[System]
BASIC
Goes By (Nicknames): None currently available.
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Race: Human

APPEARANCE

Face Claim (Actor/Actress They're Played By): TBA / I've yet to find an actor for this character.
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
Skin Tone: Slightly pale.
Height: 6'2
Weight: 170lbs
Build: Lithe, somewhat muscular.
Weapons: Twin swords, multiple daggers and knives hidden on him.

Overall Appearance:

Dark features, Visible, jagged scar that runs down his right eye. Various scars are hidden underneath his clothing.

Ghent is often clad in black or dark grays.
Most of his clothes are made from black leather; his cloak has a hood and a mask to cover the lower half of his face if needed. He has various weaponry concealed; he often wears fingerless gloves, laced up bracers, and boots.

PERSONALITY

Likes: Gold.
Dislikes: Talking, poverty, people in general.
Strengths: Picking locks, leadership, agility.
Weaknesses: Stubbornness, Greed.
Fears: Loss, failure.

Overall Personality:

Stubborn | Calculating | Complicated | Quiet | Incredulous | Shrewd

Ghent's family was very often poor and lived in a lower part of a small, poverty-stricken town. His mother passed away shortly after giving birth to her second son, Garth. Ghent was ten years in age when she passed.

Ghent's father turned to drinking heavily and he came to blame his children for the loss of his wife. Fearing for Garth, Ghent took matters into his own hands; at the age of thirteen, he took his younger brother and left home, never once looking back.

Life on the road was not an easy one, but Ghent was determined to tough it out so that they would not have to return to their father. At first, Ghent began with petty theft; he stole what was needed in order to keep them alive, they took shelter where they could and lied whenever questioned. As the years went on, they moved up in the world. After years of practice, Ghent became a highly skilled thief. This was the start of a life he would live well past his teenage years.

* * *

Ghent has an eerie calmness about him and his emotions are seldom ever shown. Because of this, he is very difficult to read -- almost impossibly so. Ghent handles matters in a diplomatic way and doesn't often resort to violence unless necessary. For the most part, he is quiet and reserved, therefore much of his past is unknown.

Deep down, Ghent does have a heart, though he does his best not to show it. He'd be the last to admit it, but he has a soft spot for those in need.

BACKGROUND

Date of Birth: ? Have to calculate that. ,_,
Place of Birth: Outskirts of Laketown. Not quite within the town, though close.

Family Relations:

- Garth (younger brother)
- Lydia (Mother; deceased)
- Vincent (Father)
- Kaiden (cousin)

[User]
"So, this is the Hobbit." It was now that Thorin paid Bilbo the smallest acknowledgement. "Tell me, Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting?" Bilbo's mannerisms already spoke against this; Thorin was quite sure he'd never picked up a sword, let alone fought with one.

All was confirmed when Bilbo stammered out a small "pardon me?"

Thorin glanced up as Dwalin and the other dwarves gathered in the foyer upon his meeting. "Axe or sword? What's your weapon of choice?" Again, he was calm, though his gaze was critical at best.

"Well, I have some skill at Conkers, if you must know, but I fail to see why that's relevant." Bilbo wasn't quite on the same page, and he moved aside some so to make room for the crowd of dwarves.

"Thought as much." Thorin glanced to the others now, his tone somewhat mocking. "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." This earned a few laughs and hearty chuckles from the rest of the group. Bilbo was definitely not a warrior.

"But you're our godmother." To some extent, Kili understood Thorin's hatred for elves. They had denied their people help, after all. Saeril was not one of the ones who had denied help, though. Surely his uncle would not object to her -- would he? This was upsetting. "You shouldn't have to do that," he didn't feel it right that she should have to conceal her own race. "I could speak with him, if you'd like." A one on one conversation with his uncle was a touch intimidating, but Kili was willing.

[Assistant]
Saeril gave a sad sigh again, almost sounding guilty, as she was heard Kili's reassurance and offer to help her situation. Really, he didn't need to, nor would she want him too. Thorin Oakenshield was a dwarf she didn't want to cross paths with; she was the one who murdered his and Dis' father Thrain during the battle of Moria! Whether or not Thorin knew her to be the killer, Saeril has bad memories coming back to haunt her; memories she was counseled to forget. Otherwise, the same darkness she had before will begin to boil, and if it does, she didn't want to think about what it could do towards her newly-found family. No, she never would let that happen; not to Kili.

"Okay", she suddenly found herself saying, looking towards the innocent dwarf before her. "You may speak to him. But rest assured, I promise no consequence", Saeril began to remove the headdress, and let her hair flow free, revealing once again her pointed Elven ears. Her creamy-white hand was right near his own...

[User]
"You can trust me; we're closest of kin." Kili was insistent, he truly believed that Thorin would listen to reason if he handled this properly. "Everything will be alright, I promise." The youngest Durin took her hand in his, and he gave her hand a small, reassuring squeeze. "I'll be right back." Kili smiled to her, then turned to leave, confident that he could speak some sense into his uncle.

As Thorin overlooked the group of dwarves, he took notice that only one nephew was present. "Fili, where is your brother?" If anyone would know, Fili would. The elder of the two was often keeping an eye on him, and for a good cause. Kili was known as the reckless one, after all.

Right then Kili entered the hall, and he tried to get an idea of Thorin's current temperament. "Well, you took your time," he attempted to joke a bit in hopes of reading him better.

"I became lost...on two occasions." Thorin sensed his nephew had more to say, but he did not bother to question him. There were more pressing matters at hand. "We have plenty to discuss, Gandalf." The king started to lead the way into the next room, and Kili lost his courage. Just momentarily.

"Fili," Kili grabbed hold of his sleeve before his brother might join the rest of them. "I need to speak with you -- about Delva," he explained in a rush, as he did not wish to keep their godmother waiting.

[Assistant]
As soon as Saeril watched her youngest godson leave the living room, she quickly looked herself in a mirror nearby, and gazed upon her reflection. Ever since Thorin Oakenshield stepped a foot into her sights, the she-elf felt a wave of nostalgia start crashing back to her as she looked upon her own reflection: the battle of Moria...Azog...Smaug...the screams...Gandalf...Fili....Kili. The warping sounds were all coming so fast, out of nowhere, she suddenly punched the glass. Even after she did, Saeril gasped at the damage of such action, looking at the shattered remnants in horror. It was eating at her; the past darkness inside of her.

Fili honestly figured that Kili was still with their godmother, even when his uncle asked him. He didn't immediately answer, and a little bit of hesitation did bite him. He knew Thorin's disgust for elves, and entirely reserved and devoted he was, he didn't want Delva to face such humiliation. She was to be welcomed warmly acceptable. Before he even could follow his uncle, he felt the hand of his brother stop him from moving. "What about Delva? What's wrong?", he asked him, clearly worried for her.

[User]
"Nothing's wrong. Not exactly." Kili released Fili's sleeve, and he cast a glance towards the hall as the others left to discuss Thorin's meeting with the other dwarves. "As soon as she saw Thorin, she seemed a bit panicked." The prince could recall this perfectly; he'd seen how anxious their Delva had become. "She started to put on a crown of sorts...a headdress, I believe." The prince wasn't quite certain how to describe it, and he nearly jumped out of his boots when he overheard footsteps coming their way.

Once he was certain no one was approaching, Kili continued, barely pausing for breath. "She was trying to hide her ears, Fili. She's an elf -- and, well...it is no secret how Uncle feels about elves...but it isn't right. She should be treated with respect; Mother trusted her enough to be our guardian, didn't she?"

Kili chewed his bottom lip, a nervous habit. "I promised to speak with Thorin. Do you think he will listen to reason? I was going to speak my mind earlier, but the others were there...and I couldn't tell if he was in good spirits."

[Assistant]
Fili listened to his brother's reason and case about their godmother, and she nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard glass shattering in the room next to them. He looked back at the company in the dining hall, and he was surprised that they didn't hear it.

"Of course she did, Kili. Mum always did, ever since we were born", he agreed with her mother's decision to choose, but to feel Delva's distress through Kili, it was enough to try and resolve the conflict. However, he wasn't sure on what his uncle thought on the matter. "Alright. Um...", he paused, looking at Thorin in the dining hall, before looking back his baby brother.

"Go back to her. I'll go talk to him", Fili walked off as soon as he said this. He had a lot of respect for Thorin Oakenshield, plus he was closer to him than Kili was. He hoped he would understand. Approaching his role model, he quickly composed himself. "Uncle. I know how much the mountain means to you, but there is a certain someone that Gandalf seems to want to assist us on this journey", he began to explain to Thorin, hoping he would understand.

[User]
"Are you certain?" Kili hadn't meant to foist this off on his big brother. Truth be told, he had hoped that Fili might offer to help, but he did not wish for him to take this on by himself.

It was here that Kili overheard the breaking glass. The sound was enough for his heart to skip a beat, and he looked towards the blond with some alarm. What could have happened? Finally, he gave in and rethought his offer. "Well. Alright...if you do not mind. Thank you, Fili," he thanked his brother earnestly, and he found himself wondering what could have broken. Had one of the company broken the door to one of Bilbo's fine cabinets? He hoped not. Bilbo was upset enough as it was.

Brows furrowed with concern, Kili headed back to the sitting room to report back to Saeril. Upon entering, his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the broken glass fragments all over the floor, with only his godmother present.

Thorin had been telling the others of his failed quest to gather dwarves to assist with their journey. Needless to say, Fili's timing was not the best. The king was not in the highest of spirits, and neither were the rest. "What is it, Fili?" There was a touch of impatience within his tone, though he did give him his attention. "If you are referring to Mr. Baggins...he has already made it quite clear that he does not wish to join us."

[Assistant]
Saeril was still staring down the shattered remnants of glass all over the floor, while sinking herself down on one of the lounges, replaying the action within her mind as she stared at the hearth of the fire with an Elven stare in her eyes. Hearing Kili enter, she almost forgot about the mess, and she quickly stood up, looking between him and the glass, not sure on how to explain.

Fili shifted a little in footing as he stood in Uncle Thorin's prescence. He cleared his throat before once again speaking. "Actually, uncle. This is someone else, and we hope to gain your approval for her to join us", he really hated to say this, but had to anyway. "She's a elf, and Gandalf insists on this", he was almost stuttering in his words at the end, but he really hoped his uncle would see the reason.

[User]
Kili was unsure what could have happened; he didn't believe Saeril capable of an accident such as this. She was much too graceful; this was something he may have done, not an elf. "What happened?" The prince had no choice but to ask, and he moved to see the damage. "Delva?...Are you alright?"

"She?" Thorin's eyes narrowed, his jaw set in a grim line as Fili continued on. The king looked less than pleased, and Bilbo found himself wondering what female would care to travel with such an uncouth group such as this. Dwalin listened intently, his brows furrowed, and even Bombur paused from his plate of food to listen. Just what was going on here?

"Gandalf made no mention of this," Dwalin objected even before Saeril's race was revealed. The last thing he wanted was for a female to accompany them on their quest. This was no place for a dwarven maiden; they were to stay in the mountains where it was safe. "Don't be tellin' me that you're speaking on her behalf, lad."

"Let him speak, Dwalin." Thorin was already on edge, but when Fili mentioned her being an elf, things went dangerously quiet. "An elf wishes to join us?" The words were incredulous, and he gave a scoff as he glared to their wizard. "What amount of gold was she promised, Gandalf?" Sarcasm dripped from the words, and he was angered to find this out only now. "Dwalin is right, you made no mention of this, and for good reason...no elf will come with us to OUR homeland."


[System]
Gretchen Anima

"Let me write this down."
Super Name
Does not have one as of yet

Age
18

Human/Machine/Other
Human

Powers
Aura Control - Gretchen is able to pull from her aura and the auras of those around her to do pretty much whatever her imagination can conjure up. Each person has a certain amount of 'aura', and Gretchen can feel this energy and draw from it to create objects, cast 'spells', enhance her strength, speed, intelligence, etc. However, she usually only uses her power to enhance her intelligence and create scientific tools to further investigate powers and her other scientific investigations.

Weakness
Aura energy is limited, and if Gretchen takes too much of her own or someone else, that person could become very weak and can go from going unconscious, to going into a coma, to even dying. This could be used to kill an enemy, however Gretchen can only take as much aura as she wants from someone who is willing. If they aren't, she still can, but it is much more difficult.

Personality
Gretchen is a 'geek', and is obsessed with science and discovering how things work. She is obsessed with powers, and will write everything down about each person she meets so she can research the power later and find out new ways to utilise or enhance said powers. She very friendly, often too friendly, and can talk very fast when she is excited. She is extremely smart, and will sometimes go off on intellectual tangents which will leave most people very confused.
Grade
3rd year
Club
Science Club, Book Club

Other
POWERS

[User] Jack stood up and pulled his hood over his head"let's get this over with"he said as he made his way to the gym,as he stepped off he looked up and said"it's earlier than I though"and made his way to the gym,after a minute he found it and took the nearest seat

[Assistant]
Dimitri beamed as two of his fellow passengers made note of his ability, and would have been happy to explain it to them were it not for the bus' arrival to it's destination. He pulled the bar that secured him off once the safety latch was released and quickly gathered his things, "I'll explain when I get the chance. If this year is anything like the last, then we'll have the opportunity to show what we're capable of during or after the assembly.". Dimitri shuffled his way off of the bus and broke into a light jog to reach the gymnasium, stopping briefly to break away the metal that he'd coated his hands in into a nearby trash can.

Dimitri moved through the crowds of people that made their way towards the gym, occasionally pausing long enough to greet a friend, offer a cookie, or give directions to the newcomers. Eventually Dimitri made it into the gym and took a seat a bit closer to the top of the bleachers in order to get a good at people as they filed in.

[User]
"No worries, I enjoy this type of thing." Gretchen smiles.

---

When they arrive, Gretchen packs away her notebook and gets off the bus. Upon hearing the PA, she looks around, locating the gymnasium before heading to it. Hm, I could probably design those gloves based of the flame resistant ones I made for Finn... They'd be so good for a motorcyclist! Hey, wait a second, I could probably design a motorcycle itself! That would be amazing!

Lost in her thoughts, Gretchen pulls out her notebook once more and begins sketching while walking.

[Assistant]
After the bus started going, he tried crawling over on the ceiling to where Jack was but he was too far back but caught sight of Dimitri trying to help him. When he answered about who may have the coolest power, he looked about with all his focus like a child saying "wait for it, wait for it". He saw the process of his ability where his hand was looking like liquid metal in his eyes as it hardened a bit. Zaheer's eyes widen from what he was seeing Whoa-hoho! Thats was crazy! What is that? You're a metal man or somethin!? he asked. He was still curious what the other guy (Jack) could do along with the others as the bus was already reaching the school.

Before he could go any further with anything with the red of the students, the announcement came about to meet up at the gym. Zaheer, after the bus landed, flipped down off the ceiling and went with the rest of the group to meet in the gym. He followed the "metal kid" keeping up with his peculiar scent and followed him through the crowd until he reached him again after bobbing and weaving and climbing onto the sides of the bleachers to sit near the top. ah! There you are, metal guy. I would've got to you faster if everyone was not in my way. Name is Zaheer.....people call me Wildside! making quick conversation.

[User]
Ptolemy | Tiger Shark---

---

He liked to be left alone first thing in the morning. In the past, he was what one would called a "morning person", but his new land-dwelling circumstance had left him in a less than ideal situation. While he did have the benefit of being able to sleep while submerged in water, it was not the sea - nor was it spacious. It sounded minor, but it made his first few hours awake more difficult than it should be; fuzzy thoughts, a throbbing headache and drowsiness. To that end he'd learned how to fade into the background to the best of his ability, sitting somewhere in the bus that left him undisturbed other than whomever sat beside him.

Of course this social camouflage technique of his would only last so long as he was in a crowded bus and not really moving. Dual-lidded eyes blinked at the bus came to a halt and he reached up to take his earbuds out. He did not know of this land-bound musician "Killer Mike" until the day before, when his caretaker had given him an album, but the "Killer Mike" had made a positive impression on the Atlantean even if he could not understand the subject matter of the music.

Standing and making his way quietly out of the bus was enough to draw enough stares during his first year, and it was no different this time around. A few glances at his finned fingers, long ears and noseless features, but he did not blame them this time either. He let out a deep breath, the flaps of dark skin on his neck lifting and showing their gill-like nature.

Another year, he thought, moving towards the gymnasium. Time to get it over with.

[Assistant]
Alluna
Erin followed Gretchen out of the bus and dumped the kinetic energy she had stored up into her knee length hair almost like storage container; as she did her hair began to turn white starting at the tips and ending about halfway up her back. "So what did you mean by modifying equipment?" She asked then followed up with "also what's your power if you don't mind me asking?". When the announcement played she decided that it would be best to hurry and picked up pace, motioning Gretchen to do the same.

[User]
ghost in black

Gretchen kept moving alongside Erin, writing a couple more details in before once more putting away her notebook. "I've always been really into powers, and I've been researching them for a while. I've been analysing them and finding ways to utilise them and improve them, and turning my ideas into reality."

[Assistant] Having been absorbed in trying to see the entirety of the student body at once, Dimitri hadn't noticed Zaheer approaching his person until he'd been on the receiving end of Zaheer's enthusiastic greeting. Dimitri gave a small jump, but quickly regained his cheery demeanor as he realized who it was, "Zaheer..." Dimitri said, trying out the name for himself a few times to make sure he remembered how to properly pronounce it for future references. Once he was certain he'd gotten it memorized, Dimitri cracked open the lid on the tupperware container again and offered the contents to Zaheer, "Nice t'meetcha Zaheer, the name's Dimitri. A handful of folks call me Alloy though.".

[User] When Zaheer befriends anyone, usually it's from the interest of seeing the person do something awesome and with his childlike enthusiasm and interest in simple things, he tends to idolize them. This time around, Zaheer felt that this "metal guy" was someone worth being around since he was offered a snack in Dimitri's container. Zaheer loves food, so he grabbed a handful of what was offered to him, stuffing his face. When Dimitri introduced himself and mentioned his hero name, Zaheer gave a few nods and tried saying his name while his mouth was full but as soon as he swallowed everything down, Di-mi-tri...Dimi-tri....Dimi- can i call you metal guy? Since he thought it would sound cooler. Zaheer had a low attention span, so.. more than likely it would take a few times before learning to call upon the person by their actual given name. Nice to meet you too! I bet you can deflect bullets and stuff and break things with that metal can't you? he asked while the gym was still filling up.

[Assistant] Dimitri shrugged and closed the lid on his container as Zaheer spoke, seemingly unphased by the questions he was being asked "Metal guy's fine too. As for the whole deflecting bullets things, it's a bit tricky. I mean i'm sure I can block some calibers, but I doubt I could handle anything from a high powered rifle or anything like that. Never really been in a position where i've had to do it, you know?". He stopped speaking momentarily to wave to a few faces in the crowd before looking back to Zaheer, "That being said, breaking stuff's pretty easy. I generally try not to, but there was this one time that me and a few friends were at this scrap yard looking for neat stuff and I got dare to punch a busted up car. Ended up denting it a bunch before I punched a hole in the roof and got my arm stuck.", Dimitri scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he recalled the incident, "We had to get the guy that owned the yard to come pry me out. He wasn't very happy about us trespassing, but I think he either pitied me or was confused enough about how I got stuck like that to let us go without calling the cops.".

[User]
"Welcome Everyone to the New school year! bleh bleh bleh! for all new students go to gym 1 , second years to gym 2 and third years to gym 3 for power placement" said Ms. Powers the principal. Ms. Powers leaving the area, leaving the teachers to handle the students, making sure that they go to the right area.

@King Tai@Melodia Alluna@The ghost in black@Player 2@Blizz@Saarebas
------------------
-
AVA & EVE

both the twins walked into the gym, Eve saw a young men wave towards them and decided to put her sister along with her towards the young men, when another one walked towards him as well at the same time. " Hey Dimitri! and whom may you be?" asked Eve towards the new face. while her sister wanted to join her own group of friends who wasn't far from them, looking towards Gretchen and Erin.

@King Tai@Melodia Alluna@The ghost in black

[Assistant]
Upon coming to Sky High, Xiu Yong was immediately placed into on-campus housing when her host family decided against having her at the last minute. By on-campus housing, that meant taking refuge on an unused multipurpose classroom hastily converted into a make shift bedroom. Afterall, Sky High wasn't intended to have dormitories. She didn't mind at all though. With the massive windows of the classroom overlooking the land below the hovering structure, she could barely tell she was technically in the basement of building.

The room had been used several times in the past for home economics, art and magic classes before the school had the funds to upgrade and give those classes their own private rooms; meaning the furniture necessary for all it had been used for had been left around the massive room. With a full stove cook top, oven, refrigerator and etc available as well as prop beds from the drama department, she honestly felt she was living it up far better than she would be had she stayed with a host family. The only down side was that she had to use the gym's showers and bathrooms on the upper floor when necessary. It wasn't all bad--she did get first pick of the shower room lockers to store her items in after all.

After contacting her parents who remained back in China, it wasn't difficult to convince them to send money to decorate, which she still needed to do. Today, as she locked her makeshift apartment behind her with her large luggage bags mostly unpacked, she was dressed in her usual outfit with silver jewelry adorning her chest. She turned to find Mr. Adam, the Magic teacher, waiting for her. With a nod from both their parts, he led the way up to the gym where several students from buses that had pulled in before the current crew's. She parted ways with the teacher and settled in at the back of the crowd. She was eager to meet others, but found herself at a loss for words. Maybe it was that everyone spoke fluent English around her that intimidated Xiu, maybe it was just that she was a stranger despite her age.

Regardless, she backed away from the crowd and settled in instead against the back wall near the door with her arms folded behind her and her head down. She set herself apart from the others... for the time being, at least. Maybe she'd have the courage to approach someone later.

[User]
@yukisaa

Listening to the explanation about what his metal could handle, Zaheer nodded but some of the information that was given to him sort of went through one ear and out the other but what he did make out of it was that his metal could handle certain guns but very powerful weapons of death...he would not come out unscathed. Now, when explaining the damage he can cause with his power, a huge grin appeared on Zaheer's face as it flashed his fangs he naturally had. Oh maaaan...I wish I coulda been there to see that. Ah! That means I can see it soon since we get to test our power here!! No...actually I would like to see you fight someone! No...how about... before he could get out all he could say, Zaheer noticed a familiar face. The girl...no, one of the twins he saw on the bus. She came up while he and Dimitri was having a conversation but really didn't mind because this just meant that, Zaheer had another person he could ask about their abilities.

When the girl came up, she seemed to already know Dimitri but then brought her eyes upon Zaheer, asking who he was. She was quite pretty to him as he hesitated to take in her scent before speaking I'm Zaheer....aka, Wildside! You...you're that double girl from the bus. Who are you? he said with a fang baring smile on his face Do you have cool powers too like Metal man? he asked, ignoring the announcement about the class and year gathering arrangement.

[Assistant] Gretchen smiled politely as she listened to the speech, and then headed to Gym 3. Looking around, she sees a few different people, but none she recognised fully. She wasn't really looking hard enough, anyways. Sitting down on the floor, she pulls out her notebook and begins sketching an idea for a bodysuit for flame powers.


[System]
Age: 20

Gender: Female

Appearance:

Personality: An altruistic young woman who does her best to look out for others – as long as she can pull it off without the masters noticing. This good nature landed her in trouble when someone saw her trying to give food and clean clothing to the prisoners in the dungeons.

History: Doesn't remember much of her own history, except for little snippets. (Was taken from a war-torn southeastern land and sold as a slave when she was seven years old. She doesn't remember much of her family, but apparently they were at least middle-class as she is somewhat able to read and vaguely remembers having tutors of some sort, though she doesn't remember what they taught her.)

Skills: Is resourceful and a quick thinker, and a master of her impulses. Also, due to her station, very good at concealing her thoughts and plans.

Weaknesses: Naturally weak from several years of being fed too little and worked too much. Tends to not volunteer information – or, actually, speak at all – unless she is told to, especially not after landing herself in the dungeon.

[User]
Elena coughed weakly as she came back to her senses. The moment she coughed, she regretted it, of course, as pain shot along her bruised ribs. What had... what had happened?

The girl groaned weakly and opened her eyes to try and get a sense of where she was. Of course, that accomplished nothing -- everything stayed just as dark. Clumsily she brought her hand up to the side of her face, patting at her eyes to make sure there was no blindfold. Of course there wasn't. Lovely. That meant she was either blind or in a pitch-dark room.

She sat up, hands scrabbling on the rough stone floor, wincing as her head spun from not having any sort of visual stimulus. Internally she was panicking about not being able to see but kept her mouth shut while she scrambled to get her thoughts back together. Flashes of the things that had happened the day before flickered through her mind. Sneaking down the stairs with the torch and food during the changing of the guard. Throwing rolls, hard cheese, dried pork into the cells. Then something had come up behind her and... snarled. Causing her to go tumbling down the rest of the steps. Then nothing... she must have hit her head.

She guessed she was now in the dungeons. With... with criminals. With the slaves who'd gone violent, the thieves and the arsonists and traitors and murderers.

Well, that's lovely. She prayed to her gods that she was in a cell with a thief or some petty criminal, then said, "Hello?" The word came out as little more than a rasp, but hopefully enough to get the attention of whomever she was sharing with.

[Assistant]
It had been a long time since Eric had heard another human voice. He turned toward the sound, though it made no difference as the cell was black as pitch.
 "Yes?"
 He made an attempt so speak, but it only came out as a hoarse whisper. He made an attempt to sit up, his muscles feeling raw from inactivity. Years of hopelessness affecting his body.

 "Just a second."
 After searching his worn tunic for a few seconds, he found what he was looking for, he had kept it hidden for Five years. A magic ring. He had never used it, as he often had no need for light, took it out and slipped it onto his hand. The ring began to glow faintly, just enough for Eric to see the girl, fear in her eyes. He recognized her, as she would come down into the dungeon on occasion and offer him food. Her kindness had gotten her sent to the depths.

 Eric smiled in an attempt to reassure Elena, but his appearance didn't help.
 "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," He said, holding out his hand, "My name is Eric, what's yours?"

[User]
Elena flinched away from the man's raspy voice, then further away from the glowing. But finally her curiosity got the best of her and she crawled closer to him. He had clearly been down here for a while, judging by his lack of grooming, but he had a kind, if stern face under all of the grime. She hesitated for a moment, but then clasped hands with him.

"My name is Elena." she said simply. The young woman didn't volunteer anything else, nor ask any other questions, instead squinting off into the darkness as though hoping to make the surroundings become more clear. She wanted to ask more about Eric, of course. She wasn't a fool, she'd noticed the elaborate embroideries on his tunic, which would have been beautiful had they been clean. Between that and his somewhat refined features he was clearly a man of noble birth. But she held her tongue -- what business did a slave have of asking things of a lord? Even a disgraced one, even in the darkest dungeon in all the kingdoms.


[System]
Nickname(Optional): June Bug

Age: 33

Gender: Female

Physical Appearance: Sayeeda is a medium sized woman of middle eastern extraction. She has the wiry build of a swimmer or long distance runner. Her eyes are dark and almond shaped and focus slightly beyond the horizon most of the time. Sayeeda keeps her hair just longer than a buzz cut in order to facilitate wearing her helmet. She has a large tattoo of several owls in flight on her right shoulder. Sayeeda does have feminine curves but her breasts are on the smaller size of average and she does very little to emphasize her gender.

Clothing:  Camo pants and a tank top are her civilian dress. She wears a ceramic breastplate if she is expecting trouble and also has a commo helmet which she uses in battle and for technical tasks.

Personality: Sayeeda is a former mercenary soldier and has a fairly relaxed view towards life. Anything and anyone not currently shooting at her is the second priority. She is very tightly wound when it comes to people doing what she expects them too in dangerous situations and she is extremely punctilious when it comes to fulfilling any sort of formal contract.

[User]
Neil regarded the woman for a moment. At first he thought she reminded him of Sayeeda, her hair short and her body lithe but fit, and a dangerous quality about her. But on second glance, he realized that was not the case. There was a competence, but a lack of command or confidence. She must had been bought as a slave and had served Gnorlaac well, or she had risen through the rank for gathering intel, etc. Either way, he would be respectful. Dangerous or not, she seemed to be his eyes and ears at the moment.

"The D-15 Landing pad near sector 8." Neil replied, giving the ships HLNDR designation number. He had the slightest notion that Taya had tensed up when he gave the information, but one had to look for it to notice. It seemed like no one did, thankfully. As the woman placed the information in her datapad, Neil spoke up. "Will you accompany us or will one of your agents?" Behind Yrla, a door whisked open to reveal two heavily clad warriors. Their races unknown, though they seemed man sized, encased in full Dyrelian battle-armor, leaving even their faces covered in las and bullet resistant armor.

"Both," she replied curtly. Her datapad 'pinged' aloud, and she holstered it onto her utility belt as she motioned for Neil to lead the way back to the ship. The guard's guns were not pointed at them, but they were slung within their hands much like Neil and Sayeeda's guns had been when they had dealt with Sven.

Through the rusted streets, the blood and excrement on the walls giving off a very pervasive sense of mild disgust, Neil strode ahead confidently and never did look back. He had his hand close to his revolver if he heard even the slightest thing amiss, but all was quiet save the calls of the low-life merchants and the growls of various Xenos that prowled. Once they entered the landing pad, Neil told Taya to open up the ship. She didn't make a noise, and simply pushed a button within her clothes that activated the bay doors.

"Wait here, would you?" Neil asked them. All of them, and he went up to retrieve the most valuable mineral in the galaxy.

[Assistant]
Sayeeda gestured Taya back into the ship, the girl was quick to take advantage of the chance to get out of the potentially dangerous situation, all but running up the ramp. She might tell herself that she would be more useful inside the ship and maybe that was true, but truthfully Junebug just wanted her out of the way. There were a million ways this exchange could go wrong and shooting the Highlanders crew to save the forty million was both the most likely and the most difficult to avoid.

The aliens in the armor snorted and yipped at each other their communication undecipherable to human ears. Junebug watched them with studied boredom her plasma rifle cradled casually but within only a few degrees of the armored killers. In the ancient struggle between weapons and armor, weapons were currently in the lead. Nothing a man could carry would do much to stop a plasma bolt. Even ablative armor would transmit a bone shattering shock as the superheated plasma detonated on its surface. Powered armor was more effective and could be plated heavily enough to withstand the shock, but it sacrificed movement. Mechs and the like were more akin to light vehicles than armored infantry. Sayeeda figured if this went south she could take at least one and probably both of the alien gunmen down but it didn't mean she was eager to try conclusions. One of the creatures, sensing her regard made a crude leer running a purplish tongue over its fangs. Sayeeda winked without allowing her face to lose its bored expression, gannering another burst of garbled alien chittering.

Further by play was interrupted by Neil returned carrying the small chest in which the *BLANK* was stored. The guards and the young woman who was apparently going to perform the assay quited in anticipation. The pilot set the case down on the grease stained floor and flicked both the latches open with a theatrical flourish.

"Behold!" he cried, throwing the lid open and posing dramatically. The soft glow of the *BLAN* pulsed from within the chest, illuminating falling dust motes in its pure light. Neil looked a little crestfallen.

"No one appreciates a show," he muttered. Sayeeda noticed that his revolver was tucked into his belt, within easy reach for a quick draw. Apparently she wasn't the only one concerned about the number of ways things might go wrong. The woman, Junebug never got her name, pulled a bulky but portable scanner from a bag and ran it over the *BLANK*. For an endless minute the machine beeped and whired before the aide, or whatever she was, finally tucked the scanner away.

"It appears to be genunine," she said, her voice a little to netural to be believable.

"Where did you say you got it from?" she asked. Junebug rolled her eyes.

"We stole it from the Pirate King and he is going to sail his fleet of dreadnoughts in here and wreak horrible vengeance on whoever holds the cursed treasure. Anyone who toucheth it wilt surely perish excetera and if this is the part where you try to talk us down from our price because its soooo dangerous, then you can just be on your way and we will find another buyer," Junebug sneered. The aliens stiffened, gripping their weapons. Junebug negligently lifted her rifle to point at the closes gunmen though her face still appeared bored rather than threatening. The aides face was dark with an unpleasant emotion.

"Very well, we will pay your asked price, but you should know that…"

"Yeah yeah, no one disrespects the boss, we get it," Junebug finished, lowering her rifle as the aliens took their own hands away from their weapons.

"Take the goods," the aide told the aliens.

"No," Junebug and Neil spoke simultaneously, paued to look at each other and then turned back to their guests.

"I know we are all friends and everything, you know you being infamous gangsters and we being some randoms who never made port here till yesterday, but just for the hell of it, lets assume we want to see the money before we hand over the goods."

"You are a very irritating woman Captain Cyckali," the aide said, clenching and unclenching her fists. Junebug smiled toothily.

"And just to be sure no one gets any weird notions, lets do the hand off somewhere neutral, one of those casinos should do fine."

"The Golden Nebula," Taya's voice sounded in her mastoid implant. The girl was good, listeninging into the conversation and doing her own research as she went.

"THe Golden Nebula, lets say three hours from now?" Junebug went on as though she had come up with the name.

"That is hardly enough time to get the money toge…" the Aid protested.

"Well then I guess we will have to take our bussiness elsewhere after…" the aide through up her hands in disgust.

"FINE!" she snapped and whirled on her heel, practically storming out of the building flunkies in tow. Junebug grinned, Neil gave her his 'what the fuck was that' expression as he pulled his revolver from his belt. She shrugged a little sheepishly.

"Sorry, it has been days since I shot anything, guess I'm a little tense."

[User]
The Pilot laughed. "Don't worry, with our luck I'm sure we'll shoot something real soon." he said with a wink, snapping up the trunk and lifting up the near-priceless object. He shook his head as he relayed the scene that had just played out. "Acting like we'd just give them the stone. They idiots?"

"I think they think we're the idiots." Sayeeda said, hands on her hips.

"How could we be idiots? We have some fucking Aestimobium."

"And how did we get it?" She asked Neil, raising an eyebrow.

He sighed. "...By being idiots." Sayeeda smirked. Taya's voice rang over the comms. "If you two are done, let's get in here and discuss what exactly we plan on doing." The hanger was still empty, but Neil realized it was probably for the best they talked further inside. A devil in the back of Neil's head made him say. "Yeah, before the Captain shoots somebody." He felt a woosh of air behind the nape of his neck right as he leaped forward, and he ran into the Highlander with Sayeeda right on his heels until Neil spun and held the Aestimobium in front of himself. Sayeeda hid a smile, and just pointed at him.

He placed the mineral down on the table after she sat down, and he sat down too, thinking he was safe. The boot that stomped on his foot relieved him of such notions, but they were both laughing after Neil cursed. In a moment however, Sayeeda went back to business and began. "So..." she said, her tone brooking no room for anything else but making a plan worth executing. "we go to the Golden Nebula. Did either of you see any good places for guns to hide in the Cantina?"

"I could barely see anything." Taya said, the cloak that had been wrapped around her head now snug on her shoulders once more.

"There's probably plenty of places to the left when you enter, where the crowds and dancers are." Neil pointed out. "But on the right, the sit down bar and tables are probably where we'll do the transaction. We can't exactly flank or hide either, they've seen both of our faces and Taya isn't the best gun, no offense."

Taya's face gave a clear 'none taken, seriously' as if she wanted to be as far away from any gun as possible.

"Then we'll just need to sit in the corner near the door, and wait. Or if they already have a table for us, we don't sit next to each other." She said to Neil, and he nodded. They needed eyes everywhere. "Taya, give us your cloak." The girl blinked, but did as she was told, and Sayeeda wrapped it around the Aestimobium container.

Neil spoke up next. "They'll never guess we have a container now."

Needless to say, he had to dodge Sayeeda again.

[Assistant]
The Golden Nebula was not what Sayeeda had imagined from a dingy crime world, though perhaps it should have been. Neoclassical dance music thrummed like a thunderstorm as they stepped through the security checkpoint and into the interior. Just as Taya had said the establishment employed sophisticated biometric scanners, though the expensive units were almost completely recessed into large palatial columns. The security was well armed and obvious but also clean enough to hint at respectability. Also, just as Taya had said, neither the Aestimobium nor the pair of pistols concealed beneath it triggered the sensors. One of the metals many properties was the release of energy in the form of radiation. The radiation was poorly understood but seemed to have no harmful effects on humans. Apparently it was also enough to smother the electronic signatures of the hardware. Sayeeda kept her face pleasant but she really wished they could have bought more hardware. In theory the weapon restrictions applied to their 'business partners' too, but Junebug was to familiar with breaking rules to put much stock in that slender protection.

"I still say we should have pulled a last minute move, somewhere I could have covered with a rifle," the mercenary griped. She was dressed in a skin tight body suit of dark gray, almost black synthetic polymer. It was the sort of thing that a jet bike rider might wear and was judged by Taya to be not too far out of the ordinary for the Nebula. The plus was that it let her wear combat boots, those these were new, black and buffed to a high sheen rather than her worn tan favorites. A band of black enameled metal encirled her brow, keeping her now almost shoulder length hair out of her face. She really needed to find time to get it cut, or at least buzz it so that her helmet would fit properly again.

"Will you give it up," the long suffering Neil responded as they ascended a broad stairway. The interior of the casino was massive and open. Games of chance of every conceivable sort ringed a huge central space. Not only the ground but the walls and ceiling were covered also. Antigrav plates had been installed to allow a guest to walk up the walls or over the ceiling. Bars and drinking establishments stood out like barbs on the wall and celing. THe central space was a vast zero gravity dance floor. Launch points were marked on the floor where the gravity was low enough that one could jump into the field. Smaller grav points flashed in and out of existance as bars of neon lights. Hundreds of people flipped and spun overhead, gyrating with wild excess that would have been impossible in normal grav.

"Whoa," Junebug said, impressed inspite of herself.

"Also what is this like nine dimensions of fire arcs to worry about? Remind me to kill Taya."


[System]
Age: 17
Element: Water

Personality:
Two words that very well define Luke is, unambitious and shiftless. His attitude most likely stems from the fact that he's had siblings, who have (atleast thinks they have) more potential and talent that he could ever muster. However, he himself is also a well of untapped potential, he easily grasped the working and intricacies of his element, being able to nonchalantly use it and even integrate it to his everyday life like pouring a cup of coffee.

Socially Luke tends to shy away from large herds of people and prefers one on one or a small group of discussion. That's not to say that he's asocial, he tends to smile whenever he is speaking to anyone and always looks at them at eye level. Even then he prefers himself to be at solitude and peace, having a liking towards silence. He can get along relatively well with other people as long as they aren't loud or in general, annoying.

However a fatal flaw, or strength, depending on the eyes of the beholder, is Luke's unwavering optimism. He always sees the glass half full and\ will always try to formulate the good that a situation brings. An extension of this is that he tries to see the good in people as well, he believes that inherently, no one is born evil, but because of the circumstances around them causing them to be evil, his naive view of the world is brought about by his inexperience.

In a nutshell, Luke is inherently a nice person, lending out a hand to people whenever he can. However only helping people who help themselves, as he dislikes it when people become over reliant on others rather than themselves.

History:
Luke was raised from afar, within a family of geniuses and brilliance. At a young age his siblings had managed to already grasp the basics of the elements while he, a late bloomer, couldn't, as much as he tried. Because of this the attention of his parents were focused on his other siblings. Although they didn't condemn or hate Luke for his lacking ability but they didn't show any care or much loving either. It was only Luke's uncle, Gregory, who showed him any parental concern. He was the one who taught Luke that he was a slow learner, and nurtured him with patience.

Soon Luke found himself able to manipulate the elements, with great control and accuracy. His parents were shocked, and silently loathe Luke for what they think was him 'showing up their teaching abilities' as Luke's other siblings did not have the deft and nimble accuracy that Luke showed. In a last ditch effort they set up a mock duel with Luke's oldest, most experienced sibling. The results were uncanny, Luke towered over his siblings who looked as if he had not even broken a sweat, water was still swirling around him as he looked down on his brother. He offered out a hand to help him up, only for his hand to be swatted away. Gregory was proud of him, a bright smile etched across his face as he hugged Luke.

His parents however, were found to be displeased and angered. They quickly set documents for Luke to to go somewhere afar, Elemental Academy, and his Uncle was not allowed to follow him. No matter how much his Uncle tried to deter them from this, it was set in stone. On the surface it was for him to 'grow' better in one of the most studious academies, but in reality it was an excuse for him to be sent far away, basically a sort of banishment. Now Luke finds himself at the cusp of his first year at the Academy.

Equipment: --

[User]
@Xandrya
Elbritas Kessinger

Elbritas smiled as his two students duked it out. This always happened when you put two fledgling first year firecrackers in a same room together, without fail. Although he was about to break the fight up when it started to get bad when a young man, presumably the new Blood student Gus, on his first rounds, entered the room. He watched as he cried out in shock and delivered a swift blow to Vlad, throwing him against the wall, wincing as the Heritage Collection was slammed into once again. He needed to get a case for those made or something. He watched Madison rush out to leave the room, and made sure as soon as the kid fixed up Vlad he'd go talk to her. "Pay no mind Gus, this is a usual happenstance for the first class of my first years." Since Vlad's wounds really were not that bad off it was a quick job he left his office to a somber Madison and Gus being shy and awkward. "Madison, please come back into my office, I have the ointment and bandages you require. Don't worry, you're not in trouble." He put a hand on her non-injured shoulder and guided her back into the office, sitting her down on the chair behind his desk.

Before he patched her up, he moved over to the collection and gingerly picked up the weapons that had falled and placed them one by one back onto their displays. He pulled open a drawer and withdrew a roll of bandages and a homemade burn ointment in an ornate jar. "As you can see, I've become well prepared for such things to happen. One kid's always full of bravado or piss and vinegar and causes a scrap. Neither of you will be punished, because this all winds up being part of the lesson. Just in future, if you're going to deck him in my office, please try to avoid the wall with weapons." He said with a wink. "Now, would you like me to treat your injuries, or would you rather do it yourself." He didn't want to make the girl uncomfortable with an older man she had just met treating her wounds.

[Assistant]
Madison

"You can go ahead and treat it, Mr. Kessinger. Apparently you've done this plenty of times before, and two hands are always better than one." As he started working on her wound, she looked over at the organized display on the wall before shifting her eyes to Vlad. His unconscious body lying on the ground bothered her more than it should, possibly because she was the one to blame for it all.

"I'm sorry about your display, I really don't know what came over me. I don't want to be transferred out of your class, but it won't come to that, right? If Vlad and I can't get along then I'm sure we both can still have you as our teacher, just not during the same session." She winced as he applied the bandage and it made contact with her battered skin. "I know, I kept dragging this out. You said I'm not in trouble but I'm unsure of how to proceed from here, although I should probably just let you do what you do best, right?" She looked at him and gave him a hopeful smile to show that she wasn't the crazy person who had cause this entire mess.

@Sif

[User]
Kano Hargor

-------

Kano kept a close watch on the students throughout the lesson in the fields. Helping the young Aether student experience a higher understanding of the subtleties of the elements, a lesson that he would later in the year turn the scope to broader ideals like the pulse of the land itself. Not just singular moments and experiences.

The lightning students had recovered and continued to deplete their stores of excessive and potentially lethal electric energy. An exercise in futility, as they would both learn, considering the more they moved the more energy they would create. Their lesson was to be aware of limitations and control.
A lesson that Markus had learned on the edge of disaster. Valuable knowledge gleamed, Kano hoped.

As for the water student, Luke, the challenge of calming the waves while keeping your head above water was difficult. Kano had only given him one hint and was surprised the bright young man had not divined the meaning. Hold your breathe was meant to help him when he went under the water as it violently trashed.

It was also so he could stay under the water, where the violent trashing was minimized. The deeper he went down into the 6 foot pool the gentler the rocking was. From there it could take only a few minutes to calm the raging storm above.
Kano had calmed the waters and helped Luke out after about a half hour. Drying off in the warm sun took mere minutes. During that time, Luke was asked to meditate on the answer to the challenge for next time.

Chen had done excellently on the crafting aspect of ice creation, though the scale was about 1/10th what Kano originally had in mind. But rather than fault the boy it was clear that the teacher hadn't given explicit instructions. So a passing grade was in order.
Though Kano did remind himself that if the boy was late again, there would be a harder obstacle than making a doll house out of ice.

The class progressed on without any further issues until the ring of a large bell echoed from the mountain, 12 loud clangs, signaling that it was exactly noon. It also meant that it was lunch time.

"Ok. Settle down." The lunch bell always got students rushing. "Classes are dismissed for the day," Kano grabbed the back of Chens coat and dragged him back into the cirlce. "Sit down, I'm not done. Now. The cafeteria is next to the dormitories to the north. Follow the road until you reach the colored buildings. Be sure to look forward to announcements at the end of lunch, as you will be receiving your dorm key and roommate name."
Kano clapped once loudly and simply exploded. In a shower of cool water, revitalizing and refreshing after the long day, he was simply gone. The only trace that he'd ever been there was the damp soil where he had been standing.

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

The dormitories were consisted of 3 buildings. Each one was painted in a mosaic of different colors. Every year at graduation the students were allowed to paint whatever they wanted over the exterior to celebrate. To date, thousands of markings covered and overlapped each other. Faded and old markings and pictures still visible even after their generation was long gone.

The building currently still in the sun was a simple square building with two windows evenly spaced every few feet. A gigantic 1 was emblazoned visibly onto the wall. The first year dormitories.
Behind it was a similar looking building with 2 stories instead of only one, again emblazoned with the number 2. A more elaborate building with brick walls and a balcony. You could just see inside to view the polished hardwood floors and marble counter tops. Fully furnished.

In the distance was the three story number 3 building. From a distance it was hard to make out the inside of the building but it was obviously the more esteemed building for the third year graduates. One could only imagine the luxury of the building.

In the center of all this, a building following something akin to roman building designs, with tall columns evenly spaced out. Two thick oak doors with silver detailing was the main entrance to the building. Four stories high, with a gargantuan open floor in the middle that could fit every student and teacher comfortably.
The food was provided by local establishments, every student was given a voucher for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All you had to do was go to one of the establishments, tell then your order, and hand them the voucher. The school itself paid for the lunch materials or in some cases helped provide them entirely. The actual labor was put in by business owners who volunteered to put up an easier to access venue for convenient access to students who were on a schedule.
It promoted community growth and stimulated kids to try new things they wouldn't normally have the opportunity to. It was just one of the ways that the school encouraged its students to learn more about the world around them.
Cuisine from every corner of the globe was brought here and put on display. Volunteers were often seen helping in the back or working with the establishments at their home businesses.

Teachers were given their own private area that circled around the second floor with a clear view into the students eating area.

(GM note: Go nuts!)

[Assistant]
It seems like Luke himself still couldn't get the 'enigmatic' hint, he spent alot of time on the raging waters itself before it was made tranquil by the headmaster. He was instructed to meditate on the answer, and that he did. The words rang and echoed in his head endlessly. He thought to start from the literal base and meaning of it,

If I take it literally... should I have gone deeper in the waters... Luke thought to himself, then he remembered a lesson from his Uncle. Another enigmatic teaching, well not really,

"The harsher the waves, the farther you should go."

Luke sighed to himself in disbelief, did he really just have to go deeper in the waters where it was more calmer to have an easier time. The thought of him not being suited popped up in his head once more. It makes sense, the raging waves only appeared on the surface, the deeper waters looked to be... well, calm.

Before he could ponder any deeper, the bells rung true and loud. A symphony of twelve hits cascaded and echoed throughtout the area.

"Ok. Settle down."
"Classes are dismissed for the day,"
"Sit down, I'm not done. Now. The cafeteria is next to the dormitories to the north. Follow the road until you reach the colored buildings. Be sure to look forward to announcements at the end of lunch, as you will be receiving your dorm key and roommate name."

With those said he clapped his hands and poofed out of existence. Well, poofed somewhere else probably. Luke waved his hands and witht hat gesture, removed the excess water present all over his body from the trial, so he could dry himself before dressing up. The thought of him failing, even with the very easy hint presented towards him just soured his mood as he put on his clothes.

---

---

Listening to the instructions he followed the road, until brightly colored buildings entered his peripherals. It was a bright gush of colours, livelier than he had anticipated. He fished his pockets and pulled out the voucher given to him earlier in the day.

Morning, afternoon and night, was it? Three meals a day, hm.

He leisurely trekked towards the cafeteria, a myriad of different cuisine from all over the world. Damn it was true that this place's reach extended long and far, and Luke already missed the cuisine from his old home. So he handed in his voucher to what looked closest to his old home's cuisine, he smiled a bittersweet smile as memories of him and his Uncle laughing and cheering whilst eating the very same food. It was food from the East, similar to Japanese cuisine; known as 'Sushi'.

Although walking to the tables, he found that the stray whispers still lingered in the area, and so Luke opted for an empty table and chair, but this also exasperated the situation since now he was also called a 'loner' or something, well he didn't really mind. After remembering the pleasant memories of his rather besmirched past, he now thought of his current situation and skill, the thought of his own inadequacy also etched on the back of his mind.

Well whatever, for now he could eat by his lonesome and worry about those issues later.


[System]
Basics
Alias: Trick
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Alliance: Good
Power: Teleportation – Lexa can teleport herself and whatever she's holding to any location that she can see
Enhanced Healing – Lexa has enhanced durability and heals moderately fast (an injury that would normally take several days to heal instead takes several hours), though this has the side effect of injuries scarring more often than not

Physical Description

Image:

Height: 5'5"
Weight: 111 lbs
Hair: Long, deep red
Eyes: Amber
Typical Clothing/Equipment: Casual – baggy, loose fitting t-shirt and pants, with a pair of old sneakers.
Uniform – A black, lightly armored ensemble with gloves, a jacket, and a mask that covers the bottom half of her face. She also carries a katana, and dyes her hair black to help conceal her identity.

Personality/Attributes

Personality/Attitude: Quiet, aloof, thoughtful, self-blaming, sarcastic, couragious, just, secretly empathetic
Skills/Talents: Karate and aikido black belt, weapons training, parkour, fluent in French and Vietnamese, superior reflexes
Favorites/Likes: Her dog Frank, japanese candies, quiet nights
Most Hated/Dislikes: People who enjoy hurting others
Goals/Ambitions: To help as many people as she can
Strengths: Resourceful, driven, takes no shit
Weaknesses: Brooding, quick to blame herself, stand-offish
Fears: Watching someone die when she could've helped

Additional Notes: Her parents and little brother died in a house robbery gone wrong eight months ago. Now she lives in an apartment by herself with an old one-eyed dog she picked up from the pound named Frank. Never been kissed. Has a day job working at a bookstore.

[User]
She had asked him if he had anywhere in mind for them to go and be safe. With what strength he had he struggled to his feet, groaning in pain as he did so. FUCKSHITFUCKGODDAMNIT The words did not leave his mouth he was in far too much pain. Although he was pretty much healed up by now, he was still in quite a bit of pain. "I know of someone who can help us find a place..." He nodded, seeming to agree with what he had to say. "Yea... someone. His name is Roy he's Luca's son. Luca, the bar owner, remember? He's a bit of a bad boy, I'll be sure to keep him off ya. In any case, he should be able to help us."

Jack almost rejected her offer to teleport him out of there, he wasn't quite sure either of them were up for it. But he knew she was stubborn and they NEEDED to get out of there. He allowed her to teleport them from wherever they were, to the alley beside Luca's dive bar. "Oi. We should be safe if we go in there. But only for a moment. No doubt Shirley's men are looking for us. They'll protect us in there. But they're honestly no match for Shirley and his creations..." Jack noticed something about himself. The joking manner in which he normally spoke was doused by how serious the situation was. He didn't like it one bit. "Alright, sweet cheeks. Allow me to handle this one. This 'bad boy' I spoke of before will only do us the favor we ask if we either give him something. Or threaten him." He chuckled, causing him to wince. "I definitely prefer the latter. Of course, I won't go killing anyone, but threatening is still on the list of things I'm allowed to do, right?"

With another nod of reassurance from himself, he headed inside and gestured to Luca as he entered.

"Luca. 'ave you seen your sleezeball of a son?"

"Roy, yea he's-"

A person interrupted Luca by putting their arm around Jack's shoulder. "Right here, my man."

"Roy!!" Jack tried not to wince and looked toward the door to see if Lexa had followed him. He REALLY didn't want Roy to get his hands on her. Not that he would try much other than kissing and a bit of groping. But it would irritate Jack, nonetheless. In all honesty, Roy was Jack's rival, always trying to steal Jack's women.

"Where've ya been, Jack? Surely not left for dead somewhere by an ex one-nighter?"

Jack snickered. "Nah, I've been busy. Look, can we talk in the alley way for a moment? I've got a request and I don't want the boys finding out about it, ya got me?"

"Sure, sure, Jackaboy." Roy gave a grin and somewhat escorted Jack to the alley with his arm still around his shoulder. "Whatcha nee-" He stopped mid-sentence when he finally noticed Lexa. "Oi, oi. Who's this lovely lady, Jack? You didn't tell me you were with someone."

"I'm not" He gritted his teeth when Roy pushed him away. "She's just a friend. Nothing more."

"C'mon Jack, I've never known you to have 'just a friend' before." He moved closer to Lexa.

Jack reached out and grabbed Roy's shirt collar, pulling Roy back and turning him around so that Jack could put HIS arm around Roy's shoulder. "Look here, you piece of cow dung dipped in elephant jizz, I'd leave her alone before she or I bash your pretty little face in, you got me?" His tone was dark and threatening.

Roy's eyes widened for a moment. "H-heh... Yea Jack. Totally. Wh-what'd you need?"

"Oh, well you know." Jack's tone suddenly lightened and he smiled cheerfully. "We need a place to lay low for a while, no questions asked."

"O-of course." Roy pulled his phone from his pocket and quickly sent a text. Just as quickly as he had sent it, his phone received a text in return. "I'll forward you the address... can I go now?"

"Sure, buddy!" Jack let go of Roy and turned to Lexa as Roy scrambled back into the bar.

"We'd better get going..."

[Assistant]
Lexa fought the urge to roll her eyes at Jack's display of… protectiveness? Aggression? Dominance? Some stupidly male thing that she didn't have the patience for but didn't have the energy to fight. All that mattered was they got what they needed and had to get out. Lexa looked at the address on Jack's phone, trying to recognize its location in the city through her tired thoughts. She stood close to Jack as she did so, almost leaning into him unconsciously. Whether it was for her own support or for his, no one could say.

After a moment, she gave a short nod.

"Ok," she said. "I think I got it." She glanced up at Jack and started a bit to find him so close. Leaning back, putting careful inches between them she spoke again. "Ready?" And with that she grabbed his shoulder and teleported them up to the rooftop and across the city.

The pair ended up in the industrial district, a dingy, dirty place with littered streets and unpainted walls. At was on the very edge of the city, just before a great pine forrest that stretched for miles. Lexa worked to narrow it down to the correct street and then the number until she found the building. She was panting, needing rest after the long night and teleporting across town with a passenger, but she knew she couldn't rest yet. She'd begun leaning on Jack more and more throughout the trip, the will to hold herself up growing more and more difficult to muster.

But eventually they made it to Roy's safehouse: an abandoned office building to some logging company that had closed long ago. It was too dark to see much, but it smelled of dust and mildew and the air was stale. But Lexa couldn't have been more relieved to arrive. With a sigh she let go of Jack and plopped down on the floor, her back against a wall. Moonlight shined through the window they'd teleported through above her.

"Shit," she muttered, closing her eyes and leaning her head back. Annoyance more than anything else colored her voice. This exhaustion thing sucked. She needed to work out more.

But… how exactly was one supposed to exercise a superpower? Just do it more? She'd improved by miles over the past year she knew, but she didn't know if that was because her power was getting stronger or if she was just getting better at using it properly.

Her mind flashed back to Shirley and what he'd told her. How she was supposedly… one of them. Lexa winced and covered it up by stretching her neck. She opened her eyes again in the darkness, staring ahead at nothing.

Jack… he'd grown up in the system. He'd spent his whole life learning and perfecting his power. Granted, he'd done it by being tortured. So if the options were know your powers and grow up being tortured, or have a normal life and figure it out on your own… Lexa thought she ended up lucky. She still couldn't believe what Shirley'd told her… what he'd apparently revealed to her about her life.

In a moment of blind impulse, Lexa opened her mouth.

"When you were young," she finally said in a quiet, distant voice, "do you remember… who was the first one to get powers? In the institute or whatever."

[User]
Jack could tell Lexa had used a lot of energy teleporting them around town to the dump of a hideout. He sat across the room from her, pushing some wooden planks and rubble out of the way to sit down on the floor. "Notice how no one said a thing about my wound and the blood? Well they know better than to ask. But I'm pretty sure Luca knows my secret. Anyways, you asked me question didn't ya?"

The young man looked up at what was left of the ceiling. "Uh, lemme think I don't remember particularly. I think they started in an order starting with Joker. However..." He closed his eyes tight, trying hard to remember what he had long tried to forget. "There was a mention of a first, before the Card Deck project. I listened rather well when they assumed I was unconscious. It was simply called Project X. and I'm not sure why. I know the victim was female, she was experimented on as a baby or something. Why do you ask? Did Shirley say something to you?"

By now it almost seemed like things were starting to add up. Jack was oblivious to it however. He didn't think in any way Lex could have been the girl that they spoke about, the main experiment of Project X. But it did explain her night terrors and her powers.

[Assistant]
Project X. Of course a sadistic organization would name their first evil brainchild Project X. But other than that, what little Jack knew seemed to match up with what Shirley had said. Not that that proved anything.

"Said lots of stuff," Lexa answered. "He talks almost as much as you do. He was trying to get me to join his evil empire or something. Dunno. Wasn't really paying attention." Lexa gave a tired sigh, amber eyes focusing on Jack.

"The only people to ever know about my power were my parents. They hated when I used it. They were just scared, I think. They wouldn't even let me tell my brother, but I think he figured it out on his own." Her gaze drifted to the side as she spoke, remembering them. "But they're all gone now, so it's just you. And Ty." Another mess that needed cleaning up. She owed him explanations. "So what's your plan after this? Lay low and what? Go into hiding? Kill Shirley?" She tried to picture Jack in a non-violent civilian existence. Didn't quite fit. Then again, the same could be said when she tried to picture herself as just Lexa with no Trick.

[User] "Heh. Well, I pretty much told ya I wouldn't kill anymore. So killing Shirley is out of the question. Regardless of, y'kno, the fact that he'll always be after us both and maybe even threaten to kill people we care about or worse..." Jack rolled his eyes but was smiling. "Oh well whatevers. I suppose I will have to move out of the city but what I really want... is to um... Stick with you. I mean! What?! I didn't say anything, I don't know what you're talking about!!" He shook his head like he really hadn't said anything about sticking with her. However, it was the truth that he had wanted to stay with her. But it was probably something she didn't want. In fact, she was probably still livid with him for getting her into all of this and such. Ah well, He would have to see what her reaction was to him saying stupid shit now. Great...

[Assistant]
Lexa blinked at Jack when he said he was keeping his no-killing promise, even when it came to Shirley. That was… mildly impressive. Which really said wonders when Lexa was impressed that Jack wasn't planning homicide. She froze though, when he said he wanted to stay with her. Stunned amber eyes watched Jack as he fussed and fidgeted where he sat. He… what? How was she even supposed to react to them?

"Uhm… yeah?" Lexa wanted to run herself through with her sword for responding in the stupidest possible way. Her face was starting to heat. She tore her eyes away from him to look down at the ground. Shit, she was too sleep deprived to deal with this.

If she forced her spinning head to get its damn act together, it wasn't the most terrible idea. The smartest move would likely be for her to skip town, find somewhere new to hide and set up shop. It meant starting over, but… well, Lexa didn't have all that much to lose here. She'd miss her job, and Ty… But now that he knew about her, the farther she was from him, the better. She couldn't stand the idea of him getting wrapped up in this because of her own idiocy. He didn't deserve that.

At least she could bring her dog with her.

As for sticking with Jack… Lexa's eyes flicked up to him before quickly darting away again. Dangerous. Dangerous and volatile. Not homicidal though, for however long that lasted. But if he could be trusted, then he was a good person to have at her back. And…

Lexa had already lost her family once. While Jack wasn't anywhere close to that, she didn't know how willing she was to lose this possible connection to her past. Even if she didn't want to believe it.

"If we do this," she finally spoke again in a gruff voice, hardly believe the words coming out of her mouth, "I'm not babysitting you. I don't wanna turn around and find out you dropped a building or something." Promising to not murder was a good first step, but there was a whole slew of other crimes on his rap sheet.

This was a terrible idea. She was going to regret this.

But Lexa couldn't find it in herself to pull the words back.


[System]
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Personality: Kind of nerdy, because of this being pretty lonely.
Biography: -
Other: -
In-Game Character:
Name: N1ghtm4r3
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Personality: Cool, relaxed, knows exactly what he is doing.
Current Loadout: Basic Black Starting Armor and Basic Dagger.
Skills:
Melee: One-Handed, Slashing.
Range: Firearms, Bows.
Magic: Dark, Illusionary.
Armor Type: Light Armor.
Auras: None.
Crafting: None.
Gathering: Hunting.

[User]
School was typical as always nothing more than him siting in a classroom, then memorized whatever information was in the lesson, then read from some textbook, same old story. Something was different that day, thankfully, ARE was finally launching after what seemed like forever, and Darrel was sure to be right there... just had to wait until 5:00. For the entire week he basically stopped paying attention in class, rather wanting to spend his time day dreaming about the possibilities of what could be out there, way out there in the world of ARE. He learned about this ambitious game through Internet chat circles, forums, and web articles, the normal ways honestly, from quite a few months back.

The more he found out, the more hyped he became, not only was there supposed to be a vast map with varied environments, there were also rumored to be features like playing mapping and player made books. On top of the fact a majority of the content had remained under heavy wraps, well all that made ARE into an explorer's paradise far as he was concerned. Darrel toyed with the idea of keeping an in-game journal of what he will find, if not that than an actual physical one will do, still he knew he wanted to record the adventure in it's entirety.

Time passed and Darrel stepped though his bedroom's door, good news is he didn't expect anyone to be home until much later so there was a lesser chance of something interrupting him. The time was 4:58, there wasn't any time to waste so as such he jumped right to his computer, helmet and all. He sat there, staring intently at his smartphone's screen willing for the minutes to tick over... 4:59... 5:00! He had been anticipating this moment for what seemed like the longest time, he wasn't waiting any longer. Headgear on, back on the bed, he was ready to go! Ready to face his destiny.

The boot sequence was mercifully short, after which he launched ARE. Soon he was taken to the character creation process, he held back on randomly throwing someone together, he didn't need some ridiculous avatar. Darrel explored all his options, and while he didn't blitz though, he didn't painfully agonize over every little detail as so many other gamers fell prey to. Kytel was created, and then for the first time he entered The Town of Beginnings.

Kytel blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the sudden change in lighting, just like a real human's. Almost imminently he was captivated by the city that stretched before him, it looked so full and vibrant with life, filled with so many places to see. This was one tiny section of what's offered in ARE, and despite how impossible it already seemed, there was in fact many more worlds within this world, this thought alone plastered a grin on Kytel's face, he was going to have fun here. A few minutes later the tutorial quest automatically popped up, now he wasn't a newcomer to games so he really didn't need the knowledge, besides he was itching to start exploring, but what stopped him from denying the tutorial all together was the idea that if he did so he'll never know it's contents. To be an explorer wasn't just about discovery, it was also taking in all the experiences that came along. With his mind made up, Kytel accepted the tutorial and started to make his way through it.

[Assistant]
Rarely did anyone interact with Kazuma without them having a special reason, like borrowing his notes from the previous class or trying to copy his homework. He was seen as a diligent student, but this wasn't because he wanted to be, it's because he had nothing else better to do in school. As a mute, people found it awkward to talk to him, let alone greet him, because they would only get silence and a brief gesture of greeting. He had been the target of bullies before, since he was an easy target due to his ability to speak or lack thereof. It seems that some girls in class has taken a special interest in him, seeing him as more of a dress-up doll rather than a person, due to his feminine appearance. Luckily he was able to avoid these girls for the majority of his school life. Everyday seemed the same. But today, he has something to look forward to. He recently purchased a VRMMO going by the name of Aincrad: Remastered Edition. Remastered? he thought to himself. It didn't really concern him very much, but it was odd. As the school bell rang, signalling the end of class, Kazuma left in somewhat of a hurry.

As he walked through the front door, he rang a small bell that was next to door. It was the only way he could signify that he was home. But instead of waiting for his mother to even finish greeting him from the living room, he raced up the stairs into his room, throwing his bag randomly into one of the corners in his room. He stared intently at the VR helmet which sat on his bed, he gently picked it up, slipping it onto his head as he laid down in bed. 5:00pm on the dot. The game had already been configured, but he has yet to create his character.

He logged in, the system recognizing his account immediately as it should. The character creation menu came up. He scrolled through the options for Male characters, but he couldn't find any looks that he actually liked. He wanted a character who looked similar to him. Which meant, he needed to make a Female character. It'll be more fun this way anyway.. He thought to himself, smiling inwardly. Messing with people is something he did in his other MMOs, since he used gender ambiguity and never used voice clients, not that he could use them anyway. He had heard that Aincrad has an inbuilt voice system, which worked even if you couldn't speak in real life. Fortunately, he had read on the forum that it corresponds to the sex of your character. Helpful.

He had finished creating his character, it was very much in his likeness, except for the red eyes and..being female, with the name 'Raeki'. Her eyes were greeted with the sight of the Town of Beginnings. Moving and attacking were quite easy things to grasp, so she decided to skip the tutorial. After grabbing the first quest to go slay boars, she moved out of the town, seeing a great deal of other players swinging their weapons and firing magic about the field. Unsheathing her sword, she tested the weight and balance. It was easy to swing and maneuver. Magic this time, a basic fireball, simple enough.

What she really wanted to test out was the voice component. So she made an elongated "Ah~" as if she was singing. It worked. A female voice which sang considerably well. She smiled to herself in triumph whilst some other players had stopped for a moment to look at her, not that she cared at all.

[User] Araris arrived at the field. He felt the wind blow through his and he could smell the various flowers that grew there. There were only a few players here, he was one of the first to arrive. A less pleasant smell came his way and he saw a group of boars up wind.  "Alright. Time to test combat."  He said. He approached the three of them, debating whether to fight one at a time or take them all on. He made up his mind quickly. A fighter's grin spread across his face. In a familiar practiced motion, he drew his one handed sword from it's sheath on his back. He broke into a run, and with a shout, crossed the remaining distance in a straight thrust that ended at the middle most boar's side. It squealed in pain, and reared. It's hp dropped to half. Immediately, the two other boars turned on him. He was hit by both one after another. He retaliated by a by a overhand cut followed by a backhand uppercut at the one on his right. Boar A managed to wheel around for a charge, but Araris evaded it and countered with a thrust to it's side as it passed. Boar C came around and ran in. He blocked it with his sword and gave it a swift kick in the side. Araris found himself laughing at the fun and exhilaration of being in an actual throwdown fight. He used the momentum of his kick, to spin and plant his fist into the face of boar B, who had tried to blindside him. He turned his attention to boar A, who's hp was in the red. He held his sword over his shoulder and finished it off with a massive overhand cut. Boar C managed to land a blow that staggered him slightly, but he recovered quickly enough to duck to the side of boar B's charge and deliver a slash to the entire length of it's body. It fell over and burst into multicolored polygons. Boar C ran at him, but this time, instead of dodging, Araris met it with three precisely timed strikes. That was enough to finish it. It staggered and fell, then bust into polygons. Araris checked his spoils from the window that popped up and his hp. He saw that it was low and healed himself with a quick healing spell. That was fun. Lets do it again. He turned to the next group of boars and charged in.

[Assistant]
N1ghtm4r3 walked through the city. He just finished the first part of the tutorial, which learned him how to move and open some menu's. He walked further into the city, until he got into a shop. There, he found a quest giver which he saw on the minimap. The quest was about getting some hides. Sam smiled. He choose the Hunter gathering skill, which means he got double the crafting items. His smile faded as he read that the hides were quest drops, which meant it would still take the same amount of time as normal. He shrugged it off, thinking it would give him extra experience anyway, and walked towards the wilderniss gate. Once there, he saw a lot of boars, and people fighting them. Looking at the gear they were carrying, a lot of people were having swords or maces, but it seemed like he was the only one with a Dagger. He shrugged this off as well, then went into a field.

He walked towards a boar which was on his own. A tutorial HUD popped up, asking if he wanted help with this fight. He tapped yes, even though he didn't really need it. He read the manuel, and a lot of forums about how it was done. A smaller screen popped up and a friendly voice explained. "First, find a monster apropiate to your level. The levels are displayed above a monster's head when you look at them." He looked straight at the boar, and saw it was level 1, just like most common monsters on this floor. "Some monsters are hostile, others neutral and others even timid towards players. Hostile monsters have a red icon above there head, neutrals have an orange icon, and timids have a blue icon." Sam looked at the boar, which had an orange icon. "Hostiles will attack you on sight, while neutrals will only attack you when attack them or one of their allies. Timids will always try to get away from you, even when engaging in combat with them." The screen dissapeared and a new screen popped up. "To attack, you can just hack and slash around you. However, if you wait a bit before attacking, and channel all your power towards your weapon, you can get a power attack which does much more damage! Try it out on the monster!"

N1ghtm4r3 took out his dagger, got into fighting position, and faced the boar. The boar wasn't paying attention to him, as it was neutral like it was described to be. N1ghtm4r3 focused on his dagger, and it started to glow. He dashed for the boar, slashing it while passing it. He stopped his motion by landing on the side of a tree, whaited a bit for his dagger to glow again, and as the boar faced him this time, already a bit of health reduced from it, N1ghtm4r3 dashed for it again and slashed it again, stopping his motion this time with a roll. The boar squeeled, and turned to face him again, down to 1/3 of its health already. He turned around to the boar, which was charging at him, and focused his dagger again. As the boar came closer, N1ghtm4r3 made a small turn to the right, avoiding the attack, then turned a full circle and stabbed the boar in the side. The boar squeeled again, then dissolved into a few bright lights. N1ghtm4r3 looked at a new popup, and saw he got a hide from the boar.

He accepted the loot, and looked around him. A few people were looking his way. Then he noticed a new popup from the tutorial. "If you are hurt from a battle, you can use potions to heal up again." N1ghtm4r3 looked at his HP bar, which was still full. Easier then I expected. He thought, looking around for other boars. He would farm a bit more to complete the quest, then move on to the next village so he could get an upgraded dagger. He would need to get a ranged weapon as well, but they wouldn't be available untill the second floor.