The Caravan

[Packgoater]

Rollo's jaw locked. "I'm afraid you misunderstand. You ARE going to leave us alone or so be it I'll move you away myself," he growled, stepping forward to face the woman, mouth pulled into a snarl. "Hell you care, anyway? Because you're one of those gossipy women? Go stick your nose up someone else's ass," the man snarled, pushing the woman roughly on her shoulders. "I said go, and I meant it," he spat, hands balling into fists. The man's mouth was pulled into a frown and eyes were dangerously narrowed. "Come on then, push me. Shove me. I dare you," he said coolly, one hand removing the cigarette from his mouth as he puffed smoke in the woman's face rudely.

[Kokay]

Kolin scowled deeply. He knew his brother was touchy, he knew he was easily set off, but it was too far when you took it out on a bystander. He watched him shove the girl and decided that was one step way too far. So, without a word, Kolin took a deep breath in and tensed his muscles. Releasing the tension, he performed quite the acrobatic routine of flips to where the two were. He heard a couple applause from people, but paid them no mind. As the blood was still settling down to his head once more, Kolin stepped in between the arguing two. "Hey, hey, hey, guys. This is going too far. Back off Rollo. She's just a neighborhood girl who wants to tell her friends something cool so that she'll be liked," He said, not caring that she could hear what he said. This was about stopping Rollo, not dealing with this overly insistent girl.

 

Kolin went a step further. He shoved Rollo back from the girl with considerable force. For all the acrobatics he was capable of, one could expect him to be absolutely bursting at the seams with strength. And, in most cases, he was. He could carry both his brother and himself easily across a tight wire, provided his burden stay still. Now, he hoped it was just enough to wake Rollo up, but just little enough to keep him from retaliating. Rollo had a hot temper and an arm to back it. Trusting his brother wouldn't hit him, but moving out of the way all the same, Kolin turned to address this girl that had caused the whole scene. "Listen, Gypsies are like... them traveling people with the robes that are all vibrant colors, yeah? Right, so, look at me. Am I dressed in robes of pretty colors? I'm not a Gypsy or whatever, sorry to disappoint. I'm just traveling around because I have a knack for getting Rollo and I into trouble, but obviously he's pretty good at that himself," He chuckled, lowering his voice for the last half of it. "Anyway, nope. I'm not a Gypsy, just get into trouble in one town, and move to the next. Do me a favor though, don't start fights with my brother. He'll finish them. Whether or not you're a pretty lady."

[Sunwolf]

Lance blinked awake when he heard voices. He had been sleeping peacefully inside the wagon and when he was jolted awake by the voices of the others. “Wazz..? Hmarn…” He said sleepily as his eyes focused on the people that had just come into the wagon. It was a while before his eyes focused enough to make out the faces their fearless leader Rath, and his friends, Valadian and Bruxa. “Hey guys, good morning or afternoon or whatever,” he was still feeling groggy from having just woken up. Yawning hugely and stretching himself, Lance shook himself vigorously in an effort to wake up. “What’s up guys? Any news from the front? Do we have anymore gypsies that need rescuing? Let’s go, let’s go!” Lance was practically bouncing as he shook off the last traces of sleep. He grinned enthusiastically, his white teeth in sharp contrast to his tanned face.

[LoveLost]

Rollo had gotten far to close and began to speak angrily towards her only igniting the soft voiced womans own temper. When he called her a gossipy woman, her jaw clenched tightly as did her fists and if one were to look at her fists, they would see a gentle lick of fire that soon disappeared. She couldn't believe that someone would be so rude and the last straw, he shoved her. That was it. Her arm was pulled back not to shove, but to punch him square on the jaw. And if he had caught her fist like she predicted, she would have then kneed him int he most sensitive spot on a man.

 

However, before all this could happen, the younger of the two stepped in just as Auralia's eyes seemed to ignite with an inner flame, changing her eyes from a gorgeous green, to a bright amber. The way that they were talking about her made her seem as if she was an ignorant fool. She had been living on her own now for two years and had no home. She decided to voice her opinion after her gaze shifted from Rollo to Kolin. "First off, I'm not some gossipy woman and not a girl in the neighborhood. I have no home and no where to gossip. There are still gypsies around and I was just curious if you were one of them so pardon me for my curiosity." Her words were no longer soft, but instead were biting and angry.

 

"And next time you touch me in a rough way, " she said her gaze focusing back on Rollo "You'll pull back charred stubs for hands." she said and then brushed by the two of them her eyes still an angry amber. The people around them were surprised that such a threat would come from a woman, but she would hold to it. Her steps weren't quick for she still wished to know if there were others like her, but she did need to find a place to shower because it was embarrassing to not have a place to go.

 

 

Bruxa glanced around and noticed that Lance had woken up. Dear god, more of those bouncy idiots awake? She thought to herself before deciding to answer him. "Nothing is up...no no gypsies. Charrid can't find anything with that device...I may just need to tweak it though." she said thoughtfully. Only those that knew her in the Caravan, knew what she could do with random little tidbits of machinery.

[Packgoater]

Rollo glared at Kolin. He wanted the girl to retaliate, to push him back. But she didn't, instead his brother pushed him with quite the strength. The man let out a deep growl, cursing, and stepped forwards towards his brother. "Dammit, I am not in the mood right now, Kolin," he hissed, his teeth locked together and his eyes flashing. Rollo moved towards his brother, aiming a slightly harder shove in return, not knowing that if he did shove his brother it would be with super human force. Then he turned to the stupid woman. "Gypsies? I'm afraid you should go see a psychiatrist. Do you see fortune tellers walking about? Because no one else does!" he called after her, eyes narrowing. "Damn girl. Stubborn as an ass and brays like one too," Rollo muttered, shoulders rigid, his arms slightly quivering as his muscles tensed. The elder brother's temper was slowly starting to cool, his shoulders relaxing, his eyes gaining a calmer look to them. He sighed and pulled the cigarette from his lips, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

[Kokay]

Kolin felt his brother's hands touch his chest momentarily. He knew he'd stumble, but he never expected what happened next. The normally sure footed young man lost his footing. More than simply lost his footing, he was shoved away. He bowled into another gentleman and the two fell into a pile. There were cries of protest and Kolin removed himself from the pile carefully. He jumped to his feet, eyes aflame. He'd skinned his elbows and knees and was bleeding, but he paid the small pain no mind. Instead, he jolted forwards, glaring at Rollo, jamming his finger into his brother's chest. "Come off your high horse, Roland. You're no better than the rest of us, no matter how much you pretend to be. Ever since we left Mom and Dad's you think you get to be Daddy now. Well, you're not. Not to me, not to anyone," He shoved at Rollo again, hoping to do half of the damage his older brother had just done to him. If it came down to brute strength, Rollo would win. But, you can't hurt what you can't touch. That was Kolin's technique. He took a step back, keeping an arm's length between himself and his brother.

[Lore_Master]

There he was.

 

There he was.

 

No matter where he looked, that man was always there in his sight. He was always there. Wearing a brown suit, reading a newspaper, never changing the page. He peddled harder, and harder, trying to escape the man. He had seen that man in the past, but never with such frequency. It was raining slightly, the moon high in the sky. He promised his mother that he would be home by nine, but he spent the last hour trying to flee from the man... Or rather what he saw coming from the man.

 

He panted loudly, his body couldn't take much more of this, especially with the guitar on his back. He finally couldn't pedal anymore, he pulled up to the sidewalk and stopped, panting loudly.

 

"Your quite energetic Mark-y" spoke a man... the same man in the brown suit. He pulled down his news paper and looked at Mark, a small curl of a smile appeared. Mark tried to move, but something grabbed his feet. He looked down and saw black hands grasping his legs, coming from a black puddle.

 

"Now now Mark, be a good boy and don't try to run away" He said as he pulled out a pocketwatch, check the time, then placed it back into his pocket.

 

"For the past year, I enjoyed playing this game of cat and mouse with you... But like all fun games, it has to end sometime. Like now." The man said, coming closer and closer to Mark, before he looked at him. The man's eyes went pure dark.

 

"Normally I would kill people like you... But your still just a child, and my leaders wants to 'test' you first. So be a good boy and come with me" He explained, before his body gave away to pure darkness, a shadow creature.

 

Mark was near the edge of crying, in his head he kept saying and saying "Someone...anyone...Help me!"

[Cori]

Garrett

 

Garrett was vaguely aware of the alarm on the nightstand beeping before he managed to find it with his hand and shut it off. He groaned and opened his eyes, though a second later he wished he'd just kept them shut. His vision wavered, blurring in and out of focus and making him slightly dizzy.

Once the dizziness passed, Garrett sat up and rubbed his eyes, suppressing a yawn. It had been a rough sleep, filled with strange dreams that had been both confusing and unnerving. Sleeping at night made the dreams much more livid, so...he usually slept during the day. However, that hadn't stopped him from dreaming this afternoon.

 

Their feet spun on the dry leaf litter of the forest floor as they danced around the fire pit in the center of their campsite. Their dance was an old one, one with an origin that had been lost a long time ago, but if one listened they could hear the leaves singing with the dancers, whispering their name on the wind.

 

What a ridiculous dream, Garrett thought. His lip curled as he threw back the covers and stood up, knuckling the small of his back. He didn't have time to sit and think about these weird things he saw while he was sleeping. They didn't mean anything, after all. Besides, checkout was at midnight and he didn't want to get charged for an extra day at this hotel. It was already getting late.

Garrett handed the woman at the front desk his key card after he had packed away all of his belongings into his backpack and left the room behind. He considered himself lucky that his family had been rich--that meant he didn't usually have to worry about a place to stay for the night. Granted, the hotels he stopped at were no five-star establishments, but at least they didn't have bedbugs or cockroaches.

He hurried out of the hotel and into the night, fastening his coat with a shiver and placing his skateboard on the ground. A skateboard might not have been the fastest method of traveling, but it got him to a new place every day and he never had to pay for gas. He pushed off, heading out of the parking lot and down the street to the main part of town. Maybe he would find a place to eat before he left this city behind.

 

[LoveLost]

Auralia walked on not caring now that the two brothers were fighting, only hating that things were the way that they were. She couldn't seem to even face her fears on her own without having to reach out a hand in desperation to catch some sort of sliver of hope. What else could she do? There were no others like her with abilities like she had. Legends spoke of gypsies that weren't human, but they had been dispelled by her parents when they grounded her from even looking up the word or writing it as she so often did when she was younger. It had only been a year or so since she had left home and decided to do odd jobs around town so that she could get at least some sort of food even if it was from a can.

 

The young woman looked back at the two brothers and noticed that they seemed to be about to fight. They seemed so close though, why would they be fighting? That was when she had heard a snippet of the conversation. They had left their parents as well... Why though? Why did they? Did they have something in common? Stop it Auralia! She thought harshly to herself. No one could be like you. No one could be able to do what you do and no one would even care enough to know....just stop. With one last look, Auralia turned from the brothers once and for all and prayed that she would never meet them again.

 

It was a few minutes before she weaseled her way into the public showers that were provided for those that were homeless. The only problem, is that there was no division in gender therefore you had better find a stall and stay in there to make sure that no one came in. Auralia did just this so that she could clean not only herself, but her clothes. Her record shower was around 10 minutes with clothing to wash as well so this shower was no different. With fresh clothing ready for her, Auralia was now clean and comfortable and glad that she was safe where there were plenty of people. Another few minutes and her hair was dry and clothing wrapped in the towel and shoved into the bag she carried with her. She looked in a mirror that she shared with another woman and a man as well as she applied a little bit of cheap makeup then fluffed her curly wavy hair that now framed her face.

 

She shifted her shirt so that it fit perfectly over her frame. The tanktop that she was wearing, was one of her favorites. It had phoenixes on it that curled around her stomach to her back then back to her chest. Underneath she wore an orange cammy with jeans and a leather belt. If she was going to go to work, she had to look at least halfway decent...

 

The man looked at her again, making Auralia somewhat uncomfortable, however she ignored the feeling that he was still watching her as she walked out of the room. Instead of turning around, she continued to walk back the way that she had came...

 

EDIT

 

Auralia continued to walk and found herself near houses as rain started to pour around her. At least it would do her hair well to be doused by such lovely water. But there was something about the area around her that freaked her out. She could feel that man there somewhere but maybe he was bothering someone else...maybe that darkness had left her alone to torture someone else.

 

Her steps quickened though as she saw a little boy struggling but her chest hit the floor of her stomach when she noticed that the same thing that had been chasing her was now chasing a little boy. Not a little boy! She didn't want him to leave her alone to fight someone that couldn't help himself. She couldn't reveal herself now, but then again, no one was outside. Her heart was beating in her chest as fear tried to grab a hold of her but she had to stop that and be herself.

 

The bag dropped to the ground with a dull thud as Auralia's eyes changed into a bright amber as flames engulfed her hands all the way up to her elbows. She ran to the boy and flung several fireballs at the shadow. If they didn't hit him, she quickly stopped them from hitting a house or some sort of combustible material. "Run!" she shouted at the boy but knew that if someone else didn't come to help, they'd both be done for.

Edited October 31, 2011 by LoveLost

[Lore_Master]

Mark watched as the shadow man recoiled in pain from... Fire? Yes fire, almost like it was flung at that thing. He looked around, and saw a woman with fire all around her arms, yet she wasn't crying out in pain. When she told him to run, he froze for a moment. She seemed like she could handle this guy, For god's sakes she could throw fireballs out of her hands!? How cool was that!? But Mark knew this wasn't the time for gawking. He nodded and ran towards his bike, as soon as he got on he began to pedal away.

 

"My my, how luck am I?" Asked the shadow as he the flames were consumed by his shadow body. "Not only did I find the boy...I found you!" He exclaimed as he ran towards the woman, his arms turning into blades. "Unlike the boy, you get to die!" He roared as he took a swing at the woman, readying himself for a rebound attack.

[Cori]

The sound of fire stopped Garrett in his tracks, skidding to a halt on the sidewalk. Was that the sound of fireworks?? No, fireworks sounded different. Garrett scowled and scanned the horizon, looking at the tops of the buildings. There was a definite orange glow visible for a second before it faded out. Garrett blinked and backed up a few paces. If there were some idiots over there messing with fire, he wasn't about to go near them.

 

There was a kid on a bike pedaling away from where the fire seemed to be coming from. Garrett stepped in his path, looking down his nose at the boy. "Hey, kid," he called, approaching him. "What in the world is going on over there? It sounds like someone's throwing gunpowder into a bonfire."

 

He shifted his weight impatiently as the orange glow appeared and vanished again, seeming to become brighter than before. Where the hell were the police?! Or the fire department?

Edited November 1, 2011 by Jackal

[LoveLost]

Auralia was caught off guard by the incoming shadow and used her fire to block her arm from being too terribly injured. She had to duck to get out of the way of another oncoming blow to keep herself from being too injured. Careful was what she needed to be to keep from destroying her best clothes, but with the way this was looking, that would be practically impossible.

 

From behind her, there appeared another shadow being who chuckled at the luck of his comrade. "Well, it seems that you are attacking my charge." he said his words masked in shadow and deviousness.

 

Auralia's eyes showed an intense fear as she looked between both assailants. There was no way out of this. She had to either gain full control of her ability in the rain, or die. Auralia wasn't going to die without fighting and she wasn't going to die a cowards death! Never.

 

As the second shadow being came running at her, her entire body burst into flames, evaporating the rain as it touched her skin. "if you wanna fight, be prepared to be burned." she stated calmly as fire sprouted from her hands and reached out towards the first and second assailant. In this form, her fire was stronger and became an extension of her body.

[lachrymation]

"There's nothing wrong with it... This device isn't made to track gypsies, it's made to track chasms, Bruxa." Charrid's voice had an edge to it. Rath knew she was touchy about her power, and would possibly start up an argument on it, so he stepped in, "I do think we should leave the device-ing to Charrid to fix or create." He commented, casting a quick glance at Bruxa. It was just to settle Charrid for now. He'd apologize later.

 

Valadian slapped Lance on the back. "Hey! Good sleep, huh? Unfortunately we don't have any gypsies to rescue. Would anyone like to scout?" He brushed his hair away and grinned. "I'll do it."

 

Rath watched as Valadian's eye turned bloody red, a dark crimson colour. It was almost a strange ritual that Valadian performed, although maybe a secret one. Not many other members noticed it. It was enough to shock one at first, as red eyes were often associated with evil and treacherous beings. Valadian's vision was simply navigating around the town, without him moving a single bit.

 

Valadian blinked, and his normal magenta eyes returned to him. He was panting, slightly, but he said in a normal tone. "Something's happening out there. Abnormalties."

 

A small gasp came from Charrid, and Rath, his eyes wide, jumped to sit next to her and grabbed the device form her hands. The screen showed a network of lines running across, labeling the major streets of London, and there were several charcoal black dots that moved, constantly blinking.

 

"They're transformed. That lot.. what are they up to now?" Rath murmured to himself.

 

"Chasms. A whole lot of them." Valadian sounded from behind them, finally getting a glance at the screen. His head was a bit dizzy, but he was thrilled at the prospect of adventure, making him clear minded and energetic. "Where are they headed? Can I go? I'll take Lance with me. C'mon, Lance, let's go."

 

"Hold it on a minute, Valadian." He kept watching the screen. The dots faded out of view suddenly, and the device was still. Charrid looked at her invention and shook her head, a little shocked. "It's supposed to work." She exclaimed.

[LoveLost]

Even though Rath was three years her younger, Bruxa knew when to be quiet. She knew that if she had spoken any farther, the red-head would make sure that Bruxa knew just how powerful her abilities were and just how powerful she was with her words. But the young woman didn't care as much as she cared about the sudden movement of the chasms. It looked like they might be heading towards a specific target...and that target was going to be in serious trouble of he or she kept fighting even if it was meant to save their lives.

 

"I don't doubt that it is working Charrid. You're too smart for that to happen." Bruxa said honestly for once. She didn't hate the girl, however she was seriously irritated when Charrid refused any help from Bruxa who was also capable of making things, but hers was out of thin air and more so mechanical, than device oriented. Bruxa could actually be considered somewhat of a grease monkey in a lot of ways. "But we need to check this out Rath...someone could be in trouble especially with that many chasms out there." she said actually showing a hint of worry for someone other than her fellow gypsies.

 

 

 

Auralia was now bruised and cut in several placed even though her flames still burned brightly. It was hard to fight these shadows when she was only one person, and many more started to surround her. What was she? Some sort of prize? Not to mention, she was starting to get tired which would only make her abilities wane from a lack of energy. If only she hadn't prayed for her follower to go away...if only she had gotten to the boy and ran away as well. "Well don't just stand there...." she said through clenched teeth as one of the chasms came closer to her. He made a comment about her being a fighter as a few more circled around her. In a last ditch effort, Auralia started to burn brightly which caused the chasms to move back. The fire that she produced now extended at least a foot from each appendage making it hard for the chasms to even reach her if they wanted too.

 

The chasms had now learned that if they neared Auralia, they would have some part of their shadow singed and damaged which would require them to take a moment to heal and become one again with their dismembered appendage.

[Packgoater]

Rollo was shocked as his brother fell backwards. He never meant to push him that hard, and the fact that he could knock his brother off his feet shocked him. But what Kolin said after that shocked him more. Rollo visibly winced, his dark eyes showing nothing but pain and hurt for a split second before turning hard. "I never wanted to be the responsible one, Kolin. Never. I wanted to be carefree, get myself drunk, mess around all the time. But what you're too goddamn blind to realize, Kolin, is that I had to be the responsible one. Hell, maybe I wasn't good at it. Maybe I failed. But at least I tried. I attempted to be there for you, at the very least. I tried to be good, to be the role model. So clearly I'm not a great one, but at least I rarely drink and rarely touch a cigarette," Rollo spat, taking the shove from his brother and not retaliating this time. The push from Kolin seemed to not actually do much, as if it were absorbed into his body, though he took several steps backward. But it was not what Kolin had physically done as opposed to what he had said. What he had said stung, and so instead of pushing him, Rollo would retaliate orally.

[Sunwolf]

Lance sobered slightly when Valadian said there were Chasms out in force in the city. The Chasms were not easy to deal with, he should know as he had more than a few brushes with them since joining the Caravan. Lance nodded with a grin when Valadian asked for him to accompany him. He and Valadian were a lot alike and they got along very well. Just then, the device seemed to have suddenly stopped working, much to the chagrin of Charrid, their resident tracker. Lance peered curiously over Rath’s shoulder and looked at the device. It does not appear to show anything on it. Lance looked at the others with a puzzled expression, “Hey, what’s up with the device? Did it suddenly stopped working or did something else happen?”

[Kokay]

"You think I care, really? You think I care that your life is so intertwined with mine? You think I can't take care of myself? You're wr-" Kolin was cut off. There was a sort of whooshing sound and his heart stopped. So, his bad feeling was well placed. He had heard that sound before. Rollo hadn't been with him at that time. He'd been in the city, foolishly climbing the tallest building he could find. After performing a particularly spectacular leap, Kolin heard it. And, something like a shadow moved towards him. With physical substance, the shadow simply pushed him. However, the height at which he'd been pushed was incredibly dangerous. Kolin, being acrobatically inclined, had been able to survive easily. He was shaken. That night, he'd ran to Rollo, begging to leave. He couldn't explain it to his brother, but he was terrified to stay any longer.

 

Kolin didn't really feel that way to his brother, but he was easily frustrated with him. He found himself absently thinking about his remorse when the shadow came into view. It was a tall, black, seemingly always moving, swirl of man shaped air. The creature stepped forward, towards Kolin and Rollo. It reached one hand out, and grabbed Kolin by the shoulder. It was painful. The creature's grasp was like ice, and incredibly tight on his shoulder. Defiantly, Kolin shoved his arm away from the thing and kicked at it's stomach. As the thing recoiled slightly, Kolin turned to Rollo. "I'll take all of it back if we can just get away now." He whispered.

[Packgoater]

"I never said you couldn't take care of yourself-" Rollo started, before he sensed his brother's lack of movement. Turning around, he saw a dark shadow moving towards them. "Kolin, what's that?" he asked slowly, a chill going up his spine and all his muscles tensing. Then it grabbed his brother. "What the hell? Okay, dammit, MOVE!" he shouted, instinctively stepping in front of Kolin and pushing him away from the beast. Perhaps this would piss Kolin off even more, but Rollo really didn't mean it to this time. "Alright, Kolin, go! If this is some sick joke of yours somehow, I'm sorry for what I did, okay?" he hissed, turning his back to the shadow thing and facing Kolin, not too pleased about apologizing. "And if it amounts to anything, I never meant to push you that hard," the elder brother added, eyes wild. For whatever reason this thing filled him with the most awful horrifying feeling like Rollo and Kolin were all but characters in a horror movie. Suddenly a hand of ice gripped the back of his shirt. Coughing, the cigarette falling out of his mouth, Rollo whipped around, tearing the shirt out of the creature's hands, and pushed the shadow thing as hard as he could. It moved back only slightly, still coming towards them. "GO!"

[Kokay]

Kolin wanted to argue. He wanted to claim that without Rollo, he couldn't go on. But, that wasn't true. He could go on, but certainly never happily. And, as his mind was busy telling him to run, his body acted first. He stood and ran towards the shadow, instead of hitting it like his plan had gone, he jumped, steadied himself on it's shoulder in mid air, and flipped over it. The creature moved fast, faster than he had expected, but not fast enough. Turning, it only had time to see him running. To Kolin's mix of dismay and happiness, it followed him.

 

"I got it Rollo! Meet you at the abandoned train station! Have something to hit it with, huh?" He yelled over the sound of the crowd. Kolin knew he was faster than just about everything human. Of course, there were hardened athletes that were far faster than himself, but he was pretty darn fast. He could feel it behind him. That malignant feeling that stayed with him as he darted through the city. It was following him closely. The train station really wasn't far from where they had previously been, but he had taken a long way so that Rollo would have time to find a weapon. He knew that Rollo had a lot of muscle behind him.

 

But, what Kolin didn't know, was why the thing was chasing him in the first place. In reality, it wouldn't have if he hadn't vaulted over it with such grace. No doubt he was a gypsy, but an untrained one at that. Alone. That meant easy pickings. Kolin didn't plan on falling to something like that, but it was dangerous all the same. No doubt it had some sort of strange power to it that he didn't posses. Unbeknownst to Kolin, he did have a power. A very raw and unhoned one, but he had the upper hand. He could win this battle, if only he could call upon the full extent of his true abilities. And, Rollo's help wouldn't hurt too much, excepting, perhaps, his pride.

[Packgoater]

Rollo cursed as Kolin went towards it, vaulted over the shadow's back, and ran off. "Dammit. I can't even protect him, can I?" he muttered, sighing and racing off. He found some kids bashing a mailbox in with a baseball bat. That would do. Snatching it from their hands, he ran off, the kids trailing behind him and spitting curses. One kid came to close and Rollo elbowed him hard, sending the kid off the the side and onto the ground. The others slowly began to back off, until only one was left. That one Rollo hit with the bat as he ran, the train station in view. He started to sprint, coming behind the shadow. And suddenly he leaped, a growl coming from his throat as he made contact and tumbled over the shadow creature. Swinging the club he hit it, but they were too close, and so tossed it to the side, deciding to punch the creature instead. And so he did, over and over. The shadow was starting to push him off and it's arms grappled towards Rollo's throat, chocking him. Coughing, Rollo struggled to get the hands off and away, but was panicked at the lack of air and was thus not really doing much but clawing at it's arms. Suddenly Rollo placed a well-aimed shove and was able to get the creature off of him. Back to square one. He picked up the bat and looked at his brother. "Here, take this," he muttered, instead pulling out a butterfly knife for himself. "I'm allowed to do some illegal things, right?" he said, a faint twitch of a smile appearing on his face. Rollo twirled it deftly in quick precise maneuvers. His brother, the coordinated one, could probably do better, but Rollo had never shown his brother this weapon and was thus inclined to show off.

[Kokay]

Kolin took the bat gratefully, nodding to answer Rollo's question. The shadow creature's run had tired him considerably, but this was no time to show weakness. Mind reeling, he saw a pillar nearby with a bar attached to it. It was perfect. Running at full speed towards the pillar, jumping at the last second to run up the wall. Surprised at his skill, he reached the bar as he began to slip down. Swinging back and forth as well as he could, he gained enough momentum to launch a considerable attack. All this time, the bat was still in his suspenders, biting into his back. As he reached his third arc, he jumped, removing the bat and flew towards the shadow. The beast was utterly distracted by Rollo, thankfully, and his blow hit hard. The bat, being of cheap material, splintered under the force of the blow and the creature dropped.

 

"All right! Check it out, Rollo! Creepy shadow dude down!" Kolin cheered. He threw the grip of the bat from his hands at the creature. As quickly as the happiness had come, it flitted away. The shadow was stirring. Flipping away from the creature, Kolin scanned his surroundings for some other weapon. "Uh, just kidding. So, Rollo... He's getting back up. I'll be back with something, promise!" Kolin, however, was at a loss. With nothing else to use, he stepped back, waiting to see what the beast could possibly do to them next.

[Packgoater]

Rollo walked towards the stirring creature, flicking the butterfly knife into the correct position as he stepped on the thing's back and swung his arm down to it's head, hoping to take him down for good this time. "Do you always have to be so showy while you do things? It's like taking something already impressive and just making it more so," he grumbled, his form of a compliment, stepping away from the monster but watching it carefully. "But you did good, Kolin. Now let's just see what it takes to kill the damn beast," the elder brother growled gruffly, pocketing his blade. He couldn't imagine anything could survive what he had done to it. "We need to move on, get out of here. This place isn't good to stay in any more, Mr. Heart-Of-Gypsy," Rollo said, temporarily in a good mood as a smile played upon his lips and he rolled his eyes.

[Kokay]

Kolin saw it. It was dead. His heart had wings again. He cartwheeled, like a child, to where his brother was. Bouncing agilely to his feet, he laughed happily. "Of course I do! It's what I do best! But, yeah," He looked at the creature, not sure if it would dissipate into the air or if it would bleed darkness or maybe just stay the same. He didn't want to know, so he turned away from it and walked out the exit. Rollo would follow him, no doubt. He truly felt like a Gypsy of old. Skilled as he was and traveling. "Rollo, remember that girl? I-I think we should go find her. She might-" He looked at his feet scowling at his childish idea. And then, muttering very quietly, "Might know something about that thing."

[lachrymation]

((LOL love your avatar, Kokay))

 

Rath watched Charrid flash a grateful glance at Bruxa when she complimented her, but when Lance spoke up, he saw her expression change to one of annoyance. "It didn't stop working," Charrid replied curtly. "See, the lines that are for the roads are still flashing. It's only the dots that disappeared." Valadian nodded in agreement, then froze, his eyes wide, when he realized something.

 

Rath was thinking about it as well. Why didn't the chasms show up on the tracker? Could it be?

 

"Could they have found a new way to travel unnoticed?" He and Valadian asked in sync, then Rath glanced at him with his eyes only.

 

"It's certainly possible." Rath spoke up, and glanced at all of their faces. "It's more than likely. Charrid's devices wouldn't fail easily."

 

Valadian agreed entirely with Rath. It was a scary thought, that they could go anywhere without them knowing. But if that was the case, they would need some way to track them again. Otherwise who knew what they'd do when they weren't under the view of the Caravan members?

[LoveLost]

Oh how Kolin's statement did ring! These blasted things had been chasing Auralia the day that she mentioned she was a gypsy in childish innocence. But now, nothing was innocent as she continued to burn, wearing down her body slowly and she knew the chasms were biding their time. It had gone from two of them, to ten and back down to five. But these last five were the hardest almost as if they were saving best for last. She jumped into the air and took off using fire to propel herself over the chasms, and started to run, keeping the flames going on her body so that no one would notice that she no longer had any clothes. If Kolin and Rollo were to look down the quiet street at that moment, they would see a flaming woman running away from five shadows that were chasing her. A glow of fire would flow towards those blasted chasms and one of them would scream in pain and disappear. "Oh god, someone help!" she shouted aloud hoping that someone would help her. She couldn't handle this much longer...not much longer at all.