Starwind

I think it's too early to predict whether or not Sasuke will go after Madara. After watching him fall apart during his fight with Itachi and having it end the way it did, I don't see Sasuke walking away from this in a good state of mind. Not only did he almost lose after all he went through to face Itachi, but to have Itachi die like he did, that would piss me off I can tell you that. To have worked for so long and to have it end like that. It's like Sasukes whole purpose for being has been striped away. I wouldn't be surprised if he thought of killing himself, before he would think to kill Madara. Or maybe he'll encounter Naruto and the others somewhere along the way soon. If that happens I couldn't even predict what might happen. As far as the forehead poke goes, I have no doubt that it was intentional. Whether it was done with the best intentions is another story. If you ask me, I think it's his way of taunting Sasuke one last time. Knowing he was about to die anyway, and wouldn't survive transplanting his own eyes, he took one more jab at Sasuke and kealed over. It was almost like he spit in his face. The anticipation of next weeks chapter is killing me. I can hardly wait to see what's going to happen. I also wonder how Zetsu, our somewhat impartial spectator, might do in this situation. There are just too many uncertainties right now, so I'm not going to pass any more judgement til I have a better grasp on the situation.

I recently discoverd that Iraq is the boot-leg DVD capital of the world. It's insane here. Everything from cyndicated sitcoms to massive anime series crammed into a few disks. They have a box set here of all 256 Naruto episodes here for 25 dollars! Sad to say, I have been buying some of these because the most lethal thing you have in this country is dire boredom. If I didn't have my movies I'd never have much to do. I only get an hour on the computer a day and I only get to use the phone every few days or so. As a result, I've taken up watching RahXephon, which is frankly just another Eva knock off. And HunterXHunter, which is surprisingly fun. There are a few other series I'm looking into at the moment, but I haven't actually bought any of them yet. Sadly there is no manga available in this country. I am reading School Rumble back home and I've been left off at volume 7. I feel so cheated. Nevermind all the other series I buy like O-parts Hunter that are going on without me. Anyway, nothing new on the manga front.

[quote name='ChibiHorsewoman'][color=#9933ff][font=monotype corsiva][size=4] Finally I saw the best bumper sticker to describe my feelings- it was on the rear windsheild of a car in a Target parking lot yesturday and it said: I love my country- It's the government that scares me.[/color][/font][/size][/QUOTE] I couldn't agree more with that sentiment. It's ridiculous that we have to keep such a close eye on our politicians to make sure they're actually protecting our interests as the people. But, despite how much I complain, I gotta say that I love my country. And I know that it's just me as a soldier going on here, but it's the way I really feel about it. For all it's follies there's nowhere else I'd rather live. And I won't move away to escape it like a rat deserting a sinking ship either. I believe in what it stands for and the fact that we can use the civil liberties we have to change this country, so long as we have the will to do it. Sure, politicians are corrupt, but they're all ones we voted into office. This makes me think that maybe we as a country need to re-examine the way we vote. I don't vote democrat because the democrats traditionally cut back on the military, which means my meager pay check becomes even more pathetic. I preach the message of "To change our country we must first change ourselves." I believe this to be true. People complain about the state of the nation, but won't do a thing to help change it. Don't think that a small group of people can't change the world. Hell, I you know your history well enough, you'll see it is in fact the only thing that ever has.

I say kick the horny old dude out on his big city a**! I'm tired of hearing about these damn corrupt politicians making the whole country look bad. Personally, the idea that he was caught with a hooker isn't really all that surprising. I've come to accept the fact that politics is one of the most decietful, underhanded, and unsavory professions you can find yourself in. It's like if your not corrupt in some way, then the person you work for is. As a member of the military, I suffer quite a bit from the corruption of politics, since it's politicians who sign my pay checks. Whats worse, is that it seems like it's everywhere these days, and worse still, everyone knows about it. I'm actually in Iraq right now, so my access to regular nightly news is kinda limited. I actually heard this story from a british soilder here before I saw it on the news at luch this afternoon. I mean, for nation that's suppose to be run by the people, we sure do have an awful lot of ****** leaders, don't we? I still can't get over the fact that we re-elected Bush. Now all I do is pray that our next president isn't Hilary, because, put simply, I hate that B****. We need to up the ante on these people who are making our country look like *******. Ya know, stupid celebrities, has-been pedophile pop stars, and corrupt politicians. We need to start exileing these people. Banish them to Siberia or something. I am tired of our country being the laughing stock of the world. Aren't you?

[B]Name:[/B] Trace [B]Age:[/B] 17 [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Personality:[/B] Trace is a little distant. He seems to always off on his own. Not really a loner, but he never seems to fit in with a group, always prefering to be on the outside looking in. He's kind of a "glass half empty" kinda guy. Always looking at whats wrong rather than right. His lonliness and unease is obvious to almost everyone around him. But something about him makes him hard to approach. Like he might lash out at you or even attack you. He's filled with a deeply buried anger that he has allowed to build for several years. This makes him seem almost dangerous at times. [B]Phase:[/B] Skeith Terror of Death [B]Appearance:[/B] [URL="http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/BloodyMary08/Hack.jpg"][U]Trace[/U].[/URL] [URL="http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb294/ACCanard/Avatars/Skeith2ndForm.jpg"][U]Skeith The Terror of Death[/U].[/URL] [B]Weapons:[/B] He is a blade bradier. He uses light weight swords for high mobility and speed. [B]Bio:[/B] He was introduced to "The World" by one of his younger cousins. He's kind of a social outcast so this was the only social outlet he even kinda fit in with. He started off slow and gradually became more and more involved. For him it just seemed like a world where he belonged so he just kept coming back to it. Like most others, he was PKed several times in his early days, but he's more able to defend himself now that he's managed to level up a bit. He's not perfect, but he manages to hold his own. Despite having been on for almost a year now, he has no addresses for friends. Occassionally, he tags along with another group on quests, but he never organizes ones of his own that involve anyone other then himself. Lately he's noticed that he's a bit different then other people in the game. He's been becoming increasingly aware of these strange monsters he's never seen before that seem to appear without warning and strike without mercy. He's yet to fight one on his own, but they've been appearing to him more and more frequently. Strange rumors are starting to circulate and some people have stoped playing the game. But for Trace, this is the only place he feels at home, so he'll never be able to abandon it.

Given the situation, Yes. I don't think it's always a matter of choice, but rather one of instinct. You may have no intention of doing it at first, but end up killing or at the very least seriously harming them out of a primal fear that we all have. One can try to deny it, but it is the ultimate truth. Above all else, we and all other life forms are deeply ingrained with the need to preserve our own lives.

I want mine to be simple and straight to the point. [CENTER]Here lies Casey James Hengstebeck He lived hard Loved hard And went out with one hell of a bang. Suck It B****es[/CENTER] I have no intention of dieing a boring death from being too old to live. I plan to go out with one hell of a show and I want everyone to know it.

In the end human beings are animals underneath it all. We have come to believe that we are above such things over the years since we happen to have an upper brain, a primate brain. But one must remember that underneath that primate brain there's a mamalian brain and underneath that there is a reptilian brain. And it's those two lower brains that made the upper brain possible in the first place. The primate brain says "Give peace a chance." The mamalian brain says "Give peace a chance, but first let's kill this a** hole." and the reptilian brain says "Let's just kill this a** hole, go to the peace rally and get laid." At the end of the day, survival rises above all other things in our minds. It is this driving instinct that has allowed life to exist at all and it is one that we will never over come. Because as soon as we over come it, our species will inevitably die out. It's that simple really.

I do agree, I'd like to have seen more developement from both Lee and Neji, since I'm a fan of both charaters. But, despite everything, and the fact that he's such an idiot that it's almost painful, I think my favorite character is Naruto. I know he hasn't had much development, but at the same time, I feel like I idetify with him more then any of the other characters of this show. I can understand growing up with no one believeing in you and looking down on you all the time. I had to deal with that with my own family, and I still have to to this day. And I think it's because of that that is why I've come to almost admire him at times. I know it sounds kinda stupid, but that about sums it up for me. I just feel a connection to him and no matter what happens I have to say he is far and away my favorite character.

[quote name='Retribution'][font=Arial]If you make it known to the girl prior to "getting into a relationship" that you want sex, I think it's perfectly reasonable if she accepts that and goes out with you. If she wants to wait, and one of your criteria for a relationship is to have sex, then you probably shouldn't go out with her.[/font][/QUOTE] For me, sex isn't really that important. At least not in a new relationship. I feel that if you've just met a girl, you shouldn't expect her to put out right away. That's one of those things I think should come with time. But maybe that's just me being old fashioned. I do believe though that a certain level of physical attraction is required if your going to be in a committed relationship. You can't fuel a working relationship with nothing more the common interests and the desire to make it work, because without the attraction there, you've got little more then a close friendship. I once explained this point of veiw to a girl who asked me out once. I basically said she was a nice girl, but I just wasn't attracted to her. She got real upset and called me, among other things which I will not repeat, "Shallow", and "Sexist". I'm not quiet sure where the sexist thing came from, but I don't think that take makes me shallow, does it?

Think of it this way, at least you didn't have to join me in my adventurous flight to the middle east which started on March the first. I woke up at 4:30 am MT, packed roughy 120 lbs worth of gear into the back of a truck, drove to a bunker to get my weapon back, then drove to the El Paso airport to make my 9:30 flight to Dallas. From Dallas, We got off the plane exited the terminal, collected my baggage, went to the other side of the airport to the military terminal, re-checked all my baggage, went through security again, waited 4 hours for the plane to get there and to board onto the damn thing. Then we were wisked away on a 13 hour plane ride to Germany. From there we had a three hour lay over to which we were not allowed to leave the terminal, we were then loaded back onto the same plane and flown another 5 hours to Kuwait where, upon arrival I had to unload all my own gear from the plane load it onto a bus, then ride said bus for 2 hours til we arrived at the camp we were assigned to. I leave you to do the math yourself. Try to figure out what time it was here by the time I got to Kuwait. And I mean actually here, not what time it was state side.

I think first and foremost I look for intelligence because stupid people get on my nerves pretty quickly. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good goofy and pointless conversation as much as the next person, but I also like to know that I can also have an intelligent conversation with this same person at any given time. Next is a sense of humor. I like to crack jokes and I like it when the person I'm talking to can snap back with one of there own. Another important factor is thick skin. I have opinions that aren't always popular and I can be a bit harsh when defending these points of veiw. Personally, I have no problem with someone having a differing a opinion from my own and I won't let that alienate them from me, if it's someone I really happen to like. However, if your going to try and challenge my position, be prepared to stand up to whatever I might have to say because I will not hold back. But perhaps most importantly, I look for a laid back kind of person. I don't like it when the people around me are stressed out all the time. I've got enough stress in what I do for a living. Hell, I'm sitting behind a computer in Iraq right now for gods sake. So I don't want to have to deal with a bunch of high strung people in my day to day life. I get enough of that already.

Alright, lets see here 1. I can't recall the first decision I ever made. Sorry. 2. The best decision I ever made was to join the army. 3. The worst I ever made was to smoke pot in high school 4. And the hardest decision I ever had to make was kill or be killed. And since I'm here writing this message I think we all know what choice I made.

[COLOR="Blue"][B]Name:[/B] Emilio Batou [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Age:[/B] 26 [B]Race:[/B] Kappa (water Demon) [B]Position:[/B] He is the the demon king and guardian of the great lakes of the northern mountains. (I trust this is still okay, Lionheart.) [B]Personality:[/B] Once upon another lifetime he was an angry, one would say almost evil spirit who wanderd the earth by the side of his demon father Dredick. He was to be feared and loathed by those around him and was without mercy. But following faithful encounter with a band of soilders and mercenaries alike he was changed forever the events that this group would lead him through. He is now a quiet and strong leader of his people. He is still fearless, but has long since given up his blood thirsty ways. He lives a life of quiet dignity in the northern mountain lakes as a demon king. He is loyal to a fault and has complete trust in his people and in his friends of the fujin kingdom who saved him from his own darkness. [B]Appearance:[/B] [IMG]http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c384/GeneOutlaw/SiegWarheit.jpg[/IMG] Emilio about 6 feet tall and weights about 150 lbs. He has numerous scars all over his body to mark the many battles he has had to live through. His skin is rough and thick due to this and he often appears both cold and distant, though to those who know him, they know he is anything but. [B]Weapon:[/B] His is a sword called the serpents tail. It is a traditional weapon of his kind. [B]Abilities/Magic:[/B] This is where his true strength lies. He has the ability to manipulate water, being a water demon and all. He can weild it freely and evn turn it to ice to make an efficent cutting tool with it. He is able to manipulate and crytalyize his own blood to stem blood loss in battle if needed. Aside from that, he is both strong and athletic, even by a demons standards, making him a match for nearly any opponent. [B]Character Snippet:[/B] It was cold winters day in the north. It seemed like the snow would never stop falling and wind would never stop howling. But despite the fierce weather, Emilio stood looking out from the southen cliff, looking out onto the out lieing lands. As if he was expecting something to happen. Surely he wasn't expecting an attack. No one was fool hardy enough to attack the northern lands during the frigid peak of winter. To do so would be suicide for virtually any enemy. Not only was the weather intolerable, but this was Emilio's home grounds as well. Even the rivers that lie at the foot of the mountains had been frozen over. This was a harsh time of year. Thanks to Emilio and his family they made sure that the great lakes were never frozen, so his people might come and go as they needed. A woman bagan to emerge from the water just behind him. She was wearing long, heavy, yet elegant robes. Emilio turned his head back a little to only catch the woman out of the corner of his eye [B]"Yes mother. I do intend to stay here for as long as it takes."[/B] His mother showed signs of great distress at his words [B]"This is ridiculous Emilio. You don't have to worry so much. They will be back soon. You let them go because you trusted them."[/B] It had been two days since Emilio had sent a small group of carriers to retrieve an artifact left behind in the ruins of the dark armies city. It had been years since then, but Emilio couldn't let this thing go. He couldn't leave the lakes unless it was absoulutely required. Esspecially at this time of year, when his people needed his strength the most. Emilio said nothing more and continued to stare out into the distance, waiting for his men to return. His mother approached him and set her hand on his shoulder [B]"Then I'll stay with you."[/B] This finally drew Emilio's attention off the far horizon. He looked at his mother with both anger and worry in his eyes [B]"You can't. Your not as strong as you used to be. You passed the title of guardian on to me. In doing so you lost most of your favor with the gods."[/B] The woman flicked Emilio on the side of his head. This was a feeling he was embarassed to be all to used to. Even as the guardian, she still treated him like a child. Her face suddenly changed from that of a worried mother, to that of a scolding one [B]"Now you listen to me. I may not be the boss around here anymore, but I'm damn sure the boss of you. You remember that."[/B] And with that Emilio knew the discussion was over. There was no bargaining with this woman when she gets like this. So the two of them stood there, looking out for the return of Emilio's retrival party. The two of them stood locked in postion as if they were frozen by the endless storm for nearly 18 more hours. After almost three days, Emilio caught a glimpse of his men at the foot of the mountain. Without warning or waiting, Emilio jumped from the cliff to meet them. By simply weaving his hand he melted the snow and ice of the rock wall of the mountain and used the water almost like a bungee cord to slow his decent, so he only touched on the ground lightly as he landed. He walked swiftly over to the men [B]"Did you find it?"[/B] He said in an alarmingly urgent tone. The men were now under the impression that this was somehow a crucial artifact and that they had taken to much time. One of the men jumped forward quickly and held out a small sack [B]"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know it was so important."[/B] Emilio took the sack in hand and nodded to the men [B]"Good work. You can return to your homes. This is more important then you know."[/B] With that, Emilio used the water that had just lowerd him to the ground to carry him back to the top of the mountain. His mother was standing there waiting, with that same look on her face as earlier [B]"Was it worth it?"[/B] Emilio opened the sack in it his hand. There was only a single item in it. It was a blue cyrstal made of a rare type of ice that would never melt. It could only be forged by a pure bred Kappa. It was in the shape of a rose. Emilio held it lightly in the palm of his hand. His mother looked at the crystal and then up to Emilio [B]"Is this the one you gave to her?"[/B] Emilio nodded back to her [B]"Yes. Is it kinda pathetic for me to still be clinging to her memory after all these years. I mean, I was the one who killed her, right?"[/B] His mother wrapped her arms around him[B] "You miss her. No matter whatever happend between the two of you, she was still your first love."[/B] Emilio nodded and hugged his mother back for a moment. He released her after only a few seconds and then returned to the sanctity of the water.[/COLOR]

Emilio, Daly, and Kaiyi were in a rather bad postion. The damn hounds were closing in on all ends and there was only so much they could do. Kaiyi sounded up [B][COLOR="Purple"]"Hang on!"[/COLOR][/B] She shouted. There was a warping and twisting of the water and in an instant the water of the river had sprung to life and had surrounded them in what seemed almost like a vortex. The water was rushing and swirling all around them, with the intense current acting as a natural barrier. Emilio looked over his shoulder to Kaiyi [COLOR="Cyan"][B]"Your a water user aren't you? That's quite impressive."[/B][/COLOR] However, this required a great deal of skill and energy to up hold. Not only that, but the barrier that was keeping the enemy out was keeping them trapped in. Emilio looked up and noticed that the top of the barrier was open maybe only thrity feet from the ground where they stood. Emilio spoke up [B][COLOR="cyan"]"Well, as long as your showing off, I figure I have the right to have a turn at it."[/COLOR][/B] Emilio began to build up his energy in his feet again. He had never done this with passengers before, but there was no better time to get it right then now. He turned his head and called for the two girls attention [COLOR="cyan"][B]"Alright, both of you. Grab hold of my arms."[/B][/COLOR] They both looked at him oddly for a moment, but the did as he said. He looked to either one [B][COLOR="cyan"]"Now hold on with all your strength!"[/COLOR][/B] As he felt there grips tighten, Emilio bent at the knees and pushed off the ground with all the force he could muster. Even with his two passengers he managed to clear the top of the vortex. Daly looked to him [B][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]"What was the point in that? Now what are you going to do?"[/COLOR][/B] Emilio lifted his right arm that had Daly hanging from it to his mouth and let out a powerful whistle. In the distance Den suddenly appeared from the forest where she had hidden herself, Miles following closely behind. Emilio used more of his strength to try and get a second push in midair to try and close the gap between himself and his dragon. Den swept in underneath them, catching them out of the air. The girls let go of Emilio's arms and Miles took up his pearch on Emilio's shoulder [B][COLOR="Blue"]"What happend now? I see two women here, one of which is barely dressed and the other seems to have dressed in a hurry. Were you having a party?"[/COLOR][/B] Miles said in a rather arrogant tone. Emilio smiled to him and pointed down to the ground [B][COLOR="Cyan"]"Not exactly. It would seem we have been found. By who I'm not sure. We need to get back to camp and provide support."[/COLOR][/B] Den let out a grunt and began to fly off for the camp. Emilio looked back to the girls [COLOR="cyan"][B]"Sorry for the trouble, but unfortunatly I'm not much of a fighter. This is all I could think to do."[/B][/COLOR] He smiled as he weaved this rather weak excuse, but it was the truth. If given the chance he'd rather run then fight. Kaiyi looked down to the ground [B][COLOR="Purple"]"I've heard of magic users who can manipulate wind and air, but I don't think I've ever seen it used quite like that."[/COLOR][/B] Emilio looked back in yet another smile [B][COLOR="Cyan"]"I've always wanted to fly, so I've been teaching myself how for many years now. I'm not quite there yet, but I know I'll do it someday."[/COLOR][/B] Den let out a growl [COLOR="Red"][B]"The camp is just ahead. Be ready."[/B][/COLOR] The three braced themselves to fight off the hounds that had no doubt already reached the camp. They would jump from Den's back as soon as they were close enough to the ground.

I only recently discoverd that I had a talent for cooking. Unfortunatly that means now it is expected of me, and to be honest I really don't like cooking. Despite this I'm pretty good with stir fry, but my true talent comes on the grill. I think I inheirted whatever BBQ gene my dad has, since he's a regular grilling machine. My GF's the real cook in the relationship, but she says she likes it when I surprise her with things. What that means is she likes it when I make her dinner without her asking for me to. So now I'm stuck with kitchen duty at least once or twice a week. Now I know that's not much, but I really would rather not do it at all. Oh, how I long for the days when they didn't know I could cook and could use that as an excuse not to. Better times my friends, better times.

Personally, I am of the opinion that this is a silly kind of non-topic, but I'm all for finding an excuse to bash on Gwen Stefani. That chick is nuts and is slowly on the decline and I'm all for kicking a person when there down. Hell, that's the easiest time to do it.

[COLOR="Red"]1: [B]Neon Genesis Evangelion:[/B] Hands down one of the greatest animes ever made. This story brings just about everything you could want in to it. There's action, drama, comedy, romance, giant robots, and even some real psychological mind games being played here. The story is full of twists and turns and it's hard to tell what the plan really is all the way up to the end. The movie [B]"The end of Evangelion" [/B]is absolutly brillant.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]2: [B]Full Metal Alchemist:[/B] After a long run with some really mediocre titles that I had been exposed to, this was the first one since Eva that really blew me away. I was glued to this series from the very first episode all the way to [B]"The Conqueror of Shambala". [/B]It reminded me why I got into anime in the first place.[/COLOR] [COLOR="darkorange"]3: [B]Outlaw Star:[/B] I'm pretty sure most can tell I'm a fan of this series from my user name alone. It's hard for me to say what I liked about this series inparticular, since realistically, it didn't really do anything too original. I guess it all rests in the character of Gene Starwind. Something about his character that just made the series click for me.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Indigo"]4: [B]The Soultaker:[/B] I just loved the dark and gothic feel of this whole story. The art work and coloring effects used were almost hypnotic. I loved the use of those stained glass backgrounds. This was just a dark story that just pulled me into it and never did let go.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Orange"]5: [B] Last Exile:[/B] I liked this series because I just connected with the main character of Claus so well. Part of it may have to do with that fact that my GF is kinda like Lavy, in both attitude and appearance. I just connected with the character and this caused me to actually feel a kinda vested interest in the out come of the series. As such, I had to go out and buy the complete series in the very nice collectors box set with all the extra art work.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Cyan"]Honorable mentions: Elfen Lied FLCL Boogie pop Phantom Serial Experiments Lain Hellsing Eureka Seven Trigun Cowboy Bebop Naruto Bleach These all were and are good series, but they just didn't stand out enough to earn a spot in my top five.[/COLOR]

Is there anything inparticular you'd like to happen in the begining other then the above mentioned plot line, or are we just kinda rolling with where ever the current takes us?

Emilio watched as Kaiyi leaved the camp, while others settled down for the night, Emilio simply couldn't bring ease to himself. Maybe it was because he had failed to reach the sky again. Or maybe it was because he was surrounded by all these strangers. Either way, it didn't spell out a very restful night. He started to wonder if he shouldn't try practicing some more. He was so close he could taste it. The group tentions were certainly high. Shoko had truly put her faith in only the strongest around. The problem being though is that with so many strong individuals, you end up with everyone trying to lead the way. This was quickly turning into a case of [I]'too many chiefs, not enough indians'[/I]. After watching Kaiyi leave, Emilio decided to do the same. It was late, but he wasn't ready sleep. Not that he did it much anyway. Emilio walked out toward the river and began to move along it. He turn to his right and set his foot on the waters surface. He built up his energy just beneath his feet and used it to hold himself up on the waters surface. As he walked across the water he could see some one in the distance. He leapt from the waters surface and took up refuge in a tree. Whoever it was, was using the water like a shroud. swirling it around their body. Emilio had never seen another magic user in action before. It was kinda interesting watching rather than doing. It was only as he got closer that he realized it was a woman. He couldn't tell if it was Kaiyi or not because of how dark it was. Something about the sight was enchanting. It was like he couldn't take his eyes from her body. Suddenly she stopped and became very ridged. Emilio knew immidiatly that he had been found out. Rather then start trouble, he simply dropped from the tree and put his hands up [B][COLOR="Cyan"]"It's alright. I mean no harm. Sorry to have scared you."[/COLOR][/B] The woman turned around, and sure enough, it was Kaiyi. It was at this time that Emilio noticed that she wasn't wearing a top. He turned around [B][COLOR="cyan"]"I apologize. I didn't know what you were doing out here."[/COLOR][/B] He was a little embaraced, but he was even more excited by the whole event. She finally spoke up [B][COLOR="Purple"]"Emilio? Why are you following me?"[/COLOR][/B] Emilio was smiling from ear to ear, but his back was turned so she couldn't see that [B][COLOR="Cyan"]"I wasn't following you. Just your lead. I'm not big on sleeping. I'd much rather spend my night with the pleasure of a good womans company."[/COLOR][/B] Emilio let a out a light chuckle, but was really trying to his best at being sincere.

As Azure emerged from the forest he brought he pace back down to a walk. The air reaked of death and destruction. Houses were demolished with the families still inside. They never stood a chance of fighting back. Azure kept walking through the now dead streets of this once peaceful town. Azure dragged his feet around, he could hear the little monsters digging through the rubble that were once proud buildings. As he walked his spear began to release it's vibrant light once again. This was keeping the smaller monsters at bay. Azure didn't go through unchallenged, but then again he wasn't expecting to. Some on the larger ones, and some armored monsters challenged him, but he was able to dispatch them without too much effort. The spears power was growing. Azure was begining to see that he could control the light that it emitted. Bending and spitting it into the shapes and colors that he needed. An illusionary trick of sorts. This was going to be a very useful trick. As he walked on a man came charging down the street toward the forest Azure had just come back from. He had short blonde hair and was wearing something distinctly black in color. As this man caught sight of Azure he slowed his pace down and walked right to him [B]"Your Azure, right?"[/B] Azure stepped back a bit, not knowing how this man knew his name. Azure could only think of a few people who knew his name here. One was dawn, then the two back at the cabin, and finally that girl he fought earlier. At that thought he set hand on his spear that he had slung around his back [B]"And how would you know that name?"[/B] The man brought his hands up in a defensive gesture [B]"No, wait. It's okay. I'm not here to fight. I've been looking for you and Dawn."[/B] Azure stopped for a moment to think. Maybe he was a friend of hers and that's how he knew. But if so then how did he learn Azures' name not have already found Dawn. Maybe he had just lost track of her in the chaos. Azure removed his hand from his spear but was still on edge a bit [B]"She came back to this town against my advice."[/B] The man nodded [B]"Oh, okay. Do you know where she might have gone?"[/B] This man was certainly interested in finding her. Azure shook his head [B]"No. She said she had to look for someone so I doubt she even had a destination in mind."[/B] The man looked down and away for a minute. Azure addressed him again [B]"What's your name?"[/B] He looked back up with a somewhat surprised look about him, like he wasn't expecting Azure to ask [B]"You know mine. It's only fair that you tell me yours."[/B]

Azure looked around in the dark forest, trying to find who it was that had spoken to him. This was not the first time he had heard this voice. He had also heard it back when he had first arrived in this place. He didn't recognize the voice, but at the same time it felt familiar to him. As he did he noticed a surge in the dark energy back at the town as a he heard something come crashing down. The destruction was spreading. Azure felt as if the storm was actually becoming worse as the the darkness spread. Maybe the monsters were summoning this storm upon the land. He felt as if he should help, but at the same time he knew he wasn't ready for something like that. He knew nothing about these keyblades yet and wasn't ready to use his. But still, he felt like he owed something to Dawn. Like he had to help save her homeland. As he stood trapped in this thought, a thundering crash rang out just beneath him. The tree he was standing in started to fall over. Azure jumped clear of the tree and looked down to the ground. There was an enormous one of those little black demons on the ground. It was almost comically round and waddled like a penguin, but swung it's arms with enough force to snap trees like twigs. Not only that, but the beast also seemed to bellow fire, even in spite of the rain. Floating about it were much smaller monsters with odd hats and robes on. One of them began to glow and suddenly a bolt of lightning struck at Azure. Azure jumped down from the tree to dodge the lightning and wiped his spear from off his back and tried to split the big ones belly open, but his spear bounced right of it. The creature retaliated by slamming Azure with a haymaker, sending him rolling. Azure followed through and rolled to his feet. The beast had hit him hard, but he was far from out of the game. One of the little ones began to glow again. Azure rushed in and used his spear as a pole vault to lauch himself up to the little beast. He kicked it in the head and then brought his spear full circle to cut the littl one in half. As he landed the big one tried to sweep with another haymaker, but Azure managed to slide back and dodge it. With it's arm fully extended and it's body lurched over, Azure took advantage and split the beasts head, which sent it back reeling in pain. This should have killed it, but it was still on it's feet and looking for a fight. Azure jumped back and into another tree. One of the three reamining little ones charged up again and released a burst of fire this time. Azure brought his spear up and endured the hit. The big one the ran in and tried to bring this tree down too. When he went for the swing, Azure jumped down and split the beast down the back. This time the beast finally fell for good. Seeing the big one go down, the little ones quickly retreated in a puff of smoke. They were lucky. Azure didn't like letting his enemies escape, but there was no time to worry about this. Those little beasties had made his decision for him. He was going back to town. He was gonna drive all these little bastards back to hell. Azure smiled and began to run toward the town and voice echoed out again [B]"Claim the dark!"[/B] Azure didn't bother to stop this time and simply kept moving on.

I graduated from high school and went straight to the military and I haven't looked back. Never count the military out. It's hard and some days suck, but once you escape training, the active military, be it the army like me, the air force, the navy, or even the marine corp, it's all good and always fun. When I first started I hated the job I got saddled with, but now I actually enjoy doing it and have come to like the people I work with. I'm going to be deploying to Iraq on the third of january. While I'm there, I've set up to take some online army courses and when I get back I'm going back to Texas to become a PA, physicians assistant. It take me about two years and when I finish the course I'll be a PA and an officer in the army. I'm doing school the army way. It's not as hard as people think, trust me. If I can do it, as out of shape as I was going in, then there's no reason that anyone who wants to couldn't do it.

[I][COLOR="Red"]This world is divided into groups for every conceivable standing. Rich and poor, smart and dumb, fast and slow, weak and strong, blessed and cursed, winners and losers. But in our world, there are only sheep and wolves. The timid and unsuspecting masses that live boring and insignificant lives that they usually hate. A life where they are simply lead along for one point to the next. The sheep of this world. Then there are the wolves. These are the people who have banded together in a common goal, be it however simple it may be. The dangerous and fearless. They are constantly alert and never slow to act. They people fueled by adrenaline and live by the gun. They hate sheep, but most of all, the hate other wolves. If you had to choose from the groups above, where do you fall? Wolf or Sheep?[/COLOR][/I]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [COLOR="RoyalBlue"]New York City, NY December 12, 2010[/COLOR] The sky was dark, but the lights were bright. It was the same everyday in this cold city. Who'd think that a place with so many people could be so detached? Thousands of people shuffled across the sidewalks, but no one even bothered to raise their heads enough to make eye contact with the people they passed. But maybe that's what made the city a perfect place for Glenn to work. He could walk through these streets and know that come tomorrow morning no one would be able to remember his face. Glenn was dressed in his usual attire of black pants, white under shirt with a tie, jacket and a long over coat and black gloves. Basically just about any average guy on the streets in the winter. It was 9:19 PM. He had approximately 11 minutes till his target left his building. Glenn was only about a block off, so he brought his pace down so he wouldn't be seen waiting outside the building for someone. He needed to move in at just the right time and blend back into the crowd seamlessly if he was going to avoid trouble. Right on time, Glenns' mark, Kyle Stern, exited his office building, briefcase in hand. Glenn ran the fingers of his right hand on the inside seam of his sleeve, pulling a syringe with a cloudy liquid in it. Roughly 9ccs worth of this cloudy liquid. Glenn was on the approach, syringe in hand. He bumped directly into Kyle, sticking the needle into his right thigh, and injected the whole amount into him. In the bump Glenn slipped his hand around the handle of the briefcase and started to walk off. Kyle tried to turn on him and chase him, but Glenn was already back in the crowd and taking cover. Kyle tried to give chase, but was quickly on the ground. Glenn could tell because of the commotion he heard behind him. But now he was far enough off to not have to worry about people noticing him anymore. He reached the far corner and hailed a cab down. As Glenn sat down in the cab his cell phone went off. Glenn answered [B]"Don't worry. I didn't forget my briefcase. I'll be home in just a few."[/B] He had the cab pull over near a residential building about a good twenty blocks from where he left poor old Kyle. As the cabbie pulled away another similarly dressed man approached Glenn. Glenn greeted the man with a smile "Good to see your on time." The other man was a bit less friendly. His face looked almost like it was feature less. His face was clean shaven and pale white. He had dark glasses on and no hair on his head at all. Glenn looked to the top of his bald head [B]"Why don't you try wearing a hat? It's gotta be cold like that."[/B] The man lowered his head as to look to the briefcase and finally spoke [B]"This was his?"[/B] Glenn smirked again [B]"Gotta right out of his own hands."[/B] The mans head came back up to face Glenn [B]"Were you noticed?"[/B] Glenn was kind of irritated with this guy. He just had a real bug up his ass or something [B]"No. I was quick and precise. I doubt even our man knows exactly what happened."[/B] The man nodded and Glenn handed him off the briefcase. The man turned around [B]"The money has been wired to your account."[/B] And without another word exchanged the man walked off into the night. Glenn turned and did the same. He would wait till he was about another block away and then call in for his ride come and get him. It was the end of another night and another successful mission. When Glenn reached the corner he pulled out his cell phone and held down the 2 on his phone. A number flashed across the screen and the phone began to ring. Almost immediately a woman answered the phone [B]"Where are you?"[/B] [I]'Jeez, everyone's all about business tonight' [/I]Glenn thought to himself. He answered [B]"I'm a block north of the drop sight."[/B] The woman?s voice came back on the phone [B]"I'll be there in 10 minutes."[/B] And with that she simply hung up on him. So Glenn just stood there and waited for her to show up and get him. Suddenly there was a pop and Glenn was dropped. He had been shot in the back. He turned his head to try and see his assailant, but he couldn't get a good look before the gunman put one more right in his temple. The gunman then rolled him over and took out a knife. He then proceeded to cut his sleeves of his jacket all the way up to the shoulder on both arms and laid the sleeves spread out and open on the street like wings. He then turned and disappeared into the night, leaving Glenns body in his wake. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The line has been drawn in the sand. Glenn was only the first of a string of hits on trained assassins. All killed in different ways and in different places, but they all had the same mark. The angel spread sleeves. Tensions were on the rise and three factions of assassins, corporate, government, and mod, are all pointing fingers at each other. No one has claimed responsibility, but the body count continues to climb and the blood keeps flowing. The most skilled assassins are coming out in droves, lining each other up in their sights. It's the dawn of a new year. The year of the wolf. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pick your side and make your move. Who's pay roll are you on and what do you stand to gain or lose from this. Sign-Up: Name: Gender: Age: No teenage assassins folks. Try to keep the ages realistic Appearance: Side: Government, Mob, or Corporate. Which pay roll are you on. Method: Are you a stealthy killer, preferring poisons and other silent means? A straight forward gunman? Maybe an explosives expert? Or even a pure hand to hand specialist, snapping necks and strangling your targets. Story: How did you get started in this business. I'll be adding my sign up after a few other people sign up. If you have any questions fell free to PM me.

I have never done this myself, but I have seen this phenomena before. My expression towards it was much like those of the small children you have pictured above. I don't know what started this trend, but I support it 100%. It's always entertaining to see. The most I ever do is sometimes I go around in my ACUs and see how many handshakes and thank yous I can get. It's actually kinda fun.