The Power Inside

[Chicogal]

Diana bit down on her tongue when Ceil yelled at them. Well, she hadn't thought of that. She opened her mouth to yell something back, but then closed it. There was no necessity in angering him more. All she had said was that if they had their Fiends, they may as well use them. Crossing her arms, she looked at him mutely before glancing across to Khaine. He hopefully wouldn't leave. Right then she wasn't feeling very kindly to Imari, being so good and all.

[TotallyDrow]

Khaine zipped his lips and stood there. The seriousness in Ceil's voice had pretty much petrified Khaine on the spot. He couldn't think of a response to Ceil's comments, and even if he did, he doubted his body would allow him to respond anyway in the frozen state it was in. It was as if Khaine's mind and body were in a disagreement, his mind wanted to retaliate to Ceil's remark, yet his body wouldn't let it. Cold sweat began to form on his brow.

[Fortune86]

It seemed his point had finally been hammered into Diana's and Khaine's head, judging by the way the boy stood in fearful silence and Diana was opening and closing her mouth like a gaping fish. When it became evident that neither of them were going to leave Ceil turned his back on them to continue the lesson.

 

"Right them. Imari here has built a fine fire, but as was pointed out earlier smoke and flames attract monsters. Since Fiends can not protect you while sleep, you need to think smart."

 

Ceil crouched down and grabbing a flat stone from the pile began to dig a hole in the grassy earth. When he sizeable hole he repeated Imari's trick, building a second fire at the bottom of the hole.

 

With the fire burning happily away Ceil retrieved some large fresh leaves from the pile. There was a slight purplish sheen to them.

 

"These are Kukufi leaves" he said holding one up so that his students could see them clearly. "Useless in cooking, no medicinal properties and can't even be rolled into a smoke. However they are good for one thing."

 

Taking some sticks from the pile he built a small lattice over the fire in the hole, out of reach of the flames, and gently laid the Kukufi leaves over it, leaving small gaps for air.

 

Ceil stood up and moved to one side, showing off his fire.

 

"As you can see, my fire is now producing a lot less smoke than Imari's" he said. "And the flames can barely be seen. If a monster is close enough to spot either then you are already in trouble. Kukufi leaves absorb smoke. The fresher they are the better. Thankfully they can be found in most places, save for very close to the shore."

Edited October 7, 2012 by Fortune86

[TotallyDrow]

Khaine watched Ceil's demonstration. He had seen those leaves before but never knew about its capabilities. He raised his hand slowly before asking his question, "... and if we can't find these kukufi leaves... what do we do?" he questioned,"... also, how can we tell how fresh the leaves are?"

Edited October 7, 2012 by TotallyDrow

[DragonSpirit009]

Imari just shook her head at the other two, sure the might have learned something now but at the rate their minds are going they will soon forget. Imari continued to listen and wondering if those two would still think of something else to tick their teacher off.

 

~~

 

Bastian got on to Areo and soon they took to the sky, with the early sun on their skin the flight went pleasantly. They reached the Niefir circling the area.

 

“Would you like to land or does Hima smell something?” Bastian called back to Arthur.

 

[Fortune86]

"Well the best way to get fresh leaves is to take them straight off the plant" said Ceil sarcastically. "That normally does the trick. If you can't find any, which is pretty rare as Kukufi is basically a weed, then your next best option is Liphon. That's a smaller leaf with a reddish stem. It doesn't absorb as much smoke and blocks more of the heat, but it is better than nothing."

 

"Now that you have your fire you may want to take further steps to defend yourself. Even if your fire won't attact monsters that won't stop them from stumbling across you. Some people like to spread Amphilox secretion around their camp, which can ward off several types of monsters pretty well, although it does pose the risk of attracting Mokihag or Crekis, which like to prey on them. Other people like to try picking off a lone Sand Merk and then using it's brains as a paste, but if you are going to do that make sure you make your camp a good distance away from the Sand Merk nest and make youself some noseplugs because you are going to need them."

 

~~~

 

Hima was sitting as close toAreo's head as he could and sniffing the air. He rose onto his haunches and stared to take deep, lung filling breaths. After a few moments Arthur spoke

 

"Try going West for a few miles."

[DragonSpirit009]

Imari’s skin crawled and the hair at the back of her neck slightly started to rise as Ceil explained about using certain things from monsters or monsters themselves. She didn’t like the idea of using brains but it could be useful if necessary.

 

~~

 

Areo glided in the air only flapping once or twice to keep them high enough out of sight from anyone or anything. The red dragon then changed direction and headed to the west still half gliding. The speed he was flying at seemed like slow motion to Bastian but to give Hima a good sniff they had to be patient and let the ice fiend do his job.

[Fortune86]

Hima continued to draw in deep breaths of air, but otherwise stayed very still. It was a good thing Bastian had thought to coat Areo in blankets, as the continued exposure to Hima had coated them in a thick layer of frost.

 

After about half an hour Hima found something a little stronger and turned to face the direction of the scent.

 

"He's gone across the sea" said Arthur to Bastian. "That could cause problems. The air currents are stronger above the waves."

[DragonSpirit009]

Bastian frowned at Arthur’s words, it left them in a bit of a sticky situations. Soaring between land and sea Areo informed his summoner with gave him a little smile. Quickly looking over the side and noticing the familiar coast. Bastian turned around looking past Arthur and notice the faint outline of mountains.

 

“I must be an idiot.” He spoke out loud. “He’s going back home to Usi. This is the route I always took from the island and back to school.” He indicted with his hands pointing to the landmarks. “Usi is straight ahead.”

[Fortune86]

"Then let us away" said Arthur. "I would like to find Kaz as quickly as possible."

 

With his job done for now Hima walked down the length of Areo's spine until he reached his Summoner. He curled up in his lap, but remained alert and watchful of the skies.

[DragonSpirit009]

With Hima safely back on his summoners lap Areo flapped his wings causing a sudden burst of speed. They climbed a bit higher to the sky where the winds wouldn’t be so harsh. Bastian gave Areo the orders to stay hidden in the clouds just in case they might bump in to the fire summoner along the way.

 

((Gonna wait till Kaz post again))

 

[TotallyDrow]

The flight to Usi had been a silent one, neither Kaz nor Xaphan exchanging words with one another. Fortunately for them it was a smooth flight due to the lack of clouds in the sky. From where they were in the sky, they could just barely see the outline of Usi in the vast expanse of water.

[DragonSpirit009]

Areo let a puff of smoke escape his noise letting the summoners know he has spotted something in the distance. From high above a black spot could be seen flying over the ocean towards the outline of an island. Bastian turned around looking at Arthur and pointed where Kaz was.

 

“Do you want him to be caught in mid air or on the island?”

[Fortune86]

"We may need to rest for a while before making the flight to Wuhi Hyet" said Arthur. "So we may as well wait until we reached the island."

 

It wasn't going to be much of a long wait anyway. Arthur could see the island where Usi Phiedn was located not too far away.

[DragonSpirit009]

Bastian nodded and turned around looking in front of him again, he started wondering if his family were out at sea or on the island. Areo flew a bit higher and slower giving Kaz and his fiend time to land on the island first before they even get spotted from the distance.

 

“Eh, Arthur." Bastian spoke a bit uncertain on how to put the words. "If my family is there please excuse them, just thought I give a little warning.”

[TotallyDrow]

The two of them finally reached the Island of Usi, not much had changed from when Kaz had last returned home, giving him a sense of relief and normality. His fathers house was within sight now and from their vantage point in the sky, he could see his father tending to the laundry. The pair of them began to descend.

 

As Xaphan landed, Kaz's father couldn't help but cover his eyes, as the flapping of Xaphan's wings was throwing dirt into the air. "Ka..Kaz... is that you?" he asked.

 

Kaz slid off the side of Xaphan and walked over to his father, embracing the man in a hug. "I thought I'd pay a visit and stay for awhile... help you out with the chores.." he stated, releasing his father from the hug.

 

"You could have sent a letter telling me before hand..." his father stated, "I could have whipped up your favorite dish..." he laughed.

Edited October 9, 2012 by TotallyDrow

[Fortune86]

((Choirs? Kaz's father is a Choirmaster or something?))

 

Arthur merely nodded to Bastian's request. The only family he really had was his Aunts. He never really counted his Uncle.

 

His Aunts had doted on Arthur while he had lived with them and even now sent him frequent letters. But it would be interesting to see Bastian's family and meet those that raised him.

[TotallyDrow]

((Chores* Lol.. silly me...))

[DragonSpirit009]

Bastian watched as the fire fiend landed on the island but he didn’t want to destroy the family reunion just yet. Areo flew more to the harbor’s side where there was a special built platform for large fiends to land. He had also notice before the red dragon landed on the platform a ship that had docked and the people where unpacking.

 

The few people watched as the fiend landed and a rather bulky man approached them. His size was twice the size than both of the two summoners and he had a scar from his cheek to his ear. Bastian slid down from Areo and then looked at Arthur with a “help me” look on his face.

 

“And?” the large man spoke with a deep coarse voice as he stood in front of Bastian with folded arms, looking if he was about to smack the boy.

 

“I didn’t do anything wrong.” Bastian spoke looking up at the man. He wasn’t really sure if he did something wrong but he was gone so it couldn’t have been him. The man kept staring at the two boys for a few minutes longer, Bastian was about to crack under pressure when the man grabbed him around the neck and started messing with his hair.

 

“Wh-what! L-et go! Un-cle!” Bastian shouted as he struggled in the man’s grip.

 

“Oi Bach. Your boy is home.” The man shouted to the ship that was still busy unloading.

Edited October 9, 2012 by DragonSpirit009

[Fortune86]

Arthur stood and watched Bastian's Uncle's greeting in silence. His own Uncle would never greet him like that. He didn't think they had ever even touched each other. They hated each other and they both knew it.

 

Hima padded over and sniffed the strange man's leg, wondering if he would get the order to bite.

[DragonSpirit009]

Three bulky men emerged the ship and made their way to the still gripped Bastian, he soon gave up struggling and just hanged from his uncle looking as his father and other uncles approach them. They all almost looked the same except for height and hair styles but each one also had different personality.

 

“Let the lad go Demos. You can taunt him another day.” Bastian’s father spoke where in turn his uncle let go of his grip. Bastian rubbed his neck letting the blood flow work again, glaring at his uncle as he went and stand beside the rest of his brothers.

 

“I’m not here for a visit, we’re just here to ask someone something.” Bastian motioned to Arthur who had been silent the whole time. His father raised an eyebrow and looked at the boy and then at his fiend before he looked back at Bastian.

 

“If that’s the case then off you go but Areo stays to help.” The man spoke standing a side and letting them pass. Bastian could only sigh and started walking towards the little town.

[TotallyDrow]

A group of kids from the village of Usi, aged between 7-13 ran into the garden of Kaz's father, some of them crowding around Kaz and the rest trying to climb on top of Xaphan. Xaphan himself hated this as they would occasionaly step on his tail or yank at his wings, but he endured it. They were just kids after all.

 

"Kaz!... Kaz! did you bring us anything from the main land?" questioned of the kids, while another tried to take his bag to have a quick peek inside for any presents.

 

"Relax.. calm down.. gimme a second" muttered Kaz, trying to push his way through the group of children. His father merely stood beside the laundry, laughing. "They kept asking me when you were going to come back..." he stated.

[Fortune86]

Arthur followed after Bastain with Hima at his heels. While the ice Fiend was dissapointed that he had not been able to attack anyone, he couldn't help but snigger wolfishly at Areo's fate. He would never be forced into labour like some pack mule.

 

"Do you know where Kaz lives?"

[DragonSpirit009]

Bastian nodded and walked through the little roads and greeted those back who greeted him. He could hear the sound of children laughing and talking when the turned a corner. There he saw Kaz with his fiend and the children playing around them.

 

Bastian stood in silence, leaning against a tree and watched the scene, soon the boy would notice them. There was no need to storm in and confront him while there where kids around.

Edited October 9, 2012 by DragonSpirit009

[Evangeline]

((Choirs? Kaz's father is a Choirmaster or something?))

(( ))

 

Sera watched Ceil and the fire rather intently. It was clear she liked learning about what he had to teach on the subject. As he changed the subject, she still looked at him and listened, though there was not the same desire to learn. She made a mental note to ask her brother a few things.

"What of food?" Sera asked tentatively.

 

Meanwhile, Angelina watched and listened. She roughly knew the art of fire making and she knew that her fiend wouldn't mind the killing of monsters bit, but the nose plug part was a new idea.