The Haven

[skiddajane]

((Okay I guess I'll try if you're okay with it. Is there a town hall? Like somewhere Willow can go to notify Haven about the death of the girl?))

 

 

[SilentBaws]

That fox was holding Hazel tighter and tighter, it didn't hurt but it still was annoying. She dematerialized and appeared in front of Callidus. "Stay where you are, you don't know what I'm capable of." She said, breathing heavily.

 

"Oh well, let's start with you, who are you?" She sighed.

[SoiledLove]

Callidus smiled, amusement in his eyes, as the other threatened him. He raised his hands up in a gesture of mock surrender and shrugged slightly. "Oya, so mean... Can't be worse than Libi, can ya?" He hummed. "Well, that's a question of perspective, isn't it? If you mean my name, then you can call me Callidus Natsume. Of course, it isn't my real name. Any relatively smart yokai would shy away from that as there are exorcists that can enslave you just by knowing your name..." He trailed off with a half-grin before continuing. "To Libi there, who's also using a false name, I'm the fox ***, the fox weakling, trash... Take your pick. To my people, the kitsune, I'm royalty, a powerful leader. To you, just a nine tailed kitsune who knows our dear Qilin, Libi."

Libeatque growled from beneath them. "Don't forget about the pervert part. If you try anything with any resident of the Haven, I shall exterminate you, fox ***..."

"Oya, are all of you Haven creatures so mean? You wound me, right here.." Callidus said with mock sadness, closing his eyes, and placing a hand over his heart, "and I thought we had something going on between us. I think I'm gonna cry..."

[pudding]

Ranking? What Hell was that? He frowned as he stepped away, nearly tripping over his long black cloak. This was so inconvenient. Figuring out how to move all his tiny limbs was incredibly difficult. The cloak wasn't helping matters either since it was too huge now but what could he do? He didn't have any other clothes since the rest had burnt. With a low hiss, he adjusted his sleeves and shook his head. "No," He replied with a frown, shaking his head as he turned and started to try leaving. He just needed to get out of the dangerous area around the exploded bar.

[SoiledLove]

"No!" Rosie immediately screamed and latched onto the other. "No! Rosie wants to repay you, nah!" She didn't want her savior to go so soon! She had to do something for him. Maybe he didn't know of her power? Then Rosie would tell him! "Rosie's ranking is really good! Rosie's ranking can tell you the power levels of anyone, nah! Rosie can tell you how much of a danger anyone is to you! Rosie can tell you about anyone and anything!"

[pudding]

Now that caught Ren's attention. Sure he had to escape but information about anyone and anything? That was valuable. She didn't seem to notice the burning bar nearby but it was still best to leave quickly. Luckily, she seemed to be more of a child, despite her appearance. "If you want to repay me, then follow me," He replied, deciding taking her was the best course of action. He didn't want such an opportunity to be passed up if it meant information. The Reality always needed information.

[Polar]

((Yeah. I've kinda just been making buildings as I go along.))

 

Falcon slipped through the forest, her bow in hand and quivver over her back. While she didn't mind being in Haven, she preferred the peacefulness of the woods. She had heard the explosion earlier, but she wasn't to concerned. The other warriors could take care of it. She walked silently along, deep in thought and not really paying attention to her surroundings. She sighed. Falcon was beginning to lose hope that any of her memories would return. She heard voices and followed the sound to were a small group had assembled. There was a face she didn't recognize, Hazel, and - she gulped. Libeatque. He always made her nervous. She wasn't exactly sure why. She hid in the shadows, her sharp brown eyes watching the three. She was fairly confident that they wouldn't notice her, but her abilities had failed her before.

---------

Snowbell and Shadow gazed up sadly at Willow. "Do not mourn, little one. It was her time to leave this world and journey on to the next." Snowbell said. "There is darkness in death, yes." Shadow frowned. But the light of new life far outshines the shadows of death." The two rabbits tilted their heads. "Do not doubt our knowledge of these things. We have watched kingdoms rise and fall. Rome, Babylon, and so on. We know of death. We also know that life comes out of death. So do not be sad. It was merely her time." The bunnies said, blinking.

---------

Wade inhaled the beautiful smells of nature. Leaves, dirt, and... blood? He stiffened and sniffed again. Yup, it was definitely there. He tilted his head and climbed to his feet, slinking towards the smell. He tracked it a little ways before stopping in front of a door to the ground. He sniffed curiously and tested the door, surprised to find it unlocked. He pushed it open carefully, peaking inside. A bloody girl on the table - dead, he noted - and a sad looking girl beside her. Along with two bunnies. Wade sniffed again, tilting his head. Ryder looked up at him, confused. What are we doing here? The pup asked him telepathically. "Tracking." He grunted quietly.

--------

Abraham's brow shot up at the sound of an explosion. He sighed. "G'thar, you can do the job yourself, right? Because I think I have more pressing matters to attend to." He said, not waiting for a response. He hurried Iover to the source of the explosion, and his jaw dropped at the sight. He groaned and put out the fire with magic before scanning the people, looking for any familar faces. Aha! He walked over to a certain demon, frowning. "Kerberos! What the heck happened here?"

--------

Lance opened his door, with Mist padding behind him. He changed and flopped down on his bed, relaxing. He quickly drifted off to sleep.

[KuroKishi]

As the demon slowly walked forward, trying to slip through the ruins of his favourite bar without disturbing the remains or tripping and landing on the shard-filled ground, he heard the sound of magic behind him.

Ah, hell, it's Abraham... I guess I'll have to check out whatever it was later, since he won't leave me until he's had a description of all that happened in great detail. Kerberos thought, grunting softly as the footsteps slowly approached him. His mind was focused on the task at hand, of course, but denying someone like Abraham - the person who had created this plane of magic - of your attention for even a minute could net him trouble, or at the very least, the displeasure of the man. So, he turned around, his dark eyes focusing on the shape of the mage.

"Kerberos! What the heck happened here?" The man asked as he approached, seeming very angry at what had happened. Though the demon shared the feelings of the mage, it was purely about the lost liquor and the good patrons that he had grown sitting with in the Crimson Watch, not something like the endangered lives or damaged building and countryside.

 

"Okay... so, after reporting to you, I came to the usual place - my favourite bar, the Crimson Watch, which, as you can see, is a bunch of ashes and ruins now," He started, then sighed softly before teleporting seemingly randomly. He reappeared in a burst of red a few meters away, then kicked a crate and disappeared, making it slide toward the place he had just been standing on. A moment later, he was once again in front of Abraham in a red cloud of dust, having taken a seat on said crate.

"As I sit down on the bar, taking my usual dosage of 15 alcohol glasses before I go for a rest after my mission and wondering why so many people had decided to come today, I notice a strange fellow sitting at the back. At least, me and a couple others did - one left, though, and the other was a wolf... I didn't pick his name up. Anyways, the guy was a Reality spy, it seems, and he suddenly started throwing knives, creating small doorstops and destroying the bottles of liquor," Kerberos spoke out, sighing softly at the mention of the quality alcohol lost thanks to that... phoenix guy, before turning his attention back to Abraham.

"Well, having been caught by both an Infiltrator and Warrior, he was outmatched two-to-one, and was doing badly. Me and wolfie knew we could take him out, but next thing we know, he stabbed himself straight in the chest. Just like that, he chose to end his life. I'm thankful that I hadn't thought he was just commiting suicide, because me and wolf guy would be charred remains by now. We dove for cover, and he burst into flames - just like those mythical phoenixes, creating a large blast of fire and destroying the building. Good thing that the civilians got out in time - a couple of them are surely wounded, but nobody's dead. Now that you took care of the flames, I suggest you try looking for him... though having known you for a short while, I'll guess you'll choose to gather information and meet the survivors, instead." Kerberos finished, suddenly sending a punch between his open legs. Digging into the crate, he found another small bottle of liquor, and without bothering to read labers, lifted it up and finished it in one go. Then, he rose from his seat, dropped the bottle on the ground and waited for Abraham's reaction.

Edited September 10, 2014 by KuroKishi

[pudding]

Ren glanced back at the bar, his eyes narrowing. He could feel a very powerful, very strong presence. Was that? Of course he would have not had time to escape before a very powerful mage appeared. Well, getting captured was not in his list of orders. He'd have to avoid dealing with Abraham as best he could. He didn't have to worry about dying but he did have to worry about getting captured. While he did not underestimate his own abilities to injure the mage, he didn't want to risk drawing a mob. Turning back to the girl, he quickly reached out to grab a hold of her wrist and start pulling her away. He was tiny and weak but he could still try to pull her away as quickly as he could.

[0023567467]

I looked over at the demon next to me and saw Abraham run up to us. So Kerberos is his name? What kind of parents names their child Kerberos? I sighed as he got out another bottle of liquor from a crate. I never knew demons had such a high tolerance level when it comes to drinking. As I looked back to where the phoenix should've been he was gone! I mentally growled to myself. My nose started to sniff the area around me and I pinpointed where the phoenix was because he reeked of fire and ash and there was another strange scent along with his. I started following the phoenix, hoping I didn't get seen.

[Polar]

((002, please write in third person. Writing in first person makes it difficult to know which of your characters that you're using.))

 

Abraham frowned. "The wolf man was Wade - a strange fellow, but a skilled fighter." He thought for a moment. "A phoenix, eh? Easy enough to find if it's close enough, their body heat is quite high. I can put a tracking spell on him instead of engaging - that's a battle for another time." He stated. He summoned an orb, expanding it to the size of a small mirror. "Show me the highest heat signatures within a mile of here." Three dots popped up, one showing more heat then the other two. "Put a tracking spell on the being with the highest temperature." The orb buzzed and completed the action. Abraham waved the orb away and turned back to the rubble. "I'll have to get some builders over here to start rebuilding it. Thanks for your help, Kerberos."

[Clown_of_God]

((It also makes determining gender difficult as well. Or was that just me? ))

[0023567467]

((Ok then, I've been having to write a lot of stories in first person in English at school so I tend to swap between 3rd and 1st. Sorry if it's caused you problems ))

 

Ariel looked over at Abraham, "What! Why aren't we allowed to fight it?" she whined. All that excitement and we're not even allowed to fight it? Aww man, I've always wanted to fight a phoenix!

Edited September 10, 2014 by 0023567467

[SoiledLove]

((Wow... Rosie is so naive...))

Rosie blinked a little and then smiled, completely oblivious of the other child's intentions. "Okay!" She agreed readily. She was glad the other had accepted her thanks and she didn't believe in the possibility of there being something wrong. After all, the other was a child like her! And only adults could be mean. Rosie happily skipped after the other as he pulled her along.

[pudding]

Well, that was easy enough. Finding little resistance, he decided a hasty retreat was the best course of action and quickly began to run, pulling the woman-child along behind him. She could easily stop him, of course, but she seemed to not understand her own strength and abilities. It was like they were reversed; he had retained his mind but his body was a child's while she had the mind of a child and the body of an older woman. It was ridiculous. "If you want to repay me, just listen o what I say," he declared, his long cloak flicking up behind him as his tiny feet carried his body along. "Do not question it, just follow me." He was going to get the two of them out as fast as he could.

[SoiledLove]

((Actually, Rosie is physically seven, mentally seven, but has been alive for 32 years))

 

Rosie blinked slightly as the boy began to run and happily ran after him herself. "Alright then!" He must have been in a hurry if he didn't want to stay still. Like the bunny from Alice in Wonderland. Maybe someone would kill him if he were late. She mentally gasped at the horror. No! Who'd do that to a child!? Must be one of those mean adults! Most adults were good, but some were mean. Luckily, there were mainly good adults in the Haven.

[Polar]

"Because he now has a tracking spell on him. As much as I'd like to engage, the he'll lead us to the Reality. So for right now, we have to let him escape. As much as I hate the idea." Abraham said patiently, staring at the charred forest edge.

 

((It's perfectly understandable, just something that you usually have to do in roleplays.))

[skiddajane]

After about an hour, Willow stood up. She stared at the girl on the table. She's the first one I couldn't save... The girl probably had a name. A family. Someone who was anxiously awaiting her return home. Someone who would soon be realizing that she was never to walk the earth again. She's a nymph.. The girl was a Water Nymph. Her species generally stayed in the water. She most likely lived somewhere in the stream that ran near her house. The thought puzzled Willow. Nymphs couldn't survive out of water for more than a few hours. The girl's hair was completely dry. She must have been chased out by that demon.. Willow thought. He most likely stalked her, tortured her before finally attempting to kill her.. Willow grabbed a plastic sheet from her bedroom closet. It was meant to hold a dress she had gotten a few months back. It was the perfect size for the petite girl. She slipped it over her gently. After tying the end of the bag, Willow went outside. There was a shovel hidden in a neighboring tree that served as a gardening shed. Willow wiped a tear from her eye as she grabbed the handle. I should have done something sooner... I was out all day..I could have seen her and helped her.. The shovel tight in her hand now, she struck the ground with it, pulling up dirt. Her tears were too many to brush away, and she simply let them fall to the earth as she completed the morbid deed. Her tears turned to sobs, and her sobs to earth-shattering wails. The death of children seemed imminent in her eyes, as she remembered her long-gone unborn child.

[0023567467]

Ariel grumbled to herself and walked unhappily away from Abraham. "Why can't we just strangle the poor phoenix until he tells us where the Reality is?" she said to Istalri, "I mean, once we have captured him then we could use him as a hostage and more Reality spies would come, the more the merrier!" Istalri could only shake her head at her partners foolishness. We should listen to what Abraham says. He's been running the Haven as long as we can remember and has done a good job at it. We've never doubted him once so why start now?" Ariel sighed and kicked a small stone as they went back to their house together.

When they arrived at a white house with lots of trees surrounding Istalri immediately knocked down the doors and went inside. Ariel walked past the now ruined doors, not bothering to fix them. "Couldn't you be a bit more careful Istalri? That's the seventh door you've now broken." Istalri started heading towards the kitchen where all the food was kept. "But it's not my fault that you don't feed me often enough." said the dragon in a sheepish voice. "Hey! Half of the money that we earn goes towards you and your food. Besides, why can't you hunt deer or catch a fish in a river like a normal dragon?" asked Ariel while plopping herself on her white bed. "Because human food tastes so much better than dragon food." replied Istalri like it was the simplest thing in the world. "What ever, just don't wake me up unless there's a fire."

 

~~~

 

Kaito looked down below him to see a mass of blue water. "You ready Sayla?" he asked his flying companion which was currently holding him high up in the air. "You're such a reckless little elf but I guess so." replied the phoenix. "But what's life without a little bit of fun?" Sayla just rolled her eyes and counted down from 5, "Five...four...three...two...one...HAVE FUN!" she dropped Kaito from where she gripped him by the shirt and see him fall rapidly towards the water. "THIS IS SO FUN!" yelled the elf as he pummelled towards the clear blue water underneath him. "Sayla, are you going to let me drown or what!?" he yelled as he neared the ocean. Suddenly his bird companion swooped down below him and caught him just before he touched the water. "We have totally got to do that again!" cried Kaito like a little child. "Next time you'll want me to drop you in an inferno of fire." said Sayla dryly. "That's a great idea Sayla! We should totally do that tomorrow!" The phoenix lightly smacked him on the head, "Idiot, Abraham would be so angry with us if we ever tried doing that. Remember when we nearly destoyed a mountain because you wanted to try skiing down an avalanche? Well Abraham nearly went crazy when you did that." Kaito scratched his chin trying to remember the memory. "Oh yeah! Those were the good times when Abraham wasn't so grumpy and old." Sayla just sighed as her idiotic partner kept on rambling about random junk that probably wouldn't even be worth talking about.

[KuroKishi]

Kerberos nodded in understanding, seemingly calming down after the man's notice about rebuilding said bar. He sighed softly before stretching out, attempting to remove the tense feeling in his muscles.

"Just make sure that you get it done quickly and I get a 20-year old liter brandy bottle, and I'll remain one most pleased demon," He said jokingly, knowing that trying to pressure the man was impossible and doing it more to try and uplift the mood. His gaze shifted to Abraham's spells as he placed a tracking spell on the spy, and whilst he would love chasing after him, he'd have to agree with the magician.

I'm too tired to try and fight him on my own, and we'd get better answers in the long run if we keep an eye of him - we may just find one of the forward Reality posts, but the information we'd get from Infiltrators like me would benefit us tenfold. He thought to himself, not bothering to notice the conversation between Abraham and Ariel. He knew it was most likely her simplistic reasoning telling her that they should act now and capture the spy - however, both the experienced demon and the senior mage knew that an outpost with information on them was far better than a single spy who had a defensive mechanism in case of interrogation through torture and would probably take ages to speak. Plus, knowing the usual Reality spies, they had a large escort coming for them every time they exfiltrated, which would mean a large battle on their hands - and with how tired and suprised people were, it'd be hard to find a sufficent force for the fight, let alone one willing to fight for a single, hard-to-break spy.

"Oh well. We should get better results in the end. I may not be able to chase after him, but I'll most certainly scour the edge of our territories for some information. Stay safe, Abraham," Kerberos spoke out as his wound finally finished mending itself, with only a slowly disappearing scar remaining on his cheek, then disappeared suddenly, reappearing after a couple of jumps in the shrubbery.

Time to look for clues... The demon thought, his dark eyes focusing on the surrounding flora, as well as the ground, in order to find anything the man had left behind in his hasty retreat.

 

[Polar]

((Umm skidda, Wade was right outside Willow's door so technically she would've ran right into Wade... just sayin'))

 

Wade frowned at the girl's sobs. To him, women needed to be cared for and protected. That was instinctual for him. So to see a female in distress was upsetting. He walked over silently, taking the shovel from the crying girl and finished digging the dead girl's grave. In his opinion, digging should be left to the males. He would've used his claws, but that would take longer. He tossed the shovel away and picked up the bag that had the girl, jumping into the grave and setting it down carefully. He pulled himself out with ease, his muscles tensing under his skin. Wade grunted and dusted off his hands, his liquid gold eyes watching Willow.

---------

Abraham chuckled and sent out an orb to the construction crew before surveying the damage. He sighed and shook his head.

---------

Lance woke up with a start and looked at his clock. He had only dozed - barely five minutes had passed. He shrugged and decided to go train for a while. "Mist! C'mon!" He said, walking out. The two made their way to the training room that Abraham had enlarged when he had arrived a few years ago. He grabbed throwing knives and set up a training exercise, throwing the knives with deadly accuracy at the targets before moving on to the guns. He usually trained to clear his head, and he sure needed it. Something - someone, actually - wouldn't get out of his head. Hazel, in particular. Lance wasn't exactly sure why. He had never had any romantic interest towards the girl, and she was just a kid! Well, to him, anyways. Few people knew it, but he wasn't that much younger than Abraham. Which surprised even him sometimes.

[pudding]

((Whoops! Sorry Soiled!

 

Also, are you okay with a mini-time skip since nobody is chasing after them? I can't write to much with him just leading her along unless something happens.))

[Polar]

((Depends on how big of a skip you were thinking. Also, I posted an OoC thread! Finally! ))

[SilentBaws]

Hazel hesitantly looked at Libeatque for a second and then fixed her gaze back at 'Callidus'. "What're you doing here, trash." She teased Callidus. She looked back at Libeatque and sighed. "What do you think we should do about 'it'." She said.

 

"Maybe I should go 'Angel Form', just for the sake of being defensive." She thought. For a moment there was nothing. Then an almost blinding flash of quick light occurred. And there she was. Her hair looked fiery red and dangled on her shoulders, a medium-sized red angel wings were on her back, she just looked fabulous. In her Angel form, Hazel was generally more maneuverable, and had better reflexes.

 

[skiddajane]

Willow watched as the man took her shovel, and started digging the grave for her. Her tears slowed, as she wondered where he came from. He looked to be some sort of wolf creature.

"Where did you come from, why were you at my door, and why are you doing this for me?" She asked quietly. No one ever came around this area of the woods. It seemed like she was receiving a lot of visitors today. Willow stood next to the grave, facing the wolf-man. Her tan shirt was a bloody mess from leaning over the girl in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The bottom of her feet were also crusted with blood from accidentally stepping in the pool that was under her table. Even as a healer, she had never seen so much blood.

 

((I arranged with 002 for willow to be in a relationship with Shadow. But I just remembered that I told you we could try with Wade, so we can play this out however you want. They could both end up liking her and competing for her if that sounds interesting to you. I'm okay with whatever. ))