Sara

[size=1]Actually...isn't that a game? So it would go in a gaming forum. Or am I completely lost.[/size]

[size=1]I'm looking forward to this. I really liked the first one. Rogue, heh. Such darling. *smirks*[/size]

[size=1][b]Was trying out a slightly different writing style. Hadn't intended to use this, but Tori and I both liked how it turned out, so.....[/b] It was getting late?well, by now it was getting early. A girl stood languidly in the open doorway of a nighttime establishment, silhouetted by the dim light inside. She wore a suit, two sizes too big for her, but otherwise neat. Her hair was dark--unkempt, but clean. She seemed to contradict herself in manner and appearance, and she stood at the back door of the nightclub, watching. Watching?and being watched. A boy was walking quietly up behind her, his sneakers making no sound. Moonlight glinted off the knife in his hand. He smiled to himself. [I]This is gon? be easy[/I], he gloated. [I]Easiest job ever. Three? ?.two?.[/I] [I]One.[/I] The girl in the doorway moved suddenly, grabbing the wrist of his knife hand--He jerked in surprise--She twisted the knife from his grasp. ?Ah, ah, ah,? she scolded softly, turning around. ?Mustn?t stab people in the back, that?s [I]very[/I] bad manners.? Her eyes glowed as she recognized the boy?s face. ?Now, then,? she added, ?didn?t I teach you better than that?? ?M?lady!? The boy made a strangled noise. The lady Chevalier smiled thinly. ?Oh, you [I]know[/I] me? Wait?wait?I?m terrible with names,? she lied. ?Mark?? she asked. ?Marcus?? His eyes flicked across her face, his expression a mixture of fear and anger. He knew when he was being mocked. ?Ah, yes,? the Lady said with exaggerated relief. ?I remember. [I]You[/I] are Marco Aurelius.? ?And [I]I[/I],? she added, ?am the lady Chevalier. It?s terribly bad manners to try and kill someone who?s saved your life. Funny, I?d have thought you?d?ve remembered.? ?It wasn?t me, m?lady,? the boy said. ?No hard feelings; just a job. The guy told me you were just some street chick.? The Lady sighed. ?Marco,? she said. ?Darling. Look at me.? He did. ?I [I]am[/I] just some street chick.? Marco swore. ?And unless I am gravely mistaken--? the girl continued, ?and I never am?you owe me your allegiance.? ?M?lady,? Marco tried again. ?Yes, Marco?? she replied. ?Behind you.? The girl who called herself the lady Chevalier swore loudly. Three more figures had appeared in the alleyway. ?Marco!? One stepped into the purple-ish light that the open doorway afforded. ?What?s going on?? he hissed. ?All we need to do is get Angel and get out of here. Why didn?t you just kill [I]her[/I]?? Marco made a noise deep in his throat and whatever gestures he could manage to indicate that he was, in fact, rather [I]not[/I] in a position to explain things at the moment. The Lady slid the knife at his throat to a more visible position. ?I see,? the second young man said. ?Well.? He glanced from the Lady to Marco and back again. The Lady smiled. ?I am the lady Chevalier,? she said conversationally. ?This is Marco Aurelius,? she added. ?You are not someone I know, but I?m reasonably certain why you?re here, and I?m sure we?ll become acquainted in the future.? She smiled at him, and nodded to the doorway where a pretty young woman had just appeared. ?This girl,? she continued, gesturing graciously to a somewhat bewildered Aelyne, ?Is under my protection.? She smiled. ?I suggest you let us both go.? ?I very much doubt that is going to happen,? the second man said. ?We outnumber you.? The lady Chevalier looked around, seemingly taking a mental headcount. Finally coming to the conclusion that she was, indeed, outnumbered, she smiled. ?I suppose I?d better be going then, mm?? She smiled sweetly, released Marco, and began to walk away. Marco spun around and grabbed her arm, [I]accidentally[/I] slicing her shoulder with the knife. ?Wait!? he said harshly. The Lady looked at him.. ?If you don?t mind, I must be on my way?? He gestured Aelyne toward her. ?Take her with you.? The lady Chevalier feigned surprise. ?What?? ?Take her!? Marco hissed. He and his team turned and disappeared into the darkness. Aelyne stared at the Lady. ?What just happened?? she asked. ?Keep walking,? was the reply. ?Who were those guys?? ?Bad,? she answered calmly. ?Run.? ?What?? ?Run!? the Lady repeated, grabbing Aelyne by the arm and breaking into a sprint. They raced through alleyways, down sidewalks, and up narrow streets. Several minutes later, they slowed to a walk. Aelyne tried to sit down. ?Keep walking,? her companion said. ?It?s important.? Aelyne cast her a dark look, but stayed on her feet. ?Will you answer my questions now?? ?Yes,? said the lady Chevalier. ?If I can.? ?Who are you?? ?I call myself the lady Chevalier,? the other replied, glancing both directions down an alleyway. ?I?m a liar, a thief, and probably worse.? She turned left. Aelyne considered this and shrugged. ?Fair enough. Who were those guys? What did they want?? ?The first was a guy called Marco. The others, I don?t know. As for what they wanted?whatever it was they?d been promised for completing a job. Something probably along the lines of killing me and/or kidnapping you.? ?Why did they let us go?? ?Pure luck,? the Lady replied. ?Marco knows me, and assumed I had backup nearby. Calculated loss on his part. Lucky that it was him; I didn?t know any of the others.? ?Did you?? Aylene asked. ?Have back up, I mean?? ?No.? ?Oh,? Aylene said. ?Yes,? the lady Chevalier agreed. They had reached a dead end. The Lady swore again, and looked around for a way to go. ?So Marco knew you, and he didn?t care? The only reason he let us go is because he thought you were stronger.? The lady Chevalier smiled wryly. ?When all your business relationships are based on fear, you lose a lot of clientele when someone scarier comes along.? ?How do they know you?? Aelyne asked. ?I?ve made a bit of a name for myself,? the Lady said. ?Doing odd jobs; various things for various people. You might say I collect favors. I do something, someone owes me for it.? ?What do I owe you?? Aelyne asked, with something like suspicion. The lady Chevalier smiled again. ?Nothing,? she said. ?No charge for my favorite act.? Aelyne?s face hardened suddenly. ?Relax,? the lady said. ?I didn?t mean anything by it. We need to get out of here.? Aelyne nodded; the movement of her eyes caught the bloody tear of the Lady?s jacket. ?You?re hurt!? she accused. ?Am I?? her guide asked, feigning indifference. It hurt. ?Does it hurt?? Aelyne asked, gingerly touching the wound. ?Yes,? the Lady hissed. ?Don?t touch it.? ?Look, we?ve got to take care of this,? Aelyne began. ?No time,? was the terse reply. ?They know I was bluffing by now, and they saw which way we went. We need to get out of sight.? ?Stay here,? she added, peeking her head around the corner. Having come to the conclusion that the dead end was, indeed, a dead end, the Lady swore again. This was simply not her night. She closed her eyes briefly and looked at Aelyne. ?Do you have anyone you can trust?? she asked. Aelyne blinked. ?What?? The lady Chevalier winced. It pained her to admit it, but she was running out of options. ?I can?t get you to any of my places; they wouldn?t be safe. If someone?s out for either of us, they?ll send word and reward to the local haunts, so we can?t stop anywhere else.? the Lady looked at Aelyne bleakly. ?I?m bleeding; you?re exhausted, and neither of us is going to last much longer on the street. [I]Do you have anyone around here that you trust?[/I]? Aelyne nodded. ?Can you take us there now??[/size]

[size=1]Nyeh. School actually lets out some time in early June, but yesh. I am muchly enjoying my week's vacation.[/size]

[size=1]I realized recently that I really do have a lot of friends. It's a very cool feeling, and one I'm not quite used to, yet. Jam, I haven't seen you around for ages. What made you come back? Heh. Reminds me of old days. ^_~[/size]

[size=1]I'm on Spring Break. Life is good. ^_^[/size]

[size=1]Ooh...Tyger's still so awesome. ^_^ I like Halo, too. Has she got a ponytail or what at the top/back of her head?[/size]

[size=1]I think it would look more....finished....with a border... Simple, but nice.[/size]

[size=1]I thought you'd left....? Anyway, simple but kinda nice.[/size]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Syk3 [/i] [B]...he get's punches into outer space...[/B][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]*laughs* [i]That's[/i]what the last frame is. I should have guessed, heh.[/SIZE]

[size=1]Nyeh heh. ^_^ Thanks, guys. Yeah, this was "freehand" on the computer.[/size]

[size=1]Muy spiffendo, Ginny dear. Did you make it from scratch or use a tv show thing and add stuff?[/size]

[size=1]I like the avatar quite a bit. The changing boxes are pretty cool, and sort of a soft background animation--it doesn't drive me nuts every time I see it. ^_~ The banner is pretty jerky, though--going all over the place and whatnot.[/size]

[SIZE=1]I don't know how many of you are familiar with my love affair" with van Gogh, but I am fascinated by him: his life, his writings, and of course, his art. I had some free time and messed with Photoshop for a while This is what came up, heh. I couldn't remember some ofthe details--which way the moon is supposed to face, for example. But I wasn't really going for accurcy. Just fun. The original is a pretty big file, I had to shrink it down a couple times, hm.. Hopefully it still looks halfway decent.[/SIZE][IMG]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?postid=384426[/IMG] [SIZE=1]Well, if you ignore some of the fuzziness, it still looks pretty good. [/SIZE]

[size=1]Nah, you can't really see her hands. Her sleeves are too long. ^_~[/size]

[size=1]Heh, I need to find my copy of the book and read it again this week. I'll probably go and see the movie afterwards; we've got the week off for spring vacation.[/size]

[size=1]*blinks at Syk3* Blind praise isn't allowed anymore, huh? Anyway, thanks, heh. ^_^ And Juu~ Nah, it's just history notes about the cold war, heh.[/size]

[size=1]*quietly saunters over to Juu and screams at her for the silly ratings*[/size]

[size=1]Thanks, heh. I like her. Who's Lain? [I know next to nothing about anime...][/size]

[size=1]I think that's just the shade/shine lines on her clothes?[/size]

[size=1]Heh. My buddy Carolyn saw it, and she was pleased. If it meets her standards, I'm willing to watch it enthusiastically.[/size]

[SIZE=1]Another one of my classtime charas. This one turned out really cute. I think she looks sleepy. ^_^[/SIZE] [IMG]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?postid=384005[/IMG]

[size=1]Holy schla[i]moly[/i].[/size]

[size=1]I was kinda surprised, heh, I [i]thought[/i] you'd have done that. I did, and now I can see the image in the thread as well. Huh.[/size]

[size=1]Holey swiss cheese, but....wow. I agree with DBZman here, heh. "I wanna be Korean!"[/size]