[System]
"It's a... trap?"

Sprite:
Nicknames/Title: Having never lead his own congregation, Heike has no official or unofficial titles.

Gender: Male

Marital Status: Forever Alone

Age: 18

Sexuality: Not so much Asexual as unexplored and annoyed by the idea.

Family Ties: His former Master, Werthmann

Class: Ex-Priest

Weapon Mastery(ies): Staves (Not in use), Spears

Inventory: Iron Spear
Vulnary x3 (2)

Personality: Heike is an open book when it comes to his current mood. Whether it be annoyed, excited, depressed, or angry. Despite this he isn't particularly prone to mood swings, and generally adopts a fairly neutral disposition. He is also a man of firm conviction, perhaps a little too firm. His allies will always be his allies, his enemies will always be his enemies, right will always be right and wrong will always be wrong. It takes the most extreme of circumstances to change his mind, however it's not impossible. In fact, it's happened at least once in his past.

A past he is not comfortable speaking of. Despite being an open book on his emotions, his history is a door he prefers to keep firmly shut. He will shoot down any attempts to uncover it with a smile at first, and then with escalating irritation and anger quickly afterwards. He's lost more than one traveling companion over the other being too nosy.

Aside from this, his history as a priest has instilled him with a great passion towards the sick and wounded, and he always tries to carry healing supplies with him into a fight, sticking close to his friends in case of an emergency. While he has steeled himself towards a more bloody path in life, he will stop fighting to tend to the wounded if the situation is dire, even leaving himself open in the process. It's resulted in him receiving scorn and praise in equal parts.

Biography: Heike was given to the priesthood of one of the many churches in the capital of Frosspeak at a young age. He was one too many mouthes to feed for his family, and they were compensated fairly for his future service. While many followers became monks, illuminating the darkness of the world with the scriptures and magic, Heike was taken instead to be raised in the arts of healing. A talent he excelled at from an early age. In the middle of the city, there was no shortage of illness, especially in the area his church was located. He spent years practicing with herbs, and studying the scripture, until he finally earned his right to use a staff.

At that point in his youth, not even saving a life filled him with as much pride as carrying his own staff.

It was presented to him by Master Werthmann, a figure of authority within the church, one said to even associate with His Holiness from time to time. He was a man built like a berserker and gentle as a mother. Their first meeting inspired Heike with awe, and he threw himself at the large man's knees, begging to be taught under him. All the pride he had been filled with at receiving his staff was cast away from that one chance to follow this man.

And follow him Heike did.

They left the inner city, and he found his new home in largest church in Frosspeak. It was a massive cathedral where, if the congregation was blessed, His Holiness would even preach a sermon on occasion. Here Heike found his new home, with a new teacher, and a new purpose.
Sadly, that purpose seemed to be more scripture. While the monks honed their magical abilities for the assistance of others on the road, the Cathedral was in the wealthiest part of the city. Very few sick that weren't nobility ever made their way to the building. Instead, Heike's skills rotted while he was taught to give sermons, eventually destined to lead a congregation instead of healing the sick. It was never a fate that sat well with him, but it was a fate he resigned himself to all the same.

Everything changed very quickly for him on his sixteenth birthday though. Prince Alexandro of Jotenvarr had fallen extremely ill, and Master Werthmann was dispatched as an emmisary to assist the Kingdom's priests in their efforts to cure him. More as a measure of goodwill (and Heike now suspected, a bit of espionage) than anything else. The Kingdom's priests were competent after all, and doubtless didn't want Master Werthmann directly treating the prince for security reasons. Heike accompanied his master on the journey, and stayed in Jotenvarr for the better part of a month while the prince recovered.

Meeting the man who would rule Jotenvarr changed Heike's life, and likely destiny. They didn't speak often, but there was a... magnetism to the prince that drew Heike to him. A genuine goodness, and powerful charisma. It was the same sort of awe that took hold of him the first time he met Master Werthmann. Alexandro was a person to admire, a person to follow. That, and being able to help someone sick again had helped remind Heike why he had fallen in love with the church in the first place.

It was what he considered the best month of his life, and upon leaving Jotenvarr he felt... empty.

Almost to the day, one year later Heike left the priesthood, in such a violent temperament it was muttered about for weeks afterwards. He managed to make his way out of Frosspeak unaccosted, despite expecting to be killed before he even left the Cathedral. Once his homeland was behind him, he snapped the head of his staff off, as a final breaking away from his old life. He did work in a border town for a time, trying to find a purpose for his life. When the calling came from the palace to find guards for the king, Heike didn't hesitate to set on the road towards the capital. He had a blacksmith fit his former staff, now a walking stick, with an iron spearhead, and he practiced fighting with anyone that would travel with him on the road.

By the time he reached the capital, he was far from a seasoned warrior, but his burning determination would hopefully make up the difference.

[User]
With the tip of a great-sword only inches from his face, the assassin's demeanor remained hidden underneath his hood as he slowly lowered his hand and dagger to his side, taking a position of ease instead of one of battle readiness. After a long pause and no response to Claude's comments, the man lunged forward suddenly. The on lookers of Trignita, the Royal Guard, and Davos would be sure that the assassin would immediately impale his own head on Claude's blade if he didn't completely vanish as he lunged.

The streak of dark grays left behind were barely visible to those who believed they were even there, as the assassin reappeared behind Claude in almost the same instant that he lunged, crouching low with his dagger ready to strike. "Normally, I would end you silently, but you need to be taught a lesson," he remarked as he rocketed into a standing position and thrust his small blade up towards the back right side of Claude's neck.

[Assistant]
Claude

Needless to say, Claude anticipated his intial strike to be dodged. What made assassins so cumbersome was not their brute strength, like with a mercenary or axe fighter, but their speed.

He was faster than most, Claude would give him that. However, the mercenary was more reckless and crazy than most too.

The incoming knife to his throat would've been nigh impossible to dodge, but that wasn't the plan since the start.

Claude's fighting style, as it should have been obvious to his squad, was one handed. He lunged forward his sword using only his right hand, while his left hand was left hanging by the side, in case something like this happened.

He put his hand right in front of the incoming knife, it piercing through his flesh and perhaps even breaking a bone or two. Still, the mercenary gulped it all down and took the man's hand, knife and all.

"Yo, got nothing better than that?" His grip was cruel and relentless. Despite his injury, the man's strength had all but faded away. "Because if it is, I'll sob for poor king Alexandro, yo!"

The man shouted, grinning again. The thrill of battle and of getting injured. It was one of the best feeling for the mercenary, and many looked at him the wrong way for this.

He took his right arm back, spun his sword around and them aimed to jam it in the assassin's foot, to stop him. Afterwards, he would take his sword back, take a step forward and would plant his foot firmly on the floor. With the Assassin now in his grasp, he could most certainly not escape from his next attack.

He would swing his arm, along with the assassin, overhead and then slam him against the floor right in front of himself.

After hitting the floor, Claude would go on to hit the man's face with the hilt of his sword to knock him out.

If the assassin got out of his grasp by any kind of miracle, Claude would step back and see what his next move would be. These Royal Guard folks couldn't possibly be pushovers if they were tasked with protecting the oh-so-all-mighty-king.

[User]
The only thing to hit the soft grass in front of Claude was his own bloodied hand. While he was sure that his opponent was firmly in his grasp during the down swing, the flailing lanky assassin's body was replaced with the familiar streaks of gray as Claude struck the earth with a thunderous impact. After a moment of glancing back and forth, a loud whistle in the distance drew the attention of both the red combatant and the audience. Standing over fifty feet away and thirty feet up on top of the south courtyard wall, with his back to the sun, was Claude's foe. Or rather, two of the assassin's silhouette stood on the wall as their images blurred the space between them.

The distance between the figures increased along the wall until they were on the due east and west edges of the courtyard, showing off that this man was to crossing the one-hundred foot courtyard and the walls on both sides fast enough to produce stable images of himself on both sides. With a smirk visible underneath the hood, the images rose one hand each, and perched over the walls, kneeling towards the center where the others were. And in a blink of an eye, both images of the assassin sprinted down the walls and leaped at Claude from either side.

Upon their arrival, the assassin began slashing and stabbing at Claude from both sides with a flurry that made Aika's electric-powered swordplay look like an incapacitated soldier by comparison. With so much effort devoted to speed, Claude's armor was able to take the brunt of the onslaught, but he could not get away without several cuts before trying to retaliate.

[Assistant]
While Squad Quinque discussed their course of action, the bandits began creeping through the ruins towards them. While by no means a professional force, these men had fought and killed beside each other many times, and no words passed between them now that the alarm was raised. Their scout had spotted Hiro's bow, and made the assumption that at least one magic user was amongst them, so they took what cover they could as the approached, slowly spreading out in a ring to make use of their slight numerical advantage.

They seemed content to hold back for a bit, only moving forward cautiously, either waiting for an opening, or trying to force Squad Quinque to make the first real move. From what the recruits could see, there seemed to be a good mix of axe users and sword users, the latter being split quite evenly between men wielding light one handed blades and heavier two handed ones.

It was not clear at the moment which was the group's leader, if they were even with their men.

Up on the slope behind them...

*****

Heike shivered as the wind began to pick up, making him long for his stolen hat. The weather in Frosspeak had been much harsher than this, but he had been in Jotenvarr for awhile now, and grown acclimated to the warmer climate. That, and his attire was much thinner and less cumbersome now, compared to when he lived in his homeland. Priestly garb tended to be a mix of robes and animal furs, to protect those missionaries who preached their sermons on the road instead of in the country's many churches.

His current garb, on the other hand, was vastly different from known priesthood's. While it retained the basic appearance of a holy-man's robes, they fit his form snug rather than loose, with the bottoms raised a bit higher than most as to avoid tripping him up. When he was on the road, his longest sparring partner was a traveling myrmidon, and he learned much of his fighting style from the man. He favored agility over defense, the ability to strike a man's vitals over the stamina to last a lengthy fight.

And currently- agility was something he lacked, tied up as he was. Having gotten the attention of Squad Quinque and warned them as best he could about the coming danger, he set about looking for a sharp stone to work at his bonds with. It was a tougher task than he anticipated, most of the rubble for the ruins being down below, and his current terrain being more dirt than rock. Unbeknownst to him, back at the camp...

*****
One brigand had stayed behind, leaving his companions to deal with the King's Brats. They had dealt with the last batch easily enough, surely the boss would overlook his absense. Grabbing his axe, he took a look upwards, admiring the sun's reflection of his prize's blonde hair.

"Oi, fight two battles without reward? Fuck em', I still need paid for the first..."

Slowly, he began to make his way up the slope, a devilish smile spreading across his face.


[System]
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Caste Ranking: refuge
Physical Description/Appearance:
 Oscar stands 6'1 tall, broad shoulders and is well built. He has short fair black hair and blue eyes. He weighs 200 pounds which most of it is because of muscle. He wears a leather jacket because it is sturdy and has many pockets for easy access to small tools that he carries.

Biography: Despite cold-hearted when reminded about being motherless and have the tough guy attitude, he has a good humour and is a man of his word. His grandfather and mother, when she was still carrying him, seeking for shelter while they were on the run from raiders that attacked their traveling caravan. His father, who was one of the guards, stayed behind to allow his mother and grandfather. Soon after, she gave birth to him however she died during the operation. Oscar never knew his father however his Grandfather was a good enough for a father figure. His grandfather told Oscar about the world before the war and Oscar was fascinated, particularly in the old world tech. So he decide that he wanted to be a person who would be part of a team that would start to rediscover how to make the old tech. So in school, Oscar put all his energy into the skills that will help to achieve his dream. He spend most of his free time with the scientists or maintenance workers. Despite the superior equipment and education the vault, Oscar feels that to truly achieve his dream, he must leave the vault and explore the world and find the old world tech. Oscar also like to draw the things that his grandfather describes in his stories. Although these are not detailed in how they are built but it gives Oscar a idea to what tech he may find out in the outside world.
Work Test Results: fabricator
Other: skills: science, melee weapon, repair and barter

[User]
Jerry stared for a moment at the sign, trying quite hard to read it. No matter how he dried, he couldn't quite sound out the words. They were to big, and different from the words he knew. But, the more he looked at them, the more he realized one very important thing, that none of the others seemed to.

"This am old sign. Maybe they not really go anywhere no more?" It was a legitimate idea, worth considering. A considerable amount of time HAD passed since these signs had been made, and if there was really anything left of where they once lead, would it be worth a visit? "Me think we go... That way," Jerry pointed straight ahead. "It am easier to get back. Also..." Another brilliant idea snuck into his mind. "Maybe we split up? Lot of bright blue suits maybe attract more scary monsters. Fewer bright blue suits means less monsters."

[Assistant]
As Johnny was lent up against a rock wall with the help of mat and Osaki he glanced down to his pipboy, dropping his mangled shotgun to the ground, the barrel bouncing up a bit off of a rock and leaning against his leg. As the weapon settled on the ground he'd drop his wrench as well, the massive thing just barely missing his foot, a real toe crushing danger right there. he had to focus on words, not the words of the song he was playing through his pipboy's larger than normal speakers, but to the words everyone else was saying. The ringing in his ears just wouldn't go away completely. That annoying white noise just lingered and lingered and lingered. They spoke about finding shelter, that much he gathered, there were two options from what he could put together . Pulling his pipboy up so he could look at it he'd struggle to get his other arm up as well so he could turn the nobs and dials, though once he did he'd flip from the map to the radio. Moving a bit he'd try and determine which way the signal was strongest, flipping through various radio stations as he did, trying to get an idea for what was out there. Due to his pipboy's modifications he could detect radio signals a bit further out than the others could, and that helped some. "Need more parts... if I had more I could boost our range. Boost our" and then he lost his train of thought. That throbbing came back with a vengeance in his head and his sides screamed in protest at him as he turned a bit more than he should trying to find a radio signal that was stronger than the rest.

Settling himself back against the wall he'd close his eyes, squeezing them shut as if to silence the white noise in his head. Was getting harder and harder to focus. "Found some... someth.something. yeah found. what did I find?" His arms falling to his sides as he glanced to his pipboy. "Found strong radio signals. Can follow them, find" and then Jerry had his moment of brilliance which murdered Johnny's train of thought. "Jerry.... it's scary how perceptive you can be sometimes... "

[User]
Seems that everyone was to preoccupied to care about her. Still at least she wouldn't be alone even if they didn't listen to her. It was a bit disappointing that their wasn't a spare gun but then again it could be worse at least they had some. The only reason she wanted one was so she could take care of herself but if their weren't enough to go around it was probably better to have their best armed with what little they had. Ruth decided to pick up a bag that looked in alright shape as she didn't want it splitting open. Looking through her bag it was pretty basic stuff.

After a few minutes their was a very load noise followed by a beam of light. The vaults door had been opened and their was a warm breeze coming from outside. Ruth decided to walk slowly towards the exit gradually getting used to the Suns brightness. Once outside she scanned the horizon looking at what was left of the world. All she saw was dusty wrecks from a much better time. "Dead in the vault or dead outside the vault" Ruth muttered to herself wondering how they could live outside. The only thing that kept her going was knowing that the refs who came to the vault managed to make life for themselves out here and their blood flowed in her veins.

Ruth just stood silently not sure what to do or say. It was only when people started talking about what they should do and were they should go. The general consensus seemed to be that they should find some shelter which she agreed was a good start. She heard Jerry mention about splitting into smaller teams which seemed like a terrible idea as it would be easier for people or some irradiated monster to pick them off one by one. Another boy spoke up she thought his name was John or something similar and he mentioned picking up radio signals which might be promising as it showed people were living out here but then again the signals might be trap used to lure in unsuspecting travellers. Ruth believed she had to make her voice heard and tell them her opinion "well I agree we should all head in the direction of those buildings otherwise we will die without shelter. Also it's no good us splitting up otherwise we're just a bunch a small easy targets and it's much safer in numbers. Another thing we can't be to trusting around any of these waste landers as they are desperate for any supplies. Lastly I think we need a leader so we can have a representative for when we do meet people so we can send one person to talk to them on behalf of the group". Ruth let out a huge breath after that long speech she just gave. After getting her breath back she was slightly red feeling a bit embarrassed as she never was one for public speaking.

[Assistant]
"Leaving me behind wasn't very nice, y'know." said the stranger, making Jolene jump for the umpteenth time today. "Mr. Bogeyman down there almost killed me." he continued, referring to the mutant that had just plummeted to its death, moments ago. Jolene felt ashamed at having basically left a person to die at least twice today. His voice seemed slightly tremulous, showing the intense stress that everyone in the vault was feeling. Jolene was about to apologise when the sound of a gun cocking interrupted her, prompting her to turn, facing the Vault enterance where the noise had came from. A small group stood opposite them, each of them somewhat recognisable, with one in particular holding the gun, albeit not aimed at either Jolene or the guilt-tripping newcomer. "Yeah, this place isn't safe. We're headin' out." he finally stated. "I won't stop you from leaving." he mentioned, before turning back to the Vault door, only for two more new arrivals to suddenly show up - with one of them bizarrely crawling on all fours.

Jolene faced her messy haired companion and voiced her concern "We should leave before more of those things realise there's no one left and decide to climb up the elevator." With one more glance towards her new companion, she followed the other four men out of the vault, leaving behind everything that she ever knew. Her parents...she had already saw her father die, all those years ago, and her mother had passed not too long ago. It was hard, so very hard to cope, but for now, she had to push all of that to the back of her mind. Tears welled in her eyes, but Jolene attempted to put on a professional facade, exiting the dry wooden door after the others. The blaring of the sun certainly slapped her in the face like a strong hand, but it only affected her one visible eye - she covered that with the back of her hand, carefully glancing around at the others. She didn't know them, having been a year ahead of them all in school, but some of them were familiar. The large guy, for instance; she often tutored him whenever she had time, per his parent's request. His name was Jerry a... nice guy. The others, she didn't know all that much. However, her eye was immediately drawn to the guy leaning against the side of the cave - the one that had been crawling. "Oh no..." She whispered, rushing over to the man. Her first-aid kit was immediately slapped open, and Jolene glanced at the others. "Do any of you know what happened to him?" Now that things were calming down, she could finally focus on the thing she was actually good at, before her emotions spilled over. Her voice remained calm and steady, professional...like a real medic, she hoped.

As the small girl started ranting about what they needed to do, Jolene glanced over to her, her right eyebrow raising slightly. "I believe that we should get somewhere I can treat this guy better. I also believe that..." She peered closer, before turning back to injured guy, taking out one of the eight Stimpacks from her kit, "A 'leader' isn't necessary at this moment. Sending one person out to talk seems foolhardy, considering we don't know how violent these, uh...Wasters are." Having said this, Jolene then lightly flicked the needle edge of the Stimpack with her finger, experimentally sending some liquid flying through the air.

[User]
Jackdaw Missouri
Near the Vault Entrance
Tagged;; Everyone

Jackdaw listened to the others with half an ear, whilst he busied himself with making sure that his equipment was stable. Regardless of what they chose, he already had his plans - those buildings in the distance sure was interesting, and they'd probably hold some very valuable information for seeing what was going on in this Wasteland. True, diving themselves up would make them smaller targets, but, from what he saw, the others weren't really made for...well, conflict, he felt like. There wasn't any arrogance to the thought - he was just going off of what he knew of the others at this exact moment. The red-haired girl, the thug, seemed pretty good with what she got, and the large guy was notorious for being very strong in the Vault - other than his retardation. Maybe they'd be useful, but he didn't really know. Whether they stayed together or not, Jack had absolutely no thoughts on dying out here. He had finally left the vault, and if his dad could survive out here with a pregnant wife, then he'd do the exact same thing. The man had left him some audio-recordings in his Pip-Boy, not mentioning anything specific about escaping the vault, but just giving him stories about the outside world.

Since the audio recordings were made for him to sleep, back when he was younger, they didn't give out every gritty detail...but maybe, once he found a safe place, he could listen to them and see if there was any useful information within the messages. If there wasn't...well, at least he'd tried. Coming back into the 'real-world', Jack looked down, noticing that he was sitting on a flat rock, his assault rifle's magazine lying on the ground beside him. Slipping the loaded clip into the gun's chamber, Jack slung the weapon over his backpack, while grabbing his 10mm pistol from where it had been sitting beisde him. His mind was made up. It'd be a bit dangerous, for sure, moving down the road with the sun blaring all around him, but at least he'd be moving on. Staying by the vault seemed more and more stupid, especially with those shitty monsters killing every child and mother inside. Damn...

"I'm headin' to the buildings out there." Jack spoke up to the others, for the first time this entire day. He mentally wondered if he should just leave it at that...but there were some useful people in this group, and leaving them seemed pretty stupid. Not to mention, he couldn't just leave them all behind without having a very guilty conscience. That thought didn't even cross his mind. He began talking again, peering over at the others, before looking out at the buildings. Dust and sand blew over his eyes, and the man squinted slightly. "You can come if you want. I want to see if there's anything useful, like a map or some information. Maybe normal people. " He walked up to the broken, cobblestone road, his sidearm gripped in both hands. Jack glared through the dusty air, looking for any signs of hostile people, any mutated beasts, any of those evil, drug-addicted raiders his dad had told him about, all those years ago. It seemed pretty clear. Jack glanced back at the others.

"Better to act than wait, right?" At least, to him, it seemed that way. The man waited for responses, while keeping his eyes peeled for anyone or anything approaching. if they declined, then Hell, he'd go by himself - no skin off his bones. But, if they came with him, then that'd be a bit better. Safer, too. However, for some reason, he felt like he'd regret speaking up...like some jackass would piss him off a few minutes after they set out, and things would escalate. That'd probably be his paranoia speaking, though. The least he could do was be patient and hopefully nice. His calmness was still winning out, so hopefully it was still there while he was with these people. He didn't really wanna snap at them and get guns shoved in his face. Then, he'd have to kill more people, and he didn't really feel like dealing with that guilty feeling.

[Assistant] Oscar stood up. He is still tired from his climb but judging from the stories and looks from the wasteland, it is either live or die. It is a brutal way of thinking Oscar thought to himself. "I will come. I think getting some food is not a bad idea. " Oscar said to Jack. " It is also safer in numbers" Oscar needs to focus something else in an attempt to forget. Oscar is not only going to look for food. Any tools, tech, backpack maybe. Who knows. Anything can be helpful. "Let's start moving before it gets dark. We need shelter and a fire." Oscar said to the group " Who knows how to make a fire?" Oscar hopes that these young adults have what it takes to survive out here in the wastelands. Only time will tell.


[System]
character sheet:
appearance:
Young man with what apear to be the tatoos of veins running over the skin of his entire body as far as can be seen. But they are not in the veins of a human, something quite different, and they are brown in color. His palms and fingers are nearly completely covered with intersecting circles. On his face the lines seem to flow from his eyes like a line of tears that then branch over his head which can be seen through very short dark hair on the sides of his head. The top of his head has a little longer brown hair naturally stylish as it swoops off a bit to one side.
age: 24
bio: Andrew was never one to stay close to home. Nor to have close friends on his travels. But he managed to get too close to a sorcerer's bad side, and it's been mysery ever since. He retreated into his Castle, tried to be discrete, but it's obvious he gets out. He has killed people, he horrifies himself, and burns all that remains but it can't take the memories. The last thing he wants is someone making his life even harder.
other

[User] The sight of his gloves registered just before the collision. Andrew wasn't sure if he was breaking her fall, or if her fall was breaking him. He instinctively turned his head and covered his face with one arm. The other arm reached toward the ground to try and soften their fall. It knocked the wind out of him and he gasped for air too stunned to be aware of anything but the pain.

[Assistant] Angel practically screamed as she landed on him. she would fall unconscious after the hawk did one last attack before flying off. Angel would roll onto the ground with a thud.

[User]
Andrew peered out from behind his elbow. She was unconscious again. He lay there on his back, stairing at the sky above just breathing.

"Why won't you have me alone?" He asked at last.

He answered for her in a higher pitch "None of your business, forest beast."

"Well if that's how you feel about it, I'll just go back in my castle now, and you can stay out here with all the other forest animals."

He slowly rose from the ground, taking his gloves with him into the building. He made rounds to check every door and window was locked. It took him quite a bit of time to get to all of them. He walked slowly keeping pressure on his wound from the first fight. He ended up in the kitchen to clean his wound and try to bandage it.

[Assistant] The wolves soon gathered after that. They were growling at Angel, who remained out cold. They were surrounding her and they looked very hungry. They attacked.

[User]
Andrew heard growling from just behind the kitchen door. What was after his chickens now? But the loyal dog was not looking at anything inside the coop, but around the front corner of the building. More growls and snarls came from that direction. Andrew walked to the edge of the building and saw the pack gathering around his hunter. She hadn't moved yet.

If they killed her, he wouldn't have to. It was none of his business!

He found himself pulling his gloves off and stuffing them into his pocket. He didn't want people to die, even her. Hey, maybe she'd leave him alone if he saved her life!

He rounded the corner just as the wolves began attacking the woman. Andrew screamed at them trying to draw their attention before they began to feed. He pushed himself into a run. He shouted all the more. A wolf turned on him and he grabbed it's thick coat, holding on as tight as he could. It's barking became a howl of anguish. Two hands would have drained the poor creature more quickly but Andrew needed the left hand free to grab the next wolf that attacked.

[Assistant]
Angel was out cold. She was helpless.

The next two wolves would attack after their first two comrades were killed. There were at least eight in total.

[User]
The first two shriveled bodies fell from his grasp onto the driveway. He made it three steps closer to the woman before he had both fists full again. The animals pawed at him, claws tearing at his legs and side. He screamed and one of the wolves escaped from his grip. It was not so eager to approach him again, it lay down snarling, saving it's energy.

He worked his way closer and closer to the human taking out one wolf after another. At last it was the one snarling wolf staring down Andrew who stood between it and it's prey. Andrew charged but the wolf leapt tearing into his shoulder. Andrew hugged it to him burying both hands into it's coat and it quickly fell lifeless at his feet.

Andrew pulled the gloves over his fingers. He had more energy than he'd had in days. It was a good thing too because he needed to move the human inside. Unlocking the front door he took a coat from the closet and wrapped it around her. Andrew lifted her up in his arms and carried her inside to the parlor sofa. Where had he carried that chain off to?

[Assistant] Angel would wake up after the chains were wrapped around her and such. She gasped and struggled. however, when she realized what had happened, or found out, she would be very confused and such.

[User] The chain held her ankle to a pillar next to the couch. Andrew leaned forward in his chair looking at her earnestly. "I fought off a small pack of wolves to keep you alive. Do you really need to kill me so badly? Can't we just agree never to see each other again?"

[Assistant]
"You can not be allowed to hurt more people. The town is not safe with you nearby."
Angel finally said to him after all this time, eyes narrowed.

[User] Andrew sprang to his feet pacing the rug. "I'm not going to hurt any more people! I didn't even kill you, and I have had ample opportunity. I just saved your life woman! What is your name anyway? You're not from the town, why are you even here?"

[Assistant]
Angel sighed.
"no, but I am helping them."
Angel sighed again.
"...Angel."

[User]
"Angel?"

Angel of Death maybe, but he kept that to himself.

"What do you mean you're helping them? I haven't hurt anyone in weeks! I just want to be able to stop in for supplies and leave in peace. There should be no problems."

[Assistant]
Angel narrowed her eyes at the tone when he said her name. She spoke after that.
"something has been continuing to kill in town. they all say it is you."

[User]
Andrew rubbed the back of his neck.
"I uh, let's say the way I kill has a very distinctive look. You can see the wolves in the morning before I burn the carcasses. It will be very obvious that no people have been dying that way."

[Assistant]
Angel narrowed her eyes.
"They say they smell such a scent whenever someone was found after a kill."
She did not believe him...….yet.

[User]
Now it was his turn to narrow his eyes. He hadn't actually paid any attention to the smells, it wasn't as if they were pleasant.

Andrew went to the window and unlocked it, sticking his head out and taking a deep breath. The wolves were all on the front drive. This window opened into the pleasant side garden, the burn pile off in the distance. He didn't notice anything from here. But maybe he wouldn't notice it.

Pulling himself back inside and closing out the darkness he turned back to the woman.
"Well, do you want to go give the bodies a good smell tonight,or can it wait till morning? You'll have to go in handcuffs either way."

[Assistant]
"the bodies in question have already been buried."
Angel growled. She turned her head away in a huff. Her pride would not let him help her.....yet.
That was especially since she felt like she was chained up like an animal.

"And they were humans....not animals."
She added with a human snarl.

[User] "Well if it had been me, I would have burned the bodies anyway!" No one should have to see a dehydrated person. He was a monster. He grimaced and settled back into a chair glaring at the window.

[Assistant] Angel sighed. She half glared before she looked away. Her locket that she had kept hidden under her shirt...the chain broke. It fell to the ground with a light thud. Angel noticed and quietly gasped, hoping that the creature would not notice.

[User]
Andrew noticed a sound and glanced her way before looking back at the window. What was he going to do with a prisoner anyway?

He stood up, stopped in front of the sofa he shoved his hands in his pockets examining the peice of jewelry from where he was. He didn't care. She probably cared. And just to make sure she knew how little he cared about her or any of her things he left it there. He walked out of the room to take care of what he did care about. Cleaning and bandaging himself up, again.

It would also give her time to get out of the chains, if she could. Andrew wanted to know she was secure, and that he was safe, before he ever thought about sleeping tonight.

[Assistant] Angel struggled for a bit after he left. she ended up wearing herself out. She fell asleep where she was. She had tears in her eyes as she slept. She muttered something about her family in her sleep.

[User]
When he checked in on her Andrew found the words rather comforting. No one could fake sleep talking that well. Also, she was still in chains. Maybe he would wake up in the morning. Still, he locked every door he could between them.

In the morning he poked his head into the parlor just to make sure she was still there. He was on the way to make breakfast for himself, and perhaps just a little bit extra.

[Assistant] Angel would continue to mutter and mumble in her sleep. At one point, she fell off of the furniture and onto the floor with a thud. She groaned and opened her eyes.

[User]
Andrew returned with two bowls of porridge and raised his eyebrow at her new location. He set one of the bowls and a spoon down on the coffee table in front of the couch. He took up his usual place in his favorite chair facing the window.

"Are you still planning to starve to death? I need to know, because it puts a definite time limit on how long I have to plead my case before you're gone."

[Assistant]
Angel growled.
"Why would I trust anything YOU make?"
Besides, she hated porridge, she thought, it was disgusting.

[User]
"I saved your life, remember? I'm not going to waste perfectly good food poisoning you."

Andrew finished off his steaming bowl and then picked up the other. It had cooled on the table to a perfect temperature for scarfing down one spoonful after another. Stacking the dishes on a tray he pulled the key to her bonds from his pocket. He nelt down beside her leaving only the chains around her wrists.

"Now, shall we go see those wolves?" He asked pulling her arms trying to get her on her feet.

[Assistant] Angel growled, choosing not to say a word. She would not make it easy as he took her to see those wolves. She did her best to hold her breath and such. Although, she was questioning other things by this point.

[User]
After she'd had the chance to take in the whole scene Andrew brought her along as he dragged one of the wolves around the house to the burn pile.

"See these branches are bone dry too. He tapped one with his foot and it snapped in half. Any living thing I touch bare skinned ends up like this. It doesn't need any other kindling to burn, a single match will light it all." He explained before risking a question "Does it really smell that terrible?"

[Assistant]
Angel huffed. The smell was not the reason why she was holding her breath. She stopped only to say one thing:
"you'd notice it."

A hawk decided to dive bomb her again at that moment, since they had passed under its' nest.

[User] "Back! Get back!" Andrew shouted at the bird. He turned to face Angel waving his free arm above her head swatting at the bird.

[Assistant] Angel blinked. She gasped. She started to trip backwards. She started to fall to the ground after that.

[User] Andrew turned his attention from the bird to the woman. He reached down to hold one of her arms in each of his hands trying to catch her mid-air. He stepped forward with one leg in an effort to keep his balance and support the weight of another person.

[Assistant] Angel gasped when he seemed to catch her. She blinked and looked at him. She frowned and raised an eyebrow.

[User]
Andrew frowned back at her expression. He straightened up and pulled her upright. With one arm looped through hers he began walking toward the house.

 "I don't know what has gotten into that hawk. You must have threatened it yesterday. Aren't you glad I'm not trying to peck your eyes out?"

He watched for another attack, ready to defend her from it again as needed.

[Assistant] Angel sighed and looked away as he led her back into the castle. She muttered something about hawks always having hated her family for generations. She frowned still. She kept silent for a bit after that.

[User]
Andrew attached a chain to her ankle once they were inside. "You can watch me from the window if you'd like to supervise." He told her before going back out.

He carried one wolf carcass after another over to the burn pile. All the while wondering about that woman. What had she meant about Hawks hating her family? What could be done about the imposter killing local villagers? Could he convince her to go after them instead of wanting to kill him? And if that was the case, what on Earth was he going to feed her?

Standing at the burn pile he cast a fleeing glance back at her window. Striking a match he tossed it on the heap and shoved his hands in his pockets, watching it until there was nothing left but ashes.

He returned inside leaning against the open door frame of the parlor. "You said the bodies in town had a peculiar smell, any other distinctive traits? How were they killed?"


[System]
Themes:* Aiden's Battle Theme
Nickname:Cross, The Prince of Frost, The True Dragon Slayer

Age:19

Gender:Male

Guild: Viper Bolt

Rank:Mage

Personality:He is what one might call an recluse, preferring his own company to that of other, with the exception of Chrome, but that is because she can feed him lots of ice. He is can be a bit rough around the edges, and doesn't really get things like lying, tact, and keeping your opinion to himself. As such, he is not someone who you should befriend if you get easily offended. He does, however, know when he goes to far with his honesty and will do his utmost to apologize for it when he does. His guild mark is on his left shoulder.

*update* Aiden has become a bit more serious ever since the events of greed island, the knowledge and memories he received from Hydrologia as well as the events themselves making him a lot more mature than before, though he is still prone to pick at people with a teasing grin. He has also began to show a bit more of his inferiority complex, an effect of his dragon side beginning to take him over, as well as his icy temper, which can be set off quite quickly if someone knows where to push.

History:Aiden was always different from other children, his eyes and hair were colorless, he is pupils piercing the souls of all who stared into their strange depths, and his anger something that even the toughest of men felt unease around. The reason for this is because dragon's blood ran through his veins. Why? Because his mother, part of a once powerful mage family that has since fallen from grace, had tried to turn her child into a dragon when he was a babe, so as to revitalize the family's former glory by having a dragon in their control. It only half worked, making him half dragon, with no element and no dramatic increase in power. Only a slightly stronger body, and scale like makings ringing his face and covering his fore arms.

Aiden's family saw him as a failure, casting him out of the family home in the cold, unforgiving mountains that surrounded the estate. Aiden, a child of only 5 years, druddged through the cold, trying his best to find some form of sanctuary. He would have died if he hadn't fallen down a hidden crevice in the mountain. It was a long fall, but he had a lot of nice soft rocks to slow his descent, his durable body allowing him to survive the numerous impacts. Barely conscious, the last thing that Aiden saw before he fainted was a giant Ice blue eye, one that reflect his own and in more ways in one. 'So lonely' he whispered on his last conscious breathed, 'why must we always be so lonely'.

When he awoke, he found himself in the middle of a shallow pool of freezing cold water, feeling better than he had ever been before. Getting up, he turned to see a large dragon, with horns and scales the that seemed to be made of solid ice. It was huge, filling up the enormous cavern with ease. The dragon, known as Chronos, told Aiden that he had saved the boy's life, and he expected the boy to repay the favor by seeing to it that the dragon died a noble death in battle, for he was old and fading quickly, not long for this world, at least as far as a dragon is concerned, and he wanted to go about in a blaze of glory and combat. And Aiden, happy to be of use to anybody, heartily agreed. And so it was that for thirteen years he trained with Chronos, learning the Rare Ice dragon slayer magic from the ancient beast. When he turned 19, it was decided that the dragon had nothing else to teach him, and that it was time. The battle that raged as a fierce pine, but in the end, Aiden one that hollow victory and laid his Master, and father, to rest. After that he wandered the land, taking down rogue mages that got in his way and learning, or at least tried, to live in the world of humans. He joined Viper Bolt when he found Chrome on a mission and had proceeded to follow her to the guild hall once he saw she could summon ice, an Element that was rather hard to find in the majority of Fiore.

Magic:Weiss(Water+Ice) Dragon Slayer Magic and Maker magic infused with Dragon slayer magic.

Ice Make: Fallen Grace: A spell that fuses both Dragon slayer and Make magic together, it grants all of the user's Ice make constructs with an aura of intense cold, which helps it resist heat and can cause numbing and freezing of the target's body on impact, depending on the amount of magic put in to it.

Fluid Ice make: Adding an element of water to dynamic contracts, giving them a greater range of motion and flexibility.

Guardians: Comes in variants of Assault, Trap, and Protector as well as normal. Assault have a good balance of armor and offensive capabilities, usually bearing weapons of some kind. Trap is the fastest variant, as it's job is to get in close to the enemy, before unleashing it's payload in the form of either explosions or restraints. Protectors is the slowest, but most durable, bearing many layers of ice, they are employed when something needs guarding, like a fallen team mate or a VIP.

True Dragonslayer Mode: Aiden can call upon his dragon blood to give himself a buff to his abilities, making him a good deal stronger than before and allowing him to fly.

Ice Dragon's Blizzarding Roar

Water Dragon's Roar: Pressure

Water Dragon's step

Ice make: Dragonic Ascension: Weiss Dragon's Twin Phoenix strike

Weiss Dragon's Blizzarding Roar:

Weis Dragon's Freezing Pulse:

Weiss Dragon's Freezing Roar:

Water Dragon's Whirling Deverish:

Water Dragon's Trap Sphere

Weiss Dragon's Trap Sphere

Weiss Dragon's Blizzarding Typhoon

Other:He bears an increased affinity with Dragonic magics, so he is able to more efficiently use and manipulate dragon-slayer magic than any other dragon slayer, due to his dragonic blood. Also bears an extreme resistance to ice and cold based magics.Has no real Martial Arts style yet, just a novice in that regard as he only started when he joined Vyper Bolt. Gets Easily attached to any somewhat friendly female due to his lack of any type of caring motherly figure in his life.

[User]
Xavier

Xavier snapped out of his trance as Gwen called his name, jumping backwards out of instinct and just barely avoiding getting chomped. Before getting a good look at the creature, Xavier started to blast it.

"Tephra God's Bellow," He screamed as a plume of black, super heated tephra slammed into his attacker soon followed by another attack, "Tephra God's Obsidian Spears!" With his hands out strectched he plasted conjured more Tephra, forming it into a spear shape before using his mgic to compress it, then launched it into the ash cloud his last attack had created.

Quickly backing up, he charged up his fist with more magic that he'd love to launch into the face of whatever attacked him.

Aiden

Aiden listened to Skelly talk, wincing every now and then as he moved. The combo between the masked guy and the kid was vicious, because as soon as he got inman engagment with one, another woyld pop up and atrack him, allowing the other ine tonescape and starting thecycle all over again. Focusing back on Skelly, he already knew where he was headed.

"I say me and Sable handle the Index, just tell us what, or who, needs breaking so we can cure everyone on the island."

[Assistant]
Sable Rhodroth - WRETCHED ONE

The scene was tense and filled with flaring magic, the wind blistered from the heat but just as soon Sable opened his mouth to speak, the scene wiped to black. After the narration had finished, Sable sat crossed legs and pouting, contaminated arm bandaged up.

"I can't believe you guys fucking skipped me," he muttered, looking up at both Cynthia and Aiden. "I thought we were a team, a Dragon Slayer trio... what kind of trio skips their friend. I hate you guys and that Hiro asshole," He pursed his lips to one side and looked away before quickly changing his tune and returning to normal.

Standing up, he cracked his neck and marched off alone towards the index finger. "Welp, I've chosen the lava-frosty stuff," he stated gleefully, though he could still feel the lingering affects of the last time. His bones felt brittle and his body seemed far weaker than usual. "If I can master it, I'll become the best in no time."

[User]
Aiden

"First off, stop what your dong, stop it right now. Bad Sable. Secondly, glad we're on the same page, but obviously I'm going to master it, and obviously I'm going to be the best. Why do you seem to have trouble understanding this."

[Assistant]
Aria Hunterblade

"What about the middle finger and little finger? Well regardless, I'll be picking the ring one. So where is your Master Steve?" Aria questioned the twins, scowl ever-present. She was, as usual, leaning against a wall, with crossed arms. With bandaged limbs and in quite a weak state, she saw Sable standing up from his chair and walking off, trying to get to the index finger of the hand-shaped island.

"Sable, take Aiden with you at least. You know you're not gonna get anywhere like that," Aria told Sable's back after Aiden spoke, the flame dragon slayer's bandages palpable. She was quite concerned of his well-being, though she doesn't show it, and instead masks it with her usual frown and scowl.

[User]
Cynthia

Cynthia knocked Sable over the head. "Hey, stop breaking the fourth wall, it's there for a reason. If you're done pissing off the creator, can we get back to our mission?"

She glanced at Aria. "I'll go with you. Not that you need backup, but my healing magic might be able to stave off the effects of the Ethernano for a while." She bowed to the S Class, adding "I'll try not to hold you back."

[Assistant]
Oriel

On top of a tree, there rested a woman. With fair sking, red hair and red eyes, along with some really skimpy clothing. She slowly rose from her slumber and yawned, no, more like grumbled something akin to the call of a beast that just woke up. She rubbed the sleepiness away from her eyes, before looking around and checking her surroundings. "What in the seven hells.... What am I doing here again?" Trying to recall the events from yesterday, Oriel stroked her temples, but only a headache fell upon her. "Goddammit, I can't remember shit... Again. Oh well." She looked down to the floor, and it was several meters away, maybe even a kilometer? The tree was fucking high, after all. Well, what doesn't kill you...

She jumped off the tree and landed safely in the ground, though she still heard her legs crack a bit. "Ouch, that fucking hurts!" Oriel said, before looking around again, and spotting a group of three guys that may or may not have taken note on her, after that fall. They weren't facing that way, but they were still relatively close, maybe the noise alerted them. "Crap, I don't feel like dealing with bullshit right now." She quickly hid behind some bushes and eavesdropped on them a bit. She didn't get everything, but she heard one of them saying he'd go to the 'lava one'. Well, that seemed right up her alley. Maybe she could also get them to take her out of wherever they were. She set her eyes on the guy with long black hair (Sable), sizing him up and taking into account everything she could discern with a single glance.

"Not a bad one... Maybe I'll eat him up." She said, passing her tongue by her lips as if to savor the guy. "The hunt is on, I guess." Her stare was so intently and her intentions so perverse the guy might have felt a chill going down his spine just from her looking at him.

[User] Bristlebane grinned eagerly, he knew it, what kind of golden scabbard didn't have a golden sword. Far to excited to bother making a plan or stand around for another second he ran towards the shiny object, Please be a golden sword, please be a golden sword Bristlebane thought to himself as he ran towards it totally ignoring the scuffle behind him.

[Assistant]
Aiden heard a voice from behind him and turned to see a girl with flaming red hair that seemed to have fallen from the tree quickly hiding herself in some bushes. Finding this very suspicous, Aiden walked over to the bush she was in, making a grunt as he saw her seeming to drool over Sable. 'What the hell was wrong with the women of this island, what do they ese in the walking fire hazard'

"Oi, who the hell are you, and what are you doing spying on us?" As he spoke, he took a stance, not sire what to expect from the woman.


[System]
Age: 25

Race: Kitsune

Appearance:

Personality: Yukiko always does her best to be a font of optimism and cheer. No matter the circumstances, she's the first to smile and the last to frown. She has a reputation for being able to bounce back from pretty severe emotional trauma. However, this isn't entirely true. While it's true that she doesn't seem to be overly affected, she's actually sensitive bordering on fragile, with a deeply-buried pool of despair.. She simply doesn't show it. She's a master at bottling up her emotions, so how she seems to feel and how she actually feels often have no relation whatsoever. Beneath her facade of bouncy happiness, she's ready to cry with the slightest provocation.

History: A member of an ancient tribe of kitsune, Yuki lived the first several years of her life in relative seclusion. Even then, she was remarkably happy, though without the undercurrent of fragility and hopelessness. She spent a great deal of time in the form of a fox, revelling in the freedom it gave her to observe human beings unseen. As she observed them, she found them intriguing, and it led to her manifesting in a human form more often. Her tribe was encouraging and appreciative of this; it had been quite a long time since any members had felt a strong kinship with humans. Eventually, Yuki found herself living with humans nearly all the time. In doing so, the inevitable eventually happened: at sixteen years of age, she fell in love.

She and Kureno Nakajima, a fisherman from a nearby village, spent nearly all of their time together. After five years, they arranged to be married. She was as happy as she'd ever been in her life. On her twenty-third birthday, she began to walk towards him through a crowd of well-wishers, eyes fixed on him and the rings in his hands.

Then came the Anjou's lieutenant.

In a blistering hail of fire, everything Yuki had lived for for the past decade and a half vanished in a blink. Her village, destroyed. Her friends, dead. And her groom, her husband-to-be, was rendered to a pile of ash for spreading sedition about Anjou. She turned into her true form of a four-tailed great fox, commanding her foxfire to emerge and leaping in a blur of bloody light for the lieutenant. He cared little; the gap in power between them was simply too much. In a blink, he flickered behind her, moving too quickly for the eye to follow, and stole a bangle containing an iridescent white gem, her hoshi no tama, the source of her power, from around her tail.

She immediately lost control of a great deal of her powers, leaving her trapped in the form of a human. Her only connection to her true form were the ears and tails, hallmarks of her people. Her command of foxfire was ruined, leaving her with only the faint seduction magic that she had never used. There, lying on the ground, her ceremonial kimono destroyed and her breaths coming in heaving gasps, the lieutenant kicked her over, forcing her to stare into his face. With a smirk, he whispered his name into her ear. Then she passed out.

When she awoke, she was still alone. Pulling herself together, she narrowed her eyes to the Anjou's mountaintop home. She would make him pay.

Skills:

Acrobatic - Yuki is very flexible and athletic, which makes her very well-suited to infiltration and other such things.

Diplomatic - Yuki is excellent at talking to common people. While she's too bubbly and optimistic to be much use in genuinely talking to figures of high authority, she demonstrates a remarkable ability to empathize with the working class.

Actress - As a side effect of being so good at hiding her emotions, Yuki can also fake emotions with relative ease. As such, she can very easily get close to people, or get people to drop their guards.

Powers:

Illusion - Yuki can make herself appear as an ordinary human, without the ears and tails. This takes up a surprisingly large amount of energy, however, so if she enters a combat scenario or other high-stress moment, the illusion dissipates and her true form is revealed.

Seduction - When it is called for (though she prefers to not use it), Yuki can use a combination of normal means and subtle magic to VERY quickly seduce someone of the opposite sex.

True Form, and Foxfire (SEALED) - Yuki, before her ill-fated wedding, had the ability to become either a normal fox, or her true form, a fox as large as a wolf and with four tails. She also has the ability to control Foxfire, a purplish flame that burns with intense heat, but convects very little heat, if any. However, her ability to do any of these is completely destroyed, severed away from the rest of her..

Equipment: Yuki refuses to wear armor. Instead, she wears a heavy ceremonial kimono with the obi undone, shoulders pulled slightly down her upper arms. When the situation calls for it, she can either remove it entirely to reveal a tight-fitting black dress, or pull it over her shoulders and tie the sash to fit into high-society events. She carries a set of six throwing knives in a small, unobtrusive belt worn beneath the kimono, and a pair of long, straight knives are strapped horizontally on her back, also beneath the kimono. She takes great pains to hide her weapons as best she can, because it gives her an edge in negotiations if she isn't seen to be armed. However, she can unsheath them in a blink and use them to terrifying effect.

[User]
Luo Dai wasn't sure how he had arrived at Kado Shrine. One moment he had been walking along a path through the woods, and the next thing he knew the forest had opened up. He stood before a pristine lake and walked along soft tufts of grass. The oppressive aura of prowling Youkai completely dissipated, and there was nothing but a sense of pure serenity. Luo Dai was sure it was still the afternoon, but the sky darkened ever so gently so that the constellations were just barely visible. In the middle of this strange clearing stood a modest shrine with a statue of a fox on display. Thanks to Anjou, many people feared such displays, deeming them taboo, but Luo Dai felt no apprehension approaching it. Kado Shrine. The name came to Luo Dai's head like a distant memory, yet he was certain that he had never been to this place before.

"Don't worry. I'll explain everything once the others arrive." The voice came from a small fox that was resting beside the shrine. Well, perhaps "voice" wasn't the best term for it. Rather, the pure meaning of those words was conveyed without the fox uttering a word.

Luo Dai gave the little fox a pleasant smile. "Others, you say?"

"But of course. Many threads of fate are converging. You would have met up one way or another. I'm just helping you along a bit."

"And who are you?" Luo Dai asked. "The guardian deity of this shrine?"

"Oh no, I'm nothing as grand as that. But I'd rather only introduce myself once, so let's wait for the others."

Luo Dai gave a gentle laugh. "Then I suppose I'd better make myself comfortable." With that, he sat down on the grass and crossed his legs, meditating in this tranquil clearing as he awaited the arrival of the "others," whoever they may be.

[Assistant]
It had been a normal day for travelling for the cat-turned-yokai. While he is planning to take revenge on Anjou, he isn't in a hurry to do it. After all, he's trained for this long. He still had a long life ahead of him, and so did Anjou. There wasn't really any rush to get to him. He was in the heavily yokai populated forest. This was one part of the yokai world where he isn't very familiar with. Rather he knows very little about those living in here. But his yokai aura warned them to stay away, even in his human form. A bakeneko isn't very feared in the yokai world considering that there are a lot more that are more powerful. But he was older than most, more experienced and more powerful. Anyhow, he reached this clearing and he suddenly felt like there was not a single yokai in there... or anywhere really. It was odd, peaceful yes, but unnerving.

Setting his eyes on the shrine, Akira stopped a few meters away from it. Cocking his head to the right, he began to analyze the shrine in front of him. He brushed up on his knowledge about different shrines of minor gods and goddesses but nothing came to mind. But something surfaced from his mind.

"Kado Shrine." He muttered out loud. Keeping his weapons close to him, he approached said shrine. Despite being a yokai, he never was bothered when he entered shrines. Heck, he even sleeps at them when given the chance. Well considering that almost everything is under Anjou's rule, he shouldn't really be surprised. Upon getting closer, he sensed another presence and turned to the human. The human was meditating. Although he would normally try to do something to the human just for laughs, he held back his mischievous personality and sit down, near enough to see the human but far enough to not be a bother.

This looks like a good place to rest anyway.

[User]
'' Chi, chi, chi calls the bird~''  A soft singing voice could be hears, echoing clear through the Suzume no Bochi. The Hitodama danced around on the tune, floating around the graveyard towards a blood red Torii gate.  ''maybe it wants a branch~''  The singing voice contiued her eery song. The singer had learned this one when she was but a young chick in her flock.  ''if it does, hit it with one~'' The singer was a young Yosuzume, who had taken on a human form. There was no one around to see her so there was no real purpose to it. As it seemed to an outsider. The girl, clad in a shinobi shizoku, especialy kept this appearace for the Hitodama that were still present in the graveyard. She dangled one leg off the gate on wich she sat, looking at the graves, time had stopped in this place. Her arms and legs were covered with spelltags, nine to be exactly.

Chi, chi, chi calls the bird~,
please blow soon~,
divine wind of Ise~."
All of the sudden the Hitodama flew back tot heir graves as the figure of a lone man became visable. He was donned in the robes of a buddist monk. He held a golden staff with rings ontop that made sound almost like bells were rang. He took of his traveling hat as he saw the Yosuzume sitting ontop of the gate. ''Good evening, Hitodama Gado- chan'' He said as he walked through the gate. The Yosuzume, named Tsubame let him be. Priest came by from time to time to pay homage to those who died a violent death here. He had passed but a few graves as he kneeled down at four very importand ones. The monk kneeled and clapped his hand, making his precence know to the dead. ''Hitodama Gado-chan, would you like to be free'' He said with his eye's closed. Tsubame, who had been silently sitting on the gate opened her eye's again and looked at the priest.
'' I will kill people if you set me free'' She said cold as the monk smiled. ''Well that would be a problem for me. Lets just keep your focus at the lord of Nura. The minion of Anjou'' He said as he placed some offerings at the graves. ''Why would a peace loving monk like you set free a youkai that has already stained her hands with blood. Why do you need Nura and Anjou dead?'' Tsubame found the monk strange, to say the least. ''The wings of death are swift for those who deserve it. Yosuzume, won't you fly your deadly black wings for me'' The monk smiled as his hands formed the first mundra Rin.
'' On baishiramantaya sowaka '' He said and Tsubame felt one of the nine seals placed upon her being released. The spell tag peeled itself of her as the second mundra was formed, followed by the rest until the monk had reached all nine of them.
''On ishanaya intaraya sowaka''
'' On jiterashi itara jibaratanō sowaka''
'' On hayabaishiramantaya sowaka''
'' On nōmaku sanmanda basaradan kan''
'' On aganaya in maya sowaka''
'' On irotahi chanoga jiba tai sowaka''
'' On chirichi iba rotaya sowaka''
'' On a ra ba sha nō sowaka!''  The spelltags flew of Tsubame as if they got taken by the wind and burned to ashes. The monk stood underneath the gate and Tsubame jumped of it, landing softly on the ground, traces of shadow lingering in the already dark place. ''Who are you?'' Tsubame asked suspicious.
'' just a passerby, guiding you to the way that leads to Kado Shrine '' He said, giving her a curtesy bow before walking away wisteling a soft tune. Tsubame looked at the monk and raised a brow. '' How do I reach this Kado shrine! '' She called and the monk turned around pointing at the gate before he dissapeard between the trees. Tsubame sighed, what did he mean by that. Anyway, he had freed her and her powers had not been used in a while. She transformed to her sparrow form and let the darkness of the nigth surround her.

''Kado shrine, what will I find by going there'' She said as four Hitodama followed her. Those Hitodama belonged to Takahiro's family. They sticked to her the most. With a loud sceach Tsubame flew throuh the gate towards the graveyard, only to see the image shift. Another shrine appeared and in vieuw came a human man and a Bakeneko. Carefull of the Bakeneko Tubame flew to the gate of the shrine and landed looking at the two beneath her, her Hitodama floated around her. With a puff of shadow Tsubame took on her human form while laying down on her back, watching the blue sky and clouds pass by. How she missed this vieuw.

[Assistant]
"Ow ow ow!"

Yuki had lost the path some time ago, wandering astray into the forest. The way to Mount Senkiai from Kōku was a long one, especially with no money to pay for a carriage. As her hair caught on every branch in sight, she continued crashing through the forest. Despite the years since, she'd never fully recovered from the loss of her animal senses, leaving her somewhat disadvantaged when traveling through wilderness.

The oppressive aura of the yōkai around get pressed upon her, clouding her senses even further. After an hour's hopeless searching, she sighed, utterly lost.

Then, from before her, she heard the faint sound of voices. Stumbling through trees, she emerged into a placid, tranquil clearing. The yōkai presence around get dissipated, replaced with a feeling of calm. A pair of words fled to the surface of her mind and she murmured them reflexively, spitting leaves: "Kado shrine..."

Only then did she notice the small gathering in front of herself. Rearranging and flattening the kimono that had become so disturbed by her trek and wiping the sweat from her brow, she trotted over. "So...do any of you know where we are? I'm really lost..."


[System]
* Age: 16(oh no...)
* Appearance: "This would be awkward enough without everything else!"
* Gender: Female(aaaah)
* Personality: Matsuoka Ryouji is not happy with this situation. Suddenly remembering her original age and name the day of entry into Starveil was a traumatic experience at best, realizing not only was she a girl now but she was the heroine of Cross Heart Academy on top of it. She has absolutely no interest in any of the romantic routes and is desperate to avoid them. After all, regardless of what she is now, she was a straight man prior to reincarnation.

A bunch of varied bishonen are not on her list of romantic interests. A sarcastic and easily-exasperated person, Anne was quick to comment on things that bugged her about the game's world and characters in her past life and she is still liable to do so now. She's also quite concerned with what the future may hold, given her experience with the game itself. Of course, no matter her past memories and experiences, it can be denied that she is also the game character, Anne Marielle, in addition to Matsuoka Ryouji. Some of Cross Heart Academy's Heroine's kindness and willingness to help others has almost certainly remained, perhaps due to the fact that in spite of Ryouji's bitter attitude he wasn't completely without those impulses in the first place.

The fact is that ultimately, Anne's attitude isn't exclusively informed by her past life's memories and experiences, even if those take the forefront. New personal connections are something she cherishes deep down, both due to Ryouji's loss of the few he had in his old life and Anne's friendly and caring disposition. Perhaps it's also due to the fact that, despite her many negative comments about the game's cast, she truly can't say she disliked any of them, especially as the writing got stronger towards the middle and end of the plot. Still, she is absolutely not interested in any of the game's romantic routes. Flags are to be avoided at all costs.
* Abilities/Skills: Lacking in many practical skills save maybe decent cooking ability, it's likely the designers of the game wanted Anne not to excel in too many things to avoid her starting to feel a little far away from the average person. However, it is later revealed that she has incredibly impressive magical power and an aptitude for holy spells, something she is already aware of due to her previous life.
* History: Matsuoka Ryouji was something of a loner, a young university student who had never really had many friends in life. But he did have some positive relationships, and in spite of a rather bitter attitude he got on very well with his young high-school age sister. Even if their relationship wasn't always smooth, it turned out that they had a similar sense of humor in spite of her far brighter and cheerier demeanor, and her interest in video games(primarily otome games) was useful for his desire to get into game development.

This is likely why she came to him with an otome game she was struggling with, due to a surprising difficulty spike towards the midpoint. Ryouji spent much of the early game mocking the writing choices and decision trees, but as things went on he did come to like the characters as the writing grew stronger. And when the game transitioned from a pure VN to a remarkably challenging SRPG with surprisingly engaging story beats, he couldn't deny he was actually enjoying his time with the game. Eventually he beat it alongside his sister, and while he didn't exactly want to say he liked an otome game that much it was difficult to deny it. Unfortunately for Ryouji, a car accident would end his current life when he used his own body to shield his sister's. She survived, but he did not, and...
She would wake up as the sixteen-year-old Anne Marielle, protagonist of the otome game she had completed the day prior.
* Original Role and Background: Anne Marielle is friendly, kind, and mildly airheaded girl from a very minor, barely-existent noble family with no prestigious history and basically no reptutation, that was in decline already due to the death of her father and loss of a considerable amount of wealth. Considered a commoner in the eyes of the other students who only entered the school due to what they perceived as pity, her life at the academy life started with her being disregarded and bullied. However, due to her kindness and willingness to help others, she found herself attracting the attentions of a certain set of male students...
From there, in Ryouji's case, things escalated into a rather emotionally intense and dramatic route culminating in a a battle that decided the fate of the world.
* Other:

[User]
Cervantes Quixote

Today was the entrance ceremony. The time and day the heroine would finally arrive at the school and begin her journey. An epic tale that entranced many who played Cross Heart Academy. Too bad, before he died, Cervantes wasn't too invested in the story. After his first few playthroughs, Cervantes ended up skipping the cutscenes unless they were mandatory.

Though, unlike the heroine, Cervantes couldn't attend the speech. It was because he was here as a merchant rather than the majority of people who were students. Apparently, before transmigrating into this body, Cervantes decided to set up shop after getting permission from the school.

"Hey, Cervantes!" The merchant's eyes darted towards the voices that called him from a stall. To be precise, it was one of the shop NPCs, 'Joe Smith. Cervantes smiled and waved back at the man before continuing his walk. Despite spending some time inside this 'game,' it felt weird. Everything was life-like in comparison to playing it on a screen. The many background character had a life that a console couldn't replicate.

Waving at another shopkeeper, Cervantes stopped nearby a fountain. The pristine and clear water reflected an unfamiliar face. Taking a bronze coin out of the pouch, Cervantes tossed it into the fountain. "Please give me good fortune," Cervantes muttered to himself. He needed it. When he first woke up as the nameless shopkeeper, Cervantes couldn't tell if this was a weird dream. He still needed to get over the fact that he was inside the game.

Now that the game was his reality, was he supposed to treat it as a game or as his new reality? Such a conundrum greatly confused Cervantes.

"Though, that'll have to wait," Cervantes muttered. Depending on how things went in the future, he'd react accordingly. The first on his agenda was to deal with his first task—the Heroine. After the entrance ceremony speech, the heroine, Anne Marielle, would explore the school. It didn't matter in what order she visited, but she would show up at the shopping area of the school.

From there, the shopkeeper, Cervantes, would lead the heroine around and show the shops. There was a 100% chance of the meeting happening in the game because it was a tutorial, but if this were slightly realistic, there wouldn't be a need to meet each other. The heroine could explore by herself without his help.

"Though what if I do meet the heroine?" If that were the case, then the odds of this being a simulated game would increase by a margin. Not to mention what if the heroine was controlled by a player? Would the heroine speak as some sort of vessel for the player? So many questions, but answers. Regardless, Cervantes resolved to talk to the heroine if the case arose.

His life was at stake, after all.

[Assistant]
Elastasia

Ribbon... check. Stockings and shoes... check. Hair neatly brushed (and even years after gaining a second lifetime's worth of memories, the ease with which magic simplified dealing with that still gave her a warm feeling), and not all done at the last second because she'd gotten too wrapped up in a book to remember. For once, Elastasia had managed to prepare for and show up to an event without prompting! Okay, it was also a huge event everyone at the academy was going to, which made it hard to miss, but she could still have ignored all that and missed the ceremony.

But then she would miss seeing Terys on his first day, relegating the younger boy to trying to seek her out somewhere amidst the school. For all his diligence, he didn't know the way around just yet. Besides, she missed the years where they'd see each other daily (even if the her that missed them wasn't the same as the her of now), it'd be a great opportunity to say hello.

Actually listening to the speech, Elastasia wished that she had chosen to skip after all. Not only was it boring and denied her the chance to read, being situated at the back with all the other third-year students meant that she couldn't see anything. Bored face after bored face in every direction, a speech regurgitated by rote to the point she was sure some of the better orators here could copy it verbatim...

It wasn't a fun experience, all in all.

Nor was fighting against the current of people leaving the courtyard, the occasional too-tall boy walking into her and having to make a hasty apology. Really, it was bad enough that by the time she actually got to the first years, the area was half emptied already, and trying to find her also-short brother amidst this sea of giants.

So, she relocated to just outside the entrance instead. Maybe Terys would have better luck finding her.

Hmm... already, there were a few familiar faces, bringing to mind how significant the upcoming year would be. That green-haired mop was undoubtedly the tutorial merchant, liable to run into the heroine soon more often than not. Whether he'd be quite as helpful in reality as in the game was debatable; a few of the individuals she'd met seemed quite distinct from their written personalities--Serrica always stood out as being rather different, for whatever reason.

And there was no way to tell what actual personality Anne would come into the world with. Bland? Exciting? Her looks were Elastasia's type, as generic as they were, but she hoped to avoid any hopeless confessions in her actual life.

[User]
This was really happening, wasn't it?

This was actually real.

At first, when she suddenly remembered everything, she hoped it was some sort of strange dream. Then, when it became clear it wasn't, she hoped that it was some kind of bizarre coincidence and she hadn't actually been reincarnated as the protagonist of an otome game after having previously been a very much male university student. Maybe it was just a coincidentally similar world.

Those hopes were dashed when she entered the school. When she saw the people here. When she set foot in the courtyard.

The entrance ceremony was exactly as she remembered it from the intro to the game.

Matsuoka Ryouji, or rather Anne Marielle as she had been known for the past sixteen years in this world, now found herself standing in the aftermath of the intro to Starveil Academy.

In the world of the otome game Cross Heart Academy.

As its protagonist.

What this meant was hardly lost on her, as she anxiously eyed the crowds around her.

Perhaps being the 'generically cute every girl' would work to her advantage. Nevermind the fact that being a girl in the first place was a tremendously awkward experience(in away she was thankful for those sixteen years she spent without remembering her old life, because that meant that she'd not had an even rougher adjustment period). In the real world, she wouldn't be that noticeable. And this was real now, not an otome game where every guy was destined to notice her.

Surely it would work out differently, right? Even if that entrance ceremony had been identical.

Anne wasn't the type of person who had played this game for guys to fawn over her. If anything, back when she was Matsuoka Ryouji, it was only natural he was much more into some of the female characters. The protagonist herself was cute, albeit deliberately generically so. And there was that one teacher too.

There was no way she wanted to end up marrying some guy.

She wasn't going to pursue any route. This was absolute in her mind. This was a zero route game. She'd think about the other stuff when she had the chance, but the most immediate problem was ensuring none of them would approach her.

It couldn't be hard, right?

Anne sighed inwardly, relieved at her own hopefully-true assumption. That's right. In real life, as long as she made a good, solid rejection, guys like that would let it go, right?

Of course she'd have to be careful, in this world where status mattered so much, but all the protagonist's romance options were at least decent guys, right?

They practically had an ocean of other girls to choose from, too.

Right?

Somehow her optimism was crumbling by the second.

Well, maybe if she made her way out of the courtyard as quickly as possible, to avoid even the slightest chance of a flag raising...


[System]
Gender: Male
Character Type: Cyborgel
Appearance: For a cyborgel, Liron looks rather ... human if you disregard the ashen colored wings and the mechanical arm and red mechanical eyes.

Or at least once upon a time he looked rather human. His short, black hair is currently matted with blood and his right arm - a metal prosthetic - hangs useless at his side. His leg is bent rather awkwardly - no doubt broken, and parts of his body are covered in nasty burns. If one looked really closely they could find pieces of burned dog hair.

However, once he gets cleaned up and no longer looks like something out of the Night of the Living Dead, Liron is a rather tall young man - about 5'11" if one were to measure him - with short tossled black hair and pale white skin. He is wiry, yet clearly muscular. His shoulders are broad, and taper down. His ashen wings can easily fold against his body - although they could be hidden by a coat, there is a weird awkward bulge in the back for anyone with any sort of sense of detail for attention.

Currently Liron is wearing what he died in - well, after his body was ransacked for the "good" clothes by various miscreants. (After all, Liron is a cyborgel and an object. Also, believed dead). By some good fortune Liron was left with a pair of dirty, if not rather soiled, black boxer shorts.

Career:
After his capture and brainwashing, Liron was re-tasked to working as a "volunteer" firefighter. (Of course one couldn't exactly call him a volunteer since, you know, brainwashing but semantics.)

There are two different types of firefighters; wildland firefighters who contain and prevent the spread of the raging inferno of death that is eating the forest and firefighters which most people are used to seeing in towns, villages and cities.

Contrary to popular belief, neither are mutually exclusive - after all they are trained to do two different tasks. Figherfighters who are in towns and cities measure fires by yards and feet and use water to put them out. On the other hand, wildland firefighters fight fire with literal fire. After all when you are measuring fires in literally tens of acres, there isn't going to be enough time to put one of those bad boys out. Of course there are other differences between the two (such as work weeks) but will not be mentioned in favor of it not being very important.

However, the people in charge decided why not double dip and make Liron able to perform in both capacities.

While Liron's job was mostly to either contain or put out fires - depending on what call he was sent to - Liron was also tasked in performing other typical firemen duties like rescuing kittens out of trees on those off days that there wasn't anything on fire.

Skills:
The most important skill Liron had when he was "working" as a fireman was that he looked human, or at least could pass off as one as long as he wore a long coat to hide his wings and mechanical arm. While his eyes were a bit harder, it was usually nothing that a pair of sunglasses or a fireman helmet couldn't fix.

The reason this was important was because as a fireman, Liron didn't just fight fires (although it was a good part of it) but dealt with distressed individuals and the public at large. Since people could act erratically when upset and distressed, Liron's "ability" to pass as human was considered a beneficial perk.

To expand on this, it can be easily inferred that Liron has some grief consoling experience under his belt. Even if it wasn't programmed into him, Liron no doubt would have had to learn on the job. While Liron very rarely dealt with the public in any other capacity, he was trained to in case of emergencies and something came up and some person approached him instead of an actual human.

He's memorized the entire layout of the city he was stationed in - as well as the street conditions - in the need to travel to the most direct route of the incident. The forest was a bit harder considering landmarks tended to go up in flames or were on fire at the time.

Liron's right arm also provides him with great strength - it has the ability to rip apart armored trucks and smash concrete. This has a variety of uses from cleaning up debris to smashing in walls to look for hot spots, or being able to carry unconscious person, the mechanical arm has many uses depending on what the situation calls for.

Liron also has very basic EMS skills - mostly focusing on "is this person alive?" and "if not, attempt to resurrect" or "if so, wow they're bleeding a lot - let's stop that." Liron also has been taught how to use Narcan to save people who have overdosed. Essentially he was put through first responder training, or better put programming.

Liron's thermal sensing eyes - whose function can be toggled on and off merely by thinking about it - allows Liron to search for lifeforms, whether they are dead or alive based on their heat temperatures. This is greatly beneficial when looking for victims trapped inside structure fires or even car fires.

Finally, the most obvious of Liron's skills is to fight fire. This extends more than just to using a high pressurized hose to dose the flames. For structure fires, Liron needed to determine best location for venting structure based on location of hazard and fire personnel, roof type, and building construction. Also, when it comes to forceable entry, he needed to know where best to enter the blazing inferno called death. Wildfire firefighters on the other hand learned how to camp in the path of an inferno and running from fire tornadoes which love to pop up because the universe loves to troll like that. While maybe not so much a skill, it might be interesting to note.

Supernatural Abilities: Judging by his wings, it can be assumed that Liron has the ability to fly.

Personality: Quiet, Efficient, Obedient, Empathic, Blunt

Bio: Liron doesn't know much about himself prior to becoming a firefighter. He was a relatively undamaged angel, and stayed relatively unmodified after some towns and cities in the western part of the United States were complaining of the lack of volunteer firefighters to fight fires - after all, charging into a raging inferno borders on brave and crazy. It was felt if Liron was kept more "human," it would benefit the fire departments.

After all, Liron would be an easy thing to throw away and be able to take the most dangerous tasks, thus taking the figurative (and literal) heat off the other, more important (and human) firefighters. However, since things happen in the heat of the moment and people need somebody to cry to and ask questions, it was felt Liron needed to appear mostly human as to not cause any greater distress or anger, potentially impeding the firemen's jobs if somebody had an issue with Liron.

Liron was assigned to a small fire unit in the western part of the United States where the dry weather and low population made it very hard to have enough people for the constant fires which seemed to start with the littlest of provocation.

Assigned the name "Liron" by one of the fire crew (to make it easier when out on calls), Liron lived mostly in the fire hall (or in the path of a blazing inferno on those wildfire days which could last up to months) unless he was out on a call. He was in charge of the tedious day to day work when at the station of making sure the equipment was working and cleaned, and whatever droll jobs that needed to be done but weren't exactly enthralling.

While Liron was helpful to the fire department, as cyborgels eventually faded into misuse, money towards his upkeep seemed to gradually diminish into nothing.

One day when at a structure fire call, the flames enveloped a propane tank causing an explosion which would make Michael Bay proud. Unfortunately, Liron was in the house at the time rescuing the family's pet dog and was severely damaged.

Considered outdated and unable to be repaired, Liron's burned body was simply thrown to the side of the road with rest of the trash.

Theme Song: Cruel Angel's Thesis
Other: Reborn

[User]
@PaulHaynek@Pure493

Razielle stares at the girl. How does she know what she is? Off of some impulse that the young girl put upon her, Razielle draws back her hood and pulls off her boots as well as her gloves. Her metal legs now exposed and shining, she turns to Yuri and says, "If you need a safe haven, there is a small empty building a few blocks from here. It is possible for us to hang out there for a moment until we find something safer." She jerks her chin toward the unconscious in Lee's arms. Pressing her hand to her heart and holding it out to them in a respectively gesture, she says, "I am Razielle. I can help heal him if you would like, but we need to go now."

She glances around nervously as people look at her and stare at her metal legs and arm. She rolls her shoulders uncomfortably and looks to Lee. "You know what I am and you know what I can do. This place is one of the safest that is nearby." Her voice is quiet so most people except the young cyborgel in front of her can't hear her. "Please, let us go."

[Assistant]
Buji began commanding the camera crew as he walked away from the duo. You could see it in his eyes that he had a hint of annoyance especially when he stood a fair distance away while keeping the CEO and Lexie within his peripheral vision.

Guiding her to where he desired, Atemisk gently pushed her along away from the crowd of workers. A feeling of lust, whether it was for her or just simply power, could be felt in the air around him as the two moved away from back stage and to the corner of the curtains, giving them full view of their audience and the skies above.

Lexie looked over towards the scenes of chaos in the distance and prompted a question that was plaguing her mind, "What will we do about the rogue Cyborgel? But more importantly what has been going on lately?" Turning around and looking back at the crew she could see her manager had lost interest in what the two of them were up to, commanding workers to do all these little insignificant jobs. "Everything leading up to this. I cannot understand the death (of children), the blood, the desire for an angel to watch the world burn."

She stepped forward over to the edge of the curtain and placed her hand upon the giant material tassel, positioning herself where the young stage director had told her to be earlier. The material felt smooth and soft as she ran her fingers along the seams. She whispered "I guess you could say that I'm becoming too human. Twenty years and I have forgotten what home was truly like."

Lexie rested her arms upon the rope and attempted to guess which of the workers were human, and which were disguises. A feat that she remembered she could complete effortlessly a lifetime ago.

[User]
From out of nowhere, Lee scooped the unconscious Ethan up and asked Yuri to take them somewhere safe. The Cyborgel named Razielle was asked to come as well and she happened to know of a safe place.

"Very well, Razielle. Take us to this safe place." Yuri said to the healer Cybrogel.

Once they get moving, Yuri would ask Razielle. "You said you are a healer, yes? Heh, looks like I've hit a motherload this night. I am Yuri and the green Cyborgel is Lee."

"We revolutionaries have an encampment in the outskirts of this city. Once we get our bearings, we can get there provided we can avoid attention." Yuri told the Cyborgels. "You are famous among us, you know? Once we heard you were being discarded, we mobilized to recover you and return you all to your rightful places."

[Assistant]
Liron opened his mouth to respond, that of course he was a machine, all cyborgels were machines. However, the words didn't come out of his mouth. Couldn't come out of his mouth. He didn't know why, but something made him hesitate. Instead of it being natural that he had mechanical parts, suddenly he felt like it was more natural that he was flesh and bone. His eyes felt foreign and he felt suddenly the lost off a limb where his mechanical arm was.

With his good arm, he scratched at some inflamed skin near his heart as it uncomfortably settled in his chest. Pain prickled at him, but he preferred that feeling over the sense of dread and sickness which was beginning to plague him. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"Are ... other cyborgels not like me?" he asked tentatively, unsure of himself. He had seen other cyborgels to be sure, but for the most part he never really paid attention. Was his level of flesh something abnormal? To him it felt right ... at least more right than the mechanical parts which he was trying to avoid thinking about. "I was always told I was very ... human."

It was true. Sometimes when he was fighting the large forest fires which razed the landscape, some of firecrew members he fought with - some of whom were criminals - would think he was one of them until either his eyes or arm was shown. Usually though the appearance of his wings did the trick. His arm reached back and brushed the ashen feathers. They were very soft, and they felt, well, natural.

"Of course that was usually before they saw my eyes and arm ... or my wings," he continued on. "I assumed it was supposed to be a compliment, but now I'm not so sure."