. The temperature of the hall immediately turned back to normal. Kayin stalked off in the opposite direction to Kaze. Matthew followed. Rei stood back for a minute. She talked to her two fireballs. " Can you two look after Kaze while we go find Lea?" The two fireballs squeaked and zoomed off in the direction of Kaze. " Rei!" Kayin's voice boomed. Rei froze. " Coming!" She ran to catch up with them. They walked for another hour before any of them decided to talk. It was actually Rei to break the silence. " I'm really sorry Kayin..." The three of them stopped. Kayin and Matthew looked at Rei, who looked at the ground. " Um.... can I talk to you for a minute, alone?" Kayin looked at Matthew, who said it was fine and walked down the corridor a bit more. " What is it Rei?" Kayin growled, barely containing his anger. Rei squeaked and shivered slightly. " I just want to tell..... you something. Can you hear me out... before getting angry at me?" Kayin crossed his arms on his chest, silent. Rei took that as a yes. " Well.... I .... um...." Rei stutterly. She blushed intensely, her cheeks turning crimson. " Spit it out Rei," Kayin growled. Rei glared at him. " Don't be so impolite." " Impolite? You're giving me a lecture on how to be impolite!" Rei grew silent again. " I said I was sorry! I just.... I just couldn't help it.... I felt so jealous." " Huh?" " I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to be so jealous of you and Kaze. I just.... you were the first person to treat me nicely... because I'm a freak. I know you like Kaze, and she likes you back. I'm very sorry for making her angry, and making you angry. Please, forgive me..." Kayin stood there shocked. Rei quickly bowed and ran to Matthew before he could do anything.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Times New Roman]Zane took the wheel of the car and sped off while the army of shadows was temporarily blinded. In the back seat was an unconscious Raven leaning on Rubedo. Camilla was in the passenger front seat. " So where to now dear Guardian?" Zane asked, looking in the rear view mirror as he sped along the dirt road that led to his house. The other car, driven by Kadar, was right behind him. " To Japan," Rubedo replied sternly. " You'd better have her awake when we board the plane. There's no a chance that they'll let an unconscious person on." Zane watched the Guardian curiously through the rear-vision mirror. Rubedo said nothing. Zane sighed and looked over to Camilla for a moment. " Looks like we're going to Japan huh?" " Mm." " What's wrong Miss Virgo?" " Oh... nothing." She didn't look like she was all right but Zane decided to let it rest. " To the airport then!" " I hate planes..." Rubedo grumbled in the back.[/COLOR][/FONT] [center]------------------------------------------[/center] [COLOR=DarkGreen][FONT=Trebuchet MS]Raven was surrounded by a white light. She looked around. There was nothing to be seen. [i]What is this place? Where am I? Am I.... dead?[/i] In the distance, a dark figure started walking towards her. It came closer... and closer. Raven then realised it was her grandfather. She stared wide-eyed at him. " Gran... Grandfather...." she whispered hoarsely. The old man smiled warmly at her. " My my my, you have grown into a fine young woman lass. Look, you are even taller than me now." Tears started leaking out of Raven's eyes. " Grandfather.... why... how... where?" " You always asked too many questions lass. Anyhow, I see your powers have become stronger, and more helpful." " Yes..." " Hmm... you like that Guardian?" " ..... Yes." " Heh. You'd know what'd I'd say." " Of course I would. You're a perverted old man." Raven's grandfather chuckled. " Still haven't lost that edge of wit." " I learnt from the best." He chuckled again. " Well, the world needs you lass. Good seeing you again. Remember, I'm watching over you." " Grandfather... wait!" Before Raven could do anything, he had faded into the light. Raven hung her head. [i]Where the hell am I? Why am I here? Damn this interrogiation. I was never good at getting answers.[/i] The white started to fade. Raven woke in a still car. Her vision was blurry. She groaned. [i]Damn it.... I fainted again.... I'm so hopeless.[/i] She looked outside and groaned. [i]Another airport.[/i] She heard someone open the door behind her and sit in beside her. " Raven..." came a familar voice. Raven looked over and saw the blurry figure of Rubedo. " Mmm." " Come on. We're going to Japan." Raven groaned again as she was helped out of the car by Rubedo and they made their way to the check-in.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[COLOR=Indigo][FONT=Trebuchet MS]Lani watched as the others infiltrated the building. However, her thoughts turned to Maximus. Something about him, wasn't quite right. She could sense he wasn't like everyone else, more.... evil. Using what abilities she had, Lani concealed herself and followed Maximus. She knew he'd known that someone was following him, but she had to find out more about him. The Pentagon would prove a valuable source of information, since it held profiles on every person that could influence the public by money, or some other means. And the 'Death Flower' was one of them. If she had the collectors under her control, wimping like love-sick puppies, then the Pentagon would have to have some information about her. Sneaking through surrounding shrubs and hiding behind trees, Lani watched Maximus greet with another man who looked as dark and evil as him. The two conversed for a moment before Maximus slew his opponent with relative ease. Shocked, Lani stumbled backwards as she watched Maximus carve the tattoos from the corpse, putting the flaps of skin to a pocket and wiping the dagger clean. " So... he's one of them... I'm not that surprised actually." Lani watched Maximus enter the building and do whatever work was necessary. She looked up at the uniquely five-sided building. " They call it the Puzzle Palace. Maybe I should have given them all maps. No matter. They'll find the centre courtyard easy enough. It's not like they could miss it." Concentrating so that her wings would enlargen, Lani flew up into the sky and to the centre courtyard of the Pentagon. She landed softly, not to alert the major alarm and waited for the others. As soon as they stepped into the building, the alarms went off, so at the moment, all of the others were running for their lives or fighting. " Perfect. A good training session. I must sound really evil saying this. But they all need it. So do I, but my wings have already become reality, so I can live with that for now. Now I know what the Maoui chief was saying. To beat these collectors, we have to fuse our souls with our tattoos. In other words, we have to make them real." Lani watied patiently in the centre courtyard, ready to infiltrate the information centre that was right underneath her feet. [b]OOC: Ok everyone, have a few fights with guards and what not to get your tattoos to come alive again and actually become real.[/b][/COLOR][/FONT]

[COLOR=#FF0066][FONT=Trebuchet MS][b]OOC: Alchemist, Kefira didn't become a bird, she became an angel with dark wings. And Kefira would never call Cassie a slut.[/b] The rain poured down. Kefira shivered, cold, in the rain, even though she was covered by her massive dark angelic wings. Alec moved closer to her, the ball of flame in his hands. Silent tears rolled down Kefira's cheeks. " Hurting?" Alec asked softly. Kefira nodded. " He.... he could have at least told me.... I would have been fine with it, if he told me..." Alec didn't know what to do. He tentatively put a comforting hand on her arm as Kefira hugged the box of kittens. They all miaowed at her, sensing how sad she was. She patted them, stroking each of their heads lovingly. " Seems like they know when you're sad," Alec observed. Kefira nodded. " They think I'm their mother because I became a lioness to save them. Plus, I smell like their mother. And feed them and take care of them. I guess I know how and what animals think, now I've become like this." Her tears had stopped, instead she just stared at her kittens. She nuzzled them very motherly-like. Alec watched her and smiled. Kefira looked up at him and laid her head on his shoulder. He was shocked by this but he let it slide. At least he was doing something to help her. The rain started to ease off. Soon the sun came out. Alec let the flame extinguish. " We should go back now." Kefira nodded and stood, letting the sun warm her.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[COLOR=blue]Thanks ok.[/Color]

[COLOR=Blue][FONT=Trebuchet MS]She's not supposed to have four subjects, each corresponding to one of the four groups. *sigh* However, you can take a break if you wish, but DC and I would prefer it if you had four subjects, not three.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=#9933ff]Kira looked around the cell unamused. " What a way to go. If my sensei knew I was in a jail cell, he would whack me with one of his wooden swords. Geez those things hurt!" A heavy clunk sound signalled the opening of her cell. Kira stood, her shackles clinking. " Come on girl, to the interrogation room," the soldier said, undoing Kira's shackles. " Hey buddy, where'd you put my swords?! If you've put one scratch on them, I will kill you! They were my mother's and father's swords. You better not have touched them!" " Don't worry girlie. I wouldn't think of touching pitiful swords like that." " WHAT! YOU CALL A SAMURAI'S SWORD PITIFUL!" At that moment, the shackles came off and she kicked the guard in the groin. He sunk to the ground immediately, clutching where it hurt the most. " And that's for disgracing my parents you bastard!" Kira shouted at him and strolled out of the cell. The soldier's painful groans could be heard as Kira walked in some random direction, trying to find her way out. Suddenly someone grabbed her arm from behind and tried to restrict her by placing it high up on her back. She flipped, getting out of the restraint and landing perfectly on the stone slab floor. " There's only one person I know who can do that," came a smooth masculine voice from the darkness. Yuri stood in the light. Kira looked at him in disbelief. " YOU!" " You haven't changed a bit Kira. So impolite," Yuri sighed. Kira stomped up to confront him. " Excuse me! You weren't the one who was shackled up were you?" " Calm down Kira. No need to go samurai on me." " You're too smart Yuri.... too smart...." " Perhaps." Kira hated how Yuri always acted so superior, but then he was the leader of the Knights of Adrae. " So how did you come to be in this group?" Yuri asked. " Still interrogating huh?" " Kira..." " I heard there was some strange kids wandering around the city. I joined them to get some adventure. Looks like it's already started." Yuri chuckled. " Perhaps." " So why have you put us in the dungeon oh Leader of the Knights?" " I hate your sarcasm. That and I'm not at liberaty to tell you." " Geez. Talk about being boring." " A samurai should be more .... how should I say this... like a samurai." " And you're saying I'm not a samurai!" " That's what I'm saying." Kira shut up for once. That comment hurt a little. " You're such a downer Yuri." With that, Kira began to walk off. " Where do you think you're going?" Yuri asked. Kira froze. " Out." " Oh no you're not." Before Kira knew it, she was back in her cell although the significant improvement of the lack of shackles. She lent her head against the bars. " I'm gonna kick your ass Yuri." OOC: I hope that's ok. PM if it isn't.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[COLOR=#FF0066][FONT=Trebuchet MS][b]OOC: Aiya! Kefira is going to be heartbroken![/b] Kefira happily hummed to herself as she scrubbed the bathroom spotless. She smiled as she thought of Johnny kissing her. She giggled to herself girlishly. " I can't believe a boy kissed me. I wonder how he and Cassie are going out in the kitchen?" Kefira stood up, wiping the sweat off her brow. The bathroom was sparkling white. She stood there, proud of her effort. Picking up the bucket, Kefira walked out into the kitchen with a smile on her face. " Hey Johnny, Cassie, how are..." She stopped mid-sentence. No one was in the kitche/living area. She looked around, confused. " Where could they have got to?" Kefira looked around all the rooms and even in the basement. She stood in the kitchena area with her arms crossed and an unamused look on her face. " This isn't funny! Stop playing hide-and-seek on me! The joke's over! Come on out please!" She looked around the barracks again, wincing as she couldn't find anyone. " Where's everyone?!" Walking over to the doorway, Kefira looked out and saw Johnny and Cassie walking back. What she noticed was they were holding hands. She watched them stop for a moment, kiss and kept walking towards her. Kefira was frozen to the spot. It felt like her heart stopped beating. A single tear rolled down her cheek. [i]So you chose her. That's all right with me..... You could have at least told me before playing with my mind like that...[/i] Kefira's skin felt like it was on fire. Emotions ran through her veins, through he mind uncontrollably. [i]I'm transforming....[/i] Two dark feathered wings spread from her shoulder blades. She screamed as they burst through the skin and unfurled. Rushing into her room, Kefira quickly gathered up her things, including her box of kittens, smashed her window and flew out of it. Taking up in flight, she tried as best she could to get as far away from Johnny and Cassie as possible. She felt like an empty shell. Collapsing onto the rooftop of the tallest skyscraper of the city nearest to the NASA base, Kefira curled up, her wings shielding her and her kittens from the now pounding rain. However, the rain was nothing compared to the tears rolling down Kefira's cheeks.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[COLOR=DarkRed][FONT=Times New Roman][b]OOC: Sorry I haven't posted in a while.[/b] Rei walked down the corridor with Matthew, Kaze and Kayin. Her head pounded where the knight had knocked her out. Just another reason why she should put him out of his misery. She growled. Flame started to eminate around her body. Her two fireballs started squeaking at her. That was the warning. Rei quickly calmed herself down, breathing deeply. Her mind immediately flitted to Kaze and Kayin. Anger started boiling in her veins again. [i]Why.... why do I feel so jealous of them..... Because they are friends? Because they might be more than friends? Damn these feelings.... I'm going to lose control if I don't do something about them.......[/i] [i]Kayin was the first person who treated me nicely.... not like a freak... is that why?[/i] Rei glared at Kaze's back. A shot of flame whizzed past Kaze's left ear, frazzling her hair slightly. Kaze whirled around with a cross look on her face. Rei bowed apologetically. " I'm sorry! I'm very sorry! It was an accident!" Without saying anothr word, Kaze turned back around. Rei looked up and growled. [i]She thinks she's so high-and-mighty. I wish I could just knock her off her perch. See what it feels like to be someone else other than the all-mighty Kaze![/i] Those flames started to appear around her body again. She was truly a fire elemental - unable sometimes to control her emotions and abilities. The temperature in the corridor significantly increased. " Is it me or is it getting hot in here?" Matthew asked, wiping the sweat off his brow. " It is getting rather hot. Rei? Are you doing this?" Kaze asked, that superior tone in her voice. Rei inwardly growled but put on an innocent face. " No. It isn't me." " Then what could it be?" Kayin asked, looking at Rei. She shrugged her shoulders innocently. The group continued to walk along numerous corridors. Rei sighed. She just wanted an outlet for her anger before she took it out on them.[/COLOR][/FONT]