Forum Thread

It has been three days since Zander sank the warship by using his magic 'beast soul Leviathan', three days without sleep. He had killed people, innocent people, only to escape. They were only doing their work, it wasn't their fault.
But... It also wasn't Zander's fault being born from his parents.
It wasn't his fault.

He wandered alone in the snow, every step lead him further from the village near the coast.
Zander wasn't really sure of his direction, he knew that if he continued walking, after a few days he would reach another nearby country. Seven, Bosco, Stella, Joya and Bellum were his possibilities, or even maybe the Kingdom of Pergrande.

On the fifth day, he ran out of food.
On the sixth day, he discovered that he wasn't alone.
On the seventh day, he saw her for the first time.
A hunter, one of the survivors of the council's warship.

A single shot perfored the snow, only a few centimeters away from Zander's feet.
She was the hunter, he was the prey.
That only gave Zander one simple option, the same option he had when he fought against the wild animals: Kill or be killed.

"BEAST SOUL: JOTUN!" he roared while his body changed.
He was now a beast, a giant with enourmous body and a small head with a large beard.
As he charged in the direction of the gunshot he made direct eye contact with her.
Her green eyes were wider because the sudden attack, his red eyes were like burning flames of ire.
She took the assault rifle on her back and shoot straight to the giant's feet whispering a simple spell.
Zander took the shot on his enlarged leg, almost feeling nothing, without stopping his charging against her.
She grabbed a second fire weapon and shot again a magic spell against his feets.
His steps became slow and he dizzied a bit to the left before stomping both fists against the snow. He roared, and the mountain answered to his call, provoking an avalanche.
She felt how the snow carried away her body before sepulting her under his white and lethal embrace.
All became black.

"Here, gimme your hand", a soft voice called her.
It was a smiling boy with black wavy hair and red eyes.
"You saved me? After I tried to kill you?" she asked, perplexed.
"Just, don't ask, I feel kinda stupid right now" Zander growled.
"Thanks, Zander Allax"

He smiled back to her, mockingly.
"Sorry, I broke your weapons"

---

Skeet wasn't entirely convinced by the girl's words but she seemed rather harmless. Perhaps she really was just a simpleton who decided to give a hand to a random stranger. Such a naive mistake. Furthermore, if she wanted something, it wouldn't have been too difficult for her to take it from the very beginning. For now, Skeet could use her.

Upon hearing the girl's offer to help him with whoever might be after him, Skeet looked at her like she had suddenly grown another head. What kind of a moron was this girl? Did she actually have a death wish? No sane person would risk their health for a complete stranger. Not without an ulterior motive at least. Just like that, Skeet's suspicions were back. There was no way anyone could be this stupid.

Averting his eyes away from the girl, Skeet continued heading forward, by walking this time, as he answered the girl nonchalantly, "I don't recommend that, there was four of them. I gave them a little parting present though so I dunno how many, if any, are after me. I still wouldn't risk it if I were you." It's not like he'd care much if the girl got herself killed in his place but she was more valuable to him alive at the moment, regardless of how suspicious she was. He needed time to get his strength back so his best bet was to hope the girl was simply an idiot.

---

» Azure «
While Carolina continued heading in the direction of the stranger, Azure quickly stretched down and gathered the cards that he had dropped earlier. Once he was done, himself and Tiffany chased after Carolina.

By the time he had caught up to Carolina, she was standing still; watching. A few hundred feet in the distance, the stranger was talking with a black haired girl. Due to the vegetation, neither of them had seen the three siblings, yet.

Ethan looked over at Carolina. He could see the rage building in her eyes. She was angry that the stranger had managed to over-power the siblings, and she wanted to get her own back on him. "Carolina, I know what you're thinking. Just calm down and think for a moment. There are two of them. If we were to fight, at least one of us would end up seriously hurt, or worse... And besides, you collapsed a few moments ago due to an over use of magic, there is no way you'd be able to fight."

"Azure's right," Tiffany spoke, "We should just go, there's no point in starting another fight. The next town isn't that far. If we leave now, we can make it by nightfall. Oh, and we still have the bags we stole earlier to look through as well." Tiffany ended the sentence with a smirk...

"Civilization! At last!" Zander shouted.

It has been five days of large and silent march through the snow.
So, when the snow started to melt and the first houses and trees of the first village of Bosco country were drawn on the horizon, they couldn't repress a joyful exclamation.

"So, what are you going to do now? Throw me in a stone cold cell or something?" the beast soul mage asked.
"I still owe you my life, it wouldn't be fair" she answered back.
"So, you're running away? deserting? giving up? you are a renegade now? You filthy traitor!" he mocked in a cheerful tone.

He sighed and his expresion changed, now looking pissed.

"You are throwing away your previous life because you think I will need you to save my life?"
"Kinda" she shrugged "but that's the way I've been raised".

He sighed again.

"I still don't like this, but you're free to follow me if you want"
"To where?"
"Anywhere!" he lifted his arms "I'm just wandering randomly in every place, any place is my home if its quiet enough for me"
"What was so special about Iceberg, anyway?"
"You weren't there" he smiled, again mockingly.

This time was Praeto the one who sighed.
That guy was so unpredictable that she didn't know how to handle it without making him switching his mood randomly.
He was like a frozen lake, beautiful, yet dangerous and fragile.

---

Note:
Zander has a little personality disorder since he was all alone for a really long time. He doesn't know how to connect with other people feelings or his owns.
This will be slowly changing while the story progresses.

---

Now Tenebri glared at the retreating mans back. 'Who the hell do ya think ya are? Some heroic loner or somethin'?' Now she wasn't so sure if she wanted to help the guy, he had some nerve, really. Was it really that hard for the guy to just be thankful and accept the offered help? Then again, the other mage didn't look like he wanted any help. Probably because of his male pride or because she was a female. Maybe that's why such guys tended to die fast, they were just too dumb.

The girl stood up, fixing the bad over her shoulder. For a few moments she looked at the guy, at his pathetic attempts to walk steadily. The view and the males stubbornness was making her very angry very fast. The frustration soon got the better of the celestial mage and she ran after him, screaming, "If ya didn want the help, could've just said so! Besides I didn mean as to fight in your stead, if ya got any scores to settle that's on ya. I only offered a ride, to get away from them, and maybe give ya some time to lick out those sorry wounds."

The female now stood in front of the guy, purposely in his way, just in case he'd want to shrug her off. She stared sternly at him, almost glaring, wanting him to understand his own stupidity. But before he could speak Tenebri quickly added, speaking more softly, but her eyes kept on staring at him hard, "And a 'thank you' really wouldn't hurt yer pride that much y'know?"

'Well, that does make more sense...' Skeet thought as the girl hurried after him, explaining how she never had any intentions to fight for him in a rather angry manner. As the girl got in his way and glared daggers at him, Skeet didn't bother trying to get past her and merely swayed slightly on his feet. The girl was pissed, he clearly kept saying the wrong things, he really didn't want to make her his enemy as well, and most of all, he didn't have the energy to argue with her. He was tired and cold and insanely thirsty and he'd rather get as far as possible from those blue haired mages and sleep for a few days. Though it seemed he wasn't getting anywhere with the girl starting to want to rip his throat out as well.

With a sigh, Skeet dropped the 'not even feeling this blood-loss' facade he had stubbornly tried to hold onto (and failed horribly) and took a step to the side so he could lean on a tree before replying to the girl. "Alright, sorry. Thanks. Whatever it is you want to hear, just tell me and I'll say it. I don't have enough blood in my brain right now to figure it out myself." He didn't trust the girl, he didn't exactly trust anyone, and he didn't really like her either. He didn't know what went on in her head and what she wanted and it annoyed him. However, no matter how much he didn't want to admit it, he did need her help.

---

» Tiffany «
Tiffany and her siblings trudged along the path that led to the next village. Each of them carried one of the bags they had stolen earlier. They were all so exhausted that they decided to wait until they reached the village before opening them.

As they continued along the path, none of them spoke. It wasn't an awkward silence, but more of a comfortable silence. None of them felt the need to talk. They had all messed up during the fight. Tiffany especially. Tiffany felt that she should have done more, and was annoyed for letting herself get caught, and letting her siblings get injured. But there was no point thinking about it, it was in the past now.

The sun had begun to set, and the sky hit the twilight phase just as the village came into view.
Finally, maybe now I'll get some rest...
The village was quite small. It was next to the coast, so it was quite breezy and cold. The siblings looked around and noticed that it wasn't the move active of places. There were only a few people outside, and most of the buildings had no lights on...

Tiffany searched the town with her eyes, and spotted an Inn within the few buildings with their lights on. "There's an Inn at the end of the street. We need somewhere to stay for the night." Before either of her siblings could agree or disagree with her, she entered the building and walked to the front desk. She wasn't in the mood to argue with them. Carolina would want them to kill the manager and get the room for free, while Azure would just break in. Tiffany wanted to lay low for once, and not have to worry about getting caught...

Tiffany handed over whatever money the managar at the desk wanted for the night, and the three of them walked up the staircase to their room.
"Can we finally see what's in these bags?" Azure asked once they had entered the room. "They're kinda heavy, so I'm hoping that there's something of value in them..." He finished with a smirk.

Tenebri kept on staring at the guy, waiting for an answer, the anger retreating with each second that passed. She couldn't help but let the embarrassment and shame take it's place. What was she thinking getting angry on a guy she just met, a dying one at that. Her guilt only increased when the other mage merely slumped on the near by tree.

The female blinked at his replay, it seemed she finally got through to him. She wanted to laugh at last bit, maybe the guy wasn't that bad. Or it could be the blood-loss as he just stated. Ether way, he looked worse and worse each second.
"Maybe I should take a peek at that wound of yers, from here it ain't lookin' too good. No idea what ya did with the 'blood-trick' back there, but it sure ain't holing up."

She crouched down next to him, ignoring his personal space, she lifted up his shirt to get a better look. Not that you could see much, everything was covered by blood, slowly creeping it's way downward. She couldn't help the grimace, not everyone had the guts to look at horrible injuries like this. The wound had a circle-like shape, reminding the girl of a bullet shot. 'I don't think he'll make it with such a blood-sucker on his hip. What the heck was he thinkin' playin' with some tug with a gun? He could've gotten himself killed'

"Ya should stop walkin' around so much, I can bet it sting with movement. Someone must really hate ya, shooting a bullet in such a place... Hey, ya don't still have it in yer body, do ya?"
Tenebri looked up from her crouching down position, concern showing on her orange eyes once again staring intently at him.

Skeet didn't exactly like it when the girl just started prodding at his injury, far from it, but he didn't have the energy nor willpower to stop her. At least she didn't seem to want to make it worse anymore. He still couldn't understand what was going through her head so he just gave up on that as well. He was just too damn tired.

Hearing the girl proclaim that someone must really hate him for shooting him amused Skeet more than it should've and the question of whether the 'bullet' was still in him didn't help. Ignoring the worried eyes staring up at him, Skeet burst out in a full blown laugh. The action caused ripples of pain to shoot out from the wound on his side and it only made him laugh more.

Maybe the situation really was that funny.

Maybe he was just getting lightheaded from the blood-loss.

Maybe he was going crazy.

Maybe he had been crazy all along.

Maybe it was because of all of the above.

Either way, he was in the woods in god knows where, he had two holes in his body, he was lacking too much blood, there might be people coming to kill him, a random passer-by girl was worried about him and he was laughing like a maniac. You could say his day wasn't exactly going according to plan.

His laughter did die down eventually and he looked down on the girl with an amused smirk on his face, "Heh, I guess you could say I have a kind of a love-hate relationship with the guy who shot me. I kinda hate him but I can't get rid of him and I don't even want to. He's a douche and makes me want to rip his throat out most of the time but he's the only person I can trust and count on to have my back."

It would have been easier to say that he kinda shot himself but there was no fun in that.

The smirk melted away from Skeet's face as he leaned his head against the tree and closed his eyes before answering the question the girl had actually asked, "I'd say at least part of the bullet is still there but you don't have to worry about it. You wouldn't even find it no matter how thoroughly you dug through the hole in my side."

Again, it would have been easier to say that the so called bullet was his own blood but even Skeet himself wasn't that sure of what was going on in his head at that point.

He just wanted to sleep.

---

Sorry I'm just kinda overloaded with my two works and I can't find the moment to start writing here because I'm always tired.

---

They slept in shifts.
Since they had nothing except the clothes they were wearing (or at least that were Praeto thoughts) they couldn't afford an inn.
The truth was that Zander had money, but he kept the secret for some reason.

It was now Praeto's turn.
While Zander was sleeping against a tree root, she was on a branch, eyeing the surrounding zones like an owl.
It was Bosco after all, a place known for his totally illegal slave trading.

Suddenly, a sound startled her, the rustle of branches nearby.
She heard a sound, but not what originated it... Praeto was nervous.
Zander opened his eyes on that exactly moment.

"They're here", he smiled amused.

---

» Carolina «
Carolina lifted one of the bags and placed it onto one of the tables. The bag was quite large and heavy. She opened the latch and rummaged through the bag; her siblings did the same.

'Clothes, clothes... and more clothes.' The clothes were all men's, so there wasn't much Carolina could do with them. 'Maybe they'll do for Azure'
Once she reached deeper into the bag, something metallic connected with her fingers. Clasping her hand around the object, she removed it from the bag. She examined the object, it was some sort of key; it shone gold in the light from the lamp.

"Is that what I think it is?!" Tiffany questioned as she ran over to Carolina and grabbed the key out of Carolina's hand. "This is a Celestial Spirit Key. These are extremely rare."
Carolina was slightly confused. "How are they rare? You can buy them in any good magical store. We'd be lucky if we got even 20,000 Jewels for it."
Tiffany sighed, "You're thinking of Silver Spirit Keys, they're quite common. This, right here, is a Golden Spirit Key. There are only 12 of these in existence. Each one representing a sign of the Zodiac." Tiffany examined the key closer, focusing on the handle. There was a small image on it. "It appears this key represents the sign of the twins; Gemini."

'The way Tiffany is acting, then these things must be worth quite a low of Jewels.' "How much do you think we would get for it?" Carolina asked Tiffany.
Tiffany thought for about it for a moment, but it was Azure who spoke up, "There's no point in selling it to a store. We'd be safer keeping it until we meet a Celestial Spirit mage. They'll be the one's who want the key the most, and will probably pay us the most Jewels for it."

'He has a good point, I guess we'll be keeping it for a little while then.'

Tenebri was starting to think that he passed out with his eyes open, but then the roars of laughter erupted from the man. The girl could get what was so funny for him, maybe there was something behind her? A look back told her that wasn't the case. Maybe he remembered something funny? Or something was on her face? She touched her cheek just to redraw the hand immediately, so totally forgot about the blood on her fingertips! Now there really was a reason to snicker..

The laughter slowly ebbed away and she looked back up at the mage. A smirk on his face greeted her, his words slowly sinking in. She couldn't help but smile, the guy was hilarious! She went back to retrieve her bandages, sinking to her knees once more in front of him.

"If ya don't wanna get rid of him, then why run away? I thought someone tried muggin' ya. Ya two should be more careful in fights, too. Honestly, ya ain't making any sense! Part of a bullet? And people say I'm hard to get, but if ya think it won't be a problem, I'll tie ya up real quick!"

She grinned cleaning the wound, wiping the blood away. The mage looked like he'd fall asleep any second, so she tried to be pretty careful when rolling the bandage around his waist. However Tenebri admired her handy work just for a few seconds, another blooming flower of blood on his shoulder caught her attention. ' Just how many of those does he have! I'm gonna run out of supplies in no time flat!'

"Ya know what? Change of plan, I'm stripping ya down."
Without skipping a heart beat, the female tugged his jacket down, dropping it on the ground. Next was his shirt - she took the material by the ridge, pulling it over his head.

Skeet more or less zoned out as the girl mused over his nonsensical words. However, the lad did feel awkward as the girl started wrapping some bandages around his middle (maybe he should start carrying those around with him as well). He didn't particularly like anyone being that close but he didn't really have the liberty to complain in his situation. Instead, he just let her do her thing and he foolishly thought he was off the hook once she had finished with the bandages.

"Ya know what? Change of plan, I'm stripping ya down." The words didn't even register in Skeet's hazy head before his jacket was on the ground. What was his jacket doing on the ground, exactly? Then his shirt was pulled over his head, the movement being not too gentle on his injured shoulder. The spike of pain forced a pained hiss out of his mouth, but it also managed to somewhat clear his head. The realization was quick: He was in a forest in god knows where, he was more or less defenseless and some stranger was busy stripping him.

Adrenaline rushed into his system in a blink of an eye and his body tensing up was the only warning the girl received before Skeet delivered a kick to her middle to push her away. Compared to his kicks when he wasn't suffering from blood loss, this one was pathetic, but it was enough to give him some space. He used that space to push himself away from the tree he had been leaning on and stumble backwards, not wanting to turn his scar covered back on the girl (not that the rest of him wasn't covered in scars as well, he wasn't exactly known for being careful with fights). You simply don't turn your back on strangers, especially if said stranger was undressing you, even simpletons knew that.

However, the shocking turn of events broke his concentration on his little magic trick that was preventing him from loosing anymore blood. The bandage around his middle turned slightly red around the wound and blood started dripping down from the nice little hole on his shoulder. Skeet didn't manage to take more than few steps backwards before he stumbled on a tree root and fell on his bare back on the forest floor, letting out a pained yell as his wounds came in contact with the harsh ground.

Stubborn as he was, Skeet didn't waste time before trying to get back up. However, as there was no trees within immediate reach to help him pull himself back on his feet, his attempts were rather fruitless. So he had to settle with shuddering on the ground instead. He totally only shivered because he was cold due to blood and shirt loss. Though he didn't get to shiver for long as his body finally decided it had had enough and shut down. Skeet went deathly still as the blackness on the edges of his vision took over and the young man succumbed to unconsciousness.

---

Tenebri regretted her careless actions, the sore sounding hiss going straight to her heart. She tried apologizing, but her words where cut short as, without any warning, a kick was directed to her abdomen. The force behind it knocked the girl down on her bottoms, even if it wasn't great enough to go gloat about. The hit was more shocking then painful, barely doing any damage to the female.

She didn't dare stand up, let alone the guy would pull another stunt like this. That didn't stop her from watching his hasty and uncoordinated steps pulling him further and further from her reach. She bit her lip and dug her fingers to the dirt, making herself stay put, no matter how much Tenebri wanted to help the lost stranger. The female couldn't understand why the other acted up, nor what he was trying to accomplish, but she wouldn't aggravate him any more. She flinched as the mage fell, even if she knew the fall would happen, it was still hard to watch.

For a few more moments he flailed like a fish outta water, grabbing around for something that wasn't there, before suspiciously going still. Tenebri sat there a few heart beats more, waiting in the quiet, the concern strangling her. Not being able to take it anymore, the girl got up and slowly approached the laying man, eyeing him just in case.
"Ya better not be dead, cuz I'd bring ya back to life just to kill ya again.. " Despite of her means words, her tone was soft and wavering. Tenebri held her breath as her fingers press to his neck. One moment, two moments... then a soft thund.
"Pheeeeww! Yer still kicking, thank god."

In quick strides the female fetched her supplies again and returned to finish her job, which got interrupted again and again. This time there was no one to fight her back, surprisingly it was harder this way. The guy weighted a ton! But she managed somehow.
"Alright, now that that's done, ya'll need a place to sleep. Too bad this place won't do, since your dear killer friend may decide to pop up anytime. I sure as heck don't wanna deal with him... But I ain't gonna haul ya, ether. Lucky for ya I know someone who can help us!"
With a smirk, Tenebri shoved her hand in to one of her pockets, her fingers curling around a metal object.
"Open gate of the paws! Lynx!" The little key started to shine as a spirit entered this world from the celestial.
"You called, my lady?" a meter-and-a-half tall grey cat asked, baring it's fangs in a smile.
"Yes! Can ya pick this guy up? Just careful, cuz he's kinda hurt all over, I'll tell ya more on our way." The feline looked at the unconscious guy, then back at its master, obviously unhappy with her.
"As you say, my lady"