RPG Final Fantasy: Humanity's Last Stand. [13+ for cursing, violence, gore, perversion]

[Cyriel]

As Hayden's name was once again mentioned, Edana had that irrepressible sense of guilt again. For some reason she felt so...responsible. And she couldn't even hide it from herself; she was worried - seriously worried this time. Oh, she knew everyone had their bad days, but Hayden's seemed to be going from bad to hell in the course of an evening.

Feeling that she somehow had to keep up his image in his absence, Edana piped up, "Oh, Hayden? I wouldn' t worry about him. If he doesn't find his way here, no doubt he'll find one that fits his comfort somewhere else in the village. In either case, we'll be sure to see him in the morning." Acacia rolled her eyes, and Cael had to hide a smile. Even so, at their lightheartedness, Edana felt absolutely miserable. [I]I can't believe I just said that... I made him sound like such a ... I don't know.[/I] Still following Prynn, she couldn't keep focused, and almost walked into a door.

Prynn obviously noticed, and beckoned to her kindly. "...you look a bit tired. How about if I just show you to your room right now? And you can just rest for tonight. The others might stay up a bit, but you look like you're a bit too..." He didn't have to continue, as Edana nodded quickly. Opening a door for her, Edana walked in quickly, and Prynn shut it quietly.

Locking it behind her, Edana didn't even notice the comforts of the room, the finery in the furniture, or the delicate blossoms that adorned the vase on the delicate table. Instead, she walked over immediately to the window, throwing open the drapes and heaving open the shutters. The cool evening air rushed in, as well as the accompanying scent of gentle cherry blossoms. Edana took a deep breath, feeling the melancholy slowly slip away in the tranquil twilight. She could hear the others continue further down the hall, and felt slightly guilty for not accompanying them, but then brushed it away. [I]I wouldn't be very good company right now anyway[/I].

Looking out, she couldn't believe the utter peacefulness of the setting. And once again...felt restless. She paced the room, making a path in the lush carpet, and then finally tossed herself onto the bed. The cushy mattress bounced, making her laugh, but soon she fell back into thought. [I]Is...he alright, I wonder...[/I]

And then, she felt her pocket. The torn bit of paper came to her fingers, and she took out the picture that Hayden had left in the forest. Even crumpled and old as it was, the face was still clear, undamaged by the bullets that Hayden had so furiously shot at it. She smoothed it out gently, laying it on the blanket, and looked at it closely. [I]...She's pretty...no, she's absolutely beautiful. No wonder Hayden keeps it with him.[/I]

But at the thought of Hayden, Edana's brow wrinkled in worry and thought again. [I]...I wonder...if he gave her a second chance.[/I]

[Sakura]

[COLOR=Navy]Reese followed the group around as Prynn showed them all their rooms. Finally when it was only Prynn and Reese, they walked to Reese's room.

"Are you okay with these people here?" Prynn asked.
"Yeah...It's just strange having all these people in the house now. I'm too used to it just being us and the servants." Reese admitted.
"You'll get over it." Prynn laughed.
"I suppose I'll have to."

Prynn smiled at her and walked off. Reese closed the door and fell onto her bed. She yawned and put down her rapier. Reese decided she was dirty from the travelling and went to take a shower.

Reese twisted the tap for the hot water and undressed as she waited for the water to heat up, then she added the cold water and stepped into the spray and let the pulsing water hit her back. Reese stretched her tall frame and lathered her hair with shampoo, then rinsed it out and added conditioner to soften her hair and ran a brush through it so there wouldn't be knots. She grabbed the soap and lathered herself and rinsed it off before using a warm fluffy towel to dry off. Reese brushed her bangs out of her eyes and combed through her long black hair.

Reese dressed into an identical dress and checked her rapier. She slid it out of the sheath and flicked it right and left. She tapped the point to see if it was sharp, which it was and stood. She hadn't practised her Fencing in quite a while. She sheathed the thin sword and walked out of the room, making sure to lock her door. She walked past the familiar halls and arrived at double doors. She pushed them open and walked into the large gymnasium. There was gymnastic equipment everywhere and there were set areas for different things. Reese walked into the Fencing area and hitched the skirt of her dress and tied it into a knot at the side of her hip. She unsheathed the rapier again and got into ready position, then she pretended to Fence against an invisible opponent. She lunged, and pulled back before doing a backflip, pretending to dodge an attack. She rolled and sliced horizontally low, then flicked from her hip in a diagonal upwards in a lice and rolled again and lay on her back before flipping to her feet and sheathing the blade. Reese heard clapping from behind her and turned quickly to see who it was. Cael stood in the doorway clapping, she'd forgotten to close it because she got embarrassed when people watched her Fence.

"How long have you been watching me?" Reese asked, undoing the knot that held her skirt to the side.
"Since the beginning. I saw you walk past our hall and down the stairs so I followed you." Cael mentioned, walking over.
"I see." Reese said, walking towards the uneven bars.

Reese grabbed the bar in front of her and flipped up, she twisted and did manuveurs, still managing to talk to Cael. Finally she flipped from the top bar and landed in a proper landing position. They continued to talk as Reese moved along the different equipment, doing different things on each of them, enjoying the time she had, because Prynn usually made them train for most of the day.[/COLOR]

[The Vampire: Ed]

It started getting dark, but Hayden had been totally oblivious at the time with his mind stuck in deep thought. Suddenly he heard the slow stir of cricket's as they began to tweak, and chirp in the cool breeze of the night. Hayden looked around seeing that he had complete walked out of the village, and into the middle of the forest. He then looked up seeing the moon and stars out, he shook his head angered that he had been so out of it he didn't even notice. Just as he was about to turn back he heard bushes ruffling, and heavy breathing and loud foot steps. Two boys came running through the bushes, their screams of terror growing as they closed in on Hayden, but before they could pass him by Hayden grabbed them both by their shirts pulling them back to face him.

"What's going on? Don't you kids know how dangerous it is out here this time of the night?" Hayden said questioning them, but they didn't respond, at least not with words, they kept trying to yank themselves away from him.

As Hayden was about to speak again he heard a loud growl behind him followed by the heavy thumps of something's footsteps. Hayden spun around pulling his guns from their holsters motioning the kids to stay behind him. Hayden aimed his guns at the bushes as a large creature emerged, a Behemoth, notoriously vicious monsters with an appetite for human flesh. They claimed the lives of villagers who strayed too far from the village. It wasn't fully grown, but it was still quite a threatening sight to behold.

"S**t..." Hayden mutters as he backs up a bit.

The Behemoth charged quickly as Hayden was ready to blow it full of holes, but then when he pulled the triggers all he heard was clicks. [i]F**k! I didn't reload![/i] Hayden thought to himself a split second before the Behemoth spun around swatting Hayden through the air like a ragdoll with it's massive tail. His body crashed hard into the ground kicking up dirt, and leaving a small ditch where his body had landed. Hayden felt numb for a moment, a delayed reaction, but then the pain went shooting through his body all at once.

"NO! Ahhh..." One of the boys screamed as the Behemoth turns it's sights back on them.

Hayden pushed himself harder than he had before forcing himself to his feet fighting through the pain, suddenly Hayden without thinking shoved the boys out of the way taking the full force of the monster's claws. Again Hayden was sent sailing into the air spinning from the force, screaming in pain the whole time, the sharp claws tore his coat and shirt from his torso while leaving a large gash across his mid section, the blood sprayed into the air misting whatever was closest to the impact zone of Hayden's landing.

"Argh--[b]RUN![/b]" Hayden screamed in pain towards the boys, and rolled over onto his back.

The boys did as they were told, and luckily for them the Behemoth lost interest in them once it smelled Hayden's freshly spilt blood. Hayden's grip remained on only on gun, while the other was flung away in midair, he struggled with his pocket to remove extra clips he kept handy and he did quickly reloading his gun with the rush of adrenaline kicking in. Hayden rolled over ignoring the dirt burning his wound, and stood ready to fire. The Behemoth opened it's mouth, and with that Hayden closed one eye focusing on his target.

"Bingo..." Hayden said to himself as he pulled the trigger.

A loud bang rang out echoing through out the forest, and village, and Hayden watched as his bullet tore through the soft tissue of the roof of the Behemoth's mouth. The bullet burrowed into the Behemoth's brain killing it instantly, probably the only real weakness a Behemoth has. The monster crashed into the ground, and slowly came to a stop in front of Hayden weakly grinning at his handy work. As the rush of adrenaline passed he could feel the pain again, it was worse now and the blood loss was pretty substantial. Hayden attempted to holster his gun, but missed as he grew dizzy and dropped it. Hayden turned back towards the village, but only managed to take a single step before falling unconscious.

[Veritas]

[COLOR=DarkRed][FONT=Century Gothic][SIZE=2]Tylan had only stayed shortly in his room before wandering to the crisp sweet air of the shadowed night. He evenually found himself in a lush garden where the sweet sent of Cherry blossoms filled the air. Tylan lated himself on the ground and gazed up at the night sky. The moons seemed bigger and brighter surrounded by countless flickering stars.

"This place reminds me of my estate, but it is different in the fact I feel at peace here" Tylan thought when he herd screaming and a deep bellow followed by gunshots.

"He must be determined to get himself killed" Tylan thought standing up and running towards the noise.

He ran swiftly along the walls of the wings till he came to an open window which he figured was Edana's. He jumped up to the sill and crouched leaning through.

"Edana come quick!" He yelled.

"What are you ta" Edana started but was cut off.

"Hayden might need help" he spoke quickly before jumping back out the window.

Edana followed out the window and looked Tylan in the eye. He looked at her and began running and Edana followed closely. The started to enter a forest when 2 kids rushed past them. Edana Stopped the kids and knelt down looking in thier faces.

"Are you guys ok? What happened?" She asked politely as they nodded and started to talk.

"You go ahead" Edana shot at tylan who was running before she finished.

He ran through the forest darting in and out of trees and bushes before seeing a dead behemoth and Hayden slumped against a tree. He walked carefully along the behemoth and saw the exit wound of the bullet. Turning his attention to Hayden he grimaced. He appeared to be unconscious and banged up pretty bad. Tylan knelt down and pulled a Hi-potion out of a pouch at his side. He forced Hayden to swallow some of it reviving him back to consciousness.

"You dead yet" He said coldly Hayden began to laugh but was in pain by doing so.

"Your the last person who I imagined comming....wait Acacia is the last so nevermind" Hayden said with a smile looking Tylan in the eye.

"Shut up and drink this we can save the talk for a time when you arend brutally injured" Tylan said giving Hayden the rest Hi-potion.

"Thanks" Hayden said as Tylan placed him across his shoulders and began walking out of the forest.[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Domon]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][I]Sighing, Cael picked up his blade and looked at Reese, who had stopped jumping around now had a perplexed look on her face.[/I]

"What are you doing???" [I]Cael smirked and motioned for her to get her rapier. Nodding, Reese grabbed her rapier and took a fencing stance while Cael took a regular sword fighting stance, and then it began.

At first the pace was light and slow, but soon picked up when Cael threw his trenchcoat aside for more mobility. He smiled mentally at Reese, she didn't look strong, but yet she was able to hold her ground.[/I]

"Let's get a little more serious." [I]Cael said as he got into a more offensive stance, while Reese took on a defensive stance. Quickly bringing his sword down, Cael found it blocked by Reese's rapier and a rather confident Reese. Propelling himself backwards, Cael was most definetly surprised at her swordsmanship,obviously she had gone through some rigorous training. As the two were just about to go into another match they heard loud foot steps of several people. Both of them gripped their weapons and ran out of the room and down the hall towards the main entrance. Cael about gagged at what he saw, Tylan and the torn up and bloody figure of Hayden. Edana came running down from her room and looked from the second floor at Hayden. Prynn came out of his meditation room and was taken aback at Hayden's condition.[/I]

"Bring him here, I know a minor Cure spell. It should probably be enough to heal his wounds." [I]The group carried the still groggy Hayden into Prynn's room and placed him on the bed there. Giving the High Summoner some room the group was surprised to see a lot of Hayden's wounds start healing after Prynn had made some simple hand motions. As soon as he had finished Prynn looked at the group.[/I]

"Well, I think we've had quite a day. How about you guys go to sleep and be sure to get up at eight so you can see a summoning." [I]Cael nodded and headed back towards his room, but before he did he grabbed his coat from the training room. Entering his room, Cael was still in awe the size of the place, it was just so large and it was all for him. There was a small table by the windows, and instead of chairs its seats were rather large cushions, and over near the bed was a large Go board, either Prynn could read minds or he liked Go too, Cael simply admired the beautiful wooden table and yet he knew he would never find such craftsmenship back at his home, the Go board he had was shotty and old. Sighing, Cael simply dropped his coat over the foot of the bed and set his sword within his arm's reach and slid into bed.[/I][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Sakura]

[COLOR=Navy]Reese walked back to her room on the floor below. She walked into the room and shut the wooden door and slumped against it. Her mind was full of curiousity, what had happened to Hayden for him to be in such a bad shape. Was there difficult monsters on the loose? And Cael, he was a good fight and seemed quite amazed that she was so good with a sword. Why? Did he expect her to be weak with weapons because she was a summoner?

Reese walked to the otherside of her large room to the windows and pushed them open. She took in a deep breath, breathing the scent of the night. She propped her elbows on the window ledge and looked out into the inky darkness. What was out there that had hurt Hayden, were there more? She stared out, not looking for anything, just enjoying the cool breezes that came by regularly at night and the sounds of the nocturnal animals coming out of hiding to hunt.

Reese sighed and closed the windows before tucking her rapier under the bed, in arms reach for easy access. She changed into a nightgown and slipped under the covers, but she was restless, she closed her eyes for long periods and decided that it was no use so she got up and decided to practise the hand motions for each of the summons to make sure she got them right, even though she knew them back and front, it was a calming procedure. She breathed in and out calmly, she had to keep a cool head to summon or it could turn out wrong, so she practised. Finally when she was tired, she slipped back into the covers and the friendly, familiar warmth surrounded her and she was soon asleep, hoping to wake up on time tomorrow to summon in the courtyard.[/COLOR]

[StrikeGundam]

[color=navy]Selfina shook Prynn awake some time around seven o' clock. If it wasn't for her, Reese would have been waiting for him until some time around noon. He mumbled a thank you to her and stumbled into the shower. Several minutes later, he emerged from his room looking like his usual debonair self. It was merely seven twenty-five, so he went down to the kitchens to grab an early breakfast. After much deliberation, he settled on a bunch of grapes and a pair of grapefruit wedges, and headed for the courtyard.[/color][color=navy] He finished his breakfast and went into deep meditation (ooc: sleep ~_^) until he heard Reese's familiar footsteps, soon followed by several other ones. Prynn quickly assumed his waiting position and smiled brightly when everyone emerged, Hayden included, from the corridor. [/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=teal]"I'm glad to see everyone so well rested from last night. Hayden, how are you feeling?" [/color]
[color=#008080][/color]
[color=deepskyblue]"Couldn't be better, that is, unless you sent a couple of your maids up to my room later on."[/color]
[color=#00bfff][/color]
[color=teal]"I'm sure that a couple of the guys would be more than happy to tidy up your room for you."[/color]
[color=#008080][/color]
[color=deepskyblue]"Never mind..."[/color]
[color=#00bfff][/color]
[color=navy]The sound of everyone's laughter was a more than welcome sound. Prynn sudenly stopped and got a bit more serious. Everyone followed suit.[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=teal]"Well, I don't think that it's fair to keep you people waiting, so let's get to it. You don't mind a spar, do you Reese?"[/color]
[color=#008080][/color]
[color=darkslateblue]"Of course not."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=navy]The two summoners took their usual positions opposite each other, with the others forming a tight circle around them. [/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=teal]"Um... You guys may want to give us a [i]little [/i]more room than that."[/color]
[color=#008080][/color]
[color=navy]Everyone took a step back. [/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=teal]"Ok, a [i]lot [/i]of room."[/color]
[color=#008080][/color]
[color=navy]Everyone now was backed up against the walls. [/color]
[color=navy][/color]
[color=teal]"That's better."[/color]

[color=navy]Prynn and Reese immediately began their summonings. Each could tell that the other was doing hand motions that they had preformed forever. Bahamut and Ifrit would be taking the field.[/color]

[Domon]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][I]Cael was at first doubtful of this "summoning", in fact he thought the whole thing was a hoax concocted by Prynn and Reese. That is until the two were eveloped in auras that were of different colors and then, a large black dragon appeared on the stone walkway. The dragon had a multicolored belly and massive wings, but on its back was an immense golden ring, it let out a roar that shocked Cael. That was what had saved them from the Malboro! Just then Reese's summoning took its own form, a large creature with a red mane and tufts of red furon its legs and on its face, but its horns were what made Cael think that the creature was a demon.[/I]

"Wha..What are those things?" [I]Reese let out a small chuckle.[/I]

"The one in front of me is Ifrit, the fire demon. The one in front of Prynn is Bahamut. These are only a few of our summons, we can summon more but only one at a time. Now Ifrit, I think we should give our guests a good show." [I]The girl winked and the monster snorted in response as it growled at Bahamut. The dragon didn't flinch at Ifrit, but it merely seemed to shrug Ifrit's threat away.[/I]

"All right Bahamut, nice and easy." [I]Prynn said in a calm tone, and the dragon took flight, but only a little bit off the ground and shot towards Ifrit. The spar had begun.[/I][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[StrikeGundam]

[color=navy]Prynn closed his eyes, and allowed his mind to immerse itself in Bahamut's. He became a whisper in the creature's ear, telling him what to do without so much as an audible word. Their thoughts and feelings began to become one. Perhaps this was an unfair advantage over Reese, since she needed to communicate whatever she wanted Ifrit to do, but in time, the bond between her and Ifrit would be as strong as the one between Prynn and his summoning. [/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=#000080]Bahamut hovered high in the air, watching Ifrit all the while. The fire creature launched a large fireball, which Bahamut lazily avoided. [/color][color=navy]Reese yelled for Ifrit to get more agressive, and he began to conjured a mass of fireballs that fell from the sky. Bahamut skillfully dodged the fireballs, but several of them landed in the grasses surrounding the estate. [/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=teal]"Hey! You better help that he didn' t hit anything important!"[/color]
[color=#008080][/color]
[i][color=#008080]Bahamut. Time to finish this.[/color][/i]
[i][color=#008080][/color][/i]
[color=navy]Bahamut responded, but it was more of a positive feeling instead of words. With a powerful flap of his enormous wings, he flew high into the air, nearly into the atmosphere, and then turned around. He rocketed towards the ground, falling like an enormus meteor. He pulled up from the enormous dive, and with another flap of his wings, sent a gigantic shockwave towards Ifrit. The fire elemental soared high over the wall around the courtyaed, and disappeared as the summoning ended. Bahamut made a sound that sounded much like a chuckle, and then disappeared himself. Prynn turned around, he was just in time to see everyone picking their jaws up off the floor.[/color]

[Cyriel]

It was amazing. Such power, such grace, such enormity... How was something of this magnitude even possible? Summoning... It was real. Edana felt her breath catch as the disbelief slowly faded and turned into shock. And...there was something else. Something that she felt - it was as if seeing the summoning had opened up a door for her.

[I]This is it - this is the answer to my...restlessness[/I]. Never before had she felt that way; her emotions were in turmoil, threatening to over-run her body. But deep down, the excitement and conviction grew. [I]This...this is what I want to do. I want to summon.[/I] And as soon as the thought grew complete in her mind, Edana felt no question of it. She knew it was what she had to do. Nothing before had ever made such an effusion threaten to overflow from her being - already she was shouting in amazement in her mind.

And, when Prynn and Reese had summoned, she had felt the power. She had [I]felt[/I] it. It had rushed around her heart, her body, making her hair stand on end. It had transported her to another state - complete awe, complete conviction, complete amazement, complete...everything. Completeness. It was so enriching that she almost wanted to cry, and she closed her eyes to stop the tears. But when she opened them again, she was smiling.

[I]I'm going to do it. I'll ask Prynn if I can learn. I have to learn. I have to summon[/I]. Still smiling, she joined the others as they crowded around the two summoners, questions and wonderment ringing together in the morning.

Prynn laughed, holding up his hands to ward off the onslaught of questions, "Wait, wait. There is plenty of time to answer all your questions, but even summoners don't work well on empty stomachs. Breakfast is waiting." He led the way to a table that had been set up outside on the verandah; the spread was impressive. Seated, Edana dug in with an appetite, matching the rest. And she listened closely to the conversation...

[Balinese]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Vela practiced her sword-skills, parrying the thrusts of her father's rapier as he tried to back her away.

[I]"Lusa uh, lusa uh. (Come on, come on.)"[/I] Vela's father tried to goad her into making a mistake. She just ignored him, fencing with him. Every minute that she kept him at bay was a minute that he wouldn't be bothering her about her Shield spell, and that was good.

With a clatter of metal, Vela forced her father into a corner and disarmed him. [I]"E feh, Vydran. (I win, Father.)"[/I]
[I]"Famm tuha, Vela. Ku uh du dra gedlrah yht ayd pnaygvycd. Oui sicd pa rihkno. (Well done, Vela. Go on to the kitchen and eat breakfast. You must be hungry.)" [/I] The almost- happy tone in her father's voice surprised Vela and made her more cautious than if he'd been angry, but she just nodded and said, [I]"Oac, Vydran. (Yes, Father.)"[/I]

When Vela left for the kitchen, her father wrote out a message and sent it to the summoner who lived on the outskirts of town, using a runner servant.

The message read:
[I]"Prynn -
I would like Vela to meet with you, as you are a fine judge of magical talent. Send me a message if this is at all feasible."[/I][/FONT]

[Domon]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=Indigo][I]Cael adjacent to Reese and was amazed at the large platters of food. Obviously the cooking staff had gone to great lengths to prepare such a feast. Sighing, Cael mentally groaned as Hayden proceeded to wolf down any food that was placed in front of him.

Edana must have caught on to what Cael was a little perturbed at and immediately proceeded to drive her boot down onto Hayden's foot, causing him to yelp in pain and gag on some food. Prynn smirked in amusement at their antics as Hayden smacked his chest and was able to swallow again.

Breakfast was soon interrupted by a chain of curse words and some laughing. The group walked out of the main doors and back into the courtyard as two large feathered masses walked up to the group.[/I]

"What the **** are those!? Either those are some sort of feathered horse or some really big *** chickens!!" [I]Hayden yelled as he drew his guns and pointed them right at the birds, but in a flash Prynn's staff was pressed down on Hayden's guns and aiming them towards the ground.[/I]

"Those are Cid's chocobos, and I'm most certain he would not appreciate his prized birds being killed by you." [I]Hayden realized that shooting at the birds would be an absolute no-no and holstered his guns. As he did so Cid climbed off one bird and a young man with a staff climbed off the other.

Cid gave the two birds some green vegetables as the young man walked up towards the group, noticing this Cid bolted up next to the man and shook Prynn's hand.[/I]

"Prynn, this is Bedros and he will accompany you guys to the lake, now all I can hope for is that my message got to Vela's father by now."[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Cyriel]

Edana greeted Bedros as well, smiling in turn and shaking his hand. Then she turned to Cid, "Who's Vela?" She didn't notice Bedros's gaze on her as she mentioned the name.

Cid answered, "Vela? Oh, well, she's someone who I highly recommend joining this group of yours. She'd fit right in, but don't worry, hopefully you'll meet her soon enough."

Edana nodded, taking his answer and not prodding - she was still wondering how to ask Prynn and Reese to teach her summoning. But then, her interest was caught by the two large birds that still stood in the courtyard. Walking slowly towards them, she cautiously held out her hand, and tentatively touched some of the feathers. When they showed no signs of aggression, she moved closer, and started to stroke them. They acted quite friendly, and pretty soon she was smiling brightly. Scratching one of them under the chin, she laughed quietly as the chocobo crooned with pleasure.

"So, you like them eh?" Cid's voice interrupted her out of her revery.

"Oh! Yes, well, I've never seen them before. I mean, we heard about them at the farm and everything but..." Her voice trailed off with a nervous laugh, and she stroked the fine, thick feathers once more. Cid handed her a couple vegetables, which she offered to the birds. The chocobos ate them carefully, nudging gently with their beaks as not to hurt her hands. It only made her laugh quietly again.

His attention caught, Cael turned to watch Edana in her friendly exchange with the birds. He couldn't help seeing how...young she looked. [I]Just like a kid...a regular kid[/I]. A slight feeling of guilt touched him, but he brushed it away. Cid caught his eye, and his glance told Cael that Cid also understood how he was feeling. But then Cid turned back to Edana with a patronly expression, as he explained more to her about the birds. She spoke back animatedly, her hands speaking along with her voice with the happy expression on her face. Cael then noticed that Acacia was also watching, and she locked eyes with him. Her look told him that she also understood, and then she turned and spoke quietly to Tylan, who also watched for a few seconds. But Cael forced his attention back to the conversation that the others were having.

Edana suddenly stopped talking, and looked nervously at Cid. "Umm...could I - could I ride one of them?"

"What? One of the chocobos?" he asked, his eyebrows raised in mock surprise. She nodded eagerly. "Well," he said, looking her form up and down, "do you think a little lady as yourself could handle such a large creature?"

"Handle them? That won't be a problem at all - I've had to handle worse creatures than the chocobos before," she answered, shooting a glance at Hayden.

Cid roared with laughter, and then turned to the others. "Alright everyone, while we're waiting for Vela, Miss Edana here will be taking a ride on one of the chocobos. Is anyone else up for a ride?"

[Balinese]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]"Thank you." Vela's sharp ears caught her father's voice, and the scuffle of a pair of feet running from the estate. A moment later, her father entered the kitchen and dismissed the servants, pulling a chair down to sit next to Vela. This in itself was unusual, so Vela turned to face him, munching on a piece of fruit.

"Vela, I've asked a friend of mine to teach you a few things." That he wasn't speaking Al Bhed was a shock, and meant something important was coming. "You leave in ten minutes. Get your things prepared and be outside. The chocobo will be waiting in the front yard, as will an escort."
"Y...yes, Father. Your will." Vela stood and pushed her breakfast dishes aside, bowing slightly as a good daughter ought. She strode as quickly as she dared to her small room and gathered a few clothes and her warmest cloak, stuffing them quickly into a backpack. As she headed downstairs, she strapped her sword around her shoulders and back and went into the kitchen. Her father looked at her with a small smile. [i]"Dyga lyna, so tyikrdan." (Take care, my daughter.)[/i] She replied with a tiny smile of her own and leaned down to give him a hug. [i]"E femm. Vynafamm, Vydran." (I will. Farewell, Father.)[/i] She walked into the front yard of the house and called to a chocobo, hopping on to its back and ruffling its neck-feathers. [i]"Mad'c ku!" (Let's go!)[/i] She rode off in a cloud of dust, letting the chocobo take her where she needed to go.[/FONT]

[The Vampire: Ed]

Hayden smiled as Edana happily pet the chocobo, then laughed slightly as it crooned, and cooed as it received some scratching under its chin. Hayden suddenly hunched over as pain shot through his body, his ribs still not fully healed, the damage was too much to be completely healed by simple potions or curing spells. They only rejuvenated his vitality, however his body still had to deal with the pain. Hayden walked away from the rest of the team holding his side, he didn't want them to know he was still hurting.

"Damn-" Hayden hissed under his breath. "That monster did a lot of damage to me, I'm still feeling it."

Hayden lean against the side of Cid's house holding his ribs still, then caught sight of the two boys he had saved the night before. They were walking towards him, and with them a young woman holding a package of some sort.

"That's him!" One of the boys called out tugging at the girls dress. "He's the guy who saved us from that monster."

The boys ran up and began tugging on Hayden's arms, his face grimaced as the pain grew from the pulling and pushing of his body. Edana happened to be walking the chocobo by at that moment, and she stopped to listen in. The young girl accompanying the boys pulled them off of Hayden, and shook her head at them.

"I'm sorry, sir." The girl said as she turned her attention back to Hayden. "They've been going on about you all night since you saved them last night. At first, I didn't believe them, but then I heard about a wounded man being brought back to the village from a monster attack. So I figured they must have been telling the truth."

"It's fine-really." Hayden said waving his hand while sucking in some air. "Just keep them out of the forest after hours, it's dangerous out there."

"Yes, I'm sorry. I've told them before-" The young girl said as she gave the boys a stern look. "But, they're hard to keep an eye on. You see it's just me, and them. Their mother, and father were killed by a monster, not unlike the one I heard about in their telling of your heroics last night. My name is Mona, I was a close friend of their mother's, I decided to take care of them after her and her husband's deaths."

"Well, that's very generous of you." Hayden responded trying to stand straight up.

"It was the least I could do for the years of friendship their mother gave me, and she helped me out quite a bit." Mona said as she held the package to her chest. "Anyway, I came here to thank you for what you did. I have something for you."

"No, that's all right, I don't want anything in return." Hayden said shaking his head.

Mona handed the package to Hayden, obviously not going to take no for an answer, so Hayden reluctantly accepted it. Hayden smiled as best he could as he opened the package and found his coat, it was torn off of him by the baby Behemoth.

"My coat! I love this thing!" Hayden said as he quickly tried to put it on, but had to stop as his ribs started hurting again. "Argh-I'll put it on later. Wait-I thought it was torn up."

"It was, but I sowed it up for you." Mona said as she pointed at a very, very fine line of stitching. "I am a seamstress. So I am very good at sowing."

"I'd have to say you're damn good at sowing. I can hardly see the stitching." Hayden said as he felt the coat over. "Thank you."

"No, thank you." Mona said as she hugged the two boys closer to her. "After all you saved them. Mending your torn coat was the least that I could do. Well, we've got to get going, boys say good-bye."

"Good-bye!" The boys said simultaneously as Hayden rubbed one of their heads ruffling up his hair.

Mona waved as her and the boys turned and left. Hayden smiled to himself as he watched them leave, then looked at his coat again. Edana smiled seeing Hayden's nice side, one without the ego or testosterone driven pick up lines. Hayden attempted to put his coat back on, only able to get a single arm in the sleeve he gave up and just sat down in on of the chairs littering the lawn. Edana's attention was brought back to the chocobo as it nudged her gently trying to get it to pet, and scratch it again.

[Domon]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][I]Cael was slightly bothered that they had to chase down a chocobo which had ran off towards Cid's house and was warking rather happily as its friend and its master walked towards it.[/I]

"You big feather brain!!" [I]Cid hollered as he raised a fist, but the chocobo just gave him the inoccent look and Cid calmed down, now the bird just leaned down and looked Cid at eye level before it stuck out its tounge and ran into the shelter of the barn that it had been hiding in. Chuckling, Cael looked over at Reese and Prynn.[/I]

"I think that bird reminds me too much of Hayden." [I]Reese smiled and Prynn let out a slight chuckle as Cid chased the bird around until he stopped and glared.[/I]

"Crazy bird....Always causing a scene..." [I]The man muttered as he marched the bird back into its stable. As he did so, Cael could hear even more warks eminating from the massive building.[/I]

"Good lord, how many birds does he have in there!?"

"Cid's the top Chocobo breeder in this village, they are the best transportation across the desert. I mean your horses were great from where you are, but they won't be able to bypass a lot of the monsters that roam this place." [I]Cael nodded and looked back towards Prynn's house.[/I]

" I'm gonna go back and get my sword, I think I left it in my room." [I]Cael bolted off towards the house and in a few minutes he was back inside the massive mansion and was heading down the hallway and into his room and as soon as he picked up his sword he whirled around with it at the ready, but it was only Reese who was trailing him. Dropping his sword by his side, Cael let out a sigh and looked at the young girl.[/I]

"You scared the crap out of me. Don't do it again please." [I]Reese smiled and looked at him.[/I]

"Why? Do you like knowing everything? Or is it simply that you don't like surprises." [I]Cael just looked at her and walked on out the door motioning for her to follow.

As they exited Prynn's house and entered the front courtyard they saw a young girl in all white clothing and purple hair.[/I]

"Is there anything I can do for you?" [I]Reese asked as the girl looked up towards her.[/I]

"I need to speak with Prynn, my name is Vela." [I]Reese nodded and led both Cael and Vela back towards Cid's house where there was now even more warking and more chocobos running around the yard.[/I]

"Jeez Cid.. Why did you.."

"I didn't let em' out, the stupid featherbrains got out on their own!!!" [I]Cid yelled as a chocobo ran by and nipped him on the rear. Jumping up and down the man cursed again at the bird that had done the deed and then he pulled out a rather large green.[/I]

"Here birdy birdy birdy....." [I]The chocobos' attention was gotten and they all followed Cid into the barn where he proceeded to throw the green smack dab in the middle of the building and ran out like a madman and slammed the doors shut.[/I]

"God those things are crazy!!" [I]He said as he slid down onto the ground and looked at the one that Edana was walking around.[/I]

"Wark??" [I]The chocobo asked in its own silly voice.[/I]

"Well, cept you. Yer the sane one around here."

"WARK!!!" [I]The bird said cheerfully and jumped up and down. Cid's attention finally snapped towards Cael, Reese, and Vela. Seeing that the newest addition to the team was here he grinned happily.[/I]

"All right, now that we have everyone here we can get our supply bags that I have already packed for you and load them up onto the birds and be on our way."[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[The Vampire: Ed]

Hayden pulled at the coat, even hurting himself further just to get it on. But he failed, it flopped around on his back as he reached for the other sleeve. Edana watched again, then decided to help Hayden out. She tied the Chocobo to a nearby post for a moment then approached Hayden. Hayden's struggling ceased as he felt a hand on his shoulder, and another pulling the coat over for him to put his arm through the sleeve. After Hayden had his coat on he turned to see who helped him, and found Edana giggling at him.

"I could see that you're still hurting. What's so special about this coat that you'd hurt yourself just to put it on?" Edana asked taking a seat next to Hayden in another chair.

"Well, this was my father's coat, he left it to me after he passed away." Hayden confessed as he leaned back clutching at his ribs. "The guns too. They were my father's too."

"I see. Now I understand." Edana said nodding. "Were you two close?"

Hayden sighed, and looked away leaving the conversation hanging in silence. Just when Edana expected no response, he gave her one.

"No." Hayden said as he sighed again. "I hated him for a long time. He was a soldier, so I never had a permanent home. We moved around a lot, I never had a friend from more than a month. I hated him for the life I was forced to lead because of his job. Eventually I fell in with the wrong crowd, did a lot of stupid stuff and found myself in boot camp. I was never much of listening to authority figures, but eventually I was straightened out-well, enough anyway."

"Is that so?" Edana replied laughing, then she became serious again. "I'm sorry, you and your father didn't get along."

"Well, we grew closer once I got out of boot camp, after all we had more in common then. I was a sharpshooter, and so was he. I was the best marksman in the whole camp, like my father the soldier." Hayden said with a half hearted smile. "We didn't have much time to spend with each other, he left me these items and went off to a war and died in combat. I realize how much I missed out on when he was gone."

Edana patted Hayden's shoulder as he stared at the ground in deep thought, then he saw the edge of tattered picture sticking out of her pocket. He pulled it out and stared at realizing it was the picture of his ex-girlfriend, Naomi, that he shot up the other day.

"What are you doing with this?" Hayden asked looking a little upset.

"I found it after you went for your walk." Edana admitted. "Who is it?"

"A rotten woman who broke my heart." Hayden said with the slip of the tongue. "Ugh-he name is Naomi. She cheated on me with some prick, then left me without so much as a good-bye. She threw me aside like a dirty tissue."

"I see." Edana said starting to finally understand why Hayden acted the way he did. "So she's to blame then?"

"W-what?" Hayden said thinking he had said too much, then attempted to play it off. "Uh-no, no, I mean she was just some chic-no one important."

Hayden inched away from Edana slight feeling uncomfortable, but Edana just smiled and laughed.

"I think you can be a good guy when you want to be, you proved that by rescuing those boys and even helping me that time after the dragon attack me." Edana said pitying Hayden. "You can also be a real jerk too, but I rather you were more like this all the time. Then no one would have to hit you so much."

Hayden and Edana laughed simultaneously, then was brought out of their laughter by the chocobo squawking at them practically begging for attention. Edana got up and went back to the chocobo then waved to Hayden as she began to walk away with the chocobo.

[Veritas]

OCC: Sorry it took me so long to post.

IC: Tylan had been had started heading for the town. Apon passing the front courtyard he saw Cael, Reese, Cid and a girl he didnt recognize. He brushed it off and conitued his walk when Cael yelled at him.

"Hey Tylan, Where you going?"

"To town I thought I'd get some last minute supplies."

"Oh, well come here for a second, I want you to meet someone"

Tylan walked over to the group and Cael introduced him.

"Tylan this is Vela, She is going with us"

"Hi, nice to meet you"

"You too" Tylan answered scanning the girl and focusing on a sword "Maybe we can spar sometime"

"Okay"

"Well I better go" Tylan said walking away from the group.

"Later" Cael said before turning to Vela "Dont mind him he isnt that big on coversations, I think he likes you though he was pretty social"

Tylan couldnt hear the rest of the talk as he walked away heading for town.

[Domon]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][I]As Cael watched Tylan walk off into the village, he wondered why the goverment had him exiled and locked away in a massive mansion.. It just seemed odd, maybe he knew too much, and maybe something else. Cael was knocked off his train of thought when Reese tapped him on the shoulder, he looked over at her and she grinned.[/I]

"Penny for your thoughts." [I]Cael just looked back at her and said nothing. It wasn't because he didn't like Reese, it was just because he was totally speechless.[/I]

"Just thinking. I hope the desert isn't too dangerous..." [I]Mentally kicking himsef, Cael knew with this entire team put together, the monsters out in the desert didn't stand a chance. Though Cael wondered if there would be something more in the city that they would have to go through before reaching the lake.

Cid had been putting most of the supplies onto the chocobos but when he went to put the supplies on the one Hayden would be riding, the blasted thing had nipped and warked angrily at Cid. Knowing something was wrong Cid inspected the bird, sure enough he'd found a break in the poor thing's wing. It really wasn't nothing in the wild, but if Hayden were going to ride a chocobo it couldn't be this one unless..[/I]

"Prynn, you know a cure spell right?"

"Yes. Why, are one of the chocobos hurt?" [I]Cid pointed to the one nursing its injured wing and Prynn walked over and placed his hands over its wing, the bird looked at him with large blue eyes in wonder as its wing started to heal. After a few minutes the bird was flapping its wing and warking happily.

Still slumped against Cid's house, Cael watched as Cid and Prynn greeted Vela with happy handshakes and the usual idle chit chat. After the pleasantries were over, Cid looked around for Tylan.[/I]

"****, where'd that boy go off to? You know we got a time limit to stay within here." [I]Cael walked over to Cid.[/I]

"I'll go look for him. It shouldn't be that hard, he's the only one running around in the clothes he's got on." [I]Cid nodded in agreement and Cael headed into the town, but as he just entered the shopping district of the village he saw Tylan heading towards him with a small satchel.[/I]

"I take it you got a good haul?" [I]Tylan nodded slightly and the two headed back towards Cid's house.

Finally, after all the preparations were made and completed, the group mounted their chocobos and were off into the desert.[/I][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Balinese]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]OOC: first i lose where this rpg is within the arena, then my mom has a paranoia attack and will not let me use the comp at home! it's enough to drive a girl crazy!

IC: Vela rode her chocobo with a bit more ease than a couple of the other members of the little group. Hayden kept swearing as his bird sped up, and Cid yelled constantly, something about "You ****ing birdbrain!"

She nibbled lightly on a nail, watching the scenery move past at an impressive rate. The feeling of someone pulling up closer to her made her turn to see who it was. When she learned, to her relief, that it was Prynn, she clucked lightly to the chocobo that she was riding, causing it to slow a bit. [i]"Tu oui cbayg Al Bhed?" (Do you speak Al Bhed?)[/i]
Pryn gave her a small smile and replied [i]"E tu. Tu oui ghuf fro ouin vydran cahd oui du sa, Vela?" (I do. Do you know why your father sent you to me, Vela?)[/i]
[i]"Ra dumt sa dryd oui fana du daylr sa cusa drehkc." (He told me that you were to teach me some things.)[/i] Vela looked intently at the reins in her hands, not wanting to admit that she felt incompetent next to a summoner.
[i]"Dryd'c lunnald. Pid fryd tu [u]oui[/u] drehg oui haat du maynh?" (That's correct. But what do [u]you[/u] think you need to learn?)[/i] Prynn watched the young lady, noting her discomfort.

Hayden came up behind the pair, tugging at the reins of his bird. "****ing giant turkeys. What are you all talking about?"

Vela stopped speaking, staring out at the scenery. Prynn gave Hayden a semi-stern look and nodded at Vela. [i]"Fa'mm teclicc drec mydan. E lyh caa ed sygac oui ihlusvundypma." (We'll discuss this later. I can see it makes you uncomfortable.)[/i] Vela gave him a grateful look and urged her chocobo forward, kweh-ing at it softly.[/FONT]

[Domon]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Cael had to squint as he looked towards the horizion, the heat was strong enough that he was seeing ripples in the air. The chocobos seemed unaffected though, realizing this Cael now knew why they were the best form of transportation. A conventional horse would be in bad shape by now, but the chocobos were still running at peak condition. The crunching of dirt and sand could be heard as could the animals kweed happily.

Unfortunately this serene time was shattered when a roar that sounded like nails down a chalkboard was heard. The chocobos stopped in their tracks and everyone looked up as a winged monster swooped down, Cael only managed to get a look at its underbelly as he and the chocobo fell over on their sides. Letting out a small yelp of pain, Cael yanked his sword off of the bird's right flank, but as he reached to grab his sword he heard a hiss and looked up, it was a massive dragon, but it wasn't a dragon. It only had two legs, its fangs were bared and its tounge flicked back and forth, its brown eyes stared down at Cael and it delighted in the fear it was inflicting on the chocobo, but the creature's victory was short lived; a large volley of bullets rained down on the creature and Cael knew that Hayden was distracting the monster. Managing to finally find his feet, Cael climbed out from under the chocobo which was also struggling to get up but it didn't want to hurt Cael in the process, so once he was up the bird lept up and ran towards the others and they all were watching wtih intent blue eyes. At this moment Cael readied his sword and charged at the animal, the black blade was brought down on the Wyvren's back but the blade vibrated violently as Cael dropped it in pain. The thing's scales were harder than diamond, and its tail was even more vicious. Soon he was thrown backwards and he landed with a thud on his back, the wyvren soon turned back towards the chocobos and it snarled, but as soon as it did it was struck by a strong blizzard spell from Bedros, but the thing merely shook it off. That's when Cid spoke up. "Its a Desert Wyvren, its immune to physical and magic attacks. Prynn! Reese! Summon something quickly!"

With quick nods the two started their summonings. Within the blink of an eye the massive dragon that Prynn had summoned earlier appeared and a new monster appeared for Reese, it was a jade colored sea serpent. The serpent took to the Wyvren first and entwined itself like a constricter does and began to tighten around the creature, and in the meantime the black dragon flew towards the monster and slashed at it but the Wyvren was still standing, but this time it was making another call, it sounded like it was calling for help, which would be a bad thing at the moment, if more showed up they would be in deep trouble.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Sakura]

[COLOR=Navy]Reese had jumped as she was called on. No one had ever told her to summon anything except Prynn, and even then, he'd usually let her take her time. She whisked around to look at Cid, and the others. Prynn touched her arm lightly and nodded, Reese felt better and nodded back.

Prynn made his hand gestures. Reese knew immediately, as she had had to memorize every hand gesture of every summon, so she'd know what someone was summoning in case she ever fought against another summoner. Reese watched as the large black dragon appeared. Reese realised she had to summon her monster as well, she thought about it for a second and started her hand movements, taking calming breaths so she wouldn't mess the summon up and accidently summon something else. As she made the final sign, a large blue sea serpent emerged and curled in the air.

Prynn and Reese told their summons to attack. Reese ordered Leviathan to constrict the Desert Wyvern so it wouldn't be able to move. Leviathan squeezed it's loops of coils, trying to crush the Wyvern. While Reese had gotten Leviathan to do that, Prynn ordered Bahamut use his slash attack. But the Wyvern continued to stand unfortunately. It wriggled and let out a loud call, everyone looked around and then they heard a chorus of reply screeches. Everyone was shocked as they saw 2 other wyverns fly in and land next to the captured one. The new arrivals were a lot smaller than the prisoner, but everyone agreed that they could probably do the same damage.

Prynn and Reese told their summons to release the captured one. They looked at each other, wondering what to do. Then Reese got the idea, the same moment as Prynn.

"Double Summon." they said simultaneously.

They dispelled their summons and prepared for their double summoning.

"Remember everything we've discussed, this is the one that really counts." Prynn said.

"I know...I will." Reese replied.

They inhaled and started their hand movements that they'd been over many times. Auras appeared around the two summoners, a green one floated around Prynn, and a navy blue aura covered Reese. As they did each of the movements, pieces of a shimmering summon appeared.[/COLOR]

[B]OOC:[/B] I couldn't think of anything so I just repeated the bit from the last post, and I have no idea what summon their summoning so someone else can decide.

[Domon]

[COLOR=Navy][SIZE=1][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Cael looked over at Reese and Prynn as they called back the monsters they had summoned, but now something was totally different about them. Their auras seemed to ignite from within their bodies and engulf them as if they were on fire. They once again did complicated hand movements, but Cael noticed that they were synchronized and in perfect unison. At that moment a large cloud appeared and rain began to drizzle downards cooling everyone off and the thunder and lightning seemed to anger the Wyvrens, but after a resiliant blast of lightning a figure on a horse stood above them. In its hand was a massive blade that seemed like it must be a mere extension of this figure's body. Suddenly, the horse cantered and then broke into a full gallop at the lead Wyvren, the man brought his sword up and when he neared the Wyvren, he smote it with a large downard vertical arc. When the horse slowed back down to a mere trot, the Wyvren twitched and then its body split in two; dead from the single blow. Cael turned back towards the two summoners and watched as they dismissed the massive figure.

"What the hell was that!?" Cael exclaimed as he ran towards the two.
"That would be a Double Summoning, its a trick Reese and I have learned. And that one was Odin, he has the most powerful attack that we know of for now."

With that Cael's mout hung open and wordless, a mere nod finally escaped him but he soon looked back at the other two that were now starting to charge, "Shouldn't we do something about those??" Prynn nodded and this time did a summoning by himself, this time a young woman with blue skin appeared and she looked at the Wyvrens and merely taunted them to come closer, when they took the bait the girl shot up a few feet off the ground and a ball of white energy appeared in her hand and she fired it off, but it wasn't a simple blast. The energy expanded into a huge field of ice that froze the creatures to death, for when the young woman landed again and snapped her fingers, the Wyvrens died from the extreme cold. Prynn leaned on his staff a little wary and chuckled, "That would be Shiva, she tends to be a little more difficult to control because she's so human like. Now, shall we leave?"

Cael nodded as he walked over to his chocobo and saddled back up as the others climbed on theirs as well. Cael was now shocked to see the sliced Wyvren's entrails flopped about on the ground along with the large pool of blood, the cut may have been clean but it failed to keep things such as scavengers and such from being attracted and Cael knew he didn't want anymore trouble so he moved his chocobo over towards the black mage, "Will you please burn that sliced up one, I don't want any more of its friend's finding it and getting our scent." Bedros nodded and with a point of his staff and a simple word and the Wyvren was engulfed in flames.

Returning back on track, Cael pulled out his handheld console and started to pull up the map when Reese rode up beside him with a curious look at the device.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Sakura]

[COLOR=Navy]"What's that?" she asked, looking at it curiously.

"It's a little device that I got, kinda handy, because it has a map." Cael answered, showing it to her.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later." she said, riding back to join Prynn.

"That was great!" Reese exclaimed, bouncing in her saddle, making the chocobo squawk in protest. Reese calmed down and apologised to her mount.

"Yes, I'm very happy that we finally accomplished a double summoning. It was very well done." Prynn said, smiling at his student.

"And we summoned Odin! Which is the most powerful that we know at the moment! Isn't it amazing?!" Reese said happily.

"We will practise it more, and hopefully we will establish a new Double Summon for us. But you'll have to be dedicated." Prynn lectured.

"Prynn! I'm always dedicated to my summoning studies." Reese pouted.

"I wasn't indicating that you aren't, my dear student." Prynn said grinning.

Reese made a 'hmph' noise and slapped him on the arm, then she rode off to talk to someone else. Prynn watched his student and chuckled lightly.[/COLOR]

[B]OOC:[/B] Not the best post I've made but yeah, it's still a post.