Starwind

Emilio was put at peace to see that everything was still together, it had been rouhg, but they were all still alive. Emilio and Grace traveld up through tis long dark tunnel that seemed endless, with no sign of ending. And with a flash, the cave they were once in disappeared and they reappeared in very new place. Emilio stopped and surveyed the area beneath him, it was strange. It was the same as the outside, yet not the same What was this place, Emilio looked to Grace "This place makes my skin crawl." Grace glanced back to him "So is the realm of the demon king." Emilio noticed she seemed unsettled as she spoke, as if her mind was wandering, but decided it best not to pry in a time such as this. He looked out tot he right "There's a river not more then a mile that way, you can drop me there and I'll follow." Grace looked back and nodded to him. Emilio found it strange that since they had arrived they had yet to see Achilles or any of the others come following. What had happend to them? Were they merely waiting for something else? Or was it this thing was dumping them out at random. There was no way to be sure, and the atmosphere of this place was throwing off his perception so he couldn't even sense Achilles new energy.

If I was going to advice some good books I'd Go with [B]Inferno[/B], which is a great epic written senturies ago but still proves enlightening and enterataining even to this day. If I were to say another it would be [B]Tears of the Tiger[/B] This is kind of an interesting tale, that is best understood when read. I'd really rather not say to much about it here. Another good one would be (like mentioned above) [B]1984[/B] This is a good and very trippy book to read. And if you live in the US you can start to see some of these things already happening here.

Kota saw it was no one he recognized, but the fact they were there kind of disrupted the serenity of the scene. He quickly left ahd headed back down stairs, he still couldn't bring himself to face Motoko, he was still kind of embarassed, and even a little ashamed. He started wandering aimlessly through the school grounds, like a lost puppy. It was like he was looking for someone to sympathize, but at the same time, he hoped that no one would find him. He eventually wanderd off the school grounds and found himself back at the beach again. The sun was low and starting to set on the horizon, as the reflection dabbled on the horizon. He had been gone ofr quite some time at this point, but it felt like it had passed in a instant for him. He felt cold and alone again, like he did before he came here. Why did it change when he was here? Could it have been the school atmosphere, all the kids and the attention he had been getting? Could it be Tokito, he was a nice guy and had a strange way of making him feel welcome, but welcome none the less? He didn't understand why he felt better here, or why he suddenly felt so cold again. He heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned slowly and saw Motoko, and when he did he felt his heart miss a beat. She was looking at him with a smirk on her face "You've been gone a while. I figured it you weren't in the school you were here." Kota was silent a moment and walked over to her "I'm sorry I worried you so much." Motoko smirked "Don't get me wrong I wasn't worried about you. I just know they would have blamed me if the new student got lost and didn't come back, me being your roomate and all." She looked to Kota as he cracked a smile to her. It was the first time he had smiled at her like that. He nodded "I'll be going home now." That was it, this was home for him now. He had never said that til now, he had never considerd any place home til now. He felt like he belonged here.

It finally happend, Tommy got the knock on his door. He got up from bed and put on his karate gi, since it happend to be right there on the floor. He went to the door, and sure enough, there stood Antonias mother, upset and coverd in tears. She whimperd a bit "Tommy, have you seen Antonia." It happend all the time, but seeing her like this always made him feel real bad for her. It reminded him of another scene he wished he could forget. His father in the bed room crying and his mother sitting at the kitchen table, her face caked in blood saying 'daddy's sorry, and he's never gonna do it again.' Tommy nodded to her "I haven't, but I'll go out and look for her right now." Her mother then began to thank him graciously like it was something he never did. It was in fact just another part of the routine. All he had to do was figure which one of her regular haunts she'd be at. She hung out all over the place, so he had to think if anything was going on tonight. He rememberd that there was going to be a party a Trish's house. She was friends with Antonia, and she was the closest, so that was a good place to start his search. He set off on foot to find her. He was coming up on Trish's corner and found Antonia standing over J.G.'s body. He was on the ground groaning as she was starting to walk away. He walked up to Antonia, she already knew what he had to say "She wants me to come home right?" "Yep, you hit that nail right on the head there didn't you." She sighed "Whatever" "Come on, you know when she comes down to my place in tears I can't just blow it off." "Yeah, yeah, I know Mr. Golden boy. Let's get going, this place is starting to irratate me." She said with one more glance back at J.G. Tommy smiled at this sight, the asshole deserved it. He was probably hitting on her again, he couldn't keep it in his pants, and didn't know when to quit while the quitting was good. Tommy started to walk and stopped "If you don't feel like home yet we can do something else to entertain ourselves if your still holding a grudge."

Emilio's senses werer being assaulted, so much had happend so quickly. Something was terribly wrong, he couldn't feel Achilles energy, but there was another in it's place, but it was not that of a human. Emilio looked to Grace "We have to hurry, there's something wrong." The two took to running, then Grace took hold of Emilio and lifted him up and started to fly to the point in which they were headed. The two moved with all the speed they could, they felt a sense of great urgensy in what had happend. If his energy was gone, could he be dead? Was this new energy the cullprit? But then why hadn't it attacked the others, or why didn't they seem hurt? SO many questions and no answers. Grace spoke up "I see a tunnel up ahead" "And that's where they are." Grace dove for the tunnel, from which the energies of all there comrades were coming. Emilio took to his feet as did Grace, the smell of blood was still there, something had been going wrong. The two came upon a scene of the strangest they had possibly imagined. Chrys was standing before a large demon, the most horrid Emilio had ever seen. It took a moment but he soon realived who this demon was "Abaddon, The demon King." he knew this man well, he knew from his race that he was to be hated and feared. There were few demons on this mountain who had not heard of him. Emilio prepared to attack the beast, when he turned to face him and the eyes of the two met. Emilio felt something in his eyes, something that couldn't be seen, but felt. I was a sense of familiarity. he approached slowly, still unsure, the image in the eyes of this demon becoming clearer as he approached him. Grace was still confused, but staying closly behind him. It was within ten feet that the images identity hit him all at once "Achilles!" Grace gave him another confused look and Chrys appeared stunned and upsetted by this blatant statement by Emilio. The demon nodded and Emilio let his guard down and put his hand to Grace so she might stand down as well.

Dominic was trudging through the waste land, he was waiting for someone else to request his services. As he walked through the rubble of what was suppose to be a town, when he saw his own image up on one of the walls. It was a wanted poster, most likely put up by the local vampire guard that would come through the towns from time to time. It appears they wanted him in dead of alive, the bounty was over $50,000. It was a hefty sum, but it didn't really worry Dom, in fact he found it to tbe a compliment. It mean the was soing a good job. He knew that in these times of prejudice and hatred, no human would turn him in. Being a human was like being in a frat, everyone looks out for there brothers. Dom smiled a bit at how loosy the shot they had of him was, then continued on his way, trying to keep up appearance. He hadn't gone but ten feet when he heard someone behind him "What is it you want?" The person stopped and began to speak "I have an assignment for you." He began to turn, and the person snapped "Don't look at me!" Doms eyes fixed forward again, and Dom began to speak "What kind of job is it that needs my doing?" A large manilla envelope floped in front of him "In her is your targer." Dom bent over and picked up the envelope. He opened it up "Alex Hurst. She's pretty high up according to this. This won't be cheap." Another envelope flopped in front of him "This the first half of your payment. In ther is a note, take it to the address on the back after you've killed her and they'll give you the rest." Dom opend the envelope, enclosed was roughly $100,000. Dom put both envelopes under his arms "Alright. I'll get done what need to be done. Watch the news from the city for the next few days." With that Dom walked off, as he started to look over her file again. But he was less interested in his target, and more interested in his employer. From the scent and air alone that the man carried, he was obviously not a human. So why did he want her dead? Could this be treason? Or maybe something more? Dom shrugged it off and headed north to the city where the vampires could be found. He was now on the clock, time to do what has made him famous amoungst his human breathren, and infamous amongst the monsters of this world.

As her eyes opened it was like a large preassure had been taken off his heart. He lifted her head up and hed her to his chest "Thank god your alright." He looked to her eyes "What happend out there?" She still had a blank look on her face, but it was slowly regaining it's life. She smiled to him as he helped her back to her feet. The two walked off together, him still standing close incase she should got out again. Nyoko stopped once she was sure the two were alone. She looked to Kazuma "I've been having these weird visions ever since the night at the tea house. In one I even had to fight in a tournament, and I had to kill my opponent." Kazumas expression became grim. He swallowed and looked to her after looking about the room again "I don't think it was just a vision. I just had a similar experience with in the tournament. Something's happening to us." Nyoko had a look of concern on her, then a bit surprised "So you won't hurt." Kazuma nodded to her "I'm fine, but it was really weird. I heard a howl, then I called out a name. I can't even remeber it right now. Then I had this sword and ....." Kazuma stumbled a bit and Nyoko tried to catch him as he regained his senses. She was now very worried for him "Are yous ure your okay?" Kazuma shook his head a bit "Yeah, I'm suddenly having a hard time recalling exactly what happend. It feels like it was a dream, but it was way to real to be a simple dream." The two stood together in silence a bit longer.

Kota and Motoko started to stare at each other. Kota's eyes were still a nit dazed from what he had just said and done. Motoko was a bit more lively, but she too was seeming a bit akward in this situation. The two were just staring at each other in the cool calm of the room. This was quickly broken as Haruko came running into the room. The two quickly jumped and turned to her. It wasn't til this moment Kota realized whta this scene must have looked like. There were handcuffs on the table, Kota and motoko were both a little flushed, and kota was still getting dressed. Haruko just looked to the two and then got this really sinister smile on her face "You two didn't....." Kota and Motoko both huffed and Kota moved for the door. This was an off moment, and he already felt uncomfortable being here. He didn't need her making him feel even worse. He walked from his room and headed for the second floor, then the roof. He stood up there looking out in all directions, from up here you could just see the beach. It was quiet up here, so this was a good place to think. He looked down and sighed "Why did I cave like that? Why did I show her?" He asked himself, still not feeling batter aboutt it yet. He had hopped to just forget it and maybe it would be like it never happend to him. But now it was like a flask-back and it was all so clear. He sighed agaiin and looked to the access door as someone started to come through the door.

Emilio cast his esys on her "This is where I was born. You won't purer water in existence." Emilio turned to the lake and bent down to gather some in his hands. He took it and threw it on his face "My mother rules ofver this mountain range, though I'm sure she's been having a hard time with all the elves. They might have even taken the summit already." Grace walked a little bit closer to him "What are you getting at here? Your not making any sense." Emilio smiled "When I left home, I made this the last place I visited before I was dragged off by my sadistic father. I never even let him find this place, I always kept in hidden. Only me and my mother know the secret of this lake." Grace stepped back a bit "What secret? What are you talking about?" Emilio payed little mind to her comment this time. He set his hand in the water and the surface rippled outward. Something began to stir in the depths of the water, something was moving around down there. Something very big. A serpentile beast rose from the depths, it was a dard blue with a white under belly and had heay armor like scales. His head was like that of a crocodile wearing a crown, attacked to a snkaes body. He had a circumfrence of some 25 feet and was at least 120 feet long as it rose up from the water. Emilio approached the behemoth monster, his eyes now shining a crystal blue. Grace prepared to attack the beast, but Emilio had her stave her sword. He walked closer to the monster and set his hand on the massive underside, which was a white purer then light. The beast suddenl hummbled and brought it's head level with Emilio. Emilio then began to pat im on the head "Hello bolshok. How have you been my brother." grace stopped for a moment "That thing is your brother?" Emilio smiled again "He is more then just my brother, he is my twin. Demons can be born in all shapes and sizes, his is very different from my own, but we still carry the bond that all twins share. I have come to ask for his aid today."

Name: Derrick Elsman aka Blind Sight Gender: Male Age: 35 Weapon: He uses a set of steel gauntlets and a series of daggers he keeps at his waist, totaling at 8. Speacialty: He has heightend senses. He specializes in close combat. He is called blind sight for this reason, he is able to see without seeing, respond without knowing. Appearance: A fairly tall man standing at about 6 foot. His hair is jet black and perfectly straight. It hangs at just below shoulder length. He dresses very presentably, usually in black suits. He is sometimes called the executive mortitian. The only sign of any darkness in his appearance is a scar just off the side of his right eye. He has calm and soothing eyes, and only lightly tanned skin. He has a somber alure to the opposite sex, but is much more interested in there blood then there.... Well, you get the idea. His build isn't slight, but he is not a muscular individual. He fights using his speed and reaction time he owes to his enhanced senses. He carries the scent of freshly pressed clothes and finely prepared individual. Fresh breath, clean hair and face, he looks like an upstanding member of society, but is in fact anything but. Personality: He has a calm manner about him. He never seems tense or even angry. He uses this to his advantage in combat. He is an intelectual and loves to play mind games with his opponents. He derives an unseeable pleasure from the squirming of his opponents as he instills them with either feaar, anger, or total hopelessness. Bio: Born to a simple family in a typical neighborhood, simple suburban living. Even from an early age he hated both his parents. They were so easily satisfied with there mediocre lives, he found it sickening. He had two younger siblings that were just as diluted as his parents were. When he was in his teens he got his first job. He started working at a local pet shop, it was here he found his true love in life; Torture. He would take the small animals into the back room, when he was left to close the store, and see how long they could live once he had removed there hearts, or stomachs, or livers, or whatever else he could find inside there tiny bodies. It wasn't til he graduated high school that he found another form of gratification in the form of gambling. He found a way to combine his two great loves in life; Money and torture. Watching a man squirm as his life was flushed away in a single deal of the cards, or a single roll of the dice brought him great exstacy. This was the world he wanted to be a part of. He took to gang life easily and started his own little gang fora while, but quickly accended to a higher place. He moved up to the ranks of the leaders of this city and still dared to dream higher. But they were all suddenly hurled away from him, when he was cast out of this gang, known as the epidemic. He never frowned or screamed or even reacted in any negative way. He simply smirked to the news and walked away, it was so simple. In the streets of Bolest city he easily one of the most horrid men to meet. He strikes fear in even the hearts of those he works with. He and the group known as Virus are planning to rise up and take the power from the epidemic. Derrick does it not for the power though. He does it so he can see that distraught and devastated look in the eyes of the city's king when he is left with nothing. [B]Character Snippet[/B]: It was just another day on the streets of Bolest city for me. Another day of boredom, watching the rats of this city scurry about in such a meaningless way, like there lives meant something. I stepped out into the cool morning air and looked to the streets. Those pathetic high school thugs were standing on my street that morning. They now wish they hadn't been. I decided to grace them with my presences as I walked to the sad standings, they seemed so desperate for power, so young and full of stupidity. I stopped a few feet short of them when they all turned to me at once. They looked to me as if they might want something from me. Ah, to be young again. A taller child in black approached, obviously of some importance in there group. He said to me "Hey old man. You sure a dressed awfully nice to be roming the streets. Where do you think it is your going?" The others began to spread out around me, they had apparently decided to rob me. I set my head and closed my eyes, I coud hear there hearts beating ever so rapidly, like those of the rats from the pets store. I fixed my gaze on the one in front of me "My boy, what is it that you desire from me? Do you wish for money? If so, then I would gladly give you all I had. But you must show me something first." The boy's head bobbed a bit "And that would be....." I wonderd if he really would for a moment "I want you to kill your friends." The others laughed a bit. I smiled and brought out a large some of cash, totaling about $1000. They all stopped and looked to each other, for a moment they all seemed content on the idea of jumping me all at once. But then he broke, the young always do. It wasn't the leader, but the young girl standing just behind me. She suddenly jumped and killed the two boys next to her. The boy in front of me tried to stop her, but was greeted with a knife to the face. In a matter of only about 50 seconds, she had killed all her friends for only a thousand dollars. She stood in front of me "Now, give me the money. I need it, give it here or your next!" I pulled the money out and pitched it to her "I said I would give you all I had." As she caught the money I removed the eight knifes from my waist and drove them through her body. She went limp and fell to the ground, dropping the money at my feet. I reached down and picked it from the ground "I can't believe you would be as generous to give me back the money." I reached out and pulled my knives from her body and continued on my way. These silly young ones, the would betray each other for money. Perhaps there was hope for this generation, as long as they satayed far from myself of course.

- We pay athletes millions of dollars to play a game all day while there are soilders like myself on food stamps. - hot dogs come in packages of ten and hot dog buns in packages of eight.

Kota sighed, he hated this idea and he could feel himself choking up a little just thinking about it. He turned his head to see her "Alright, but you have to get off me first." She nodded and got off his back as he rolled over. He was still cuffed to the bed, but one hand would be enough. He set his free hand on his back and grabbed hold of a piece of skin' or at least it looked like skin. He pulled at it and it started to peel off. Beneath it was a long, deep scar running do the diagonal end of his back. He pulled off more and more of this fake skin and more and more scars appeared. He had them on his arms, chest and all over his back. Motoko stood in shock for a moment, not sure what to make of it. Kota turned to face her, his head hanging low "Is this what you wanted?" He said with a drag in his voice as he spoke. Motoko looked down as well "Where did they come....?" She stopped short, but he knew what she wanted to know. Kota stammerd a bit "I wasn't very well liked by the families I have lived with over my life. I have lived in a lot of different places, and I haven't exactly gotten along with my foster families. I was sent here as a last resort." The air fell silent.

Kazuma loaded his things into the second of a pair of trucks that pulled up to them as they stood out front of the airport. He put all his things back there, knowing he couldn't keep it on him til mission time. Kazuma then went around and went straight to th back of the first van and sat quietly in the back waiting for them to leave and get to the mission. occ: Where the hell is every body.

Kota had been sitting with Tokito, watching a movie. It was called first contact and Kota didn't really understand why Tokito was so into it, but he played along with it anyway, even though he was having a hard time understanding it. Suddenly a knock on the door. It was Haruko at the door, she was bruised and batterd pretty bad. Kota got up to go to the door where the two were talking "What happend?" He said bluntly. She just shook her head "Had a fight with Motoko is all." Kota then shook his head and left. He needed to talk to this girl, she was out of control. Kota was honestly a little nervous. What if she turned whatever it was she was dishing out to Haruko on him? But by the time he realized this it was a little to late. He burst in the door to the room "What's up with you? You can't just beat people up like that."

Tommy worried about Antonia, but he knew it was for nothing. She was a stri=ong girl who could take care of herself, but after his mother he couldn't stop worring about others. He was gonna have to do something, he couldn't just sit back any more. He was gonna get a job and do everything he coudl to support himself and his sister. As he came up on the building where he and Antonia lived he could still hear her mother going on about something. Her mother had a short fuse and was really loud, but he usually took a note from Antonia and just ignored her. He let himself back in and went to his room. His sister, sarah, was still sleeping, good to see all the racket hadn't gotten her up. Guess she was used to it to. Tommy went back to his room and stripped down to his boxers and got into bed. He layed there for a moment and stared up at the ceiling in the dark. The commotion upstairs was starting to settle. No doubt that meant her mother would be down soon to ask if he had seen her around. This was like a routine at this point. Big fight, Antonia leaves, mother yells some more, yelling stops, mother comes down, asks Tommy, Antonia comes back, good night, calm for a few days, repeat cycle. It had been this way since the day he met her. Tommy couldn't get settled tonight so he sat up and looked out his window to the street below. He still couldn't stop worring about Antonia. Those killers were still out there, and she was a walking target. They always killed women, and even if she was kind of tom-boyish, she was still in there feild.

Emilio sat on the ground sipping at his drink. He looked to the others, everyone seemed a bit distraught at the moment. Was this really such a taxing journey, or was there something else going on? It seemed like the world they once had was gone and now they all had some inner demon that was wrenching there hearts. Emilio was no better, the image of Kamilla haunted him with every time he looked at Grace. What's worse, he couldn't bring himself to hate either of them, even if at least Kami deserved it. How could they beat the elves if they could barely over come there own issues. Emilio got to his feet and went to Grace "We're about to go into the face of total war with this seemingly unstoppable enemy." Grace turned to him "And your point being?" Emilio turned his head for a moment the looked back to her "If we can't settle our own problems then we could never win. As long as there is something the hearts we carry we can never dedicate ourselves to this mission which is the only way were going to win." Emilio looked up to the others who were all sitting around them "That goes for all of us. I look to every one here and I see nothing but heavy hearts and shatterd wills. We have to use what little time we have left to resolve these issues, or face total annihilation in the face of our enemies." Emilio looked back to Grace only and put his hand forward "Would you please come with me. I know we agreed later, but we need to settle this now." She nodded and the two went off alone into the forest.

Doran was slowly striding in his lightining sykes, moving across this open desert. He had been lost out here for days. His navagational and communication systems had been down for a while so he had no way to know if he was even going in the right direction. Doran spoke up "Well old buddy, what do we do from here?" The zoid made a light growl and groan, then Doran jumped back in "Come on, you used to live here you dhould have some idea where we are." This was replied to by another groan. Doran sighed "Man, how did I do this to myself?" The zoid then roared in response. Doran grunted back "You don't have to remind me. I remeber what happend." The zoid groaned one more time "Alright, just drop it already!" Then the rather odd conversation with his zoid ended. It was at this time he noticed something in the distance. It was something coming toward him, another zoid. But who all else was out here in the middle of nowhere? occ: Sorry it's short, I'm still trying to find my place here.

Kota sat up and looked around the room, then looked back to Motoko 'She sure seems much more peaceful when she's not talking or moving' he thought to himself. Kota walked over to the bathroom and got dressed for the day. He put on a red t-shirt with blue denim shorts and went back out. When he came out he saw Motoko sitting up and looking around. She looked to him and crawled off her bed toward him. She stopped right in front of him "Don't think I've forgotten. I'm gonna find out what your up to even if it kills me." She walked by and went into the shower after him. Kota sighed "She's so damn nosy." Kota took this chance to get out of the room while he could. He walked right out the door and tried to think of some place to go. Then it hit him, why not pay Tokito a visit. He just needed a break from Motoko, and he seemed like a pretty agreeable guy. Kota headed down the hall trying to remember which room was his exactly. Kota, after several attempts, arrived at the right door. He knocked three times and the door cracked open, as tokito slowly poked his head out. Kota gave a wave of his hand "Excuse me. Would you mind if I came in for a minute?"

Emilio looked to Achilles and Amer "So does anyone know what just happend here?" They all shook there heads. Achilles stepped in "This place feels like home. It looks like the goron desert." Emilio nodded "I agree, but til we reach the mountains and see the other side there's no way to be sure, but I'm pretty confident." They all nodded. Achilles looked up to the now fading Grace, then turned to Emilio "Can we trust her?" Emilio spoke up "I think so." "Yeah, but your not always the best judge of character" Spouted Amer in a sudden burst. Emilio took a grim expression and Amer stepped back in "I'm sorry man. That was uncalled for." Emilio shook his head "No, your right. I'm no good at reading people. I'll let it go this time. You should probably keep our eyes on her a bit longer, but I think I trust her a little bit better." Achilles nodded "Alright. Let's head on forward. We can't do much for her to help if she's gonna fly." Emilio nodded "If this is the goron desert then my people will give us refuge in those mountains. It is my home land after all." they all nodded and continued to the mountain range in the distance.

Kota went into his baga nd pulled out a simple white T-shirt for her to wear. He passed it over to her "Will this be okay?" She nodded and took it from her "Yeah, thanks." She took the shirt and put it on. Kota nodded to her and started to go through his bag. He pulled out a seperate smaller gray bag "I'll be taking my shower now. I'll only be a minute." He walked back into the shower and closed the door and locked it behind himself. He looked to his back in the mirror "Damn. I'll need to be more careful." He said to himself as he turned forward again looking at himself in the mirror for a second. He then turned to the shower and turned it on and went about his business. He came back out of the shower about half an hour later "Sorry that took so long." Motoko walked up to him "Yeah no kidding. What were you doing in there that took so long?" Kota put his arms up "What do you mean? I just took a little longer then I thought. That's all, really." She looked him over "I was under the impression that only girls spent so much time in the bathroom, but we have an excuse. So what's yours?" Kota flushed a bit as he clenched the gray bag he had brought in with him a little tighter "Nothing, I just got a little side-tracked in the shower is all." She gave him another suspisous look "Your hiding something from me, and I'm gonna find out sooner or later." With that said she went into the bathroom. Once she was gone Kota let out a sigh of relief, she still didn't know. That was good.

This certainly was an excitable bunch, that girl was impossible to perdict. He looked to the still red faced Tokito "I think we should join them. Let's go." Tokito looked at him "Uhhh.. are you talking to me?" "Of course." Tokito smiled a little then followed Kota into the water. The girls were thrashing about and were already quite a ways out. Kota paddled himself out after them, while Tokito stayed close to shore. Kota turned to him "Come on. We need to get them." Tokito started to turn red again "Oh no. I'll just wait for you. I don't think they need me there." Kota found his response almost as odd as Motokos was earlier, but decided to let it go. Kota paddled out to where the girls had gone "You know your out really far." Motoko turned to him with a glare "And who said you were our keeper!?" Kota put his hands up "I'm not trying to boss you around. I just want to let you know that the watr gets dangerous at night. All this thrashing about will attract sharks." Haruko looked to him with a very grave look in her eyes "Your kidding right? There aren't any sharks out here." Kota shook his head "No, I'm being very serious. Shraks frequent the waters of nearly every ocean on earth." haruko began to tremmble and madly swam back to the shore. Motoko swam over to Kota and smacked him on the head "Why did you tell her that?" "But it was the truth." She smacked him again "That's not the point! You jerk, you didn't have to scare her like that. Your so selfish." Kota looked to her as she began to go back to the shore "It's not my fault, I didn't know she would get so upset like that." "Well then you should thinnk before you speak!" Kota put his head down "I'm sorry." She glanced back to him for a moment the huffed as she turned her head back forward. The two exited the water and Kota walked out in front of Motoko to go to the still ratttled Haruko. Motoko stopped him "Hey, you've got something on your back." She reached for it, while Kota thought about what she said for a second 'my back...'. Kota's eyes went wide and he snapped around "No. It's fine, I'll get it later." motoko stepped back at the sudden and kind of drastic reaction. She then glared at him again "Whatever. I was just trying to be helpful you snob." Kota calmed down a bit. He thought to himself 'i shouldn't have gone out so far in the water it's....'. His thought was cut short by Tokitos call "Kota, come on. Were heading home." Motoko shouted back to Kota "Yeah, and you get to carry the stuff." Kota sighed ahd headed out after the others.

Kota felt a little akward again, what was up with this girl. Did she just not like him, or did she just have some issues she hadn't pounded out yet? Either way, Kota took the bat in hand and looked to the melon "Not a problem." He lifted the bat over his head and swung it hard and fast. The melon exploded on contact, much to the girls cheers. haruko ran up to him "Nice hit new guy." She then proceeded to go over and take up a piece of the melon and started eating it. She turned to Motoko and Kota "If you want some have it now or I'll eat it all." Kota reached out and took a piece and brought it to his mouth. It was still cold, which made the hot soon hanging above all the more bareable. He chewed the melon then looked to the water and turned to the girls "Well, let's go to the water. We came to the beach for that didn't we." The two nodded and Haruko came over to him, but Motokos movements were a bit more hesitant. Kota approached her "Is something wrong? Your acting unusual." She stammerd a bit then snapped again "How dare you tell me how I'm acting! You just got here, how do you know how I act!?" Kota began stammering himself a bit "I apologize. I didn't know it would upset you so much." She walked straight past him, moving very quickly. Kota stood there for a minute not sure how to respond to her odd behavior.

Emilio was trudging through the sands toward the mountains in the distance. To him they looked like the morhtern mountains, his home. The only problem was, they were in the goron desert, just beyond the mountains. Out here his powers would amount to very little since there was no water for miles beyond the mountains of his homeland. Grace followed closely, hovering lightly in the air as they moved. They ahd reached some plateau at this point, but for the moment that would have to be left in the air. Getting there barings back and finding there way around took priority, he had to keep his head straight or it could get them killed. This place was a death trap to those who didn't know it well. Few ever went beyond the mountains to come here. One, because there was nothing of any real value beyond the mountains, not even water. Two, this place was notorious for breeding the most dangerous types of monster. The demons here were often times starved and craved, very simple minded creatures. They would have to count on Grace alot out here, there's no way they'll make it all the way unopposed. No sooner did he end this tought did the presense of a large and menacing demon appear. It didn't belong to his comrades, who were still lost. This one was foul, like it was derived from pure evil. It was too much, even for here. This was not coincidental, this was a trap out here meant to hold him down. Emilio looked to Grace as he drew a sword from the jug at his waist "I dont' have much power here in the desert since I'm a kappa. Your going to have to keep up a strong offensive and I'll do what I can for support." Grace nodded to him as the putride energy grew closer and moved quicker with every second.

Emilio stood face to face witht hsi girl who looked and felt so much like her. He knew he needed to speak with her, but the words wouldn't come to him. He wasn't sure if he hated her, or if he was just mad for being here. He could see the world collapsing around him as his inner walls fell in on themselves. She finally stepped forward again "You said you knew one of my kind. What connection did you have to her?" Emilio hesitated as she became more persistent "Were you her ally, her partner, her friend? What was it you two had that has everyone on edge around me?" Emilios lips cracked a bit and he started to speak "She..... She was someone very close to me for years. I met here on the brink of death and she saved me. At first we hated each other, but that changed one day. We became partners, I taught her how to a mercenary. We were partners, then friends......... Then lovers. One day we went on a mission and she betrayed me. She tried to kill me. After that she disappeared til three years ago. She reappeared to me about the same time I met all of the others. She had sided with the dark army. In the end, I was the one to kill her." Grace looked to him for a moment with a confused look "So you hate me. Is that it?" Emilio hung his head and looked to the ground "No." She got directly in front of him "So then what's the problem?" He looked up to meet her eyes as his were filled with tears again. The world was collapsing around the two, but it was as if nothing else existed in this world but them in this moment. Emilio smiled "I didn't hate her. Even after what she did, even after trying to kill me and my ultimatly killing her, I still loved her." The air went silent as the world around them became apparent. The two quickly took notice that the forest was rapidly fading.

I think one should only say "Love" if they mean it. It's not something to he taken lightly, but as previously stated there are many different kinds of love. What people need to do is to discern the different kinds of love there are. To often does one confuse the kind of love one feels for there friends and the one that is shared between an intimate couple. This can lead to problems in the relationship, or even to something drastic(I don't feel I have to say it. If you think on it, you'll know what I'm getting at) Anyway, This is the problem I think is setting off all these "Society" banners. I think it has less to do with the lose of love and more to do with the confusion on what kind of love you might share with a person. It's hard to tell sometimes I'll admit and youd on't want to jump the gun. Sometimes when you think it's a romantic love you can find that it's more of a friendly love, which only makes things seem akward later. Or what you think is friendly is romantic, which can also create a lot of tention.