Soliel

[COLOR=GREEN]After things had calmed down and Tegan had made his announcement, the crowd that had formed earlier began to disperse. [I]Just my luck, I didn't get any time to train while I was here.[/I] Fyoura thought to herself as she gazed down at the entrance hall. Most of her comrades had already departed to their rooms to prepare to leave. Suddenly she noticed Talyn coming up the stairs. Fyoura looked at him with a look of deep concern, remembering what she had overheard earlier. Talyn noticed her staring. "Fyoura? Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked in a calm voice. "Er... uh... no, not really," she responded nervously, "Just thinking about stuff." Talyn just shrugged and walked off, unaware of what Fyoura knew. "I can't tell him I know, not yet at least," she said quietly once he was out of ear shot. Fyoura quickly bannished all thoughts of worry from her mind and set off to pack her own supplies. [I]I've got to figure out a way to amplify my own powers, even when I'm away from a large source of water.[/I] She rattled her mind for ideas, but continuously drew a blank. She finished packing her bag and glanced at the clock. [I]Looks like I've got about 45 minutes left to burn, might as well use them doing something useful.[/I] She thought as she headed down to the training grounds.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]OOC~ Ok, I'm going to give this thing one last try to become a bit more involved; but I may deside to quit if I find myself overwhelmed again. Just thought I'd let you guys know :animeshy: Oh, and by the way, this starts before Fallen's last post... [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] After arriving at the wakanda temple, Katima had insisted that Fyoura go up to the hospital wing to get her arm looked at. She kind of felt a bit of annoyance at being told what to do by Katima again, but she consented none the less. Within five minutes of entering the wing the her arm had already been restored to full strangth. "Okay, you are free to go, miss." the healer instucted her. She stood up and exaimined her arm, flexing and relaxing the muscles within it. It felt stronger than ever. "Thank you," she noded to the healer and began making her way down the iles of beds back towards the hall. She saw some of her comrads resting as she passed. Fyoura suddenly stopped by Talyn's bed. He seemed to be in the worst shape of their entire group. On the plane ride over to London, she had been informed by Jade that Talyn's final attack in the airport terrminal had been to one to save them all. She could see now how much he had sacrificed in order to do so. Fyoura suddenly noticed Katima looking at her from next to a nearby window. "He's going to be okay, right?" Fyoura asked her tentively. Katima looked down at the floor. "I don't know," she responded with a grave tone. Fyoura looked back over at Talyn; he seemed to be meerly sleeping since most of his wounds had already been healed. "Excuse me young lady," Fyoura was pulled out of her train of thought when she looked over to see one of the older nurse maids standing next to her. "Would you please be so kind as to take these empty tea cups down to the kitchens to be washed. Then could you return the tray up here?" "Uh... yes ma'am," Fyoura recollected her thoughts as she bowed slightly and took the silver tray from the woman. She hurried out of the room as best she could while balancing the china on the serving tray. As she made her way down the coridore, she saw Thayne rush past her practically dragging Sin along behind him. They looked to be headed for the hospital wing, and Sin was looking like his serum usual dose of serum was starting to wear off. Sin made a loung for Fyoura but Thayne pulled him away before he could even get close. [I]Great, this is all we need on top of everything else.[/I] Fyoura returned the cups to the kitchen and began making her way back up towards the hospital wing. But as she reached the door, she heard Katima talking to Talyn, who had already woken up. "I'm serious, Talyn, you could have gotten yourself killed. You know you can barely summon sunlight without bursting a blood vessel even without a serious injury. What the hell did you think you were playing at?" "I'm sorry, Katima. I just thought that I could help." She heard him get up. "You can help. You can help by not dying!" The sound of Katima crying could be heard. "Katima, I'm sorry, but you know me. I'll do anything to save my friends," he said. "It's not that," she said quietly, "It's something else..." "What is it, Katima? You're scaring me..." "There was something on your body that the doctors couldn't fix. Something that we couldn't heal." Fyoura gasped silently, cluching the silver tray close to her chest as she listened with growing intensity. "No," he said, "But...I don't...how?" "We think it was when you were knocked out. I was too busy defending you to see that the real threat was right next to you. He crawled out of the shadows, and found you." "He f-found me..." said Talyn. "Talyn, you've been bitten. A vampire bit you. We don't know if there's anything we can do for you now. It's probably just a matter of time before..." There was a moment of silence. Fyoura bit her trembling lip. [I]Why him of all people? Why Talyn?[/I] she thought. The conversation stated back up again. "Well, as long as I'm here, I can help you as much as I can," he said, "But you have to promise me that when it happens, you do what has to be done. I need your word, Katima, do I have it?" There was another pause in which she heard some one stand up. "Do me a favour, Kat," he said, "Don't tell the others. It'll just make it harder when the time comes." "I won't tell them," she said. Fyoura couldn't stand to listen to another word. She placed the tray down on the floor next to the hospital wing entrance, stood up and walked down the hall. Fyoura finally made it to a balcony window that overlooked the training fields. She looked out at the late afternoon sky. Thoughts of that day swam through her mind. Seeing Sin in need of his serum made her wander if she would have to see Talyn in that same situation. It was already hard enough seeing one of her friends like that, she hated to think of the prospect of two like that. Before her thoughts could wander any more, she heard a loud comotion coming from back inside. She turned and dashed back inside to see what was going on. As she reached a landing overlooking the entarance hall, she couldn't believe her eyes. Tegan was back, and he was trying to fight off an extremely pissed off Katima. Most of the on lookers stooded stuned at the sight, but as Katima pulled out her Scythe Blade, the situation suddenly became more serious. Soon, Richard, Talyn, Sin and Thayne had managed to pull Katima off of Tegan. Katima gave up her attacks and walked away, more pissed than ever. As she looked down, she saw Talyn and thought about what she had overheard earlier. [I]Talyn.[/I] [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] OOC~ Uh, sorry for making it so long; I had a lot I needed to put in there. Oh, and if you don't want Fyoura knowing about Talyn's condition, just PM me and I'll change it. :animeswea [/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]Fyoura awoke with a start. For a second, she couldn't quite remember where she was, but after a moment it came to her. She had nodded off on the plane to London shortly after take off. The mass battle that had pre-ceided and almost prevented their departure had taken a toll on all of them. She gazed out of the window as her thoughts drifted about the battle, angry at herself for not providing more help. [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] [I]As the vampires began to attack in the airport termial, Fyoura, like the others, readied herself for battle. One vampire charged at her.[/I] Reckless fool, [I]she thought as she attacked him with her Arctic Frost attack, freezing him instantly as came within feet of her. "That was too easy," she said turning her attention to the others. But before she could take another step, she heard the sound of shatering ice behind her. Fyoura barely had time to turn around when suddenly the arm of the vampire shot out and gripped tightly around her thin, delicate neck. He hoisted her into the air with one arm as if she were a rag doll. Fyoura instinctively tried to loosen his grip on her neck with her oun hands, but to no availe. Her arms dropped to her sides and let her whole body hang limp in her attacker's arm. It seemed that she had fallen unconcious and her attacker, who seemed to think that this was the case, began laughing miniacly. "You were right! This was easy, for me that is." He laughed again, but this time he was interupted by a swift kick to the jaw by Fyoura, who was only faining her state of unconciousness. The surprise attack bought her enought time to fall back to a safer possision. As she contempated her next move, she noticed a full bottle of water someone must have dropped in the panic. Fyoura quickly snatched it up, unscrewed the cap and poured it into her hand and formed into a sphere. She held the sphere suspended between her two hands in front of her. As she began chanting the spell to purify the water into holy water, the vampire began charging her once again. She flung the sphere of holy water at him, but he mearly whiped off his coat infront of him just in time to act as a sheld. He tossed the artical aside and punched the stuned wakanda, sending her directly through a support beam and into the wall behind it. A shot of pain raced through her arm, which has taken the brunt of the attack. She gripped it close to her chest as she managed to stand up, but still had to lean against the wall to steady herself. Before she knew it, however, she found herself being leered over by her opponent.[/I] Please, someone, help me! [I]she thought in desperation. Just then, the terminal was filled with a brilliant light. "We have to get to our plane!" she herd Katima's voice say. Now stopping to think, Fyoura quickly made her way towards the others and boared their flight. She then collapsed in her seat, greatful to be safe for the time being.[/I] [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] Fyoura winced a little as she inspected her injured arm. She hadn't really bothered to ask anyone to look at it, and as a result, it had swelled up quite a bit. She didn't really care, though. As far as some of the injuries their little group had sustained, she was one of the lucky ones. She frosted her arm over just enough to dull the pain and reduese the swelling. She then sat back to watch the sun rise out of the airplane window. It really was a beautiful sight, and seemed to have a glimmer of hope tied with it. But seeing this aways made her wander, [I]With I be here to see the next one?[/I][/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]Oygah! :animeswea Sorry for not posting in nearly 2 weeks. As I've said before, I'm a poor little displaced Katrina victim, but I really shouldn't be using that as an accuse(sp?) any more, since I'm back at college right now. I've just been super busy with classes and getting all new stuff for my dorm, since most of my stuff it still at home. But please don't feel sorry for me, I'm doing fine and so is my family. (If you have any doubts about that, click on my myOtaku link and read my latest journal entries.) I should have caught up and posted in "Love Me, Mr. Death" by later on tonight. Thanks :catgirl: [/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN][CENTER][B]I Will Never Love Again: Pt. 1[/B][/CENTER] Aura sat on a stone bench in the student commens of her privet high school. She stared out at space, a blank expression on her face. The minutes seemed to pass like days when she was here, but she really had no choice but to appear to be leading a normal life. In reality, though, Aura had given up any notion that this was even possible any more. Suddenly, a basketball came wizzing towards her from the dirction of the court. Without even bothering to stand up, or even look over, she casually raised one hand into the ball's path and stopped it. She clasped the ball in both hand as she stood up to see one of the basketball jocks rushing towards her. "Hey, sorry about that. My idiot friend over there can't pass worth a damn.Oh, nice catch, by the way." Aura didn't say anything, but passed the ball back to the boy with such force that it caught him off guard and knocked the wind out of him. "No problem," she finally responded, though her expression remained the same. She wished he would just go away now so she could continue to reminise on the past, but instead he lingered. "So, your name's Aura, right? I think your really nice. Alot of the other guys think your stuck up, but I just think that attitude means you have class." Aura crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiantly. She hated when guys tried to flirt with her; it was only a waste of their, and more importantly, her, time. "You about finished? Because I'm not interested. So just take your little ball and go play your little game." Aura was usually cold, yet streight to the point, when letting guys off; she didn't want any of them getting the wrong notion and coming back to try again. The jock left with an offended sort of scoul on him face, but Aura's expression remained emotionless as she turned and walked off. [I]I'll never love again,[/I] she thought, [I]I just don't want to go through that pain again.[/I] A tear formed in her eye as thoughts of her former love swam into her mind. [CENTER]---------------------------------------------------------------------[/CENTER] It was a clear winter's day in a world much like Earth. A girl, no older than 16, seemed to almost be skipping down the street, her periwinkle-blue uniform skirt bouncing as she went. Even though Aura, whom in this world had long golden brown hair pulled into a high pony tail and emerald green eyes, had suffered the loss of her "father" 6 months ago, she seemed to have a extra bounce in her step. Her newfound happiness was all thanks to the events that had coresponded the night before, though they didn't start out very pretty. For the past several months, Aura had been pushing her loved ones further and further away and sneeking out every night to get drunk. The night before had started out the same as all the rest. She had an argument with her "sister" Sara about how she shouldn't be ruining her life. Aura just proceded to shout out that she should mind her oun buisness and slammed and locked the bathroom door. She then changed, climbed out the bathroom window, hopped on her custom motorbike and sped off to the nearest nightclub. The night went normal enough, all things considered; she ordered some sake and began to drink while watching some of the people out on the dance floor. She then ran into her old friend, Seth, whom she hadn't seen in over a year. It's funny how when they first met as high school freshmen, they were bitter enemies. Their friends, though, thought it amusing how they always faught, and kept pushing them together. Eventually, through many trials and adventures, they became good friends. Now he was back in town and they were getting ready to start the new term. After hours of talking and catching up, Seth had to go. They bid each other good night and Aura was left alone at the bar again, but not for long. She didn't even have enough time to order another round when her ex came slinking up beside her. He was no doubt trying to recruit her again. Bret was a no good slime ball who was head of his gang. He had discovered Aura's "talents" early on in their relationship and became power hungery. It was then that she broke it off with him. After a very heated argument, which involved Bret treading on some sore spots, Aura stormed out of the club. She headed strieght for a nearby bridge over a canal. When she reached the center, she gripped the railing and strared down at the icy, black water below. It was then that she finally broke down and cried. She pulled a small crystal vial of blood red liquid out of her purse. She had been having suisidal thoughts for some time now and she had managed to get a poision that would be strong enough for the job. But just as she was about to remove the stopper from the vial, she heard a soft familiar voice call her name. "Aura? Are you okay?" Aura quickly stashed the vial back in her purse, stood up and whiped her tear strune face before turning to see Seth standing before her holding an open umbrella. In her fit of crying, Aura had failed to notice the sudden down pour. She must have appeared shivering cold and pathetic to Seth since he walked over to her, held the umbrella over her with one hand and pulled his jacket off and draped it around Aura's shoulders with the other. Aura stared up into Seth's kind, dark-blue eyes, unable to find the works to thank him for his kindness. Instead, moments later, she found herself sobbing into Seth's shoulder, unable to hold back her cascade of emotions any longer. After about five minutes, Aura had finally calmed down enough for Seth to suggest a walk. The two of the walked through the dark and deserted park for over an hour, during which Aura began to tell him everything that had led her to being on that bridge, all the while Seth just listened silently. Finally, he drove her home and once again bid each other good night. Now it was morning and Aura was happier than she'd been in ages. She could hardly wait to get to school and to see Seth again, though, at the time, she couldn't really explain why. When she arived at her first class, she took her seat near the front. Seth came in shortly afterwards and asked if she could spare a moment. She concented and the two walked out to the roof of the school. Aura had wanted to talk to him too, but now that she had the chance, she didn't know what to say; this was fine, since Seth broke the ice. "After last night, I couldn't stop thinking about you. After seeing you like you were last night, in so much pain, I reliezed I never wanted to see you like that again. So I've desided to be with you, to stay by your side and protect you from expriencing that sort of pain ever again, for as long as I live.... Aura, I love you." Aura was silent for several moments. Seth had managed to articulate his feelings for her, and best of all, she reliesed that she felt the same way, that this feeling of extreme happiness was love. But before she could respond, Seth began to turn away, thinking that her feeling weren't mutual. She quicklly grabbed his hand to stop him. "Wait, Seth! I love you too!" He turned and smiled and Aura smiled back as the two embrasses and then kissed. And as they kissed up there on that roof top, Aura was filled with such joy and happiness that her only wish was that time would just stop. [CENTER]-------------------------------------------------------------------[/CENTER] Aura sat under a tree and whiped the stay tear from her face. Her only wish now was that she could return to that moment in time. .....[I]To be Continued in Pt. 2[/I]......[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]Ok, I may have a theory about how things go so out of hand so quickly in New Orleans. For one, you've got to understand that there is a lot of crime and drug addiction in the city. Some addicts just when crazy when they went a day or two without their usual "fix". Then there are also a good number of violent gangs in the city. In fact, many don't know that this summer has been a very violent one for N O. In one week alone there were three murder-suisides, and only less than a month before this, a mother and her young daughter were both found shot in the face in their home. And this was all [B]before[/B] the chaos of Katrina's aftermath. So in a way, I'm kind of not surprised that this sort of thing got out of hand.[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=ChibiHorsewoman][color=darkviolet]That said the situation for people in the Gulf States is getting worse. For example there are diabetics who have gone for three days without their insulin- at least two in one shelter have died from insulin shock. The infants and children in other shelters are sick and people are going hungry and thirsty. Yet G.W. can't be bothered todo anything but send trucks down. He keeps saying that the government is doing the best they can. Well, obviously their best isn't good enough. Peple are dying from lack of supplies because this genius decided that trucks are teh only way. Why can't he do air drop supplies? IF this was a foreign country help would have been there last week, but when it happens on our own doorstep, it'll take a while. I'm watching Dateline right now. There are babies going without formula- or at the very least milk because president Bush is more concerned with Iraq than with his own citizens. All he can keep saying is that he's doing the best he can. Mothers are watching their children starve because of our governemnt. I'm sitting here at my computer crying because there are mothers holding their children who are barely alert and I keep picturing [i]my own daughter[/i] going through that without any help. Trust me, it's no fun watching your child be sick in the first place, but being completely helpless is something I just don't want to immagine. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm crying about this. Maybe he should do something like donate his own money along with the ordinary citizen. I'm sorry, maybe this wasn't the best place for a rant, but as a mother of a young child watching other parents unable to help keep their children it's heartbreaking. I wish I knew how to set up a collection to send down diapers, bottles formula and water. And some baby wipes[/color][/QUOTE] [COLOR=GREEN]Now, usually I'm the first one to critisize Bush on his actions, but from my standpoint as a New Orleanian, I greatly, [B]GREATLY[/B] appreashiate any help we can get, even if it is slow coming. But even bush said that the relief they've received is "not acceptable". The problem with simply dropping relief suppies is that 1) Most of the city is still under water, 2) There is mass confussion on the ground so survivers would not know what the supplies were, or even where they were, 3) The armed gangs of looters could pick up the supplies and my even try to profit off of them. Also, about those trucks. They contain [B]TONS[/B] of food, water, and other provitions that will tie them over until they are moved out of the city. There are also law enforcement vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, and most importantly, buses to move them out, that are part of these convoys now moving into the city. We also need to understand that this is bigger than anything our modern nation has faced, even bigger than 9-11. I mean, during Sept. 11th, we had a clear enemy to blame, NYC could still function as a city immeadiately following that tragity, and the death toll was about 3,000. Here, there is really no one to directly blame besides mother nature, NO is not functioning and probibly won't for months, and the death toll in the city alone is exceading that of 9-11. Now we can probibly spend the rest of our lives pointing fingers saying things like they should have reinforced the levees or that they should have had a disaster plan in place for this sort of thing. But pointing fingers isn't going to earase what happened. Instead we should learn from our mistakes and rebuild New Orleans and the rest of the gulf coast so that it will stand up to a Cat. 5 hurricane next time one should hit.[/COLOR]

[quote name='Morpheus']New Orleans' topsoil is to close to the water line for a basement.[/quote] [COLOR=GREEN]Finally, someone's corrected this! Uh yeah, think people; if the city is below sea level and could fill up with this much water this fast, don't you think it would be [B]IMPOSSIBLE[/B] to build basements under the houses there. No, where people were drowning was in the [I]attics[/I] of their homes. Well, now I've heard that marsal law has been declared in New Orleans. Even though things don't look good, I really think the media is blowing things a little out of proportion. My mom told me that there were people who came to the hospital where she works looking for shelter, but they had to be turned away because they simply don't have the resorces to take care of them. As a result they had to lock the doors so people wouldn't get in, but the news reported that the hospital was "under siege" which in turn paniced my brother who just called me wandering if our mom was ok. To get to the point, things may be bad, but they're not as bad as the news is making it sound.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]I've been watching the news all day, and I think it's really starting to hit me that my life may never be the same again. elfpirate, I really feel your pain in now knowing the condition on your friend. Even though I have talked to several people I know, but there are still others I haven't been able to get through to, including my dad in Pearl River county, MS, whom I haven't heard from since Monday morning. But from what I've heard, the areas closest to the river were [B]NOT[/B] effected too badly by rising water. The flooding originated at Lake Ponchitrain and flowed south towards the river, but never really reach it. So the closer to river, or fearther from the lake, the less water you got. I count my blessings and feel greatly fortunate that I was able to leave the city, that most of my family is safe, that I don't have to stay in a shelter, and that my normal rutine shouldn't be too disrupted since I'm about to start classes again at my college which is located up in North Louisiana. My home city is mostly under feet of toxic water; it really looks like a warzone. I just have to wonder, will life ever be restored to normal in the Big Easy?[/COLOR]

[quote name='Chabichou][COLOR=#004a6f']I thought hurricanes were named based on their disctructiveness or strength. I was told in geography class that Hurricanes whose name begin with A are stronger than those whose names begin with B. So why is this hurricane named Katrina if it's so strong.[/COLOR][/quote] [COLOR=GREEN]Well, Lore pretty much answered this question, but yeah, hurricane names go in alphabetical order, alternating by gender. For example, the list of names of storms so far go as such: Arline, Bret, Cindy, Dennis, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harvey, Irene, Jose, and [B]Katrina[/B].[/COLOR] [QUOTE=Chaos]Katrina is a real *****. That pretty much sums up my opinion on the matter. Mom and I packed up the car with pretty much bare essentials and left. We originally hit the contra-flow north to Hammond, but got on I-55 instead of I-12 -- ended up in Brookhaven as opposed to Alexandria. So, long story short, we went along some pretty minor roads and came out to Sunset, Louisiana, about ... 150 miles west of New Orleans. I've been in this shithole of a motel room since Sunday morning. I'm not kidding when I say I've been in prison cells bigger than this place. We're heading up to Montgomery now, renting a place from a friend of my mom's, and it looks like we'll have to be there for about a month before we are able to even get back to town. Hopefully, the reports I've heard about my area [Metairie, specifically, right at W. Metairie and Edenborn, for those of you who might know specifics] are more or less correct, and I won't have major flooding like the CBD. ...I've been through some pretty wild stages since Saturday afternoon. To list them: Annoyance, cautious optimism, sullen hope, distant recognition, and finally fury. A few people I've talked to extensively know why this made me so mad, why this was such a big deal even though by most accounts I personally managed to [hopefully] escape major damage. But that's something I won't get into now. I just really hope those that are still alive get a head on their shoulders and get the Hell out of town.[/QUOTE] [COLOR=GREEN]Well, first of, Chaos, you should be greatful you don't have to stay in a shelter. I've heard contitions in the shelters down there are dropping fast. Also if your still in school (middle or high), I'd would get used to the prospect of going to school where you are, since I heard Jeff. parish probily won't be starting school until Dec. 1st! Also, I have fresh news updates that officals will soon be evacuating the refugees in the Superdome to the Houston Astrodome. And finally some good news: the water stopped rising in the city! Hopefully this means that they will soon be able to drain the city and the reconstruction opperation can begin.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]OOC~ Sorry for the late-ness :animedepr As most of you know I have a lot on my plate right now. [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] Emma showed no real emotion as she made her way down the cordior to her room, but there did seem to be an added bounce in her step. Simply stated, she was very excited to finally be going on another mission to the other world. She entered her room and changed out of her work out attire and into the normal uniform worn by EDRI agents on missions. All ready, she left her room for the armory. When she got there, she saw a few of her fellow agents arming themselves with whateven they thought was nessisary for the mission. She smirked slightly, but it still gave her the look of a mischivious troublemaker. Taking her pick of the weapons available was like being a child in a candy store. [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] OOC~ Hope this is ok :animeswea [/COLOR]

[QUOTE=ChibiHorsewoman][color=darkviolet]I don't have a lot of time to create a decent (for me) thread. I'm just going to say that so far this is the worst and most costliest hurricane to reach the US [i][b] ever[/i][/b]. The worst news now- aside from the loss of life and the fact that idiots are making matters worse by looting- is that one of the levees in New Orleans has broken and now the whole city will be under water. It's terrible in two ways, a historic city will now be in ruins and millions of people have lost their homes. Please share your comments on this topic.[/color][/QUOTE] [COLOR=GREEN]I'm starting to feel like the official OB spokesperson for detailed info on New Orleans :animesigh Well, first off, thank you, ChibiHorsewoman, for starting this thread. I was going to put one up myself if one didn't show up soon. As most of you know already, I live in New Orleans. I'm currently in north Louisiana staying at a friend's house, but the fact that I have access to a computer is proof that I'm not in the city. My mom and cousin are still there because of their jobs; my mom is a RN and my cousin is a state trooper. Actually there are [B]two[/B] levee breeches. The second one occured late Monday night and has been the most critical. All Tuesday, National Guardsmen that were deployed there tried to repair the brake with sandbags but finally abandoned the effort Tuesday night. The pumps that normally help drain water from low-lying areas are expected to fail and an additional 9ft of water is expected within the next 12 hours. With the additional threat of more rising water, officals are considering the likely-hood of evacuating those taking refuge in the Superdome, since conditions there are deterirating fast. They may even have to evacuate the few hospitals in the region that are still running. I finally managed to get in touch with my mom a few hours ago. She gave me an update on the situation at Children's Hospital where she works. So far they haven't gotten any water (they are located right next to the river, one of the highest points in the city) but they were still moving patients and equipment off the lower floors. They are currently running on emergency generaters and if worse comes to worse, the National Guard will help evacuate patients and personel out of the hospital. I currently can't get in touch with [B]ANYBODY[/B] on their cell phones; the land-lines aren't much better. I'm just holding out for more information from my family and friends who are now scatered across the Gulf South region. I'll try to keep everyone informed on my [URL=http://myotaku.com/users/ssjsolarprincess/]myO[/URL] page. But if I hear anything major, I'll post it here.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]OOC~ Two post in 24hrs, talk about keeping myself preoccupied. [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] "We should keep moving," sugested Priest as soon as Fyuora had resumed sitting on the beanch. Fyuora sighed and rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything as she got back up. The pair restarted their treck down the dark, empty road, with no sound except for a light breeze and the occational nocturnal creature darting in and out of a bush. Dispite this seemingly calm atmosphere, Fyuora still kept her guard up, but this was normal for her; she always seemed to be on edge, even when in a completely secure area. After about five minutes of walking, both she and Priest stopped short. Fyuora gave her parner a look that only said too plainly, [I]We have company[/I]. "I know," Priest responded in a hushed tone, "I sensed them too." Not even a moment later, three more vampires jumped from the darkness behind them. The attackers, two tall males, one with slick, black hair, the other a vary pale blond, and a firy, red-haired female, waisted no time with fancy word, but went streight on the offensive. Priest quickly dodged to one side while Fyuora jumped high into the air performing a highly acrobatic back flip and landing perfectly behind her attackers. The vampires skidded to a halt and quickly turned to face their prey. Fyuora sighed as Priest causually yet cauciously walked over and joined her. "These three are even more pathetic then the other two." She muttered. "How should we divide it up this time?" "I was thinking we each get one, and whoever's first to finish their's off gets the third, deal?" "Agreed," nodded Priest as she took her sights on the red-head, whose eyes matched the brillance of her hair. Fyuora really couldn't care less which of the remaining two she took out first; she simply waited to see which would come at her first, and sure enough the dark-haired vampire had grown impatiant and once again charged at her. Fyuora faced both of her palms in the direction of her fast approaching target, chanting under her breath. The effect of her Arctic Frost attack was almost immeadiate as the vampire literally "froze in his tracks." One swift kick to the torso caused the frozen vampire to shater. Fyuora looked up over at Priest who had just taken down her vampire with her crossbow. She looked around the area but couldn't find the third vampire. [I]I guess Priest got to him first,[/I] she assumed. "So I see you made quick work of your two." "Two? I only took out the girl. I thought you had the third." "But, I thought..." but Fyuora was cut off by a small exposion. They both turned to see the smoldering remains of the "missing" third vamipire then turned around to see Katima and Talyn appoarching them in the dim, near-dawn light, Katima still brandishing her Dark Flame Chain. "You should know better than to take your eyes off your target," Katima said. "I can take care of myself, thank you," Fyuora snapped back. "Listen," interjected Talyn before an arguement could even start, "We're nearly certain Kalei has been captured by Malik." Priest and Fyuora both shared looks of grave concern. "Yes," added Katima answering any questions of doubt before they could be voiced. "We're gathering several of us together, but time is a factor so we need to get moving." Fyuora and Priest both nodded and the four of them headed off. [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] OOC~ Hope this is ok, Reiku[/COLOR] :animesmil

[COLOR=GREEN]OOC~ Uhg! Really soory about not posting; hurricanes have a tendancey to do that. [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] As Priest was preoccupied with shoving holy water down one of the vampires' throats', Fyuora simply sat on the diry bench, an annoyed expression on her face. The other vampire leaned in closer and began wispering in her ear in a snide, arrogant tone. "That Wakanda blood of your's smells absolutely delectable," he hissed. Fyuora's expression of annoyance only grew, but she didn't turn around. Instead, she replied in an icy tone, "Cram it!" He froze, but not because of the comment, but because he had just noticed what was happening to his partner. He was nearly entranced by the effect of holy water on a cursed creature such as himself, until he noticed a second bottle of holy water wizzing towards him. He dodged it with ease and the bottle statered, causing the contents to pool near his feet. The remaining vampire now turned his attention on Priest. "You're going to have to work on your aim, sweet," he said in a cocky tone, stepping idelly over to puddle. Fyuora took her chance while his attention was away from her. Standing up, she held an outstreatched hand over the puddle of holy water. It immeadiately began to form into a sphere that rose to hoover just above her upcupped palm. "Yo!" Fyuora called her victum to attention. He turned causually, but before he could make his way around, the sphere of holy water had snaked it's way into his mouth. The effects were immeadiate. He fell to the ground, grabbing at his throat. His body began to smoke and suddenly burst into a cloud of dust. Fyuora resumed her bored expession as she sat back down. "That wasn't very exciting." [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] OOC~ Due to Katrina, expect fractured posting from me.[/COLOR]

[quote name='Shy][size=1']This is correct, there are three players (not including myself) who are not included in a specific mission. Am I being cruel? Not really, I just have something special in mind for these three characters in particular.[/size][/quote] [COLOR=GREEN]I was feeling a little naglected(sp?) there for a second, but now I feel special :catgirl: I guess in a way it's a good thing I'm not in a mission right now, since I'm currently involved in 2 RPG's, I'm moving into my dorm next Sat. and I'm currently displaced due to Hurricane Katrina :animedepr Hopfully when it comes time for me to post, my life won't be so hecktic.[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=Lore][color=#6699cc]This is my version of Aura. (I'm also drawing a Melinoë...) I hope you guys don't mind. :) I was trying to make her look... comicbooky. I don't know if it really worked, heh. She looks like a cross between Poison Ivy and Catwoman. [/color][/QUOTE] [COLOR=GREEN]Very cool inturpetation, Lore, thogh I've never really pictured her with wavy hair. I like it. I'm also very honored you chose to draw a pick of my character :D Well hopefully hurricane Katrina don't distroy my house and a lot of my original art work I was forced to leave behind :animedepr Anyways, again, Lore, very cool.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]Ok, Katrina has cause the need to resurect this thread. It seems now that Hurricane Katrina is making a beline for my precious home city, and I haven't even left it yet. I might be leaving sometime tonight or tomorrow morning if the current track stays as it is (a Cat. 4 making a direct hit on New Orleans). I just think those of you in my situation, who might be effected by this storm, let others OB members of our lack of on-line activity, especially with all that seems to be going on with the boards now.[/COLOR]

[quote name='Kuroshin13']I'm just sitting on the side lines watching. :D I have one question about this...turn order thing...Don't get me wrong, I'm not against it or anything, but how can you write for some one else's character? Maybe a stupid question, but still.[/quote] [COLOR=GREEN]Not a stupid question at all. Not sure if I have the athority to answer your question, Kuroshin13, but here's my input. This is my first event, but I've been partisapating in RPGs on OB for over a year now. Once the story line gets moving, your character will start to interact with other players' characters. I'm guessing this is what Shy ment by "Writing for someone else's character." With the length and detail your typical [I]good[/I] RP'er puts into their post, this is done with relitive ease. Just check out some of the old RPG threads in Adventure Square, if your still unsure about this concept. Anyways, Sage, if you think you've got it bad waiting a week to post, just think about all of us who aren't even on missions yet, just saying...[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]After about 30 minutes of training, Emma finished up her rutine. She picked up a small towel and wiped the sweat from her face and neck. She figured she could grab a quick bite to eat before returning to her room to continue with her current novel, [I]The daVinci Code[/I]. She left the gym without even acknowledging anyone else present. Just as she was entering the caffeteria, her communicator bleeped. "This is Emma, go ahead." "Emma, you are to report to briefing room 3 immedeately." "Yes sir. I'll be there in a few minutes." She turned her connection off and sighed, "So much for a meal." Instead, Emma nabbed and apple and energy bar, slipped the bar into her pocket and headed off towards briefing room 3. By the time she got there, she had finished her apple and a few others were already there. Besides Sako, there was also Cathryn and Train, both of whom seemed to be falling asleep in their chairs. Emma took a seat on the far end of the room and started on her energy bar. [I]Now, the waiting. I hate this[/I], she thought to herself.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]Ooh! So far all the art posted here looks really good. Sage, I really like the drawings you've done of your character. It was so good, I was almost too scared to post my art, but I'm going to give it a shot. The attached image is the true form of my character, Aura. I drew and inked it by hand and colored it on an old version of Photoshop. (I really need to update that program.) But anyway, here it is.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]I hope I'm not too late to join. I've had a busy week at work. [B]Name:[/B] Fyuora [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Race:[/B] Wakanda [B]Position:[/B] Wakanda [B]Ability:[/B] Controls water in all it's forms (gas, liquid, solid), can change it from one form to another, and purify it (holy water). [U][I]Tsunami Surge[/I][/U] Creates a huge tidle wave from a pre-exsisting body of water. [U][I]Artic Frost[/I][/U] Instantly freezes water, even water vapor in the air. [U][I]Neptune's Fury[/I][/U] Creates water spouts, usually 2 or 3 at a time, and directs them on fairly accurate paths. [B]Appearance:[/B] [URL="http://tinypic.com/augylj.jpg"]Click here.[/URL] [B]Personality:[/B] Fyuora used to be very open and friendly, sometimes too friendly. When she was younger, she was far too trusting of strange people she met. One day, when she was about 13, a young man who seemed friendly enough luered her away and raped her. Since then, she has become cold and often violent towards those she distrusts, which is nearly everyone she hasn't known for a while. She still tends to act warm and bubbly on the surface, but more as a fasad(sp?) than as a reflextion of her true personality. [B]Character Snippets:[/B] The air was stale and humid outside one of the most popular night clubs in the heart of the city. A young woman who appeared in her early twenties, leaned aganst the handle bars of her motor bike, a bored, digruntled look on her face. [I]I'd much rather be in that club, unwinding, than stuck out here like some weird stalker,[/I] Fyuora thought to herself. She had recieved a tip that a low ranking vampire laky of Malik's was to show up here anytime now. Her job was to capture her alive so they could get information, but this wait was becoming unbearable for Fyuora, who was just about to nod off if not for the loud commotion comming from the club entrance. "What a lame joint! Full of pathetic loosers! Not a drop of respect for [I]real[/I] patrons!!" A wealthy looking woman had stepped out of the club and was shouting quite loudly to anyone who would listen. "That's her, dark hair, pale skin, acts like a spoiled princess." Fyuora noted silently to herself as she began to follow her down the dark street. She walked her motor bike as quietly as possible, keeping a good distance between her and her target. After about five minutes of this she suddenly stopped and Fyuora stopped too. "So pathetic," the vampire muttered and suddenly without any warning took off running with amazing speed and agility. "So the chase is on. That's just the way I like it." Fyuora reved up her bike and began the pursute. Her bike had been specially modified by a good, human friend of hers, so that it was perfect for keeping up with vamipires who specialized in speed. Within moments, her target was back in her sights. The chase soon reached the bay that was located on the outskirts of the city. As a last ditch effort, she took off over the water. "Big mistake!" Fyuora shouted as she halted her bike and lept over the guard rail surrounding the bay. Before she reach the water's surface, she spead her palm flat towards the water and began muttering an ancient incantaion. Instantly, the water just below her began to freeze. She landed eligantly on her make-shift raft and with an effortless flick of the wrist, was propelled forward towards the target. As they neared the opposite shore, Fyuora made an upward thrust movement with her hand and a surging tital wave immediately picked up her victim and slammed her into the bank. "Bad move, crossing into the terrain of my element," Fyuora remarked snidely as she stepped off her "ice-raft" and strode casually over towards the water logged vampire. OOC~ Ug... that's all I got for now. Let me just say, nice story, DC, and I hope you'll let me join.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]I actually have sort of a personal experiance with this. A good friend of my brother's passed away back in March. A few weeks after the funneral, the grave was vanalized when someone(s) came and smashed some of the vases of flowers and stold some little trinkets left at the grave site, including a small Nurf football my mom left (he played football). Now his parents have to resort to either perminantly securing things like statues and vases with concrete, or taking smaller trinkets home with them. It's all really quite sad.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]Ah, I finally get a chance to post my sign up! [B]Code Name/Call Sign:[/B] Experiment ZX-212/ Aura Partson (current aillis) [B]Gender:[/B] Female [B]Location:[/B] Currently Huston, Texas, USA [B]Age:[/B] Unknown [B]Personal Appearance:[/B] [I]Pictures coming soon![/I] In her natural state, she appears someting like that of a human like demon or half-demon. She has flaming red hair which is cut in a tossled, shoulder-length style. Her nails are claws and her skin is very pale, almost white. Her ears are a strange, pointed shape and covered with dark crimson colored fur. She also has a long slinder tail which has the same fur as her ears. In this state she stands about 5' 3" and has brillianly green emerald eyes. In her disguise as Aura Partson, she appears as a normal teenage girl. She has short brown hair and dark green eyes. She is normally whereing the uniform for her privet school: a white short-sleeved blowse, grey pleted skirt, a crimson tie and black blazer. She also constantly wears a gold anklet with a tiny gold nob inbedded in it. This is actually a micro-computer that can be access via a holographic screen that is projected from the nob when turned. [B]Personality/Behavior:[/B] She is relatively outgoing and cheerful most of the time, encoraging teamwork and particapation. She has a strong desire to help those who have been done wrong and greatly dispises those who lust for power and don't care who gets in their way. Occationally, she will become a bit withdrawn whenever she is reminded of her former love. [B]Personal History:[/B] Light years away in a distant part of the gallaxy, an advanced, human-like civilization has perfected the means of travel between demensions. They have created an organization in order to police traffic and crimes that occur in these "other worlds." The Interdemensional Order Preservation Society, or IOPS, began experimenting with genetic splicing in order to create a new line of agents. Their first success was Experiments ZX-212, and her "twin brother" ZX-211. They both had a sort of odd appearance due to the cocktail of animal genes including large percentages of human (both early and modern) and tiger and other feline DNA. They were trained in hand to hand combat, firearms, battle statagy, and other such techniques. Thanks to genetic engineering, their minds and bodies were highly advanced and they excelled at an alarming pace. Due to the extreme success of the project, more "experiments" were created. About five years after her creation, she was deemed ready for field work, but on the eve of her first assignment she overheard the board members of the IOPS discussing a not so noble future for the organisation. The plans included using the experiment agents to take over other worlds. Not wanting to be part of their plan, she ran off to tell the others and most of them used their power to create gateways to other demensions to escape the facility. IOPS soon discovered it was the falt of 212 for the mass escape of it's experiments. Instead of spreading their reasorces thin tracking down everyone of the experiments, they concentrated their efforts on re-capturing 212. She spent decades moving from world to world, occationally getting in a relationship or two. But she could never stay for long for fear of the IOPS catching up with her. She used her other ability to disguess her appearace to attempt to start a new life on another world, and she nearly succeeded when she met a a young man named Seth Taketsue. The two fell in love and got married; she had just decided to give up living on the run, she just couldn't bear being seporated from Seth. Then on sunny day, they came; The IOPS managed to swoop in and round up her and her loved ones. Knowing full well what they would do to them, she gave up without a fight. But just when they were loading her onto their transport vessle, one human agent opened fire on the group of people; one shot stuck and killed Seth. The image seemed to pass in slow motion before her eyes and before she knew what was happening, she was blinded by greif and rage and blanked out. By the time she had come to her senses, her arms and face were spatered with the blood of the IOPS agents. She began a new life on this Earth and now works for the Legionnaires. When not on missions, she lives a seemingly normal life under the identiy of Aura Partson and most people, including those in the Legionnaires, refere to her by this name. [B]Special Skills or Abilities:[/B] Besides exceptional skills in combat and statagy planning, she can create portals to other worlds and disguise her appearance by changing into any female human like form. Because of the technology avalible to her creators at the time, her transforming ability is limited to her basic form and gender. I go back up to school Labor Day weekend (Sept 3) and my classes start a week later on the 9th. This will actually allow me to post more often, nearly every day. But until then my internet access will be limited to when ever I can manage it. I try to keep most of my posts in the PG catagory, but sometimes they tend to fall into the M rating.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN][I]BUZZZZZZZZZZ!!![/I] Emma quickly picked up her alarm clock sitting on her bed side table and turned it off. She was already fully dressed in her usual workout attire of a grey tank top and black yoga pants, sitting on her already made bed. She was usually up early, even when she didn't need to be. "I don't know why I even bother setting that thing," she muttered to herself in a bord tone. Being back in this world had always been very dull to Emma ever since her first trip to the other world. The only thing that even compared were training sessions either in the simulation room or through good old-fashioned sparing. Hoping there would be another mission soon, she headed off for the gym to practice her kickboxing and Tae Kwan Do on her own. She usually prefered to be on her own. Even though her life since high school had been significantly better, Emma still carried an unshakable distrust of others due mainly to a lot of "behind to back" redicule she was forced to endore. [CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER] OOC~ Sorry I couldn't think of much to write. I put in a little about why Emma tends to shy away from others; I do plan to have her open up more as the story starts to progress.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=GREEN]I used to only drink Sprite, and on rare occations, Coke and root beer. But reciently I've been drinking more and more drinks with caffine in them. I prefere Coke to Pepsi, I guess because I was raised on Coke products, and find most Pepsi products revolting; an exception to this being Mountain Dew. But usually I choose a Coke product over a Pepsi product: Coke over Pepsi, Sprite over Sierra Mist, etc.[/COLOR]