A Magi's Home [Starting Here! Limited LSUs!]

[Anjana's Halo]

Thanks for all the welcomes! *sentimental sniff* I'm going to attempt to join the group, now. Forgive any story errors I may make, and, um tell me where they crop up in my post.


Charity Aspen: Rune Caster
***************************
I stopped my trek through the forest to catch my breath and assess my situation. My clothes were torn from the branches, my slippers irrepairably muddy. I was hungry, hot, and extremely lost.

Maybe chasing after Leeca's group wasn't the best idea.

After they had left, I had to sit and think about what I really wanted to do. Yeah, I would love to be at home, sitting in front of the inn's fireplace with a hot bowl of soup, but I also wanted to stop the kidnappings. They really made no sense, it tore children away from their families and - I studied the scratches on my arms - no one else should have to go through this. And when I was caught between what I wanted to do and what I had to do, I almost always chose to do the right thing, though it may get me lost in a forest where every tree was the same as the next.

"Well," I said to myself, "I guess I'll have to resort to my powers." I dug around inside the pack that I always had around my waist, and was luckily still with me. The kidnappers must have decided it was worthless since all it had were writing utensils; the source of my power.

I only retrieved a pen and some ink from the pack. The paper inside was too precious to be used right now, so I instead pulled down some leaves from the trees. I studied the shape, aspen leaves. Perfect. I carefully applied the runes for 'tiny bird' to eight different leaves, then focused my power through each rune. The aspen leaves seemed to fold upon themselves until they formed what looked like a small green bird. They were still leaves, but now had the power of flight, and a small bit of intelligence born of magic.

"Little birds," I said to them. They lifted their heads up, attentive to my words. "Fly off in pairs in each of the cardinal directions and find my friends," Along with the words I gave mental pictures of the birds flying off, two by two as well as pictures of Leeca, Kuchina, and Hiro. The leaf birds flapped their wings and took off into the sky. I sat in the clearing, picking burrs out of my hair and clothes, waiting until at least one of them found my fellow Magi.
**************

Yay, so this would have been a short while after the group left. Charity had a connection to each of her Summoned Servants, so she knows if they are destroyed or if they find what they were sent to search for. And Charity is not the outdoorsy-type, if you hadn't noticed.

[Typact]

Leeca ~ Nature Class
-------

I hadn't really stopped thinking about the idea of going to Tuscan. After we discussed our Magi powers and there was a short bit of silence, I spoke again.

"What if... Only one of us goes to Tuscan? Just to stake it out first. If things seem all right, they'll come back and grab the others. If something happens and they don't come back in a proposed amount of time... The others should come looking. Does that sound okay?" I looked over at the others.

"It's a little better than everyone being vulnerable at once..." Alex said, stopping to think.

"I'll volunteer to go." I said. "Mica will come."

"You can't go all by yourself." Hiro said, walking over to me. "You'll need someone to protect you." I blushed.

"I guess.. It would be safer that way wouldn't it?" I smiled. "If we're not back in a day at the most... Something went wrong.. So either go some place safer or come look for us, okay?" I saw Kuchina and Kirsten nod a little.

"Stay around this area for a little for us.. We'll try to be back soon." Hiro said, turning towards the city. I began after him, but stopped to watch a few little green bird shapes hover around us. They circled my head, then went over to Kuchina. I shrugged, following Hiro.

------

[Amethyst Flygon]

Urghh... I had a nice long post, but my computer ate it. Evil computer! Didn't you have your fill of accidental deletions yesterday! Why did you have to eat a post with four long paragraphs?
Oh yeah, welcome back Arjana's Halo.

Kirsten Roma (Rhyme Master):
After eating my fill of blueberries and drinking the water Leeca had offered, I wandered off to the edge of the group and began doodling designs in the dirt with a stick. The others seemed to be arguing about whether to go to Tuscan or not, and I didn't want to get on anyone's bad side.
When they stopped talking, I edged back towards them and noticed that Hiro had walked off. When he came back, he said that the man that had been following him was gone. That doesn't sound very good.
After a pause, Alexander said, "Say what can everyone here actually do? Magi-wise that is." Leeca explained that she could control nature a little bit. Hiro stated his obvious control of fire.
"Me, I'm a rhyme mage." I replied. Everyone looked at me with a look of confusion, so I continued with an explanation. "I can do some small magic with rhymes and I can hear stuff in the wind if I try." I wouldn't tell them about Banshee Shriek, that spell is only to be used as an absolute last resort.
After everyone was done talking about their powers, Leeca brought up the topic of Tuscan again. I'll let the others decide where we go, but it would sure be nice to have a second pair of clothes. And maybe some reasonable shoes for me.
Leeca came to the conclusion that she and Hiro would head to Tuscan to stake it out. While they were leaving, some small green birds flew around their heads. Then, they came close to me and observed Kuchina. Wondering what they were because they could not be natural, I started to chant a rhyme to make one of them too heavy to fly. "Little bird up in the sky, rest your wings and no longer fly." It then plummeted to the ground, were I picked it up and saw that it was made of a leaf. I turned to the others and asked, "What do you guys make of this?" while the other birds flew off.

[Anjana's Halo]

Evil computer, devourer of long posts. That's why I usually copy and paste the post into Word if it gets really long.

BTW, Amy, it's Anjana's Halo, with an N. You can also just call me Anjana, or AH if you're feeling lazy.


Charity Aspen: Rune Caster
**************************
Through the connection in my mind, I sensed that my leaf birds had found them. "Perfect!" I declared aloud. I closed my eyes and sent a message through the magic connection. Birds, I ask that two of you stay with them to help me find their location. The rest of you, your task is done. Six of the eight birds were disconnected from me as they changed back into regular leaves. I let out a soft sigh of exhaustion. Activating that many Summoned Servants was draining, but it had been worth it. Now I just had to find an easy way to get to them.

I started scouring the forest clearing until I had found a small pile of rocks. Then I spent ten minutes searching through the pile until I had uncovered a palm sized, ovaloid grey rock that was flecked with small spots of white. Pulling out my calligraphy pen brush, I quickly wrote the rune for mouse with one of my most permanent inks, then I was stuck. In order for it to guide me to Hiro and the others, I needed the rune for Connect, but I couldn't remember it. Sighing, I gave up and just wrote the word 'connect' on the stone in regular letters, using a washable ink I used for one-time spells. It would work, but not as strong. "Lousy time for that to slip my mind, though I never expected to be on the run in some foreign country." A surge of power, and the pebble transformed into a rock-hard mouse complete with a tail and whiskers, though there was no fur, just the shiny smoothness of the stone.

"Okay, since my other mouse is at home, you'll be my permanent pebble mouse." The rodent blinked its stony eyes in response. "Now, show me the easiest way for a human on foot to reach my leaf birds." The mouse nodded its head and lept from my hand running directly into a thicket of bushes.

"Wha-wait, is that really the easiest way?!" I yelled at it. The rodent poked its head out from under a bush and beckoned my onward. I sighed again. "I really wish I had my other pebble mouse," I muttered in frustration. I heard another tear in my dress as a branch snagged on it. "In fact, I wish I was home!"
***************

Charity can join up in the next post, if you want. Or she could be captured by that one guy that vanished (since the art of stealth had totally escaped her), or whatever.

And what happened to the old man in Kinglerlord2's post?
EDIT: Ahh, thanks for the clarification, NightBlaze

[NightBlaze]

AH(Yup, I'm feeling lazy): Kinglerlord2 and P_S are away from the rest of the group, so the man in his post, we really don't know about ^^;
Hiro - Fire Class
~~~

We started to walk down the path towards Tuscan, it was a pretty nice day, the sun was up high in the sky with only a few clouds sprinkled around. I looked over at Leeca, she too was looking at the things around us.

"Its pretty nice out today isn't it?" I said smiling.

"Yah." she said smiling back, "Its warm enough that you wont get cold, but cool enough so you don't melt."

I smiled, "Sounds like a good day to me."

We kept walking in the direction of Tuscan, talking most of the time, just about little things, it was quite enjoyable, and it was much easier to talk to her without three other people around.

We walked on for a little longer, still carrying on with our little conversation, just to keep things going. The sun rose higher into the air, and every now and then a cloud would float in front of the sun for a few minutes, then slowly drift away.

I glanced over at Leeca again, and she must have seen me out of the corner of her eye.

"Yah?" she said smiling

"Seems like Mica has taken a liking to you huh?" I said quickly, making sure she didn't know that I was looking at her becaue I thought she was pretty.

"Hmm, I guess so." she said stroking his wing lightly

I smiled, "You could have a friend for life there." I said, "Even though he has your necklace, he still wants to hang around, thats pretty cool of him."

She nodded still smiling.

"He came through big time for me." I started to say, shifiting my view back to the pathway, "I followed him through the woods after my little fight, if he hadn't told you that, that guy was behind me, he would've caught up to me in no time. I was also wondering, can Mica understand what I'm saying right now, or can he only understand you when you speak to him through you mind?
~~~

[Kinglerlord2]

OOC: Yeah, two of us are elsewhere but i'm drawing us closer to the others again eventually.

Irrick
~~~~~~~~

"Come in, make yourselves comfortable at the table there and I'll bring in something to eat." The old man said. He had introduced himself as Torlas on the way to the house.
I stepped inside, followed by Naomi and looked around. The house was of a good size, made of think timber panels. The living area was spacious with two well used comfy chairs in front of the brick fireplace with it's chimney climbing the wall. A large bookshelf sat off to one side completely filled with books stacked neatly in the recesses.
"Does anyone else live here?" I called to him.
"Just my dogs." Came the reply. "My wife passed away some time ago and my children have all grown up and moved on."
I heard the tinkling of crockery and moved in that direction. I entered a small room with a beautiful wooden dining table that Torlas was currently setting with tea cups and plates. I ran my finger along the smooth edge of the table and admired the carvings running along each of the sides on the tabletop.
"I made it myself." Torlas said with a smile. "For my wife, just after we married."
"It's beautiful." I said honestly.
"It's amazing what love can motivate you to do." Torlas said. "Perhaps you'll find that out one day."
When I didn't say anything he indicated to a chair. "Have a seat. We'll have tea."
He moved into the kitchen area again and I sat down. The small brown daschund Torlas had been leading when he found us shuffled up to me and circled my legs, sniffing experimentally. It was joined a moment later by a terrier with long scruffy hair who insisted on shoving it's cold nose onto my skin when it sniffed. Naomi walked into the room and caught their attention, leaving me in peace for a while.
She sat at the table and Torlas returned with a large teapot which he placed in the center.
"I've got some smoked ham and some eggs that I'll cook up once we've had a cup of tea." He said cheerfully. I got the impression that he didn't get company often and was enjoying himself a great deal. He started pouring Naomi some tea when something thumped loudly on the door.
"Torlas! Are you in?"
The old man sighed. "It seems they're already looking for you." He said quietly. "That's a lieutenant of the army."
Naomi looked wide eyed at me and I started to rise, reaching for my sword.
"Stay here." Torlas said calmly. "I'll get rid of them. There's a back door in the kitchen if things go bad." He picked up a walking stick and moved to the living room. He gave us a wink and started limping with the stick towards the door.
"Hang on a moment!" He hollered at the door as it thumped again. "Don't get your shinies all twisted!"
I heard the door creak open.
"What can I do for you Lieutenant?" Torlas said.
"Some prisoners escaped from a caravan last night in this area." Another voice said. The voice was regal and commanding. "Some of them may have come this way. Did you see or hear anything strange in the last little while?"
"No, no I haven't." Torlas said with an odd tone. "I've been inside most of the morning you see. My knee has been playing up a bit lately. I took young Champ, you remember Champ don't you lieutenant? He's the one that marked your armour, the little brown one, oh look you can still see the stain just there on your leg, how funny. Anyway, I took him for a small walk and tried to do a bit of weeding just around the house here but my knee was aching too much so I've just been sitting in my chair, pondering this and that."
"I see."
"I'm expecting some company today actually." Torlas continued cheerfully. "I've just finished setting the table and was pouring myself a cup of tea when you graced my house with your presence. Would you like a cup of tea Lieutenant?"
Naomi looked at me in alarm and I quietly rose from my chair ready to run for the back door. What the hell was the old man doing?
"I'm fine thankyou." The lieutenant said dismissively with a hint of irritation.
"You're from Lerra aren't you lieutenant? The city on the coast down aways? My friends are on their way from there as things would have it. They're on their way to Tuscan actually but they're stopping here briefly to say hello. Perhaps you might know them, the Penners? Jason and his wife Helen. Though they may have moved there after you joined the force. They had three children you know. One unfortunately died quite young about three or four years old. Trampled by a cow... or was it a goat? No, no it was a cow, Jason himself was punctured in the back of the leg by a goat, that's why I got confused. He's had a bit of a limp because of it ever since. They had a small farm you see and-"
"We'll be going now." The lieutenant interrupted with a heavily frustrated and impatient tone. "If you see anything let someone know as soon as you can."
"Of course lieutenant. Quite sure you don't want a cup of tea or some toast?"
"I'm fine thank you. Good day."
"Good day lieutenant."

Torlas walked back into the kitchen grinning. "I think we'll be left alone for a while. Tea anyone?"

-------------------------------------

OOC: I love old man characters, they can be so flexible in what they can do. Sorry the post was so long ^^;;

[Typact]

OOC:: KL2.. That post was so much fun to read.

Leeca ~ Nature Class
------

"Of course he understands what you're saying. Animals are much more intelligent than humans take them for. Which works out well, because if I'm not around and you give him a simple command, he'll most likely listen to you. Because I have the power to speak one-on-one with him, he listens much better... But if anything ever happens, yes, he's listening." I looked up at Mica. He cawed softly.

"Well, then..." Hiro said, coming closer to pet Mica's feathers. "I had no idea."

Hiro and I walked in silence for a little while, occasionally glancing at each other. I shifted a little, then continued walking.

"Bah.. Awkward silences." I whispered. "Sorry."

"No, don't worry about it." Hiro responded. "I was just enjoying the surroudings. I've never really thought this deep about nature until I met you." The smallest blush appeared on his cheeks. I laughed a little.

"Hiro.." I said, thinking. "Do you think it would be awkward to take Mica with me into the city? Its not everyday you see someone with a wild bird on their shoulder. Do you think it would be dangerous?"

::You'd leave me all alone?:: Mica gave a mental sigh.
<You were doing fine before I met you>
::Yes, I suppose that's true, isn't it... But you need someone to look after you. I can't let you two go into a city by yourselves...::
<What's that mean?> I raised my eyebrows at him. He gave a small cawing laugh.

------

[NightBlaze]

Hiro - Fire Class
~~~
Mica cawwed a few seconds after Leeca had asked me about him, but the caw sounded a lot more like a laugh than it did anything else. I laughed quietly.

"Well." I said remebering that she had asked me a question, "I'm not really sure, some people might think it a little odd, and it could draw some attention towards us."

"Hmmm." she started, thinking out loud, "What if he were to fly around above us, and maybe stay near the roof tops?"

"There ya go!" I said with a smile, "That way we wont lose track of him, and he can still be close."

We both nodded and smiled to each other, and kept on walking.

It took another hour or so of walking to finnaly reach the town, it was just down the hill a ways, and you could see the entire town from the top of the hill. The town was gigantic, there were lots and lots of little houses and 100's of tiny specs running around which I assumed were either people or large dogs.

"Nice, were here." I said looking at her. "Ready to go?"

I turned around and took a few steps forward when I noticed that Leeca had not yet moved.

I turned back around and looked towards her. "Whats wrong?" I said walking over to her.

"I'm not sure," she started a little bit of a quiver in her voice. "I'm... not so sure that I want to go there anymore."

I smiled at her, "Your worried we might run into someone in there that probably doesn't want to be our friend arent you?" I said trying to get her to look up at me.

She nodded silently.

"Well, what do you say," I started again, "we go in together, and if things get even just a little wierd, all you have to do is say so and I'll get you out of there as fast as a I can. Okay?"

She looked up and me, I smiled, trying to get her to smile back.

"Okay..." She said trying to crack a smile.

"Alright," I said walking a little more towards her, "Remeber, if things start to get you even a little wierd, I want you to tell me right away."

"Alright..." she said, getting over her nervousness a little bit.

I reached my hand out and found hers, "I'm right here, and I always will be." I said causing my self to blush a bit.

So with that, we walked down the hill, rather slowly, making our way to the entrance to town, and every now and then, I felt Leeca squeeze my hand just a little tighter, and I in turn, did the same.

[Typact]

Leeca ~ Nature Class
-------

I felt a little better after Hiro said he'd look after me. Just having his hand to hold on to made me feel stronger... We walked into the city, normally, as to not attract unwanted attention.

<You stay up around the rooftops, okay?> I told Mica. He nodded.
::If you need me, please call:: Mica took to the air before we met any large groups of people, hovering about the poles and wires of the city.

Tuscan looked pretty normal. It wasn't anything really flashy, but nothing dull either. I liked the feeling and wished we could stay, but it was too risky. Reaching into my pocket and pulling out some money (I was surprised I still had it - it hadn't fallen out or gotten stolen), I counted out some coins. Hiro took out a few of his own, and we walked over to a general store. We picked out some necessary things, like some bandages, a knife and canteens for water, as well as a few other things and a bag to hold it in. Life out in the woods would be a little more tolerable now. Walking out of the store, we passed by another, and Hiro stopped. Looking at the entrance and smiling, he turned to me.

"Wait here for a minute, I promise I'll be as quick as I can." He turned quickly and ran through the doors. I was nervous, so I paced to calm myself. Periodically glancing up at Mica to make sure he was still around, I walked past what looked like a bar. I tried to ignore the seemingly drunk comments directed at me, but one I happened to hear got me scared.

"They're not normal kids.. There's something different about them."
"No, sorry. Haven't seen any folks like that around."
"You're positive?"
"Yep. And I'm in this here place just about every day."

The first voice seemed to growl, and I ran back to the entrance of the second store to find Hiro exiting with a parcel.

"We have to leave.. They're here, Hiro, they're here!" I was out of breath, he looked stunned.

"What? Who..?"

"Them! I think they came here looking for us!"

"Oh.. Well, then let's get going!" He tucked the parcel under his arm and took my hand. I still had the bag of other supplies, and we headed back in the direction we came.

<Come Mica!>
::Leaving so soon?::
<Yes, come on!> I watched him soar over head until we got to the border of town, where he perched on my shoulder again. Taking out a piece of paper and a pen that we got at the store I wrote a message::

Leaving Tuscan :: Unsafe
Keep going, we'll catch up
Leeca

Folding it up as we walked, I called to a sparrow.

<Come here!> I pleaded. It turned its head and looked at me. Fluttering next to my head, I stuck the note in its beak. <You'll find a group of people if you fly forward, please give this to them, and be quick!>
::Yes! I will!:: Its hyper voice responded, taking off.

"What was that?" Hiro asked.

"A note to the others.. I told them we'd catch up if they start going now."

"Right." He gripped my hand tighter as we continued back.

------

NightBlaze, I trust you know what else Hiro bought.

[NightBlaze]

Gotta...Keep...It...Going...

~~~
Hiro - Fire Class
~~~

We walked at a slightly faster than normal pace towards the border of the town. Mica swooped in from above and landed softly on Leecas shoulder. As we walked I kept looking behind us, making sure that we weren't being followed.

We walked in silence, slowing our pace back down to a regular walk.

"I... think, were all clear now." I said very softly, just incase someone was still around. "Good thing you heard whoever it was your heard."

"Yah," she started, calming back down, "What did you get anyway?"

I smiled, "I'll show you later." I said glancing over to see the confused look on her face.

We walked on, glancing at each other very now and then, and maybe striking up tiny conversation, when suddenly, there was a noise behind us, it sounded much like someone walking, and we probably would not have noticed it if whoever it was hadn't stepped on a stick of some sort.

We both spun around, looking towards the direction of the sound, then at each other. Still holding her hand, I silently signaled for her to follow me. We jumped of the main road and croched down out of sight behind a hill like area of dirt, it was just big enough to conceal us, and let us peek slightly over it.

Slowly, a group of men emerged from down the road. They all were dressed like the men I had, had my little rumble with. I glanced to Leeca, she had seen them too.

The men walked closer towards the area where we had jumped off the road. They examined the area very closely, making sure not to miss a single inch of the ground.

Soon enough they would be over here examining the hill, and they would notice the two of us.

I looked behind us, quickly trying to see what kind of terrain was behind us. It was flat, but there were trees, logs, and sticks almost everywhere, in order to get through this area silently, you would have to go very slow, or fly over it.

I leaned over towards Leeca, "We need to go." I whispered into her ear

She nodded and shook a bit, I tightened my hold on her hand.

Slowly we both turned around, as silently as possible, and walked at a fast pace, through the trees and over the logs and sticks, making sure not to make a sound. We had to stay uncomfortably low in order to avoid being seen and it was hell on my back, but we had to do it.

It took a good 15 minutes to get out of the sight of the men, and doing it silently was no easy task.

Once we were far enough away I peeked through the trees towards the men, I couldn't make out what they were doing, let alone what they were saying, and I didn't really want to find out anyway. I turned back to Leeca.

"We should probably keep moving... these guys are very persistant." I said very quietly, squeezing her hand to let her know it was okay.

We walked fair quickly, still holding each others hands, through the area of trees. It was much harder to walk off the road, but we didn't have much choice.

We walked together for a while, and it started to get a little cold and the sky went from light blue, to dark blue. The sun was starting to set, and it was immposible to see what was in front of us.

"We need to stop for the night," I said looking into Leecas eyes, "if we keep going were gonna get lost..."

She nodded in agreement.

We sat down up against a rather large tree that towered above most of the ones around it, tonight, we would have to sleep up against it, as laying in a clearing would be an easy way to be spotted.

"Well, its been a... fun day." I said turning to Leeca and trying to smile.

"Yah... fun..." she said sarcastically.

I put my arm gentaly around Leeca, and she inturn rested her head on my shoulder, shivering slightly.

"Ah, thats right." I said, remebering what I had bought before we fled. I pulled out the parcel which had held a cloak that I had bought. It was a very very dark red. I took my arm off her for a minute and place the cloak around her shoulders, then putting my arm around her again.

She looked over at me and smiled.

"This time, the cloak is mine," I whispered smiling.

"Thanks," she said still smiling, pulling the cloak around her and then reaching her hand out to my arm that wasn't around her. Holding on to my hand and squeezing every now and then.

I smiled and held her just a bit closer.
~~~

[Kinglerlord2]

Must... continue... story!

Irrick
~~~~~~~~~~~

We finished our tea and the old man returned to the kitchen, the smell of ham and eggs wafted through the doorway as he called back to us and told us about himself and his family. He returned to the table with two large plates and we helped ourselves. The ham was warm and juicy and tasted wonderful. Both Naomi and I were starving and we quickly ate through several helpings, thankful of the old man's insight to cook a large amount for us.
"So. Fugitives." He said matter of factly. "What exactly did you do to end up as fugitives? You're both very young."
"We were kidnapped." Naomi said simply. "We don't know why or by who."
"Last night we escaped with about eight or nine others."
"Where are the others?" He asked.
I shrugged. "I left them back in the woods last night. As far as I'm concerned staying in a large group is the fastest way to die right now." I indicated to Naomi. "She just followed me." Naomi glared at me.

The old man nodded and examined us with penetrating eyes. "You're not from anywhere around here are you?" He said finally.
I shrugged again. "I have no idea. None of us had any idea where we are. Some of them seemed to want to find out who captured us but frankly I just want to get back home, once I figure out what direction that's in."
Torlas leaned back. "Well, I don't know if I can help you with that, but I can at least offer my opinion on your captors." He scratched the end of his nose. "Since it was the lieutenant that came around this morning then either the kingdom is after you or someone allied to them. I don't know a great deal about the Lieutenant that came by this morning but I have my suspicions that he's not the cleanest officer in the batch. And given your... unique skills, I doubt that ordinary soldiers would have been sent to the area. Only people who are at least semi-aware of what they were facing would be sent out."
I felt a chill go up my spine. How had he known about our skills? My face must have betrayed my shock because he smiled.
"Don't worry yourself too much about it lad." He said. "When you become as old as I am you notice things that others might miss." He stood up. "First thing we have to do is make sure that you *do* live to that age." He indicated for us to follow him. He led us to a small storage room and shifted a few boxes. He pulled the lid open off a large box and pulled a few items of clothing out.
"These are my son's old clothes. They should fit you." He said, handing them to me. He pulled out a few more things and handed them to Naomi. "These things of my daughter should fit you. Change into those and I'll prepare a few other things for you."

When we returned to the dining area, several biscuits, cakes and dried meat were layed out and a small leather pouch. Torlas looked up and surveyed our new outfits. He nodded in approval. "You should fit in better like that." He started wrapping the food in handkerchiefs and placed them carefully in a small bag that he picked up from the floor. He put two gourds in after that. He did up the bag and handed it to me. "This should be enough for a few days if you ration it properly." He handed me the small pouch. "It's not much but it should let you buy a few things until you figure out how you can earn yourself a little more money."

I tried to push it back into his hands. "I can't accept this." I insisted. "You're doing too much for us."
He gently pushed back. "Don't worry about it lad. The money only sits around anyway. I can provide most things for myself. Consider it a thank you for providing me with company today."
"But-"
"I insist lad." He led us to the door. "Head east and you'll find Tuscan. If you leave now you'll probably get there late at night. It might be best to rest somewhere away from town and go in in the morning. It's up to you of course. In Tuscan you might find someone who can send you in the right direction. Be subtle about it though, there's a lot of people after you I'd imagine."
"Old man..."
Torlas smiled. "When you find your way home you'll know how to get back here again. If it's not too far perhaps you could come and visit and let me know all of your adventures." He shook our hands. "Good luck." With a final smile he closed the door and we turned and headed east to Tuscan and hopefully some answers.
--------------------

[Typact]

Come on, people. This can't die! T_T

Leeca ~ Nature Class
------

Hiro had taken out a cloak... So that's what he bought down in Tuscan. I grinned.

"Thanks, Hiro." I said. And I meant it. The woods get very cold at night. Laying in silence with Hiro, I watched the deepening sky. "Are you sure it's all right for us to stay here for the night?"

"I think so." Hiro responded. "We're pretty well hidden, and quite a ways ahead of them. So as long as someone keeps a watch.."

"Which will be me." I said, smirking.

"Yes, if you want." Hiro laughed a little. "I think we'll be just fine."

"Okay.. Mica, you'll watch too, right?" I looked at him in the branches just above me. He gave a small nod.

::Yes::
<Go to the top of the tree there>
::Of course::

With that, Mica soared out of the tree and perched on the very top.

"So you can get some rest if you want to, Hiro." I said softly.

-------

[Leon-IH]

OOC: hope you guys don't mind the rest of us catching up.

Alexander Steel ~ Psychologist.
__________________________________________________ _______________
Leeca and Hiro had gone to Tuscan despite my efforts, the rest of us had wandered on without event. In a sudden flash of intuition I turned around and noticed a girl behind us, she was around 5'6" tall and was violet eyed, unusual.

Why was an unknown girl following us, suddenly I remembered seeing her face somewhere - maybe back in the caravans when I was waking up but she looked familiar, I strode out to greet her "Hello, who are you?" I felt abrupt and rude, a feeling that rarely occured for me.

A strange happening in among other strange happenings.

[NightBlaze]

*does the life dance* ahhh nvm.

Hiro - Fire Class
~~~

"So you can get some rest if you want to, Hiro." Leeca said softly

I thought for a moment, rest sounded very good as I had been awake for almost 2 full days, but looking around, this area of the woods looked extremely creepy, especialy at this time of night. I wouldn't want to stay awake alone here, so there was no was I was gonna make Leeca do it.

"I'm fine." I said trying to cover up my tiredness(sp.). "I'll stay up with you and Mica, just incase."

She gave my hand a small squeeze, "Okay." she said looking up at me and smiling.

I let go of her hand for a minute and reached over for the sack that had all of the things we had bought for the day, I looked through it quickly and pulled out the knife. I put it on top of everything, so that we could get to it if the need arose.

"Just incase." I said gentley holding her hand again.

"Right." she said, cracking a little smile.

We layed there together in silence, the slightest noise in the woods would creep me out just a bit, and I would always look around, even if I knew what the sound had been. I wasn't sure if Leeca was as jumpy as me, but I assumed she might have been.

As the night grew on, it got colder and colder, and you could really feel it. I looked around, and there was a lot of wood. I was going to start a fire when I thought of it for a minute. Starting a fire would be like lightning a beacon of light, anyone looking for us would see it and be over here in a flash, fire was not an option.

I looked down at Leeca, her head was still rested on my shoulder, and even though I couldn't see her face, I could tell she was awake.

I put my arm that she wasn't holding around her, hopefully keeping her a bit warmer, but probably not much. She squeezed my hand a little bit, kind of like a silent thank you.

The night wore on, and was so silent, you could hear anything that happened very clearly. I decided to break the silence a little as I couldn't bear to sit like this for another 6 or 7 hours.

"How are you doing Leeca?" I asked.

[Typact]

Life dance. XD Come on, people. ;-;

Leeca ~ Nature Class

------

I guess Hiro wasn't tired just yet, so he stayed awake with me and Mica. I was a little bit relieved, because I felt better when he was around me. No offense to Mica, but Hiro could be a little more of a threat to oncoming attackers.

The night was scary.. I don't know why it got to me so much more than the night before did.. Perhaps because I knew we had been followed closely for a while, and they could be anywhere. But I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Eyeing the knife Hiro placed on the top of the pile, I silently hoped we wouldn't have to use it.

Hiro held me close, and I was greatful. Not only was the night scary, but it got real cold. Maybe because he has the gift of fire, he's naturally warmer than normal... But unfortunately, I can get cold often.

"How are you doing, Leeca?" He said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Wha-.. Sorry?" I said, snapping out of my dazed thinking.

"How are you?" He repeated.

"I'm.. I'm okay, I guess. Thanks for being here for me."

"Where else would I be going?" He grinned.

"You know what I mean." I laughed a little, poking his shoulder.

"Well then, you're welcome."

"And what about you? How are you?" I turned my head a little to look at him.

-------

[Anjana's Halo]

So sorry, so sorry, so very very sorry. School has come (How I loathe it...). So now, to post.


Charity Aspen: Rune Caster
**************************
"This has to be...the stupidest mouse...I have ever made..." I half muttered, half panted to myself. The easiest way for a human, according to the rock rodent, was through brambles, thorns, gullies, and a poison ivy patch (which I skirted around). It wasn't an entirely straight path, according to my connection with the leaf birds, but it was very annoying. Then through the foliage, I saw movement. There they are! I thought joyously, until they continued walking at a pace a bit too fast for me. I would never had caught up if one hadn't stopped and turned to see me following. He walked toward me, allowing me an excuse to pause in an attempt to catch my breath.

"Hello, who are you?" he asked me. He was very tall, with a thick main of black hair that adequately covered his face. He was acting friendly, but boy was he intimidating.

"I'm...I'm Charity. Charity Aspen. I'm a Magi. Boy am I glad I finally caught up with you. I was scared that mouse was just going to get me more lost."

"Mouse?" Asked a familiar voice. I looked around the man to see Kuchina.

"Yeah, its part of my power-where is it?" I cast around, finally finding the mouse was curled up next to my foot, trying to be cute. I picked it up to show it to them. "This is my pebble mouse. I use my powers to change it from a rock. It follows my orders, but this one does an abysmal job."

"Is this yours, too?" asked a girl with long dark hair. In her outstretched hand was one of my leaf birds.

"Yes! That's how I found out where you were, um, what's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Kirsten Roma. That's Kuchina and Alexander," she said, pointing to each of her companions in turn.

"Hey where's Leeca? And what-his-name, Hiro?"

"They went to Tuscan. They should be coming back soon," informed Alexander. From his tone of voice, it seemed he thought they shouldn't have left in the first place.

"Oh, my second bird must be with them. I thought it was odd when they separated."

"You can sense where your birds are?" asked Kuchina.

"Yes, I only made the mouse because it was supposed to show me an easy way to you."

"So, if your second bird is following them, you can tell where they are?"

"Yep, so we could head right to them, if you want. But I am not using this mouse for that again," I said, punctuating my last remark at the mouse as I changed it back to a stone. Worst mouse ever at tracking.

[NightBlaze]

Oii, lets a go
~~
Hiro - Fire Class
~~~

I looked down at Leeca, "And what about you? How are you?" she asked looking back up at me.

I looked out at the forest, "Well," I started "Its dark, cold, and creepy, were kinda lost, and there are bad people that know who we are and are following us." I stopped for a minute, "But... I've got you here with me... so... that pretty much negates all of what I just said."

I looked back down at Leeca, she had a small smile on her face, and I smiled back.

The night wore on, and I swore that I was going to pass out, but everytime I almost did, I remembered that I had promised to stay awake, and of course a promise was a promise, and I couldn't break it.

I sat there looking out into the woods, hoping that this night would come to an end and we could be back up and moving, but by looking at the sky and the many stars, I could tell we still had a ways to go...
~~~