[System]
Nickname: Rusty Randy
Race: Demihuman (Red Squirrel)
Age: Twenty
Gender: Male

Proportionality:
Weight:305 lbs
Height:6'11"
Frame: A large frame, very bulky and muscular under the fur and large gutted  Use a hider.
_______________________

Personality:- Bruno is often defined as the quieter and distant type, and he really is. Although that doesn't mean he dislikes the company of people, in fact depending on the person or sometimes simply where the company is well appreciated. His distance is more seen in often a quietness and lack of expression or something simple such as asking about the weather unless it suits a particular need of some sort or another. On the other hand he can often daydream when doing some repetitive task or while being alone, being quite oddly perverse in the confines of his own mind. Bruno's lack of expression is occasionally connected to the weirder sides of himself such as obsession toward certain people often crushes are role models or in new technology seen and brought to him. Another darker piece of Bruno though rarely seen since childhood conflict is an odd enjoyment of the fight often when he himself is the one being beaten down and somewhat less the other way around. If there is a kindness available to be done, and nothing particular in its or Bruno's way, often he will do it out of an odd sense of duty to do so rather than just being kind, or it is speculated as such.
Job: Engineer/Repairman

Fighting Style: Bruno, doesn't subscribe to a particular fighting style, depending at first if possible avoiding combat is the tactic. Beyond that, he goes with whatever the hell gets the job done. Whether it be punching, elbowing, clawing, pulling or a swift kick or knee to the groin area if necessary. He's more swift in his attacks than actually being powerful in them and more often used to absorbing and taking on multiple powerful blows. When in tight spaces or in panicked moments often using the arms to redirect blows and instead go with a knee or a swift kick to any vulnerable part.

Weapons from strongest to weakest: Wrench, mallet

Armors/Outfits He doesn't really tend to wear much that can be defined as 'armor' perhaps occasionally a welding mask and tough gloves for work in the past. Beyond that, often Bruno is simply found in basic grey overalls, some pants underneath often with a convenient fanny back and a small leather pouch attached onto its waistband.

Familiar:

Familiar Abilities: Lighting & Wind, Absorb electricity, resist wind, weak to ice, booming blasts of sound or music that can push back projectiles and smaller foes, can eat weak or defeated foes

Trance: (none of this found yet) Trance is more often caused by lust and strong resolution for Bruno. While in trance, his stomach and chest expand and practically 'puff out' to a degree as if to form a masculine wall. His defense quintuples and speed doubles, because of his familiar's nature, Bruno can levitate or 'fly' sort of with gusts of wind normally being noticed below his feet and appearing as small tornadoes.

- The way Trance is activated is through stress and emotions. So tension can induce this.
- Your body can shift form due to the sheer power. Such as changing figure a bit.

Racial Advantages
Pros- He can hold multiple weapons
Cons- As a human he is limited to having very few magics that are not his Familiar's.
Self advantages
Pros- Bruno's main strengths combat wise is his durability and speed. Beyond that simply may be his techno-know-how and engineering skills
Cons- While Bruno is fast, what he has in speed is what lacks from his average if not below attacks. Seeing as his combat has no real technique, rather it is simply beating up the opponent with whatever comes to mind it can difficult to combat some who have fighting technique on their side.

Background:
 Bruno was born and raised in Lindblum and for the most part it still remains home to him in many aspects. He used to live there with his father and mother under the same house, though the two divorced when he was eight after some big fight. He had seen the two actually fight which lead to his mom, shoving the other down and the floor and quickly leaving, soon the divorce happened and Bruno's dad who had been wealthily employed in the engineer business had received custody. Often through the years there were a few troubles that plagued Bruno's childhood and up. Rumor spread that Bruno's father, Barret was a weakling and had been beaten up by a woman though the source of this rumor has still been unknown to this day what followed after it was a bunch of bullying and fights from others around at the time. Barett, seemed to change over the years as well despite Bruno helping with projects, his dad always seemed to belittle or insult him over the years, and oddly always had to know where Bruno had been.

 Over the years of this, Bruno just started to grow kind of silent and took what came at him. The pain was seeming normal, just something that would have to occur. On certain days, Bruno would just stick up in his room and lose himself in daydreams and oddly growing perverse dreams around the age of twelve. In secret, he began working on some of his own projects one of which was trying to create a blue automation named Reveater or 'Rev' for short. It took a few close calls and lies to hide the project. After a while, he grew worried that the project would be discovered, after it grew and grew so he looked for a place to hide it. Soon after, he found where his mom was staying and planned to visit, but more bullies blocked the way and Bruno had to take a bit of beating before arriving, some of the project was destroyed in the process but not all. It wasn't long after finding his mother, Clarece that she agreed to keep the project hidden, on one condition, that Bruno start protecting himself. She didn't specify any particular tactics, besides a move that redirected punches and lead up to a swift knee to the ground and abdomen and saying to fight for himself, although Bruno could see the fact that she wanted to step in for him instead. She couldn't handle more trouble at the time because of even more bitter rumors and many watchful eyes wanting to taker her down at a moment's notice.

 Bruno, soon did as Clarece had asked of him. Fighting back felt good, and eventually from it most of the previous bullies were no longer challenging him. Oddly, he had missed the fights, having even developed a pleasure in them but more in receiving the blows, after a while of them they ceased to even hurt. Years, and years later around sixteen had Bruno stopped working on projects in secret, despite Barrett calling most of the projects inferior or terrible with some word or another. He felt as if he had to do something and make more projects, as only a year before had Clarece disappeared (though some claimed she was arrested) along with 'Rev'. As years passed by more and more projects were taken under, even simple neighborhood projects for people that needed repairs or replacements for old rusted pieces for something or another and that's how Bruno Randaplh earned the name 'Rusty Randy' although he couldn't tell if that was a positive or negative name. He continued on in silence, enjoying the work and even to some degrees becoming obsessed with it, the innovations in the field and some of those who led it. At the age of eighteen 'Rusty Randy' was moving on up and was asked to work on airship, this day perhaps being the strongest in memory. Not only did Bruno's father seemed pleased, he seemed nearly excited about it and threw a small going away party for the work. Rusty Randy, continued his work after that and never returned home.

[User]
"What the blazes?!" Dren let go of his hand and was sent stumbling forward, striking his cane into the ground to steady himself as the ship began to become unsteady, feeling his balance vanish under his feet as the massive vessel plummeted. Not something he could say he was used to, nor was he prepared for it.

The crash knocked him off his feet and sent him tumbling as he became a red rolled up blur of a man, flying into the air. He probably woud've broken several bones had he not still been clasping his cane, using the mage to teleport and d avoid trees, still hitting the ground and landing in a small grove of trees, hat gone from his head and cloak blown open from the trip. He was dazed for a while before he finally began to recover, getting to his feet and brushing himself down, getting leaves twigs and mud off of his attire. Now he took the time to look around... he was alone, as far as he could tell. None of those others from the ship could be seen around him... perhaps this was his chance to get back to civilization and end this nonsense... but... wait, something felt wrong. Dren's eyes became wide as saucers as he patted his head.

"MY HAT!" he shouted in dismay, quickly scanning the area for it and looking around, zipping from place to place as he scoured for it. Finally, he spotted it atop a branch on a spikey tree. He rapped on the trunk twice with his cane as his hat sailed back down, replacing the garment upon his head. He sighed with relief as he felt at peace again...

"Now then, onward, to civilization." he said stoutheartedly, holding his cane in one hand as he produly marched into the woods beyond.

[Assistant]
Karn chuckled a bit at the compliment, standing up once she finished and raised her hands, wiggling her fingers gingerly. "What can I say? My paws are very skilled and useful. But maybe if I retire from a life of Purrincess catnapping, I'll think about becoming a famous massagist that they will write in litteracy." she smirked a little. Through pickpocketing, using a whip, practicing martial arts, engineering... the feline's hands were quite skilled in general. Plus, massaging muscles was useful for a martial artist, she had to be sure her body was in top shape and surprisingly a good massage helped out. Don't want the body to be knotted up and pull a charlie horse or something when fighting or running away.

Stumbling as the there was a large thud, her stance moving to a more stable one as she quickly got her feet. "Looks like the party already started! Better grab onto something Wildcat!" The blonde demi-human said before unhooking her whip and whipping it toward Wylde to wrap around her waist and pull her closer to the stairs. Tying the other woman to it to be more secure before her feline ears perked as members of the crew quickly entered and simply gave them all a smirk.

"Awe thanks fella's! Remind me to give you all a kiss if we survive this!" Karn snickered as she quickly stumbled over to the table in the middle, turning off the lantern, wishing to avoid the ship being caught on fire before stumbling on it as there was another thud. Fingers gripping the table. Ears perking at the sound of Boss' voice, she took out her box from one of the pouches of her utility belt and clicked her tongue a little. Moving to the wall and pulling off a large rope and tossing to the rest of the crew.

"Everyone tie yourselves down, get down and hold onto something!" The feline instructed as her lighter body bounced a bit as the ship received another thud before she quickly gripped onto the other stair post. When the ride finally ended so to say, the blonde quickly stood and looked over everyone. "Everyone breathing?" she said before her ears twitched as she felt the gravity gradually shift and she gave a soft hiss before moving up the steps. Making sure they were somewhat right side up, the blonde tried opening the door, but she could feel the heavy weight on it. Most likely blocked by some something perhaps fallen debris or maybe they were deeper then they thought.

Quickly she looked around, spotting a crack in the ceiling, a slight shimmer of light seeping in. So at least they weren't fully under. "Zenero, give me a boost!" Karn said as she went over to Wylde and untied the whip before turning and jumping on the fellow demi-human's shoulders as he stood under the cracked wood. Launching off and swinging her body and slamming her foot against the cracked wood. Breaking it apart and making a hole. Quickly grabbing the edges and clawing her way out, she stood and surveyed their surroundings. It seemed they landed in a small pond. And were sinking.

"Everyone time to move your asses and tails! We got to get out now!" Karn said as she looked over and reached out, Benero tossed up a rope and the feline caught it, looking around for a stable support. Looking up, she saw a overhanging tree and quickly took one end of the rope and tossed it down to the others in the cargo hold readied her whip and ran. Swinging the whip to wrap around the branch and jumping swinging her body briefly to land on the branch. Tying the end of the rope she brought with her tightly to the branch then leaping back down to the ship.

"Alright crmewmates, climb up and get out." Karn instructed, holding out her hand for anyone who needed assistance.

[User]
Randy heard the thud on the ship and let out a brief shiver. The sound of that definitely did not sound like a good welcoming or soft landing about to be made soon. Hopefully they would not land in water, please nothing like a large lake or anything of the like. If that occurred he doubted much could be salvaged from it. Especially some of his more personal items and works, those sinking would be a near nightmare. Since none of them could really swim on their own, yet. Another thud was heard from the top of the ship and Randy let out another uncomfortable shiver and placed down his wrench against the floor to keep his balance. He had been rocked despite this. What were the others and his boss? He tried grabbing onto some of the cargo expecting most of it to be tied down as a feline had advised. It also occurred to him, that he had been carrying around a large projectile that with the right force and direction could end up cracking someone's lungs or skull. Deciding try and grip tighter onto that as it could end up in him or someone else otherwise.

Randy began to quickly repeating to himself in his head. I told him not to make a water landing right? Anything but in or on water. He continued to repeat this thought over and over again inside his head. He held tightly onto his wrench. He heard about the ship heading down and began repeating the words in his head again. Anything but in or on water! much louder. It began to slip out from his lips somewhat in quite whispers that were unnoticed by him. He got down on his knees and bent his back over trying to 'brace' himself. Really trying to keeps his breath steady and body relaxed.

The impact had sent Randy flying or perhaps sliding as if some unknown hand had thrown him toward a wall. He wrapped his arms around the large wrench and made the mistake of tensing up his arms. He felt like a ball be thrown. It was not until a moment later that things seemed to pace down. Felt like something was dropping. He ached somewhat, but there was no time for that. He continued to focus on relaxed and deep breathing for a while, he felt somewhat puffy again like earlier. His head, definitely felt shaken. Someone had something, no idea what it was. His ears felt as if they were ringing. Seemed like the things were mostly over, and Randy began to look up from his curled up position. His lower back, tail and something else were stinging from the impact but it mostly came off as fuzzy or numb than anything else. Someone had cracked open a hole in the ship. Another bloody hole that would need patching. He groaned and got to his feet. Immediately tried to urge the others out and toward the new made exit or some new work to be done for later. Mostly by gesturing toward it with both his wrench and arms. He could not come up with something to say, and in this moment he would likely have not been able to say it at all.


[System]
Age : 23
Race : Caucassion Human
Height: 5' 4"
Appearance:

Personality :
Lizzie was a sweet and gentle girl before her mother and sister's murder. She hated her father for stealing the money from her mother after her death. She has been through abusive relationships with certain guys and fears of having another. Mainly she needs affection from someone who truly cares. She can tend to suffer hallucinations and nightmares from the event of the murder. She is so fragile, that she doesn't trust anyone or enjoy company. She would isolate herself from society and in her father's home.

Likes :
~ Flowers
~ Exploring
~ Motorcycles
~ Money

Fears :
~ Nightmares
~ Being Alone
~ Romance
~ Being Hurt

History :
Lizzie had a closed relationship with her sister Alex and their mother who is ill and she discovered her father and Rachel, who was her mother's nurse, having an affair. Lizzie accidentally put fire after Alex went into the cabin. The cabin erupted in flames upon an explosion which killed them. Lizzie was shocked and tried to commit suicide. Instead, she landed into mental hospital. After 10 months, she returns to her father's home after his passing. She had no memory of what happened, but frequently gets nightmares and images of the traumatic experience.

[User] "great now there isna time limit what you going to do throw me away like last time ?" he shouted after Thor eyes narrowed and then went to the girl and eyes glowed healing her slightly "You do not talk to thor understand me ? he will take your head off" he grumbled conceed about her slightly

[Assistant] Lizzie groaned a little as Loki managed to heal her. It was remarkable that the God of Mischief had a caring side. It was slightly visible at the moment. Lizzie managed to get up and lean against the wall. "I understand. He has a problem with hitting the ladies, it seems", she groaned until she managed to stand. "Brother issues it looks like", she said with a small chuckle.

[User] "he wasn't the most gentle that was for sure" he mutters rubbing his neck slightly and sighed tiredly. He growled at the idea they had ten days, what could they do in bloody ten days ? Huh

[Assistant] "We have to get out of here", Lizzie said as she looked at the walls. She looked back at Loki again. "We have to stop Thanos", she walked to him and gripped his arm. "Together"

[User] "are you...CRAZY ? a mortal and the god of trickery and you think thats enough to stop him ? hell I'm going to die just trying to keep the gems out of his hand" he said sharply eyes narrowed with worry andb anger.

[Assistant] "We have a long journey ahead of us. You practice your spells. Hell, you can teach me magic, can't you?", she asked him as she grew curious and tried to persuade him at least. "Wouldn't you fight back at the ones who hurt you? I did. But it has grave consequences if doing so", she slowly walked towards him. "We just need to have faith", she said softly.

[User] His lips curled back in a grow like pose of a cat as he made a warning sound for her to shut it "Shit it I don't need to be told what to do mortal. Yesh I am not a bay but fine. I am not teaching you any magic , you do not need any" he scowled as he didn't like allowing mortal to have magic he had seen what many have done.

[Assistant] "Loki, Thanos is the one responsible for your actions back at Manhatten! He made you do his dirty work! Wouldn't you rather be a free God or a Thano's slave! You're a king, not a servant! Trust me", she finally said in softness as she finally shut her mouth like he told her.

[User] "i'm not a king I am nothing more then a monster. I am no ones slave but I sure as hell and not a king either" he spat eyes cold and heartless eyes glowed shaply as they where gone in a blaze of green to her house swiftly.

[Assistant] Lizzie gasped as she saw his eyes glow green. It was a rarity to see emerald green eyes. "I believe in you, Loki. Come on, we can do this", she held his hands, not caring how cold they were. "You keep blaming yourself that you're a monster, but you are really telling yourself that you're weak. Hiding away from your ego is not you at all. How are you a monster if you protected your home for centuries? You never hurt anyone", she told him as she held him in place by holding his arms, making him stare back at her.

[User] "I have hurt a lot of people " he said piased as he flipped on the couch and grumbled

[Assistant] "Now what are you saying?", Lizzie asked him as she sat next to him but kept her distance in case things went south.

[User] "Go away" growled annoyed curled up on the couch titrdly eyes closed. He needed sleep,real sleep

[Assistant] Lizzie sighed in dissapointment. How tired she was too. She leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. Laying down, she fell asleep peacefully.

[User]
(they already teleported back to her home already)

Loki slept for hours, till around 2 in the afternoon but it wasn't peacefully eyes closed gently

[Assistant] While Loki slept, Lizzie tried to get the "Loki" outfit off herself, but it was stuck to her. She thought about the mind stone and realized it was causing this transformation. Since Loki was the last user, his mind must have connected to it. When she touched it, it must have linked her to him. No wonder. But that doesn't mean she couldn't spice it up a little. She found black elbow lengthed glovelettes and painted her nails black to match.

[User] The god eventually jolted awake grumbling gently annoyed and standing up and yawned shaking off the memories

[Assistant] Lizzie then eventually came out of her room in her new updated outfit and nearly tripped in the heels.

[User] Loki looked over boredly but his eyes widened and mouth dropped slightly speechless

[Assistant] Lizzie managed to stand until she noticed the god's expression. "What?"

[User] He shook his head "nothing don't worry about it"

[Assistant] She bashfully smiled as she walked over to her fridge and found the same bowl of fruit. She then walked to the couch and sat down next to the God but she kept her distance. She didn't look at him either.

[User] She took a bite from a strawberry from the bowl and laid back on the couch against the head rest.

[Assistant] The god said nothing as he was pondering and getting himself ready for the world

[User] Lizzie didn't say anything either as she packed some extra things they would need to the journey. "Where would Thanos hide?", she spoke up to break the silence.

[Assistant] "everywhere, he hides between realms and in realms as well" he muters gently as he knew Thantos was sly and tricky and if not more bold then others.

[User] "Makes a lot of sense", she agreed while she went confused for a moment. "Now how will we get there?"

[Assistant] He sighed eyes glowing and said to Handull and said "really could use a small help to Asgard please he mutters as a beam of light shot down and they where teleported to Asgard and he sighed looking at the rainbow bridge and sighed "come on lets get this over with" mutters gently walking toward the palce not happy.

[User] "We are so gonna get in trouble", Lizzie muttered to him as she saw the palace and followed Loki. "Seriously, I think hiding in a guest room here would suffice"

[Assistant] "well we need the help of my mother and thor so you will stay in the guest room" his eyes glowed as she vanished there and he vanished off seeing Thor grabbed him sharply and vanished to th guest room swiftly . he glaredat Thor "shut up, I am tryin to save the damn worlds and realms now you can either help or know that your thereason Thnaos could have killed everyone" he said sharply not playing around eing dead seriuos

[User] Thor eventually pitched Loki off of him as soon as they got to the guest room where Lizzie was. "Shut it trickster", the Thunder God muttered in annoyance. "It's true. The realms are at risk in Thanos' wrath. The stones are at risk", Lizzie spoke up even though she wasn't supposed to. "You brung the mortal with you!?"

[Assistant] "Well yeah need some help even if its not from you. Now you going to help or not?" He demanded eyes narrowed sharply blazing with an old child like fitey Thor had not seen in ages.

[User] Thor knew that the God of mischief was serious when angry. But he wasn't sure whether that he was confused or angry. He sighed in annoyance and frustration. "Very well but I must find a way to get off to the realms. Stay here. We leave at dawn", he said to them both before leaving.

[Assistant] "mother knows the ways aroudn the realms she also has the realm bracelets if you don't remember Thor" he spoke telepathicly eyes closed gently and sighed gently as he was tired.

[User] Lizzie went to the balcony of the guest room and was amazed by the beautiful view.

[Assistant] Loki looked at the girl and seeing her looking out and smiels gently and ewalked over "nice view eh?" he asked

[User] She gasped as Loki came into view next to her. "It's beautiful", she sighed with a smile. "Your brother had one hell of a punch", she recalled with a chuckle.

[Assistant] He grinned gently "yeah i know he always does. I am used to it"

[User] She chuckled at his response. "How often?", she asked as she leaned against the railing with her hands.

[Assistant] "about four times each months I either got jabbed or punched dependinf on what i did" he said shaking his head smiling slight;y

[User] "Ouch", she winced as she imagined how that must have felt. It's like being abided in the past. This answer of his triggered a lot of things in the past. "I was hurt the same way", she sighed sadly.

[Assistant] He looked at her "want to talk about it ? it helps to release out the paina nd misery"

[User] She sighed. She had to let it out. She has held it in for too long. "Sure", she muttered as she turned around and say on the bed slowly.

[Assistant] He sat down beside her ansd waited for her to start

[User] "I had many guys in the past. I found them nice on the outside but in the inside, they were a different person. We go out and enjoy ourselves until he forced himself on me. He never listened to my pleas. I was their plaything and their punching bag. And worse, they never felt remorse after", her voice cracked as some tears fell down her cheeks. "I was done with guys. Never flirted at them nor did try to. I felt weak and I couldn't fight. No signs of affection either", she finished as her eyes casted downwards as she still heard her sounds of sobbing and pleading within her head.

[Assistant] The god wasn't good with comforting but he slowly curled his arms around her "shhhhh its ok its ok" he whispered gently closing his eyes gently.

[User] No one was fighting along with her when these events happened. Not to mention that her family was dead. She leaned into Loki as he soothed her. Honestly, this was helping. She reached back and held his cold hand.

[Assistant] He sighed gently "shhh let it all out its going to be ok" said smiles happily

[User] She sighed in relief as she intertwined their fingers together. Her tears manage to dry up and she finally managed to calm down. "Is there a wash here?", she asked, dissapointed to break the touching moment.

[Assistant] Loki laughed nodding pointing to the door "there"

[User] She sat up as she went to the closet that was in the guest room. She found a silky white gown used for sleepwear. She shrugged and went into the bathroom.

[Assistant] Loki was sitting there eyes closed tired and happy eyes opened as he hummed

[User] Lizzie finished her shower and put on the silk gown. She managed to dry her hair and walk out of the bathroom.


[System]
'Sella'
♀

---

Abilities

Personality

Biography

[User]
Aleksiya was left to reflect on the words of Ichor. Seven more.

There was no doubt in her mind that these seven were the Lords who were not present here. Of their number, there were those whom she would welcome the sight of openheartedly, and those whom she never wanted to see again. Chief among them was the vile Blight Lord, a horrific monster she held nothing but scorn towards.

But it was Ichor's word. She would not go against it.

Out of the ones who were present, however, Aleksiya could not say she was unhappy to see any of them. Even Akyasha, as frustrating as she was, was not truly a negative presence. She was at times quite unhelpful, but Aleksiya did not want to see her clutched by death once again.

Perhaps put through discomfort, but nod dead.

Of the others, she found them at least not directly offensive, and at best quite helpful and valuable as comrades. Needless to say, she was pleased to see them returned.

Or perhaps it was the fact that they had been presented with proper blood, even if it was just a small vial, that made her feelings especially charitable. Needless to say, she was swift to take one, removing the lid and relishing in the taste of actual human blood. Of course, it was only a small amount. But compared to the foul flavor of the rat's blood, it was utterly delicious. She could feel the deep hunger abating, the strength returning to her in some small amount. Hardly the true measure of her abilities, but definitely better then she had been on her awakening.

Aleksiya sighed.

"Ah, what a fine taste," she declared, placing the now-empty vial aside, "Did that familiar bring them? When she awakes, I should like to show my approval."

She paused a moment to listen to Akyasha's story. She still thought her an idiot, but at least it was some kind of explanation for her actions and her behavior. Not one she would have liked, but at least she understood the transactional nature of her coverage for that woman.

Understanding simply did not mean approval.

"... Well, I suppose that explains some of your behavior, if nothing else," she replied with a dismissive wave of her small hand, "In any case, it is as Lady Giselle says. A monster bars our path. However, I have nothing but confidence in our ability to destroy it, now that we have at least some blood in our bodies."

@ERode@Asuras@Psyker Landshark@Click This@Pyromania99

[Assistant]
Location: Alavaris
Cathedral
Landshark@Asuras@Erode@VitaVitaAR@Click This@Pyromania99

---

The thrall, did not initially respond as Luna's lips met hers. Sanguineous blood blessed by Ichor flowed from Luna's tears into the Thrall's mouth. After a few seconds, the thrall's body convulsed, shuddering involuntarily as new power life, and more importantly…a new mistress flowed through her veins. As Luna left to heed Ichors words, the Thrall managed to barely lift herself from the ground, seeming both still exhausted and in somewhat of a daze.

As the others would converse among themselves after Akyasha explained themselves, the Vampiric Cleric would move away slightly. Performing a summoning was a simple task, depending on if one wanted it to be permanent or a temporary service, such as in the midst of combat. All one needed in such a case, was typically, a sacrifice of the vampires own blood and a brief chant to call forth the creature one wanted in question.

As it stood, Akyasha would have little trouble summoning something as simple as a Blood Elemental or Gorebat, two of the lowest beings in Ichors servants. As Akyasha cut herself for her own blood to be offered, she'd chant something simple as the blood fell to the floor, and from it, however briefly, a rift between Ichor and Alavaris formed. And from that rift…the smell of copper and purest blood as from it, the blood formed into what was ostensibly something uncharacteristically 'cute' for the creatures of Ichor's realm.

It was something like a tiny, humanoid, bat. They were not physically strong, nor were they extremely effective in combat, but their diminutive size, swift speed, and the fact a single one could drain a human male ntirety of blood in thirty seconds along with being able to use low tier support magics such as minor healing and if needed, could be used as a quick and dirty source of blood themselves both for feeding and blood magic made them invaluable tools.

Swarms of these thing in the past, were quite a dangerous thing, but Akyasha for now, managed to summon two which would hopefully be more than enough. The small bat creatures would light on either of Akyasha's shoulders, awaiting for her to give them a command. The one on her right seemingly affectionately nuzzled the cleric. No doubt they were hungry, but alas, she had no blood to give them right now.

"Nngh…" By now, the Thrall had managed to lift herself to her feet, weekly holding onto the Altar to support herself. "M-my lords…your…mercy knows no bounds…" She'd weakly squeak out. "There is a dangerous skeletal beast…I think…its one of the old paladins. It possesses a blade made of silver…its old and corroded but it still will be dangerous. Please, if you go that way, be careful…"

Ominous.

The Thrall managed to get to her feet properly, though she seemed exhausted it was nothing a bit of rest and food likely could not fix.

"I am sorry I can not be of more help in my state…but if it pleases you, Lady Luna, I will give my body to ensure your safety if I must." Well, hopefully that wouldn't be needed.

Whenever the six decided to leave the Cathedral and head back out into the city, they would be met with the same silence as they moved from the Cathedral yard towards the gate that had barred Aleksiya's and companies path earlier. The wailing of that large undead creature could be heard further down, but it was distant. The shuffling of the undead on the other side of the gate, though, could be seen and heard clearly by the vampires.

---

Location: Alavaris
Squalid Ruins, the old Orphanage

---

The familiar crept along the ground, having avoided most of the putrid, beastly threats that called the place home. Perhaps, if it were able to independently think, it'd think that cleaning this place up would need to be a high priority if the vampires wished to clean Alavaris from the filth that currently infested it.

But alas, it was incapable of such thoughts.

It skittered along the muddy ground, through the halls of the old orphanage, down an old, creaky set of stairs leading into the earth until two voices reached its ears.

"Where have you been?"

"Chasing Vermin, what else?"

"A fools errand after it fled…is what I'd normally say, but that look of yours says you found something."

"Maybe, maybe not. Did you find our secondary objective?"

"Unfortunately, yes…"

The creature skittered after the voices, moving within the shadows of the ruin, behind old walls, out of sight, for it did not wish to be seen. The voices became muffled for a few moments as it struggled to keep up. Did they move faster? Or had they some other method of movement? The hall lit up, revealing the body of some large, serpentine creature.

"...I see what you mean." It could not see what they saw beyond the corpse, for fear of exposing itself but it could still listen. "This does not bode well indeed with what I encountered. Whoever did this…is quite the vicious beast themselves."

"Spit it out, Rikard. We don't have time for your games."

"Hmm…" The one apparently named Rikard seemed to move towards the other one. "First, Rhea, I believe we should get rid of our eavesdropper." Immediately, the familiar pankicked. It moved but it was too late. Sun and fire seared its flesh, turning its weak body to nothing but ash.

"Damn it. Was that what I think it was?"

"We'll head back to Society for now. We must inform them of events here."

With its dying breath, all it could manage to send to its mistress was the names of the two voices, and something about a 'Society' before its life failed it completely.

[User]
@Psyker Landshark@Pyromania99@Click This@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist

A mistress of rats? An 'Est', who warned of…

Ilena blinked, a sensation, a thought, re-entering her body. Even with the physicality destroyed, a morsel of her own essence returned to her in that moment, shooting into her shadows, deciphered by the demons that safeguarded her mind.

Ah.

It connected, like objects of differing polarities snapping into place.

"Rikard…and Rhea. Belonging to the Society. Returning to the Society, to report. A piece of me died at the orphanage, where they last were." Ilena settled her gaze on Akyasha briefly, before turning to Luna and Dragan. "The gunfire was likely involved with their hunting of Est. Though whether they are enemies or merely cautious…" From within the cathedral now, the sound of buzzing Skeeters echoed, the gargantuan insectoids flying over to Ilena before touching down, their abdomens swollen once more with the results of their hunt.

She didn't bother with excising the blood carefully now, and instead, her shadows swallowed the enthralled insects whole, assimilating their disparate parts into her own body.

"...it matters not. Nor does the gargantuan beast that we encountered on our path here, if it seeks not to disrupt our departure. Let us slay what remains of that Paladin and leave for more plentiful fields."

[Assistant]
Dragan Meszaros

"A skeletal paladin, still bearing a silver blade?" Dragan turned to the thrall, an eyebrow raised underneath his helmet. "How my former brothers have fallen. Fortunately, the blade will be all we have to fear. As for this Society," He nodded in response to Ilena's words. "We've no reason to seek them out for now. No need to start unnecessary fights."

Foreknowledge of the enemy would be invaluable. As he was now, Dragan had no doubt that most lesser undead would fall under his sway once more. This skeletal paladin sounded to still be beyond his grasp, however. Precautions would need to be taken. The Death Knight glanced back towards the rest of his companions, turning to venture deeper into the cathedral.

"I imagine some among us have preparations to make before we set out, myself included. When I'm finished, I will meet you near the west gate, past the yard."

Centuries-old memories led Dragan to the armories he knew the cathedral possessed. A quick search of said quarters revealed a collection of weapons, many still more or less usable. None were of the highest craftsmanship, but experience and knowledge of steel told the vampiric knight which were servicable and would hold up in a fight. He hefted a two-handed warhammer into his hands and took a practice swing, nodding in satisfaction. This would serve, for now. A blunt smashing weapon would be the most effective against the skeleton that barred their way. It wasn't his old mace, but it would be more efficient on his blood reserves than conjuring one up.

Once he returned outside and regrouped with the others in the courtyard, Dragan stepped forward towards the gate. The sound of shuffling undead had him extending a hand out, the other clutching his warhammer.

"Serve." He commanded, exerting his will to take command over as many lesser undead as he could in the immediate area of the gate without taxing his blood reserves too much.

[User]
Giselle de FarryUndead Princess, de Farry

---

The ashen-skinned vampire couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow at Akyasha. "I was not aware your ability to sense social cues had degraded to such an extent during your slumber. Had you successfully played along and fed that human some nonsense information, he might have given the three of us one of those vials of high-quality blood that were displayed very prominently on his coat." She made her criticism of her response far more obvious here, but that was just about all that she had left to be said about the matter, leaving the red-haired vampire to continue her tale.

Further reinvigorated by the one vial that she did receive, she gave a nod of acknowledgement to Aleksiya before her attention was taken by Illena's report. She was one of the stranger ones of the vampire lords assembled here, but that was no issue. "Rikard… that was the human that we encountered on the walls," she acknowledged. "It would seem we have a name for his partner and his employer, then. If there is a 'society' of any sort, then perhaps society as a whole may not have degenerated quite as badly as I'd initially thought."

Turning towards Dragan, she too gave him a nod. "Quite. If I have your measure correctly, then we'll be heading to the same place, so please allow me to accompany you." She made her way to the armory otherwise silently, where she gave her own critical eye over what remained in the centuries-old vault. A good number of the weapons there were still serviceable, although not to the point where she would replace her newly refurbished scythe as her primary arm.

To her mild surprise, there were some firearms in reasonable condition among the cold-steel weapons. She would not trust the rifles or their high-power ammunition, not without spending more effort than she wished at the moment to give them a once-over, but she picked out a revolver, and after creating a cloth and leather holster for it around her thigh, took it with her and strapped it in. Without anything else that she needed, she soon returned outside, ready to make their push west.


[System]
Species: Saiyan
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Appearance

Personality: Tabaga used to be an enthusiastic warrior who never ran from a fight. After the destruction of her home-world, she entered into a sort of catatonic state after unlocking her Super Saiyan transformation which lasted a number of days. At the moment, her grasp on mental stability is tenuous to put it mildly.

Bio: Tabaga was one of the elites on Planet Vegeta. Born to a high ranking family and born with an above average power level she quickly began to rise through the ranks as she began her training. She was known for being a ruthless sparring partner and an even more ruthless warrior. The Saiyans of her universe never knew how fortunate they were, as the Freeze force did not exist in their universe. Without Freeza and his family to limit their growth, The Saiyans were able to expand beyond Planet Vegeta eventually although it took quite a bit longer. They eventually set out to conquer their home galaxy and nearly succeeded in doing so. Unknown to the war-hungry Saiyans however, another, far more ancient and vicious race had set their sights on the Saiyan's home galaxy after annihilating the inhabitants of the East, West and South Galaxies and adding them to their own Empire.

Although the Saiyans attempted to do what they did best, the unknown warriors cut through them without much effort over years of bloody battle and more and more planets began to fall to the unknown warriors. Eventually, the Saiyans were beat back to Planet Vegeta and the Planet itself was wiped clean of all life after a massive battle. Tabaga, whose grip on her mental stability was already hanging by a thread after continued losses to the invaders, was forced to watch and know she could do nothing as Planet Vegeta finally fell. As she watched flames engulf her home planet, something inside her snapped. She could feel her power rising exponentially and a massive golden aura began to surround her. She didn't exactly remember what happened next, but she had flashes of memory of the invaders being cut down by the dozens and of a massive explosion that wiped out all life in Planet Vegeta's solar system. The last flash of memory she had was a rather tall unknown figure placing her in an attack ball, looking down at her and telling her everything would be fine as the hibernation sequence began to activate.

What seemed like minutes for her were actually years outside of the attack ball. Unknown to Tabaga, her attack ball had been moved. It was no longer in her home universe, rather it sitting outside of a ruined temple.

Techniques:
Ki Sword:

Dragon Cannon:

Dragon's roar: Tabaga unleashes a massive Ki blast from her mouth that causes expanding waves of destruction. Not very effective in range unless she is in Super Saiyan form or above.))

Transformations:

Super Saiyan: Tabaga unlocked this technique after the fall of the Saiyan Home world. It may not have allowed her to save her home-world but it allowed her to take revenge on those who aided in it's destruction.

Other Info: A universal war between the Saiyan Race and a race of unknown warriors who annihilated everything in their path is what destroyed Tabaga's home galaxy. The Unknown warriors couldn't be stopped through normal means and cut down everything in front of them.

[User]
Death, destruction, pain and than darkness. These were the ingredients chosen to ruin a young girls perfect day. But than an extra ingredient was added to the concoction, space magic. And so it was that instead of falling into a crack in the ground to her doom, burning up into a crisp, having her lungs detonate, her face melt off, her skin boil, her eyes explode or meeting some similar and equally displeasing and yet altogether expected fate Mia found her self in the unusual position of lifting up her eyes in hell.

Or had she? As her eyes adjusted to a sky that wasn't black and burning she couldn't but help think it didn't look like any hell she imagined. For one thing the sky wasn't burning. Although it certainly smelled like it. And she always pictured hell as having more gothic spires and lava pits and less ruins. Than again it didn't look like heaven either. Not that she knew what the two looked like. Mia newer was very religious. A week ago if someone had told her about an afterlife she'd have laughed at it. But now she wasn't so sure. After all one does not just survive the destruction of a planet least of all while having her feet planted on it. Still she simply couldn't imagine either of the big ones would let their domain go this badly. So where had she gone?

Mia carefully considered her options. She wasn't evil. So hell was probably out of the question. After all she wasn't that sinful. A smirk involuntarily passed her face as she recalled her, now sadly canceled, plans for the evening. Alright, maybe just a bit. But still, her life of fighting and fun were hardly a reason to... well, what ever. Living or dead, hell or heaven might as well make the best of it.

Thus she got up, dusted her self off and decided to go find some other undead to chat up and see what answers this new world had to offer.

[Assistant]
"It has been an honor fighting alongside you, Supreme Kai Shin"

"Likewise Yaksh...no, Prince Dimsum, I believe?"

"Heh. I believe the odds aren't that bad. Majin Frieza and Majin Buu. Two of us remaining in this scorched planet."

"I admire your optimism, human."

"Defiant to the end, that's how we are. Here they come - ORYAAAA!"

Yaksha's mind still throbbed, after being bereaved from probably his death in combat. A unknown yet familiar landscape appeared before him, as he tried to get his bearings to where he had ended up. Unfortunately for him, he was in freefall and as he pondered he fell in the fountain of Conton City, making one hell of a splash. The shock seemed to make him regain his senses, before he hapzardly climbed out, and eyed the wreckage of the city and its ethereal surroundings.

He wanted desperatedly to go back to the battle, and try and do the impossible. Save Earth from Majin Buu. Odds were appalling, but he wasn't gonna wait it out to die. He had to stand up for those that were gone or could not. But the reality kicked in. This was in all likelyhood, Conton City, according to Shin's tales and Kami's guidance.

Or whatever was left of it, anyway. Well, no use in dwelling on it, he guessed, as he snapped his fingers, revealing a quick change of clothes with Magic Materialization. He was now wearing a dry, fresh suit of a Supreme Kai's attendant. He wore it better than Kibito, that was for sure. Only one person could make sense out of tails, and he knew better than to look haggard in front of such a respectable presence. He honed his senses, and remembered the vague, distinct feeling of divine Ki. It was hard to sense, and most mortals, even those of Kami's race would forever be denied the ability to sense it, but he knew. He could. Alongside, there were other ki senses he picked, but they were mostly in disarray, it seemed...although not hostile.

"Kai Kai!" He energetically said, as he vanished in an instant...

...Only to appear before the Supreme Kai of Time, inside the Time Nest, offering an elegant bow. "So it was wished, so it shall be. This one called Yaksha greets the Supreme Kai of Time. How may I be of service?" Yaksha said solemny.

And you had better have a good reason from plucking me out of my timeline in the moment I was most needed.

[User]
Conton City Ruins
Ruins of the Academy

Inside of her pod, Tabaga dreamed of a time long since passed. A time when she had been a warrior and a symbol of both hope and power to her people. A time before darkness had fallen over the entire universe. A time when she still had hope in the future.

Planet Vegeta
A long time ago

"Hold the line!" Tabaga shouted to a number of the few remaining Saiyans in the atmosphere of Planet Vegeta as more and more of the silent and mysterious black armored troopers flew straight towards them. She looked towards the youngest of the group and tried to smile reassuringly. "It's going to be alright, Okora. We just need to keep them busy until the device is ready." The younger Saiyan tried to return the smile but failed as she looked at the few thousand remaining Saiyans doing their best to try and fight off the invaders. They were falling one by one every minute, being overwhelmed with sheer numbers.

Just need to buy a little bit more time. It'll all be worth it if we buy the King enough time.

There was a time Tabaga would have punished anyone for their lack of confidence but she was in no position to talk. The Saiyans had managed to create an Empire that had lasted barely ten years before whoever the hell these people were had destroyed it. Planet after Planet had fallen, thousands of her people had been slaughtered in nearly every engagement. She had lost so many friends and family in the war. Everyone had.

"Here they come!" Okora's shout managed to snap her out of her memories and she focused on the battle at hand. "Let's show them what we can do! Squad five, CHARGE!" Tabaga shouted as she launched herself towards the silent enemy troops.

After a few minutes of fighting, Tabaga already knew how this was going to end. Nearly all the members of her squad were barely standing and still more and more invading troops were flying towards Planet Vegeta. No matter how many of them were killed, more simply flew towards them and continued beating them down.

Tabaga's rage was boiling to the surface as she watched the invaders begin targeting the weaker and injured members of the few remaining Saiyans. She was soon back to back with Okora with only around thirty of Planet Vegeta's warriors remaining in orbit and that number was rapidly diminishing.

"Squad five! This is King Vegeta. The device is ready. Can anyone get to it?"

The battle-worn Saiyan looked at Okora who was barely able to stay conscious at this point. It was down to just the two of them in orbit at this point and more and more of the silent warriors were approaching. "Negative, my King. It's just me and Okora left up here." She spotted a massive number of the invaders beginning to break off the attack against them and begin moving towards the planet.

"I'm sorry...but it looks like they're going after the planet themselves now, my king."

There was a pause. "No. I'm sorry." Tabaga and Okora both looked up in surprise at that. The King had never apologized. Never to any of his subjects. "It's just the three of us warriors left right now. I failed as King and I failed my subjects." There was another pause. "It looks like they're trying to storm the palace." The King said in a calmer voice then Tabaga expected in the face of certain death. Okora and Tabaga both looked at the silent warriors surrounding them. "We still have a few hundred up here. We'll try and take as many of them with us as we can. Die well, King Vegeta."

"Die well, Tabaga. Die well, Okora." The King replied as over the scouter she heard the sound of the doors to the palace shattered and the sound of energy blasts.

"Is this it?" Okora asked in a sad and quiet voice. Tabaga simply nodded. "I think it is. I'm sorry. I told you it would be alright. I was wrong."

"It's okay. You've been a wonderful friend, Tabaga. Maybe we'll meet again in the next life."

Tabaga simply chuckled at that. "Knowing my luck, I'll most likely find myself in hell. You on the other hand, I think your going somewhere else."

"I hope s-" Okora's voice cut off in mid sentence and Tabaga slowly turned around and saw a hole blown in Okora's chest. She looked at Tabaga with the saddest expression on her fact that Tabaga had ever seen on someone. She raised a shaking hand and gently patted Tabaga's face as the light left her eyes.

"Y-You..." She stared at the surrounding invaders with hatred in her eyes. That hatred turned to horror as flames began to wash across the surface of Planet Vegeta. "Why...WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!" She screamed. "WHAT DID WE DO TO YOU TO DESERVE THIS?!"

The invaders surrounding her made no reply as they began to channel their energy into a final strike against the last survivor of Planet Vegeta's warrior race.

"You killed my friends. You killed my family. You killed my king." Okora growled as small flashes of lighting began to appear around her. The invaders began to back away as Tabaga's eyes began to flash and the lightning began to flash brighter and brighter.

"You killed my squad. You destroyed my planet." Tabaga's hair began to flash a greenish gold color as a blazing aura began to surround her. She was barely aware of the majority of the rest of the Invading army leaving Planet Vegeta and flying towards her at high speed.

"YOU KILLED OKORA!" She screamed in complete and utter rage and hatred as a moment later the blazing yellowish green aura that had enveloped her erupted from her in a massive explosion that disintegrated those enemy invaders closest to her. She slowly turned towards the approaching army of enemy solders and smiled a vicious, bloodthirsty smile.

"I may not have been able to save my Planet. But mark my words...I will AVENGE IT!" She screamed as she grabbed Okora's body and launched herself towards the approaching army.

"DRAGON CANNON!"

Conton City Ruins
Ruins of the Academy

"Pod damage critical. Pod Power levels critical. Hibernation sequence offline."

For the first time in many years, Tabaga's eyes opened as the pod's computer voice woke her from her sleep. No...sleep wasn't the correct word. For many years she had a been a prisoner of her own mind.

With a single low power energy blast, she blew the door off of the damaged pod and rose to her feet. All around her was a ruined city. Piles of ash littered the entire city. "This place..." She muttered. "Where am I?"

Ruins of Conton City

"So it was wished, so it shall be. This one called Yaksha greets the Supreme Kai of Time. How may I be of service?"

The Supreme Kai of Time looked at the new arrival who called himself Yaksha and smiled a very sad smile. "Hello Yaksha." She spoke in a very sad voice. "I'm very sorry to tell you this but I didn't bring you here to to be of service. I brought you and the others here to rescue you."


[System]
Image
Age:
15

Ability:
Kinetikinesis - the ability to create,shape and manipulate kinetic energy. She can transfer kinetic energy from one object to another, increasing its force. With direct contact, she can turn an object's potential energy into kinetic energy, making it explosive. Alternatively, she can make a target immobile or unable to stop if in motion.

Personality:
Naturally caring but possessing excellent analytical abilities. Cecilia is very much an introvert. Despite this she has well developed people skills, making relationships come fairly easily to her. She takes each new day and event as they come, excited at the new possibilities they present. Though enthusiastic, she can be a bit of a perfectionist at times, often taking her responsibilities personally.

Bio:
Cecilia's mother disappeared when she was still a baby, her powers developing when she was in elementary school. She would live many of the following years on the road with her father, traveling via RV from one school to another, not staying in one place very long. Her mother was the subject of many arguments (Cecilia being unconvinced that he's telling her everything). Despite this, she trusts him and is eager to take life one day at a time.

color=b22222

Little Stargazer - roleplayerguild.com/posts/4071846

[User] Neric would look over at her, getting up as James pats the seat next to him. Smiling softly as his gaze goes for her. "Of course, don't think we would forget you Cecilia." James would smile happily, the little Void walking over on all fours legs and rub up against her leg. Purring softly before letting her sit, walking back over to James and sitting between the two. "Well that didn't take long at all, thought I was going to miss you when it came to the next activity." He would say both jokingly and teasingly, his hand going and petting Neric gently. The Void curled up and just looking to the fire, motionless but he's almost always motionless. So it's nothing new really.

[Assistant]
Sitting next to James and joining him in petting the shrouded cat between them, Cecilia could sense that James was having a bit of fun with her, but she couldn't help bu feel more than a little self conscious about being late and so forth. "I-I didn't think I was that late. I had to leave some things at my cabin and...!
-oh forget it
" Cecilia came to fully realize how flustered she was getting and just turned her head towards the pit, letting out a slight whine, her face minutely red and frustrated. She knew it was all in good fun however, and tried to think of something to talk about. "They said that the activity will have something to do with outdoor survival or something like that. I've forgotten if you've mentioned it or not, but do you have much experience camping in the wilderness, James?" she curiously asked, looking to him again, a trace of a smirk again. She didn't want to assume anything, but even if James hadn't the experience, there was also a chance Neric did.

[User] Jack looked at Val. "Well, if we're in groups, I can summon some athletes to surround us and let us do whatever. Oh, and Shakespeare! He can actually still speak. It's awesome." He grinned at her. "If we're doing a normal sport. What would be important in surviving the outdo-" He stopped. "Archery? That would be slightly lame."

[Assistant] James would watch Cecilia get flustered, smiling as he spoke. "I was just joking there Cecilia, don't be too worried about it." He would say as he bumps Neric a bit to scoot closer to her. The Void wouldn't seem to mind too much as he moves over a bit, just getting comfortable again as James chuckles. Looking to Cecilia as he smiles, nodding and showing he heard her and that he did have experience. "Ya, a good amount actually. Though I bet Neric knows more then both of us to be honest. But ya we have plenty of experience." Nodding as he looks at her, showing he has lived more then once in the woods.

[User] Cecilia nodded attentively; she could have probably guessed that James and Neric would have a good amount of wilderness survival experience under their belts, but was pretty intrigued nonetheless. "That's good to hear. I have like no experience at all so I hope you two wouldn't mind giving me a few pointers now and again," she replied, scratching the back of Neric's ears as she turned her head to look at James, her smile growing significantly. There was a fair chance that there may have been more than one occasion where the two of them may have camped out because of necessity as opposed to preference, so she was reluctant to dwell on the subject herself. But she was happy that she wasn't going into this without anyone to help her should it come to that. She'd be a lot more anxious otherwise.

[Assistant] Neric would purr softly as Cecilia scratched behind his ears, his eyes closed slightly as James looks at her. Hopefully he and Neric would be able to help her, both to make sure she can get through this and to spend a bit more time with her. Nodding as he helps her scratch between Neric's ear. [color=yellow]"Ya of course, always more then happy to help. Though your smart Cecilia, I bet you'll understand it on your own." Trying to compliment her as his hand brushes up against hers, that feeling running through his hand. It was nice, it was a nice feeling. Thinking on the activity as well, what would the counselors have in store for them this time.

[User]
"WE BETTER GO TO THE FIREPIT. KYLE WON'T WANT TO SEE US FOR AWHILE." Ivy was sad that her brother had left her. He had never left her alone before. She felt alittle scared. She wasn't hood at controlling herself. Kyle was a safe guard. She knew that if she got out of control her brother could make sure that she didn't hurt anyone. Ivy knew her power was one of the most dangerous ones. Especially in the woods.

"THERE IS A WATERFALL BY THE LAKE. KYLE PROBABLY WENT THERE. HE KNOWS I WON'T GO NEAR THE LAKE." Ivy answered why Links said Kyle might be in trouble. It wasn't likely that her brother was in trouble. Kyle never got into trouble. He was most likely sitting on the edge of the lake looking at the water. Her brother would have wanted something comforting and he always found water relaxing.

[Assistant] Lin grimaced at the second bit of news and Ivy's casual faith in her brother. She tried to put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder to get the other's full attention span. "Your brother seems very capable. I just want to make sure he's alright." She paused, taking a deep breath, then continuing in her most assertive voice. "My power gave me a possible vision that your brother might fall down that waterfall. Could you please take me to the top of it? We can check the fire pit first just to make sure he didn't go straight there. If he did, then everything should be fine." A wisp of smoke curled up through Lin's fingers, but oddly enough Ivy's heat didn't bother Lin much. She'd always loved heat...which she supposed was one of the main reasons she hadn't been anxious to leave her birth city of San Francisco.

[User]
Ivy bounced out of the cafeteria. She started toward the firepit. But it wasn't long before she got distracted. Shortly after leaving the building she saw a bird and started following it. Unlike Lin Ivy wasn't worried about her brother. As far as she was concerned he was indestructible. He had looked after her for as long as she could remember. He was the strongest person that she knew.

Kyle had thought about going to the lake but he didn't because the counselors were about to start a new activity. He wouldn't break the rules just because he was mad. He sat on the far side of the firepit and waited for the counselors to start. It looked like they were waiting for everyone to arrive. He looked around it looked most of the campers had gathered.

[Assistant]
Lin jogged after a bouncy Ivy toward the fire pit. When Ivy's path began to stray, she followed the younger girl with her eyes. Upon seeing Ivy start chasing a bird, she called out, "Hey Ivy! Remember where we're supposed to be? There'll be plenty of birds at the fire pit. C'mon girl!" Now suddenly she was the one giving orders. The hypocrisy of that struck her. Was it really that easy to turn into Kyle, bossing somebody else around?

No, she shook her tangled blonde mane vigorously. It was all about delivery. Ivy didn't need to have a Gestapo escort; she needed to be around open-minded people with a hankering for fun. Lin stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes, concentrating on the flap of the robin's wings as Ivy chased it. The older girl traced that flapping pattern back, back....there. The robin's nest was only three trees over in a sizeable willow. Yep, she reflected mildly as she started out towards her objective. The past was definitely simpler than the stupid misty future.

Lin jogged over to the tree, then scrambled about a quarter of the way up with adroit footwork. The sharp white willow bark chafed her bare knees as she held on with three limbs, extending her right arm as far up as she could ahead of her. She didn't want to risk going too high up, so when she finally spotted the nest after a few seconds she wasn't high enough to see anything inside. Instead, she felt around with her hand and came down with a small-ish, speckled blue robin egg. She descended the tree carefully, very aware of Ivy's progress bird-chasing as well as the precious cargo.

Jogging over behind Ivy, not even winded, Lin said, "Hey Ivy, look what I found! You don't need to chase that bird! I used my power to find its nest! Want to keep this little guy warm while we head down to the fire pit? Just be careful not to get him too hot or he'll melt!" She extended her hand toward the younger girl, the beautiful egg resting in the center of her palm. No matter what Ivy decided, they needed to get a move on so they wouldn't be late.

[User]
@grandia20 @LiegeLord @Mangrale @LiegeLord @Blueflame @Vampy @KimmiNinja
"We will convert many types of activities this summer. But today we will start teaching you one that is very important for the woods. Today we will teach you the beginnings of rock climbing. Now this won't be the rock climbing you've done on walls in school. This is real and will be dangerous. So first everyone will be fitted with a helmet, gloges, and a harness." The counselors explained. It was natural that the kids would be curious and would want to explore so they wanted to make sure they could do so safely.

Ivy had a very short attention span. She had only followed the bird a short distance before she saw a squirrel and started following it instead. But she only followed that for a minute until she saw a butterfly. Once again she followed the creature that caught her attention. This was one of the reasons that Kyle watched Ivy so closely. She never paid attention to where she was going and would easily get lost.

[Assistant] "sounds like fun" max said to himself even though technically he didn't need to climb. He looked around the fire pit to see if he knew any one.

[User] "Oh, well, maybe you're right..." Cecilia blushed mildly, when she felt James' hand. Upon noting how good it felt, she also thought of how good Neric must be feeling with all the attention. She didn't want the Void to feel left out, and so told herself that she'd have her time with James later on. Somehow, she was sure he wouldn't mind. Along with everyone else, she then looked to the counselors as they revealed what they'll be doing, her hand freezing over Neric, her mind already visualizing the whole thing. "... Or maybe not..." she nervously spoke, her hand closing and pulled closer to her in an apprehensive posture. She looked down at her four legged friend and then at James somewhat anxiously, just dreading the how stressed she was going to get, let alone the activity itself.

[Assistant] "Rock climbing? That's interesting."  Val's powers could turn useful in this endeavor but it would be better to save up her energy for other activities. She then looked over to the safety gear and then to Jack and laughed. She couldn't picture the both of them suited up in safety gear, it seemed silly. "I guess we have no choice but to wear these." And picks up 2 pairs of helmet, gloves, and harnesses for her and Jack, handing one to him. She gives him a grin, "I bet by the end of this, I can climb faster than you can."

[User]
James would look to the counselors, looking nervous as he looked to Cecilia. They may have survived on their own, but they didn't have to even come close to rock climbing. Though the Void wouldn't show emotion, in fact he looked to them. The boy looking down to Neric for a moment as he speaks. "Please tell me you had prior knowledge or training on rock climbing..."

Neric would look up to James chuckling softly without moving, though his next words may be surprising yet also strange. "Yes actually, though the prior team I was stuck with didn't use ropes about half the time in certain scenarios. One time not even having the safety ideals as they did rappel down a good amount of the cliffside into..." Neric looking up for a moment and thinking before looking at James and continuing. "Ya I know how to deal with rock climbing James. I'll help you two."

[Assistant] Cecilia took a slight amount of comfort from Neric, her hand coming over and resting on the back of her neck, her elbow dangling downward. "Whew, that's good. I don't know about James, but I can use all the help I can get," she said as lightly as she could to the Void, but they could probably tell from her face that she was still fairly nervous and she had a good feeling she would probably stay that way until the climb was well behind her. "Well... we should get our safety gear. Maybe we'll feel a lot better while having it on(?), heh, heh..." she mentioned, trying to sound less anxious than she actually was, but she wasn't at all convincing. Cecilia stood from her seat, and if she was the first to do so, she'd hold her hand to James to get him out of his seat. There'd be little point in doing so, she'd admit, but her mind was understandably somewhere else and he needn't take her hand if he didn't want to. She'd go on with James and Neric to the rack that had sets of gear for both of them.


[System]
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Personality: Charming and friendly at first, Victoria is actually fairly cautious. She's not a compulsive liar, but she values privacy. Can be cold and controlling, and when she's truly angry, she's icy. She comes across as self-assured and confident, always looking to be on top, but actually is rather insecure about her abilities—she knows she's smart, charming, and talented, and uses these skills to her advantage, but she's afraid they'll be taken away at any moment. On the other hand, she's loyal to her true friends to the death. She also takes any secrets she's entrusted with to the grave. Trust is very important to her, but she trusts few—she's always waiting to be used. Because of this, she's secretly very lonely, as most of the people around her are social climbers and yes-men; she really wants real friends.
Bio: Victoria's home life is...cold, to say the least. Her mother and father are estranged, but for the sake of appearances live in the same house. They're fairly rich, and Victoria (somewhat) takes that for granted, but she finally couldn't take it anymore. After eighteen years of being used by one parent or the other to get back at the other, she's had enough, and managed to convince her parents to let her transfer to Teneber, where her aunt lives, so she's finishing her senior year there; away from her parents and all of her false 'friends.' Victoria also prefers talking people to her side rather than fighting them.
~
Animal Form: A black cat with blue eyes. Depending on her mood when she transforms, this cat can be as small as a kitten or as large as a bobcat.
Psychic Strength: Compulsion; her victims rarely notice that something's 'off' about the sudden urge to do as she wishes.
Other:
-has a talent for dance and singing
-has a faint English accent
-athletic, but she's fast rather than particularly strong

[User]
Jolyne wanted to scream, fight back again, anything, but the pain was too intense. Her mind flashed back to that event in her childhood, the agony of that stick ripping through her eye socket. As she felt her blood drain away from her neck, her mind began to fade away into a state of unconsciousness, so much so that Jolyne was unable to hear the soft words that her assailant was saying in between eager drinks. She was on the verge of unconsciousness, about to slip away, before the shock of being drained a second time snapped her awake once more.

After the inhuman creature of a woman had drank her fill, she pulled back and stared straight into Jolyne's eyes. "Are you still with me Jolyne? How are you feeling?" she asked without a hint of irony. "Ha, you-you're not serious, right?" Jolyne murmured through a simper. She would have burst out laughing if not for the fact she had two neat puncture wounds in her neck. The literal pain in her neck was beginning to numb somewhat already. "Oh, so, you do care." Jolyne said sarcastically. "I hope you fall on a stake." she remarked through gritted teeth.

[Assistant]
Tagged: @Larfleeze;@Dirty Dan

"Half-dead, face to face with a fictitious monster and you decide to throw attitude at it. Your manners are appalling but your spirit praiseworthy. I do hope you live long enough to spar with me again. Our interaction was rather amusing." Ysabella brushed a few loose strands of hair out of Jolyne's face, still maintaining her gaze. The festival was continuing on around them, though the sound had faded a bit in Ysabella's ears, her focus so great on the human girl before her. Now that she had finished with Jolyne, Ysabella could continue her hunt to find others to turn. The night was still rather young, she wasn't going to let the perfect opportunity go to waste. "Well my dear, I have other business to attend to. You should sit tight and rest up for a while. I'll send someone with a cookie for you or something." She dropped the girl haphazardly on the ground beside the road where she wouldn't get stepped on by the clueless crowd. "Good luck Jolyne. Oh, I almost forgot..." Ysabella knelt down in front of Jolyne, a stern look upon her face. "You're not going to tell anyone the truth about what happened here, or that you even saw me. Got it?" She waited for some type of confirmation of a successful compulsion before disappearing back into the crowd, abandoning Jolyne to fend for herself.

Pushing thoughts of Jolyne to the back of her mind, Ysabella wove through the crowd like a phantom. Keeping her nose to the air and eyes peeled, the woman waited for someone else to stand out to her... Something that only took a few moments. The sight of a broken attraction caught Ysabella's attention, the woman pausing to stare at the wreckage. There was something familiar about the scent in the air, a feeling that excited the vampire tremendously. "You might still be useful yet, Jolyne." She cooed to herself, turning on her toes to follow the scent. Ysabella couldn't be sure until she caught up with the source, but it was similar enough to Jolyne's scent that it gave her hope. An easy capture if this particular character cared at all for the girl she had abandoned on the side of the road. The search took longer than she had expected, the man wandering from place to place at a fairly decent speed, not staying long in any one area. Despite the randomness in his adventure, Ysabella finally caught sight of the source of the scent she had been following. A large guy, undoubtedly as strong as he looked judging from the state of the carnival game a while back. Looking at him, he didn't look exactly like Jolyne, but the similarities where enough that she was willing to try her luck and see where it got her.

Taking a deep breath, Ysabella tousled her hair and let the tears start flowing. Once she was sure she looked as scared and pathetic as possible, Ysabella ran towards her next target. Latching onto his arm carefully, she looked up at him, noting the huge height difference between them. Tears streaming down her face, Ysabella breathed unevenly as if she had been running a lot longer than a couple of seconds. "P-please, you have to help her. They came out of nowhere, I d-didn't know w-what to do." Allowing her legs to buckle beneath her, Ysabella's body shook with her fake fear.

[User]
Joseph Thawne
Tagged;; Ysabella Mei

As Joseph wandered aimlessly through the crowd of carnival-goers, his hands resting in the pockets of his pants, and his striking, crystal blue eyes gazing ahead of the men and women coolly, the man went over the events, so far, in his head;; something he often did to sort and organize his thoughts. He had entered the carnival, bought an arguably delicious stick of cotton candy, was forced by a boy to smash a faux High Striker machine, gave the same little boy a giant bear from the con-man that ran the faux High Striker machine, and then decided to walk through the festival until the damn thing ended. Jolene was most-likely scamming a bunch of no good thugs into doing her bidding, but regardless, as long as she didn't hurt any innocents, he didn't really care. The girl was old enough to make her own decisions, and although he would stop her from doing anything morally disgusting and/or bad, she was free to live her own life. He had things of his own to take care of. What were those things? Eh...he didn't know, honestly. He had quite a few jobs, and he spent a lot of his time beating up different gangs within the city, so that was a thing.

As he walked passed two giggling school girls - both of whom blushed and giggled even more when his eyes glanced down at their forms - the sound of dashing footsteps caught his attention. A woman - sobbing, make-up smeared, and rough-looking - ran up to him, immediately lashing onto his right bicep. Joseph, on the other hand, didn't even appear startled, pausing in his walking to give the girl his attention, the tip of his hat shadowing his face. "P-please, you have to help her. They came out of nowhere, I d-didn't know w-what to do." That immediately answered any doubts and questions. There was only one girl related to him, and only one girl that would call on him whenever they were in trouble, albeit stubbornly, and that was Jolene...his little sister. Joseph's face didn't change much out of it's stoic, disinterested frown, but you could tell that he was paying all of his attention to the woman. His eyes grew sharper, and almost into a glare, that would break even the toughest of men. His broad shoulders tensed, as he turned his body to the woman, taking his hands out of his pockets. Idly, he cracked the knuckles, the loud, almost brutal sound cracking through the crowd, making some men wince.

"Where are they?" He asked shortly. His deep, low voice, despite holding no extreme emotion, had a razor-sharp edge to it, his crystal eyes practically melting into Ysabella's face.

[Assistant]
Tagged; @mivuli

The girl was bold, he found that he sort of liked her boldness and caught the edge of a smile once more as she spoke. He managed to ease away from some of his anxiety while he listened, her voice had a nice affect to it and there was just something about her. Normally he would have brushed it off as him being over assuming but she was interesting and he wasn't one to let an interesting person weasel away from him. He loved to talk and he'd been wandering all night in solitude and it had started to drain on him before she had showed up.

It was the kind of random thing that did well on his nerves and gave him a chance to finally stop panicking like a lonesome child. He noticed her handshake next, firm and assuring, he let himself flow into his natural drive to speak and to be heard. "Nah, nah. I came with my dad but he got worn out. I'm willing to bet that he went home for the night after stocking up on ridiculous amounts of junk food." a light laugh and a shake of his head. "I've just been hanging around, trying to decide whether to pack it up and go home myself. I've seen this festival a billion times. It's got good memories attached to it but I've been bored out of my brain."

[User]
Tagged: @corrosive

"I can sympathise," Riley said with a light tug of the lips, as Austin visibly relaxed in her presence. She allowed amusement to slither through her for a few moments. He came at ease rather easily in the company of an absolute stranger, amidst tipsy partiers. Was that to say he was trusting, sociable? "The town seems dandy and all but carnivals and I aren't entirely miscible." What she wouldn't give to be home right now. But Austin seemed good company. She cocked her head to the side, fiery ponytail swishing, and surveyed him closer. A clean-cut chap, she would wager. The classic American boy - or, at least, her foreigner's impression of what that entailed. Many parents would approve of him as a friend. He had that look about him: dependable, with a good head on his shoulders.

Riley anticipated discovering how accurate an estimation that was.

"You sound fond of your father. He a special man?" As the question slipped through her lips, Riley caught a glimpse of a woman with a shock of pink hair approaching a tall brawny figure. Hair like cotton-candy, she thought vaguely, bemusement creeping upon her again. She eyed the exchange - muted, from where she stood - before returning her attention at once to Austin.

[Assistant]
Tagged: @Dirty Dan

Ysabella had never seen such a glare on a human before, a look that almost surprised her out of her act. Inhaling shakily, she turned her head and pointed in the general direction that she had left Jolyne at. "Th-this way. Hurry!" Still attached to the man's arm, she began pulling him in the direction she had arrived from. Sighing internally, Ysabella realized how tedious this particular hunt was going to be. As she pulled him along urgently she had to be careful not to use her full strength so as not to give herself away too soon. "I'm so glad I found you. I thought we were goners for sure." Keeping her eyes fixed on the path in front of her, Ysabella gritted her teeth against her impatience. Already she was feeling the itch in the back of her throat, a feeling that could only be removed by consuming more blood. Sighing silently, Ysabella allowed a moment to wonder about Jolyne and how she was holding up. She had been pretty hungry when she attacked her, a thought that brought a small hint of a smile to her face.

Feeling eyes on her from the crowd, Ysabella glanced out of the corner of her eye to spot who had seen her. For a fraction of a second, the woman's eyes locked onto a young girl with bright red hair before she disappeared into the crowd with the muscular guy in tow. "Sorry, here I am dragging you into trouble and I can't even remember your name." She said, flashing a sad but worried glance back at her prey before hiding her face from him again, finding it rather difficult to maintain her composure under such an intimidating gaze. "We shouldn't be far now, just around that corner. Hurry." Tugging a little harder to emphasize her words, quickening her pace from a jog to a slow sprint.

[User]
Finishing off her candied apple, Victoria smiled to herself, enjoying the atmosphere. She loved people-watching; seeing lives flash by in the faces of passersby. The two at her side were chatting quietly, conversations going on all around her, so she hopped down off her stool and wandered back into the crowd. She waved to those she knew, smiling in return, but everyone was already grouped off, and although many waved her over to join them, she wanted to strike out on her own tonight. Waving off their invitations, she strolled through the crowds until she came to a game she knew would be fun.

Archery was her sport, but Victoria had always had a good eye for aim. She slid up to the water pistol booth, giving a smile to the nervous teenager manning the game. "Dollar for a game?" she said, flipping him a bill with a wink. He stuttered out an affirmative, and she took up the plastic little gun, cocking a hip to the side. "Haven't played one of these in quite a while," she said demurely. She didn't need to charm anyone here, this wasn't a poker table, but it never hurt to be modest.

Of course, when the bell rang and she knocked three pins down right off the bat, she kind of blew the 'shy city girl' impression out of the water. Whatever. Winning was fun.


[System]
Nicknames: Known by his middle name, Robert, but more specifically, Rob. Hates being called "Jack."

Age: 24

Favorite Song: Panic Attack - Dream Theater. Rob practiced the drums to this song constantly, and still does on occasion, although his technical skill has moved far past this.

Appearance:

Rob is in the middle of what he deems a "transitional period." After deciding to grow out his thick brown hair some time ago, hoodies have been making a comeback with him, and fast. His beard, however, had been on his face since he'd been able to grow one.

Physically fit, although slightly malproportioned, Rob is extraordinary strong in the arms and chest but albeit normal below the waist. He's taking up hiking to compensate in recent years.

Hobbies: Drumming, hiking, drinking, smoking (old habits), and most things seclusive. He has a habit of journaling, although he tried quite hard to hide it.

Personality: Most people erroneously assume Rob to be generally bi-polar, and very nearly sociopathic. In reality, he can just be particular, forward, distant, and driven.

Balancing a rigorous, unyielding regimen on practicing his instrument and being seclusive with a loud, abrasive personality at night, Rob tends to throw people off with the things he deems with his time. Even those closest to him never really get to see a change in his pattern, or ever feel rather close to him. Simply put, Rob is aggressive about what he deems important. Whatever he desires, he goes for. He's unconcerned with feelings, social structure, or rules.

History: Growing up in the same town as the rest of his bandmates, Rob faced a lot of personal conflict and issues with his own identity. He was the only adopted child of two very wealthy, but very busy parents, and eventually raised himself up. Rob juggled and toyed with many hobbies, before eventually settling on the drums, and managing to practice nearly every night since Junior High. His drive eventually led him to several of the friendships that resulted in the band. Whether these are genuine or circumstantial friendships, Rob still isn't sure of. All he knows is that this band could be his ticket out of that dreadful town.

At the very least, this tour will be.

[User]
A long time had passed around Rob. Maybe an hour, maybe a few. It was hard to tell.

He had existed in an odd median between asleep and awake on the park bench, occasionally looking through his sunglasses, seeing people passing by, giving slight stares as they walked across in front of him.

Shaking himself, he slipped his phone out of his pocket, ready to face the reality:

Please Come Back.

Rob gave a slight grimace at the response.

He knew he had hurt Jane by leaving. But it was for the best. If he had stayed, he wasn't sure how to react. Embracing a person who had embraced another—even in some slight, meaningless way. Perhaps he was being much too demanding of her. Not recognizing the strength it must have taken to deny Lena. The little concessions she (and him) had made to be with each other.

It was so odd, being so accountable to another person. The very same communication he was demanding from Jane was also demanding upon himself—to allow someone else to enter his own head, understand who he was on his most visceral level.

It was time to face facts.

…

He returned to the room soon after, finding Jane asleep in the bed. The way she was positioned was not the same as when he left her. Had she gotten up? Had she been away to see someone?

Thoughts such as those reminded him of his own weaknesses. Images of Zoe plagued his mind, and he decided that whatever Jane had done or whoever she had seen, was of little importance.

Things weren't supposed to be this way. Entering into a relationship with a best friend was supposed to be so much simpler. And yet Rob had never experienced a relationship that demanded so much of him as Jane did. Perhaps it was easier to mess things up with a stranger than someone you care so much about.

Rob decided to wait in the kitchen, not wanting yet another bedside confrontation. So much of their time had been spent with each other, each morning and night, only to awaken the other to discuss some hard or sad news.

Not anymore.

Rob made some coffee for himself and Jane, taking a cupful and leaving the rest on the warmer. He pulled out his phone, googling the band's name. Hoping for some vapid reactions to clear his head.

After reading the daily tabloids and blogs on what they had been doing, he tossed the phone to the couch, drinking his coffee in the relative silence. Without the digital connection, he lost track of the time that past. It might have been minutes or hours, but either way Rob waited, until Jane emerged from the room.

"Sorry," he had said. "I was going to get in bed, but…I don't know. I guess I didn't want to keep talking about stuff like this in bed."

He took another sip of coffee. "I left this morning because I got freaked out. I'm not used to dealing with this stuff with another person. Usually…with other relationships, it's so much simpler. Because I don't mind if I end that relationship. But I just don't want to fuck up so bad I end up fucking up regardless."

He tried to laugh to himself. "But I'm not mad at you. I guess I just don't trust myself enough to respond the right way without prior thought. That's why it's easy for me to talk with Vicarious, I guess. If I fuck up with them, no harm done. But if I fuck up with you…?"

Rob looked down to the floor. "Well, I don't want to fuck that up."

He scratched his elbow and thought for a moment, then: "Maybe we all want to run away from our feelings."

So he elected to stay, wait, and listen.

[Assistant]
Jane had finally awoken from her second sleep of the day, but she opted to lay in bed for a few moments to stare at the ceiling before getting herself up. The talk with Andy and her nap had made her feel better, but a dark cloud was still looming over her, and the fact that Rob wasn't in bed with her yet was a great reminder.

She found a large tee shirt on the floor and began to pull it over her body as she opened the door, but she stopped in her tracks at the sight of Rob on the couch. Why was he waiting out here for her? Why hasn't he come in the room to be with her?

She finished pulling the shirt down as she approached him, then sat on the coffee table across from him.

It was nice to hear his words - his thoughts similar to hers - but Jane's pride kept her demeanor stone cold as she listened to him. While her ego worked on her outside, her heart tugged at her from the inside, though, telling her to get over it, that it wasn't important enough to stay upset over.

"I get what you mean," she began as she cleared the nap from her throat. "You know me, I usually don't give a fuck about anything." That caused her to chuckle quietly.

"But, I do care about you. A lot. Sometimes, I think, too much. It drives me crazy. I want to be angry at you so badly for running away from our discussion. After I tried so hard to talk to you instead of just fuck you." Her own words made her wince. "See?"

She stood up from her seat on the coffee table and positioned herself next to him on the couch, and her arms wrapped around his bicep as her eyes locked on his. "Let's stop tip-toeing around each other, yeah? I think it's doing more harm than good." She leaned in and kissed his arm. "I'm sorry about what happened with Lena. And I'm sorry everything's been so weird."

After a conversation like this, Jane hoped that things could finally be normal again. Ever since their disagreement about the single, it seemed as though there was always some sort of obstacle their relationship had to overcome. She wanted to finally be able to relax with him without any sort of tension or weird energy lingering in the air - just like it was when they were younger, when they didn't haven't anything to fight over.

"Look, Rob," her voice was growing more hoarse as she continued. "Things are only going to get crazier for us out there. Let's make sure it doesn't get to us, yeah? I..."

She began to cough, causing a halt in her sentence. That sentence, however, contained the words she wasn't certain she wanted to say to him. How she was truly feeling.

"I guess that's enough talking for now, yeah?" She whispered before coughing a bit more. She couldn't bring herself to confess how desperately attached she was to him. That she loved him. By relationship standards, it was all too fast and crazy for her to feel such things, but she reminded herself that what they had wasn't exactly normal. Jane had always been codependent on Rob in a strange way. Whether it was running to him during times of chaos or him saving her from the bar at 2 AM. Still, she decided to wait.

"I got one day left of bed rest before we have to deal with all the bullshit again." Her hand had moved to his chest, and her fingers slowly grazed it back and forth. "We're cool, right?"

Jane's mind flashed to the fact that Tob had been growing closer to Zoe. It was probably all innocent, she had decided, so she kept her thoughts to herself for now.

[User]
Rob had known Jane was upset at Rob for leaving. No amount of apology or explanation was going to reduce that hurt. Rob was mad at himself for having to resort to that option, but couldn't say he regretted it. Being able to clear his head was worth the effort.

It was all escapism, when it came down to it. Discussing this sort of thing with Jane was difficult enough, especially knowing her own penchant for ignoring such discussions. Acting out of character for him had been sure to be shocking, so he understood the anger. He just needed go get away. It reminded him of an earlier time:

It was a day or so after one of his most explosive arguments with his father. A simple mundane conversation turned bitter by underlying anger. In the home, Rob felt as if he was a ghost. His mother would occasionally act as a medium, passing messages between father and son so as to not have the two collide any more.

So one day, he slipped away. Told his mom he'd be back in a few days, and loaded up his car, and left. He'd drive down the nearest roads he could find, acting solely on impulse. He'd drive until his car would run out of gas, before filling it back up and just keep going on. His only guide to where he had ended up were state lines. First Nevada, then Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, South Dakota, and Montana. For nearly forty hours, he drove on and on and on, only sleeping for brief stints. He was filled with caffeine, cheap cigarettes, and an unrelenting, unveiling drive.

And somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Montana, he stopped. Stayed overnight in a hotel, cleared his mind, then found his way back home over the next two days.

The experience remained one in his mind that felt so purely alive. The experience was one is his most favorite in his life. On that road, there were no goals. No worries or responsibilities. No parents, no friends, no family. Just you…and the road ahead. Total, absolute control.

It was something he missed feeling. Now, in this kitchen with Jane, in a town far from home. In the middle of a tour, with responsibilities and essentially a job, he had ever longed for it.

Right now, however, there was Jane, and himself. The person he cared for most in the world, wanting him. Upset with him. Wanting to fix the problem together. For all his thoughts and fantasies of leaving it all behind, she never appeared in them. And perhaps that was the worst feeling.

He wanted to make things right. Not only fix things with Jane, but with everyone else. The band, the manager, the interviewers, the audience, all of them.

And the only way to start was getting back on good terms. And that meant ignoring the problem. Pretending that everything was ok. Pretending that all of his mind-wandering and his walk this morning made him normal.

Oh, he was reverting back to his old self again. Brick by brick, he was building his persona up again, telling himself that if he pretended all was right, one day, they really might be.

Time would tell. For now, there was a matter of Jane.

"You're right," he said softly, "It'll only get crazier from here."

He slipped an arm around Jane and pulled her close to him. "That's enough talking," he agreed. "We have the rest of the day to ourselves."

Thinking of her honest words of what she'd rather do, Rob slipped away with her into the bed again.

Some people longed sexuality their relationships for the self-pleasure. Others, for the selfless act of giving it to the other.

Rob loved it because the moment after was the only moment in his life where he thought of absolutely nothing.

That was the true escape.