Little lost dragon and I

[Ryujin13]

Jak groaned as Kara's fingers continued to press against different areas on his head. His stomachwas already feeling better and his headache was settling into a dull plain instead of the sharp biting waves that it had been. It took about ten minutes before Kara finished, and when she did it took a little while for Jak to finally open his eyes and look up a her golden ones.

"Thanks." He said, smiling up at her.

Kara merely smiled back and leaned down to kiss Jak before helping him upright.

"You're welcome." She said, making sure he had his balance before letting go. "Just don't drink again ok?" She asked, giving Jak a stern look before kissing him again. "Come on, let's get moving." She said after breaking the contact. "We should probably go see what's happening with that robot."

Jak nodded but winced immediately as the movement made his head throb. "Yeah ok."

Together they walked back up towards the hill, Kara sometimes helping Jak, but mostly they just held hands.

 

When they arrived back they saw that Fren and Alina were back, and Varren seemed to have finished explaining all they had learned. Jak sat heavily at the table but stayed upright this time, his eyes watching the robot constantly.

It was at that point that Bor showed up again, this time stepping out from behind one of the large pillars and advancing towards the group, his eyes watching the robot as much as Jak was.

"I see you've met my new guest." He said, leaning against the the pillar closest to the table. "It shouldn't have been possible, but he managed to find the location of the portal that you lot came through. Said that little flying thing was his, so I let him in. Before you think I just left him unguarded all night though, know that I had eyes of one sort or another on him the whole time."

 

"Yeah well you shouldn't have given me that drink either but look what happened." Jak said from his spot, silently kneading his forehead.

"What do you mean boy?" Bor asked, rounding on Jak, anger in his eyes.

"I mean that I have a hangover of epic proportions and you promised me there wouldn't be one." Jak said back.

Bor frowned at this and stopped, thinking for a moment.

"I don't know why that happened." He said. "The amount I gave you shouldn't have done much more then given you what the humans call a buzz. Maybe the brew I gave you was to strong..." He said in thought. "Either way, drink this and the pain will be gone within an hour." He said, gesturing to the pitcher of water.

Jak immediately poured himself a glass and drank deep, almost emptying his cup in one go.

 

"So what are you going to do now?" Kara asked the robot politely. "Were you just looking for your... Friend I guess, or something else?"

[little lost dragon]

Vita looked at Kara "I must return to my own dimension. There is a war going on, and its spanned over countless worlds. But CORE still has there commander in play, ARM...... well there commander is now trapped here." he said lifting a arm and a green glow showed up but flickered out soon after "The place seems to have damaged my construction matrix, otherwise I could easily create a army with in this prison." he admitted "So I'll join your group in escaping." he said with a nod "However, should I take too much damage, I should warn you, upon too much damage I will explode, the shock wave is designed to destroy anything and everything around me, why? Becasue I was designed to always have a escort, thus should I take that kind of damage, my attackers would be all around me. There for they all die when I die." he explained.

 

Varren nodded "Safety precaution, my people did the same with vehicles, prevent the enemy from salvaging the remains to study out tech." he explained before looking at Fren who shrugged but remained silent.

 

 

[Ryujin13]

Jak didn't comment on the self-destruct feature either, instead opting to drink more water. He wasn't feeling up to breakfast yet, so instead he watched and listened.

"Well can we fix you?" Kara asked. "I don't know anything about technology, but you could probably fix yourself if we found parts, although I don't really know where to find parts..." She stopped and frowned again then shook her head. "Never mind. So you know all about what we've learned right? We were going to try and find an observatory the book we have mentioned. It stops mid sentence and we were hoping to find something useful." She explained, looking back at Jak to make sure she had everything right. Kara still didn't remember anything about the castle beyond waking up, but Jak had filled her in as best he could.

 

Alina meanwhile was playing again, this time prowling up behind Vita as stealthily as she could. That being said the best she could do was about as quiet as clanging pots together because she kept rustling the grass, making rocks roll away, and giggling to herself. Final she seemed to deem herself close enough and pounced at Vita's leg, grabbing hold as best she could before letting to and running back to Fren, still giggling as she ran.

 

[little lost dragon]

Vita shook his head "As you can see I don't have hands. My other arm is my weapon system. I can fire normal pulse lazor shots, normally penetrates most alloy's known to the galaxies, and my desintagration gun. Anything struck by that is reduced to photons in moments. Though with out a base to sustain me, I won't be able to fire at every foe we may meet." he explained. He watched Kara as she spoke before shaking his head "Before any ask, no I haven't found much in this place. I've largely just tracked my brawler here till...." he paused and watched Alina take off towards Fren again. "Less advanced AI might deem that behaver threatening. Such actions could be used for placed bombs or worse." he said.

 

Fren looked up at this "Well I suppose where glad your so..... advanced then." she said "Speaking of which, do you have anyone you answer to? Anyone who may have a kill switch, or command code?" she asked and he shook his head "That would a negative, I contain such for my own units, but I my self do not have one. Safety procausion in case CORE tried to capture me."

 

((Sorry about the rate of posts, busy and feeling like crap lately))

[Ryujin13]

(No problem it's all good.)

 

"Well we were going to get going after breakfast here, so I guess just wait a bit and we can all leave." Kara said, unsure of what else to say. She shrugged and turned to sit next to Jak who was still drinking water quietly. It took Kara about ten minutes to eat her fill and after that she pulled Jak behind one of the pillars where she immediately kissed him hard. "I don't know when we'll be alone again." She whispered, kissing Jak again. "Come on." She yanked Jak's arm and they both ran off down to a private place where they enjoyed each other's company. Though she was more experienced in life and wiser then Jak, they were both still adolescents who had found company for the first time.

 

Alina ate quickly as well, chewing and swallowing her food as quick as ever before turning to look out towards where Kara and Jak had disappeared. After a few seconds she turned and walked to Fren's table edge, sat, and watched for a few moments.

"Mommy, why aren't you with someone?" She asked suddenly. "I think fuzzy said it was called um... Carried... Dairy... Married! How come your not married mommy? Kara seems so happy with fuzzy, why aren't you with someone?"

[little lost dragon]

Fren looked at Alina in suprize. She had not expected Alina to ask such things at all. She looked at the table in thought and gave a small shake of her head "Because I haven't gotten the chance yet. Where I'm from I was needed to things to allow others of my kind to find there own mates and marry, nor have I met anyone I'd consider living with either so far." she admitted though her expression was nuetral, her tail was somewhat limp on the ground now. Betraying her real feelings about it. "Varren is already spoken for and may yet find her again, Jak is far too young and needs far more time to grow mentally..... and no other males have joined the group either." she explained before resuming eating her breakfast.

 

Varren nodded as Fren said he still may yet find his missing mate. someone having hope in that helped him. And Jak was now also more or less spoken for.

[Ryujin13]

"Oh." Alina said lamely, shuffling her feet a little and itching her ear like Jak did when nervous. "Well I was just wondering. It's just Kara and fuzzy look so happy, and you're always so... Upset? No... serious. About everything. I was just wondering why you weren't like that."

 

About twenty minutes later Kara and Jak came back to camp, both tired looking but happy. It was obvious to everyone but Alina what had happened between them, but Kara didn't seem abashed by it at all, unlike Jak who seemed slightly embrarresed.

"Hey guys." Kara said as Jak muttered the same words. "We ready to go yet?"

 

Alina meanwhile went to the table edge nearest the two when they came back and sniffed, instantly wrinkling her nose and sticking her tongue out.

"You guys smell bad." She said, plugging her nose with her paws. "Why do you smell so bad?"

 

At this Kara did blush a little and was obviously nervous, especially about what Fren would do to her if she said the wrong thing.

"I- we were um... Playing a game." She said finally, giving Fren another nervous glance. "It's an adults only game though, otherwise we would have invited you."

Alina seemed to consider this for a second, then shook her head. "Then why do you smell? Me and fuzzy have played games and he never smelled like he does now."

"It's a game that has a lot of sweat and other stuff involved." Kara explained, saying each word cautiously. "There are lots of parts to it and sometimes it's smelly."

Alina finally nodded and walked off to Fren's end of the table where she continued to hold her nose shut with her paws.

"Um we'll go clean off then." Kara said, pulling Jak after towards the heated pools before anyone could say anything else.

While this whole bit had been going on Bor had watched, a small twitch of his mouth showing his urge to smile. When the two lovers had left again he finally came over to Fren and bent down to hand her a small book.

"This is a compendium of different shadow dragon lines and houses." He whispered to her so that no one else, not even Alina, could hear. "It details every one of them back to the point where they began keeping records. There's a table of contents, but it's encoded to the species, touch anything with Alina's DNA to the book and it will show the family tree, as well as descriptions of the family member. I don't know when you want to show her if ever, but it's there if you want it." He said, standing again and gesturing back down the hill to where a single wooden door sat upright.

"I have to go everyone." He said as Kara and Jak came back up the hill, damp now but smelling a lot better. "I appreciate your company, and I hope this wasn't to big a waste of time. There are bags by the portal down there, each has seven containers with a meal that can sustain a person for 24 hours. After that you have the horn. Be cautious in using it though, it will give away your location to the castles guardians, and I am limited in how often I can give advice and help. Use it only in emergencies, or if you are taking me up on a deal." He said with a wink to Varren. He gave handshakes to Varren, Jak and Fren, then hugged Alina carefully followed quickly by a hug for Kara. "I wish you all the luck in the world my friends." He said before disappearing.

 

Just like that they were in a stone room with a single wooden door like the one in the meadow, and four travel sacks sitting beside it.

[little lost dragon]

Fren paused at Alina's response and seemed to allow a small sigh before resuming though before the others saw Jak and Kara came back she wrinkled her nose as her chemical radar picked up the scents. She looked up and her eye's focused on Kara as she answered Alina's questions. She was not happy the 2 decided to do it now, not to mention they where not even declared mates, or the fact they might be risking a child and who knows when they'll escape from here either. What little she had read of mythical creatures is there ability to somewhat reliably be able to reproduce with other species. Though this time she was most disappointed with Kara, the young girl knew better. The implications of her having eggs or a new born in this place would only server to make there job harder and more risky, not to mention other things.

She watched the 2 take off before attempting to resume finishing her dinner when Bor showed up and handed her a book. She accepted it and listened to what he had to say. She nodded and knew she'd have some reading to do when they where able, when she'd have the time would be another question. Between surviving, helping keep everyone alive, and making sure Alina only finds out when she's learned to control her developing ability's..... bit of a tall order right now.

She finished her meal when Bor was saying his farewells and blinked when he said he hoped it was not a big waste of time. She wondered how a single meal would sustain one for 24 hours though. The her scientific mind in that manner found the idea puzzling. She gave him a hand shake and a small nod. Afterwards she took a quick look around before focusing on the bags then at the others. "Hope no unneeded implications show up." she said half to her self though gave no indication who it was really aimed at. She grabbed her the one that seemed to be for her build on the upper body. She looked at Vita and his drone "Well I assume you know the drill with new members. When ever your ready." she said with a gesture towards the door.

 

Varren looked at Fren and then grabbed his pack and slung it on over his armor suit. Since last night Fren had been acting..... different. She was late for breakfast, seemed to be a little more open towards them. But seemed to be putting on her mask almost. He watched her tail gently pick Alina up off the ground for now but while she showed the same affection towards Alina like she always had, interaction with the others she..... seemed erratic, strange.

 

Vita nodded "Affective, remain in site and take lead. Understandable. Will wait till group signels for ready."

[Ryujin13]

Jak quickly put on the bulletproof vest that he had taken off during their stay with Bor, and buckled his sword back on. The pistol settled onto his leg nicely andafter that he shouldered his pack.

"Yeah let's go." He said, following Varren out and taking up position by Kara. He and she walked together for the first few hours, not saying much, but never straying far from each other. After that it seemed like the castle was ignoring them for the moment, which didn't help anyone's nerves. Alina was napping quietly as they rounded yet another corner, this one with three tunnels branching in different directions, one straight, one going up and left diagonally, the other going down and right diagonally.

"Which way?" Kara asked, looking at each passageway carefully. "I think we should go up, observatories are usually on the top floor so..." She shrugged her shoulders and looked back at the group.

Jak nodded in agreement, but kept his eyes on the groups rear as he always did.

 

(Sorry for the short post I'm kind of stressed right now and I just need to sleep it off.)

[little lost dragon]

((Np buddy))

 

Varren slithered with the group and held his weapon at the ready. Nothing much happened though which was odd but for him, not suprizing. The castle sometimes liked to let you relax then bang. Though he wished he had his helmet, that had been removed some time after he passed out from a crabs stinger.

He looked at the passage ways and got a thoughtful look "Normally you would be correct Kara, however this is a place that moves around, fly's and such. As a result the observatory could be anywhere, middle of the place, below, on top, heck there might be one each way." he explained and Fren nodded "Some vessels I've been on they've had a observatory below it. Because when your already above your target you won't be looking up but more down in a ideal situation." she reasoned as she held Alina against her chest gently.

 

Vita looked at the paths "My brawler is just a extension of my self, and my receivers can send signals across the stars, I could send it one way as we go another and should it find what where looking for first then I can lead us to it by just tracking the signal." he suggested and Varren looked at him "What about jamming?" he asked and Vita shook his head "A jammer may make it hard to communicate but not even CORE who's faced my side for eons can break the signal, though vise versa as well."

Edited June 15, 2014 by little lost dragon

[Ryujin13]

(Thinking about killing off Jak and maybe Kara. Kind of bored with their characters and thinking of maybe bringing in a new one. Might not even kill Jak, Nuria might take him over or something.)

 

Kara frowned at this, then remembered the fact that this castle defied ever law of physics or nature that had been written, so it wasn't so far fetched for what the others were saying to be true.

"Ok, then I think we should go with Vita's plan then." She said with a shrug. "Makes the most sense to me."

 

The middle tunnel was long but no unending like most of the castles passages seemed to be. It eventually turned right and then left quickly before taking them up more stairs. The walls around them began to turn to obsidian as they walked, and the light turned dim until finally they couldn't see their hand in front of their faces. Suddenly the air changed as if they had stepped into a large open space. Jak's sword was out but didn't glow like it should have, not even Vita's light seemed to do much beyond let the others see where he was.

All of the sudden the group seemed to be floating. Stars wheeled around them, going around and around the galaxy on a cosmic path that had been plotted since the beginning of time. Sometimes a star or some other speck of dust would touch one of the group and would disappear, only to reappear behind them. The only reason everyone could tell it was just an illusion was because their feet still touched the ground. Just like that the stars zoomed in on one point until a huge sun hung in the room above them. Around it orbited two planets, both sitting far enough back that they were neither frozen nor boiling. They had water on them, and what looked like plants. Around it were the nine moons that the author had mentioned, each one moving around it in an eternal dance.

"The Goldilocks zone." Jak breathed, moving over to the planets to look.

"What's that?" Kara asked behind him as she came forward to look as well.

"It's a term that early human scientists coined." He explained as the planet rotated out of sight and behind the sun. "You've heard of goldilocks and the three bears?"

Kara merely nodded, lips pursed in thought.

"Well to close to the sun is to hot for life as humans knew it back then to live. To cold and all moisture would freeze. Again this was before interstellar capabilities, so this was just them speculating about possible places life could be. Anyway, the Goldilocks zone was just right. Not to hot, and not to cold. It was the right area for water, plants, even animals to flourish. Earth was the benchmark they were using, so that's what they came up with. Mars was another planet in that zone, and one of the first that humans looked at to colonize. After that, well they discovered new ways to travel and the rest is history." He said as the planet swig back into view.

He looked around and saw the looks of surprise on his companions faces, causing him to shrug a little in embarrassment. "I um, I liked stars and stuff when I was with Ceaser. He got me books on the subject and telescopes and stuff. I always wanted to be an explorer and find new life and stuff like the human explorers did." He shrugged again and wandered away, watching the other planet closely. This one seemed barren compared to the other and probably didn't even have an atmosphere.

 

Alina meanwhile had woken and hopped down to look around. She seemed particularly fascinated by Jak's explanation and paid attention to what he was saying. She hoped she could be an explorer when she grew up. She and fuzzy could go on adventures. Suddenly her nose bounced off of the wall and she shook her head. She had forgotten they were in a room at all. Something daughter eye though, and after a moment she picked it up in her mouth and trotted back to Fren.

"Mommy look what I found!" She said happily as she spat it out.

The shape was unquestionably one of the library cubes, and when opened showed the same writing as their first journal. This one started mid sentence however, right where the last had left off.

[little lost dragon]

((Fine by me, you do seem to.... be running low on steam for them))

 

Vita nodded and sent the drone down a random passage before leading on. As they went he listed one arms and got a red glow going "Charged D-gun, using as light source." he said to make sure the others did not think otherwise as it got darker. But the further they went, the darker things got. Varren had turned on a light on his weapon to find it not helping much either. Though Fren looked a little sppoky now with her bright yellow eye's catching the glows of the few light sources making her own eye's look like they where glowing a soft yellow now as well.

 

When they reached the room with out knowing it startled Varren somewhat. Having been in a few falling situations he did not like suddenly seeing 'nothing' under him. Fren seemed to be a bit fascinated the stars glow reflecting off her thin layer of slime on her scales and armor. Though when Jak explained the hardly paid him any mind. With holding a response she knew he would greatly dislike. "That book mentioned something like this before the writing stopped." she said before she looked at Alina as the hatchling came over with something in her mouth. She knelt down and picked up the item before giving Alina a smile "Nice spotting Alina." she said giving the hatchling a gentle ear rub before looking at the cube.

 

Varren came over then had his weapon out right away. Everytime he got close to one of those something attacked his group. Last time they got off lucky, Kara was there to help them. "Everyone be ready, the castle has never handed one of these over with out some kind of fight." he said

 

Vita seemed to scan the room his stiff movements as he tracked the planets Jak had been looking at "What threat level have you encountered before?" he asked before Fren whipped her tail through the air in her peoples way of catching everyone's attention.

 

She pressed a few bottons and opened it to start reading what it had to say, though the holographic nature of it quickly gave her a head ache right away.

[Ryujin13]

(Yeah, well let me think on it for a bit to figure out what to do for my next character.)

 

Jak snapped up his sword as Varren mentioned their last attempt to grab a cube. He remembered that particular event well, and he also remembered how narrowly they had escaped it.

The room suddenly went dark, but it wasn't like the darkness before, now it was like the lights had gone out. The sun turned off and everything faded to the dark that normally dominates an unlit area. Jak's eyes adjusted quickly and he looked around quickly, already looking for the threat he knew was coming.

Something hit the ground unseen by the group. Hit was the wrong word however it landed, but where there should have been a thud, or some sound, there was merely a hissing sound like the noise a snake makes as it moves across the ground. A creature, it's great cyclopean eye fixated on the group roared at the group. Again the roar wasn't so much a roar as it was sound. A shrieking, horrifying noise that could shatter glass, that seemed to tap into every primal fear a living being could posses, hit the group like a sledge hammer, causing Jak and Alina to clap their hands over their ears. Jak actually fell to his knees it hurt so much his arms wrapped around his head now in the vain hope of keeping the noise out.

Suddenly it ended and the air itself seemed to shake after the trauma of what the thing had done.

Jak was suddenly aware of something tugging at his arm, only to realize it was Kara shouting at him, trying to pull him to his feet. All Jak could hear was a ringing sound, like the sound all those war movies had described.

Shaking his head he got his feet underneath him and managed to stay upright. The thing seemed to be preoccupied by Vita and was currently trying to rip the robot apart.

"Jak are you listening?!" Kara practically screamed at him, tugging at his arm. "That things a ghoul!"

"I thought those ate dead things!" Jak yelled back as the thing went flying across the room and hit the wall. It fell to the ground, but instead of rolling to get its feet beneath it, the thing seemed to suck in on itself until it's legs and arms had switched spots and it's head took its normal position.

"I wish! Anything can eat dead stuff, these feed on life energy! They like the fay because they have much more life force!"

Jak nodded and shook his head once more before taking off towards the ghoul. The thing was the size of a small motorhome and even Jak knew he couldn't tangle with it directly, but the training he had been given said that in this case he had to hit and run. The things legs seemed a good start, so Jak sprinted and slashed through the leg before scurrying away. When he turned though he saw that the things leg had gone an angry red and was reforming. In seconds the leg had replaced itself and turned back to the ghouls normal black.

Suddenly Kara was beside him, and was pushing him towards the door.

"We have to run!" She yelled over the things shrieking battle cries. "We don't have the things we need to kill it!"

Jak nodded and ran to the door, grabbing Fren and yelling the same thing into her ear. Varren was quickly told by Kara, and Vita was last as he was closest to the thing.

The group made a fighting retreat, Kara, Jak and Alina at the back while the others fought the thing off. Suddenly they were at the door, and Kara turned, kissing Jak firmly on the mouth. "I'm glad you were my first!" She said over the monster. "Give my love to the others!" She turned and suddenly darted through the group, shooting a wave of Phoenix fire at the creatures face before closing the door. Even through the door the group could hear the shrieks, then a roaring sound. Suddenly the thing was truly screaming, not to frighten prey, but the primal sound of pain that every creature makes when it knows it's dying inch by inch. This lasted perhaps five seconds before a blast of heat burst the door open, showing a charred and melted room beyond. Fires still flickered in the corners, and the roof was starting to groan as the fire ate away at its structure, but Jak walked in anyways. Near the center of the room lay the ghouls melted corpse and beyond that a small pile of ash. Jak immediately ran to this and began to sift, looking for what he was sure would e there, but nothing came up. Instantly he was a the monster, looking inside it, searching for the egg of his beloved. For over a minute he scoured the room, looking for her until his eyes fell into a shadow on the wall.

Jak hit the floor, already crying as he looked at the outline of his love.

If one of the others entered the room they would see a simple message scrawled beside it.

"Ghouls feed on life force. Nothing can stop them that we have here. My life force is enough to kill it, but it ends my immortality. I was lucky to know you all. I love you and wish you the best of luck. -Kara'

Jak bowed his head as he sobbed, letting the sword clatter to the ground beside him. He wanted to curl up and die, he wanted to end it all. For one day, one glorious day he had been with her, and now she was gone again, like some sort of sick cosmic joke. Alina had begun to cry as well, understanding slowly overtaking her as she grasped the situation.

When prompted Jak stood, but didn't take the sword, instead letting it lay where it was as he walked away. It hadn't helped him, it hadn't saved her. He wouldn't need it.

[little lost dragon]

Vita could see the thing perfectly well largely due to no needing light to see but rather relied on his sensors. And his sensors detected a rather large form of something. Large amounts of energy also detected. It seemed to shriek and he attacked it. It quickly learned Vita was not the fastest of foes but very tough to even faze though. Till he landed a lucky blow with a loud clang from his arm sending it flying across the room. He thudded after the creature and resumed his tangle with it. His armour showing new marks from the ghouls attacks.

 

Fren instantly had shut the cube and her tail wiped up Alina and deposited the hatchling against her chest where the armor then morphed over Alina and folly covered Fren a she braced for a attack from the new creature. Till it shrieked at the group. Being a Shatong she had no true 'ear' as she felt the sounds vibrations through her body, like a snake. Which lead to the others being lucky due to they could at least try to stop the sound. But it was multiplied 10 fold for her and sent her into a panic, she fired a few rounds before retreating shaking almost like a leaf. Once it finished its shriek she slowly steadied her self and gulped and fired some more at the creature. The acid having little effect on both Vita and the ghoul. Vita was firing away at the things eye which only seemed to piss it off more but Vita was big enough to keep its attention on him.

When Kara said they needed to retreat she was by the door till Varren and Jak where through then she backed through the door as well paying down cover fire for Vita who was not the fastest to start with, to have some time to fall back before fighting at point blank range. He charged his D-gun and struck the beast and fired sending it to the other end of the room again making it shreik again in anger. He made his way through the door and Varren Vita and Fren continued to retreat all firing at the rooms door way. While only making it mad, al the shots seemed to have enough knock back to keep it in the room.

 

Then Kara was rushing past them and with a flash of fire and then the door was closed. Vita wasted no time in making his way back to the door, each step a thud. When he reached the door the dieing shrieks came and he was about to open the door when the heat wave threw it open and right into him. Though that hardly fazed him. "Room structure strength computerised. Danger." he said as Jak rushed in. Soon followed by Varren.

 

Varren looked at the remains of the room and joined Jak in searching for Kara's egg she said she'd turn into upon death. Fren entered as well though was extra jumpy. Varren saw the note but with the room being allowed to burn up by the castle. There was no time for morning, not here. Though some how Kara got a note scribbled up before she died. He grabbed it and had to dodge a burning beam. "Jak, lets go." he said urdging the boy on to his feet. When Jak failed to pick up his sword Varren grabbed it before signeling Fren to leave now too.

 

Once out side the room Varren heard the room collapse shortly afterwards behind them. He stopped and told the group to sit down and collect them selfs. The castle seemed to allow a break after such challanges. And aside from Vita, the moral of the group had been crippled. It was hard to not miss Fren's state, Jak looked like he wanted death, and the smallest speck had Varren on edge. He went over to Jak and gently grabbed one of the boy's hands "Jak, this might sound harsh, but you can't let this get to you. She saved us, she saved you. Focus on that Jak, she had the only means that we knew of to kill it. Had she not, it was only a matter of time before it would tear through Vita and then reduce us to ribbons." he explained but in reality, this was yet another death under his watch. He was not sure how much longer he could deal with all this. He gently placed the swords hilt in Jak's hand "You need to continue so her sacrifice was not in vain." he said with a nod.

 

Vita stood there watching the rest of the group. His armor missing some peices here and there but a soft green glow was in the missing area's slowly patching him up as his nano's restored him. "Kara won't be forgotten. Those that save others are logged and transmitted to all units. Gives another reason to fight and to continue on. Otherwise its as good as death." he said

 

Fren had her armour open so Alina could leave if she wanted, but the shriek attack the ghoul had left her in a bad state. Eye's closed and more or less curled up into a ball. She felt the fear the shriek was met to induce, but unlike the others where they only heard it through 2 small points in there body's, she felt it all over.

[Ryujin13]

Jak looked down at the sword in a detached manner as Varren placed it in his hand. He wanted to fling it away, he wanted to run, as fast as he could away from this place. If he ran things couldn't hurt you, but he had to stay with the group. Finally he stood, still crying, but in a detached sort of way. He seemed more like he was going through the motions as he sheathed the sword again and scouted down the hall a ways.

He didn't speak, he didn't engage with anyone beyond nodding his understanding, and his eyes were hollow, completely missing the spark that had been in them since day one. It was like his mind had gone blank, wiped the details of what had happened away, and just left the tasks he knew he had to do to survive. Nothing that Varren had said made sense, it was just garbled gibberish to his grief-stricken mind.

When he came back he waited until the others were ready before turning and walking away, leading the group like Varren usually did. He was purposeful in his direction, choosing one way or another without hesitation, but in truth he just didn't care. He was wandering for the sake of keeping himself distracted. Even if the others complained he ignored them and kept going, not caring if they followed either. A small part of him told him that it was better if he was alone, that he couldn't protect Kara his love, so why did he think he was any use to the group? This voice was quashed by the emptiness in him, so he didn't really hear it though, instead he just continued to walk.

After what seemed like days, but had maybe been a half hour Jak opened a door at the end of a corridor he had been following, only to find himself in the entrance hall again. He could smell the food already, but instead of running over and stuffing his face he merely put his back to the wall and slid down, unconsciously knowing that this area at least, was safe.

He could hear talking but he didn't care. He could feel movement but he didn't care. Somebody could have shot him, and in truth he probably would have welcome it. So there he sat, crying his eyes out as he ignored the world and it's hurts.

[little lost dragon]

Varren watched Jak take off and sighed. Seemed Jak was lost to them now. Fren was in no state to go anywhere still and seperating the group would only lead to the group being devided and then picked off. He made the mistake once with the other group. They lost a Quarion and his mate that day. After repeated requests and Jak showing no sign of hearing much less obeying he sighed as he watched the boy round a corner and vanish. Leaving him Alina Fren and Vita. And Fren seemed to be suffering from a panic induced shock, what ever that was called.

 

It took a lot longer but after a bit they arrived in the entrance hall again as well. Varren was glad to see Jak was there, Fren was walking on her own but was a shadow of her self. Her self as a person seemed to suffer a massive blow from that ghoul. Vita was looking as good as he had before they met him. Alina was asleep from crying over the whole thing over all. And Varren had no idea how to boots the groups moral. It was at a all time low. They leave Bor's protection and the castle smashes what built up motivation they had. Jak was effectively out of the game, Fren was out of action for now, and Kara was dead. Great.

 

He looked at the food on the table and sighed. Something about the place offering them food now right after doing what it did..... seemed to make his gut just feel ill. No way he could accept it. Not right now. He looked up as Fren shakily held the cube in her hand as she just looked at it. Like she may just smash it. But after a few moments she just gritted her teeth seeing as they where already in place in her mouth.

 

How the heck was he going to rally them up now? His own moral was very low, they where broken. They needed some kind of sing of hope. But nothing came to mind. Varren shook his head then sat down as well.

 

 

[Ryujin13]

"You know, all of this could have been avoided if you all had just made a deal with me." Nuria said from the doorway. She was leaning against it casually, and didn't even flinch as Jak stood, sword extended. He had found his punching bag and he intended to use it.

With a wordless roar he threw himself at her, his sword at the level and speed to cleave her head from her shoulders, but the moment it touched Nuria's form seemed to flicker like a campfires light. As the sword passed by she was unharmed, standing right where she had been, a bemused smirk on her face.

"Dear boy, I gave you the power, the skill to make that girl fall in love with you, and look, she did! How sweet. But! I didn't say how long the relationship would last, a lot like ours actually." Nuria taunted, leaning forward as she spoke, a malicious look in her eye even as Jak took another swing. "Yes, I'm afraid it has come to the last task, and then I'll set you free. Here's an interesting piece of info though, I mentioned those jobs right? Well I never specified how or even what they were. So here's little Jak and his friends, weeping for little birdie all while Jak wishes for death. Believe me, before the end you'll wish for death. I will have the red cage, and even if Bor has told you what it is, it won't matter, I will open it, I will win." She said, snarling now as she leaned in close to Jak. Suddenly she kissed him long and hard. When she let to Jak... Wasn't Jak anymore. He held the sword with more purpose, his hands gripped the sword firmly, and his stance went from good to great.

"Thank you all for your kind reception." Nuria said, waving merrily at the group. "I do hope you visit some time, but I can't wait around sadly I've got part one of the key, and well, there's a cage to open! Oh, there's a new friend for you all if that matters, I guess she's quite the fighter. Third door on the left, two rights, then a left." She said, still smiling before holding Jak close and disappearing in a flash of flame.

 

As silence came over the room Alina's crying reached a crescendo and she was soon the only thing to be heard. Her mommy was hurt, Kara was dead, Jak was gone! Lever urging was falling apart, and mommy couldn't even hold her to comfort her. So Alina just sat and cried her eyes out, scared, in shock, and grieving over her friends she had lost.

[little lost dragon]

Varren looked up with a glare and had his weapon in hand right away. "I'd rather personally kill everyone here then make a deal with you." he hissed as Jak went in to attack. Though the attacks seemed to not faze her at all. Fren got up now as well and aimed her weapon but was clearly too shaky to fire with out high risk of hitting Jak. But as there luck was going. Soon they lost him as well. He seemed to just become possessed. Not him self after the kiss. "You wrench!" Varren shouted as she vanished with Jak in a plume of flames.

Then silence aside from Alina's crying. Fren was just staring where Jak had been most likely thinking what would happen now, she was met to try and mother the boy and now there was no way she could attempt that. He looked at Vita "Recal your drone, locate this new girl. Try to have her follow the drone." Varren ordered and Vita paused thinking the order over before nodding and with nothing to say he sent the signel but nothing saying he did not Varren looked at the spot where Jak was last. What next, Medad removes Alina from them all?

 

As if reading his mind Fren had some what shakily scooped up Alina curled up a little around the hatchling to try and comfort Alina even though she her self was not doing well at all either.

 

Vita drone rushed back the way it was going its thrusters pushing it to max speed as it rushed through the halls on course to the location that was provided.

 

((Not sure how the event with Jak will effect the binding Medad placed on her to care for Jak))

[Ryujin13]

(Medad's order was to lead Jak through the hazards that might make him fail the ring test. The ring itself couldn't interfere with the deal though, so neither could Fren. In short she's off the hook. Also, not bothering to do character sheets, it's a waste of effort, so I'll just link a pic and go from there.)

 

Avira walked the corridors quietly, using every bit of stealth training she had received at boot camp. She didn't know where she was, but she knew what she had to do, regroup with her unit while maintaining stealth for as long as possible. She paused at a corner, sniffing slightly even as her implants tested the air for signs of magnetic force.

Nothing, just the same dusty smell that permeated the ruins.

When she had woken up she had been in an unknown room with a single door, a bed, and her usual equipment sitting to one side. A dresser had supplied her with new clothes, although the shirt made her feel ridiculous. She hated wearing shirts like this, it made her feel like a showgirl, one of the pleasure models, like Re-

She shook her at this, instead focusing intently on the problem at hand. Without a second though used her neural implants to attempt a call to her other teammates, but again she got no replay.

Avira gave a soft sigh and shook her head before making neural interface disappear. Even though it wasn't really there she didn't like having it in the way, was to easy to distract her.

The interface in question didn't even appear to others, instead it was physically imposed on the nerves that decided what she saw. Her brain believed she saw it, so she did, even if it wasn't physically there. In this case it had merely shown the head shots of her teammates that she had tried to call. Still, she didn't like having distractions, they led to errors and death.

She sniffed again before rounding the corner, her large pistol raised.

She was athletic, built for speed and well toned. At a over five foot eight she was tall even by her models standards. Her entire body screamed of being in shape, and it told as she walked, with confidence and poise. That being said she was also a combat model, and even if she did have a woman's... Assets, she didn't let them hamper her. She could outperform any human in a physical challenge, which made her and her team in disposable. She came to another corner and sniffed, her ears flickering back and forth as she took in what was around the corner.

Air movement, minimum noise, probably a drone. She bent at the knees, careful to take everything she knew into account, then sprang, rolled once and began firing at the drone. Nothing she did seemed effective, so she switched tacks. A drone had a controller or at least a hub, this place seemed to be a prison of some kind, which meant they had alarms, she might have tripped one without knowing, so it seemed to reason that the drone came from the hub. If she could reach it she could own security. This all passed through her mind in an instant, and within that split second she was up and running, her pistol holstered again to keep her arms free. She could smell the robot now, the strange smell of metal, as well as more smells of food, and other beings. She turned a corner, running full tilt and found herself facing a door which she opened, already rolling in, her senses detecting no guards yet.

A huge hall greeted her which took her by surprise, but she also knew that prisons could have a nice facade, just like re-. She shook herself again and decided that leverage was her best bet, so she ran towards the sounds and rounded into a hall, already moving to one side so the door wasn't to her back, didn't want the drone popping one in the back of her skull.

The sight that greeted her wasn't something that even seemed to phase her which would be an oddity to those present. Instead she turned her, now unholstered, pistol on the group, specifically the large female. She seemed the obvious threat, being taller then even Avira, and probably much stronger too. They had a large and heavily armed AI with them, but instead of trying to hurt t, she took the safe route.

"Call off your AI and the drone now!" She commanded, as the pistols sights came to a stop aiming directly at Fren's breast where a heart should be.

"Shut up!" She barked as the little one tried to say something. Avira didn't care that the little one didn't seem to be a threat, all present were to be considered dangerous.

The little dragon began to shake at this and curled into Fren, fear in her eyes.

"Now, here's how this is going to play out. You call off your AI and the drone. You will then power them down. You will then release my teammates, wait quietly until they arrive, after which we leave quickly. Do these things quickly and without fuss and I don't leave your guts splattered on the floor. She snarled, her tail twitching angrily. "Now then, you Naga, you're going to disable the AI, got it. Move over, hit its emergency shut off, then sit your slippery ass back down! Move!"

[little lost dragon]

Fren looked up as a new signature was rapidly making its way closer to there location but remained where she was hoping to try to help Alina calm down. When the new being showed up and pointed her weapon at her Fren reacted in kind. Her own weapon instantly in hand and aimed at the fox girl. But Varren had a better idea.

 

"Why don't you shut up and look around first?" he stated flatly to Avira. From where she was aiming it would take the girl a few shots to disable either of them and Fren only needed a close hit to catch the girl in a acid cloud "If we met to be a threat you'd already be dead. One you made your self a easy target." He said getting up not looking impressed "Two you in the open, no cover anywhere besides doubling back right into the drone. And three trying to be a threat to a group that could have shot you right away on sight. Put the weapon away solder!" he ordered in his commanding tone "Where not your foe here. Nor is the 'AI' either. Your trapped here like the rest of us.... or what remains at least. I assume you woke up in a room of seemingly stone on a bed and a dresser? Yeah welcome to the club." he said

 

Vita's drone wait a ways down the hall but weapons where primed and aimed. THe fox girl had stopped in the worst place currently possible. With all weapons trained on her and Fren's weapon not needing a direct hit, if the fox girl fired she'd be dead instantly.

[Ryujin13]

Avira's eyes glazed for a second as she attempted to greet this Naga's implants, at the very least to verify his rank. Nothing came up, not a handshake protocol, not even a simple profile. That meant one thing, an operative.

"Sir." Avira said, standing a bit straighter and holstering her weapon, giving a salute to Varren. Within seconds she attempted to connect to the other twos implants, and came back with nothing. That shouldn't be possible, which made her eyes narrow. Operatives weren't born like other roles in society, they were actually trained after the fact from the best. Why would the dragon be without implants. Better question, why didn't the dragon stand on her hind legs and have real hands? What was going on?

Avira gritted her teeth, but took a less rigid stance, ready to move again at a moments notice.

"Who are you? Why can't I connect to your implants?" She demanded.

Even as she asked this her senses were memorizing the smells of this group, trying to gauge their reactions. The one, a lizard of some kind by the look of it, had held a weapon of some kind which was unfamiliar, another question. Finally the last question, why were these people nude? Human law stated that all models had to wear something in public. Except re-. She shook herself yet again, focusing on the situation and instantly realized her error.

"Who are you sir?" She asked again. "And where are we? Where are the rest of my team? If you wanted me for an operation then you are better off bringing all of my squad."

To anyone who knew what to look for she was obviously confused, maybe even scared, but her eyes were the only thing that showed it, and even then it was a tiny flicker that gave it away.

She called for her friends again, hoping they would answer but still nothing, just silence.

[little lost dragon]

Varren folded his arms "Implants? None of us have implants. As for the rest of your questions, we are just a band of misfits that are working together to survive and take the place that kid napped us all here down. Your team might be in this place, but we have no way of knowing if there here, at the other end of this place, or back in your universe. I am Varren, I've been stuck here for quite some time, I used to be a commander of my own team as well however this place brought me here the moment before I was met to die. The robot goes by the name Vita with us, he is in control of that drone you fired at. However he like us is trapped here. Over there is Fren, and the little one that she is holding and you shouted at is Alina. Alina is just over one year old and hatched here." he said firmly before motioning the others to lower there weapons "Like the others, your free to join our group and attempt to survive here. Our goal is to shut this place down to prevent others from suffering the same fate. This place tests you, only provides the needed things for basic surviving, but will test and even kill you should you fail its tests and challenges. Anything that is beyond basics that it hands over it will try to make you pay for. We already suffered a loss from the last fight. And her BF was driven nearly mad before he was kid napped by another kind of being that haunts these halls." he said gesturing to a seat for Avira to take.

"On top of everything I just mentioned there are 4 beings going around this place looking for pawns. Similar to that of gods and there all striving for there goals. However there goals conflict with each others and they become locked in a stale mate. Ones got a pawn and part of the key, I assume it was his sword. We aim to cut off there supply of new pawns by shutting this place down. That way once there supply dies off, they will forever be in a stale mate and the balance will resume. And yes, I'm sure you've heard of magic, its as real here as your weapon is." he explained "We'll keep an eye out for your team members. But know, even with training, this place won't hesitate to kill you."

 

Fren lowered her weapon and resumed comforting Alina though detected trace amounts of fear scent from the new comer. Vita lowered his weapon as well and his drone hovered over his shoulder "Initial scan shows altered gene's for increased performance along with cybernetic's installed. However unless you become a threat again rest assured your implants will not be tampered with, try to connect with me again though and I will connect but you won't like the result." he warned.

Edited June 16, 2014 by little lost dragon

[Ryujin13]

Avira's eyes narrowed again, knowing this was a trick now.

"I don't like being lied to sir." She said, not raising or lowering her voice, but still making her point abundantly clear. "No chimera is born without implants. Our brains are grown around implants. We have to have implants for our VR training. It is not possible for a chimera, and don't deny you are one, to not have implants."

When Fren mentioned magic though understanding dawned on Avira's face. "So that's it then." She said. "This is a test, a VR program. Fine, I'll play the game, but you could have just asked nicely. Plus, Alex is better at this sort of game but whatever."

During her speech she didn't actually talk to the group, she talked to the surrounding area as though someone was listening before shaking her head and turning to the group. "Fine, what do we have to work with? Naga I don't recognize the run number, but probably earlier version, most humans like them bigger then you. Lizard, maybe a little less then current model, maybe derived from a pleasure version trained in combat. Dragon, very, very old model. Probably hasn't been made in at least five decades, probably more. The AI's an older combat version. Fine, it's something to work with at least."

Avira shrugged and sat at another table, quickly finding some meat, mostly jerky and sausage, as well as a glass of orange juice. She sat quietly eating until she was finished, then stood and opened a pouch on her hip. What looked like a futuristic ziplock baggy came out and she stuffed it with as much meat as she could before returning it to the pouch. Then she filled a water bottle with water, replaced that, and began to reload her pistol from another pouch.

During her time she basically ignored the group as thought weren't there until finally she turned and looked at them after finishing with her weapon.

"Alright, so we're stuck in a prison of some kind. Mission parameters as you have lain them down, shut down the complex to force a stalemate between warring factions, find my team, and escape while protecting the assets. Interesting that they would choose a fantasy setting but I guess IT guys got bored too. Fine, combat training?" She asked, pointing at Varren and Fren. "Stupid question. The nagas an operative in this setting, the other probably an officer. The dragons an asset. Goddamnit I hate VR!" She stated, her eyes angry for a moment before finally returning to a professional level.

"Right, do you have a current direction sir?" She asked, her emphasis on 'sir' showing she didn't respect the title when given to Varren.

 

(VR means virtual reality. Don't know if you knew or not.)

[little lost dragon]

Varren looked at Fren who looked at him as the fox lady spoke. Most of it they knew nothing about. Though Fren narrowed her eye's in a glare when Avira said she might be a lizard and a pleasure one trained in combat. Earning a hiss from her.

 

Once the lady finished talking Varren looked at Fren and Vita before back to the fox lady "And I suppose your the one who was in detention far too often?" he said before shaking his head "This is no VR program where no chimera and Fren's far more then just a lizard." he stated

 

Fren got up now some of her old self spiked from the insult the fox lady had given her "Where I'm from there are humanoids much like you, they have skin and flat faces. I've learned a few things or too in my line of work to crack even the genetic modified ones. I am a Shatong and you refer to me as one." she said her teeth showing and her tail showing the aggravation. Though she gently held Alina against her chest with care. "And Alina is no model either. Refer to her as one again and I'll introduce you to a model you haven't seen yet!" she spat her other arm once again holding her weapon.

 

"Fren, stand down." Varren said firmly before looking back to Avira "Here you will find things that you won't in your universe. This is no program no test no trick of the eye. Tell me, in your universe, what proves that something is not part of a VR program?" he asked slowly.

[Ryujin13]

Avira listened to Fren's rant since there might be important information, it paid as much attention to the threats as she would a little yapping dog. When Varren spoke she did the same thing, but paused when he asked how she would know if she were in a VR. That wasn't right, the tech guys wouldn't program a computer to care whether she knew or not. Maybe it was new though, to make the simulation more convincing. Still this was odd to say the least.

"You, I don't know, you just know." Avira said. "At least for a little bit, and then..." She shook her head in confusion. "There's a small lag sometimes and there's... There's..." She shook her head again, cursing to herself. She hated VR, she hated what it did to her mind. "You can tell, because it only models a certain number of thing." She said sternly, remembering what Alex had explained to her. "There are inconsistencies, lag, sometimes flickers at the corner of your vision, and... And..." She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, trying to remember everything had told her. "And there are tells in the dialogue." She opened her eyes again, trying to find the tells that she had mentioned. This seemed so real, but it couldn't be, this was obviously VR simulation, there we no other explanation. But what if it was real?

Suddenly Avira had her head in her hands and was squeezing her temples. "Guys, something's wrong, pull me out." She said loudly. "Fine! Disengage, Protocol 3445-D8!" She almost shouted angrily.

Nothing changed, and her eyes snapped open suddenly as they looked around again. Everything was as it had been, the chimeras were still there, and the room was the same as before, everything smelled the same, sounded the same, felt the same.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly. Suddenly she stood up and her gun was in her hands suddenly although it hardly looked like she moved.

"What have you don't to me?!" She yelled, eyes hard but a tiny hint of fear now in them. "If this is about Red Palace I will personally find every member of that vile place and rip their throats out myself! I swear to god, let me go now or you'll regret it!"

It was the only solution that made since to her. She had destroyed the billion dollar establishment, if something that horrific could be called an establishment, and now it and the owners wanted her for revenge. That would explain why her team wasn't with her, Red wouldn't want them together after what had happened last time. Although the question is why she had a gun still, that didn't track with the theory, or why these other chimeras didn't have implants. "Where am I?! Why am I here? Answer me now, with the truth!" She was almost erratic at this point, and anyone who knew the symptoms could tell that a tiny hint of PTSD was poking through her normal self control.