Imp

[quote name='Raiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]California, but because I've lived in both the North and South, I think I'll just talk about the Bay Area, which is naturally in Northern California. [/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Well well well Raiha, I had no idea you lived so close to where I live. I live in the Bay Area too, except in San Jose. Which, I heard a while ago, now has the tenth largest population of any city in the US. Erm... w00t? Okay, so there are a few good things about the area I live in. I have pretty easy access to food from nearly every part of the world (nearly every part of the rest of the US as well), it's only an hour's drive to a daytime vacation in San Francisco, and the air never gets muggy. And I do like the area my house (or should I say condominium) is located in--it's nearby a creek. But for me at least, the bad things seem to outweigh the good. The summers here, for example, are too long, and too dry. If you live here for as long as I did, you might grow tired of nearly 300 days of sunshine a year... and who knows, you might miss the snow. Secondly, the housing prices here are fairly high, and that combined with the above and below means I won't be living here once I become independent. Thirdly, for the past eight years (at least) I've had to stand shamefully under the government--though I don't know, that might change later this year provided things go well. I'm not getting my hopes up though. I've lived in California all my life, save a year and a half when I was very little. I lived in Singapore then--you know, the tiny island off the tip of Malaysia, located about one degree north of the equator. I think I'd like to move out of the state or even out of the country once I start living on my own. Out of the country would especially be nice--I've been thinking somewhere in Japan or the UK (the latter seems a slight bit more likely), due to various factors. (Yes Drizzt, I feel the same way you do! It can also be noted that I speak with a British accent for no apparent reason.) Though in both cases I can say I like the music and the culture better over there. Where I currently live, as for the music... the most popular genres are hip-hop (among younger people) and country (among older people). And I dislike both. I'd love to go into detail about the music, but if I did, the mods would have to move this post to the Entertainment section.

Ahh, yes, tea. Tea either is or is part of most of my favourite beverages. I like coffee, but I like tea even better. Tea has a wider variety of aromas and tastes, so it's fun to explore, and sometimes I find really good kinds that make me so happy and calm when I drink them... In fact, I think I'm beginning to turn into sort of a tea connoisseur, with all the different kinds I try. But I have quite a bit to comment on tea in general. I think I will organise my comments into tea types: [b]Black Tea[/b] The mainstream stuff is okay, but some of the more exotic kinds and some of the flavoured kinds are much better. I like the ceylon teas especially because they don't turn bitter as easily as some do, and can have a nice rich flavour. I notice that when black teas [i]do[/i] turn bitter, I don't find the bitterness too offensive, as in green teas when they turn bitter. Now, as for how I like it, I usually put about three teaspoons of sugar in black tea, but in some cases I put less, especially if the tea has a good flavour and is not bitter. I [i]always[/i] put it in Earl Grey though--for some reason I can't stand it without. Sometimes I put lemon in as well. On rare occasions I put milk in black tea, but [i]never[/i] in Earl Grey. Milk in Earl Grey is just... wrong. And once I made the mistake of putting honey into a black tea... and had to throw the tea out. Yuck. I find that a lot of flavours seem to work with black tea. Raspberry and rose seem to work especially well. I once tried a vanilla maple black tea, and even that was good. And for some reason mint and chocolate work well in a black tea. One of the weirdest teas I have ever tasted was one I bought from some chocolate shop in New York City--yup, you guessed it, it was a chocolate tea. But it turned out to be tasty--a tea fix and a chocolate fix at the same time as well. The only bad part about it was that moths eventually got into it and I had to throw the loose tea out... :bawl: I never had a moth problem with a tea before, so that was unusual... Another very weird black tea I tried had jasmine in it. That one was weird--I'm used to jasmine being in green tea. I don't think I even detected any jasmine in it. 'Tis the problem with black tea--it often hides whatever flavour is in it, it seems. I had a similar problem with a lychee black tea--I bet if I tasted it and the jasmine tea, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two. [b]Green Tea[/b] I'd have to say this is my favourite of all the teas. I rarely come across a green tea I don't like. I think the only green teas I don't like are ones that have certain flavours in them. I never saw citrus fruits or mint go well with green tea, for instance, and I found a mango one to be more odd than good. But I have yet to find a plain one I don't like. And there are some flavours that seem to really work with green tea for me, jasmine being my favourite. Green tea with jasmine is probably my favourite kind of tea, although for some reason my mum hates that kind. I mean, green tea already has a nice fragrance, and jasmine really enhances it. One of the best green teas I've had had cherry pieces and rose petals in it. I often drink that particular kind right before a meditation, due to how relaxing it is. Another kind I absolutely love is a ginger peach tea with both green and white tea in it, which smells absolutely heavenly and tastes just as heavenly. Well, with any tea, I usually find that it tastes as good as it smells, and vice versa. There appear to be different varieties of green tea, which usually differ by region and/or preparation style. One of the weirdest ones I've heard of was genmai-cha, a Japanese green tea with brown rice in it. (I often call it "popcorn tea" because when it's dry, it looks like it has little pieces of popcorn in it.) But it turned out to be very nice. I think I prefer Japanese green teas over the Chinese ones. I don't sweeten green tea as much as black tea. In fact, adding too much sugar to green tea detracts from its flavour, unlike some black teas. I might put 1-2 teaspoons in a cup, say. I find that honey works as a sweetener as well, though not as well as sugar does. And for some reason, regular milk in green tea tastes weird to me, but soymilk is just fine. Sometimes I put a little bit of soymilk and vanilla into a cup of green tea, but I don't do it that often, and only to plain green tea. Although once I put soymilk into a cup of chamomile green tea and refrigerated it, and that tasted pretty good. Of course I also love green tea in other things, such as smoothies or ice cream. [b]Oolong tea[/b] I don't have oolong tea as often as green or black tea, so I'm not too familiar with it. But I do love it still--it has a peculiar flavour that intrigues me. I've never tried it flavoured, so I have no experience with that... but it doesn't need flavours. Although oolong is technically halfway between green and black tea, this is the kind of tea I sweeten the least--less than black or green tea. One teaspoon of sugar or less. I put nothing else in--I bet milk would be very weird. [b]White tea[/b] This type of tea tends to brew more quickly than the other kinds, I notice. I think it works very well when combined with green tea or fruit flavours, but doesn't seem that special by itself. At least, I've never found a plain white tea I found particularly wonderful. But that wonderful ginger peach tea I mentioned earlier had white tea in it. Another one I liked had pear in it. And the plain white/green fusions are good too. I sweeten white tea the exact same way as green tea, since they taste kind of similar to me. But like oolong tea, I put nothing else in it. And I find that I always have to be careful of the brewing time, because I've noticed some white teas turn horribly bitter if they steep too long. [b]Red tea[/b] A weaker variety of tea in my opinion. Like white tea, I don't really like red tea plain--in this case, it doesn't seem to taste too different from water for me. But then when flavour is added, it seems to magically take on a distinctive "red tea" taste in addition to its flavour. I don't drink too much red tea--I've only tried three kinds. One was a plain red tea I didn't care for. One was a pomegranate-flavoured one that was okay. One had vanilla in it and was wonderful. I guess red tea doesn't go well with fruit flavours. [b]Herbal/fruit tea[/b] This category is for any tea that doesn't have any of the tea varieties listed above. And this is the type of tea I like the least. I've found some flavours in this category disgusting, especially anything with orange and/or spices in it. And this includes mint, although I've found one or two peppermint teas I can tolerate. As for the fruit teas... some are better than others it seems. Lemon teas are fairly good, for instance, and raspberry and peach are probably the best fruit teas out there, though they're not nearly as good as green and black teas in my opinion. But strawberry and any tropical fruit taste very weird in a tea unless it's iced. And I've also had raspberry leaf tea, which was also sort of good. I have very mixed opinions of different flower teas. Chamomile makes a pretty good tea (there's one kind with honey and vanilla that I like), but it's not my favourite. I have the same opinion of chrysanthemum tea. One flower I really hate in a tea is hibiscus. Ugh, how awful--it belongs in a cooler, not a tea, especially not a hot tea. Nor do I care for rosehips in a tea. But rose petals are a different story. Rose by itself takes [i]forever[/i] to brew, but when it's done, I love it. Wonderful aroma, and a peculiar taste that is just the right amount of bitter. And, well... pfft, jasmine tea, of course. Even when not combined with green tea, it's still wonderful. Finding a sweetening method for this category of teas is often painstaking for me (I've had to dump a few cups due to incorrect sweetening methods), but I'm quite satisfied when I find one that works. To me, it seems that fruit teas, which are awful when unsweetened, taste quite pleasant with a spoonful of sugar and a spoonful of honey. Sugar only makes it taste like lame candy, and honey only makes it too tart, but putting both in works. But for the flower and herb teas, sugar works just fine as a sweetener in my opinion. I can't imagine honey in a rose tea anyway... Ha ha, it seems that I'm obsessed with vanilla, aren't I? For me, vanilla works in any kind of tea, although because I have a limited supply of vanilla in my house, I don't use it much. But I like to add it in occasionally. Once or twice I've sweetened a black or herbal tea with maple sugar/syrup as well, and that came out good too. [b]Chai[/b] Usually I don't like spice teas, but chai seems to work because it usually has black or white tea in it. I [i]always[/i] put milk into chai--otherwise it just doesn't work for me. And this is the kind of tea I sweeten the most, with about 3-5 teaspoons per cup. [b]Iced Tea[/b] I tend to sweeten iced tea more than I do hot tea, because the mainstream ones don't have much flavour in my opinion... And sometimes it comes sweetened. But it really depends on the kind of tea. I find most bottled iced teas to be way oversweetened, except for a few certain black teas. I like sweet tea as well, and have never found it to be too sweet. But on the other extreme, one of my favourite bottled tea brands is Honest Tea--not only do they make a lot of interesting types of iced tea, but they don't oversweeten them. I especially like their green teas. [b]Pearl Tea[/b] Possibly my favourite drink in the whole world. It consists of iced green (or sometimes black) tea, some sort of flavour, milk (sometimes), and tapioca pearls, and it is weird yet wonderful. I especially like it with either lychee and green tea (without milk), strawberry and green tea (with milk), or jasmine and black tea (with milk). Hey wait a minute--didn't I find a black jasmine tea awkward earlier? Well I guess if you ice it and add milk, it's actually good. Well, I guess I had a lot to say about tea... Oh wait, one more thing. *sings* A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P. Q R S [B]T[/B] U V W X Y and Z... T T T T T T T T T T T T T T!!! *takes a bow*

[quote name='Kakushigoto']So if you want to be human, you better impress me.[/quote] Well it so happens that my human character is my favourite character to RP. If he's not enough, I guess I'll have to consider myself a lousy RPer. And now to add a little variety to our characters. In fact, I think I'll add a touch of darkness to the side of light, and a touch of light to the side of darkness. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [i]The human...[/i] [color=indigo][b]Name:[/b] Edwin "Lupin" Tasselbury [b]Age:[/b] 23 [b]Gender:[/b] Fem... no wait, male actually. [b]Occupation:[/b] Thief, most likely. It's not a "real" job, but it is how he makes a living. [b]Personality:[/b] Lupin appears serious and even a bit intimidating, as his aura portrays. This is aided by the fact that he tends not to show much emotion. Instead he'll mantain a smirk or cold gaze when around people, depending on how familiar they are. But reclusive though he tends to be, he can carry on a conversation just fine, and despite what you might think, he's pretty honest in what he says. But beware--he dodges questions just as frequently as he dodges the police. He speaks in quite an articulate way as well, and he is a good liar when he [i]does[/i] choose to lie. On the surface, not many things scare him--he might complain about a perilous situation in his mind for a while, but will otherwise wait patiently until he finds a clever way around or past it. Although he'll accept help from people, he won't count on people to do so... whatever fate allows. But there are some idiosyncrasies. You might think someone leading a criminal life as violent and/or trampish. Actually, first of all Lupin is quite fussy about his appearance, and secondly, he refuses to carry a firearm because it would be too destructive, unweildy, and noisy. He also does harm to someone only if he has to or if the victm did something evil, and keeps his thieving acts secret and in moderation. Plus he can't be considered rash, and has a good temper. But held-in frustration combined with bad karma does cause him to have nightmares and "daymares" frequently. Yes, daymares, for he's nocturnal--because night is better for sneaking around, and he hates bright lights (including sunlight) anyway. And we go on to the miscellaneous characteristic section. Though Lupin may seem to not have much respect for people and their property, he does have respect for nature, and seeks harmony with it. I dunno, maybe he sees himself as a predator among society, like a... wolf?... might be in the wild. He does have that spiritual side to him--in fact, because of a slight worry about karma, he occasionally feels compelled to have compassion for or even help people. (For example, he gives some of the money he steals to charity--a modern-day Robin Hood perhaps?) Also, it's nigh impossible to get him to fall in love with someone--I doubt even a siren or a love potion would work very well. You'll have to add some personality and friendship to establish a sense of love... [b]Appearance:[/b] Lupin is about 5'9" tall. His hair is fairly curly and long--as in almost touching his shoulders--and a light brown in colour. (More specifically, various shades of blond.) And the fact that it has a soft texture reflects Kelsey comment about him having "angel hair", oddly enough. His eyes are a deeper, darker brown, an interesting contrast to his skin, a very pale shade thanks to lack of sunlight. Gaunt best describes his figure, yet he manages to avoid looking weak or dead. Besides, at least his face and hands don't look that bony. You won't find a whole lot of muscle on him (except maybe on his legs, since he's a very fast runner)--just enough to be able to move around quite well. And with absence of strength there is flexibility anyways. Form really does follow function... Lupin wears a fairly long black jacket that fits him perfectly, so it doesn't look big on him or anything. (It actually was made by his friend Merlin.) There is the occasional golden button on the end of a sleeve or near the collar, and the dark purple embroidery on the neck, and purple satin lining what little you can see of the inside. He wears a shirt underneath the jacket, but it can't be seen at all anyways because he always buttons the jacket all the way up to his neck. Also he wears what look like black jeans, except they're made from a slightly more comfortable material. These too are not too tight or baggy. He's not a firm believer in sneakers, and thus instead wears another kind of shoe made from black leather. He also wears a pair of glasses that have rectangular lenses and barely visible frames. Without them, his vision is still pretty good, but not as good as with them. Also, he doesn't carry around any sort of bag or backpack or anything--he just keeps everything his jacket pockets for the most part. [b]Weapons:[/b] At first Lupin doesn't have much in the way of self-defense except a tiny little knife bundled together with a few other little tools. But eventually, there will be a ring which will allow him to drain energy from people. Its power will require focus, of course, and will seem to work better the dimmer the sun is and the fuller the moon is... [b]Bio:[/b] Lupin actually learned about the land of NightMare from two of his friends (yes, he does have friends, though only a small handful), Merlin and Kelsey. Merlin was, like the Cromwells, a Witch (though wizard might be more appropriate as he named himself after one), and also an enthusiast for all things paranormal--perhaps an independent researcher if you will. He was also one of the oldest (as far as membership goes, not age) members of the group who eventually found themselves in NightMare. As for Kelsey... She lived her life under a supposed curse by her great-grandmother, who told her that the cure for the curse could be found in the land of NightMare. She insisted on being Lupin's girlfriend because their personalities seemed to complement each other, and they experienced similar types of misfortune in their pasts. Originally, it was Kelsey and Merlin who were to explore NightMare. Kelsey wanted Lupin to come as well, but Merlin thought the experience wouldn't be good for him. After all, Lupin was already facing some difficulties in his life. Most notably, he had been in something similar to a faction of the mafia for a while--that is, until they picked on Kelsey as a victim, upon which he dropped out. The group punished him for this leave by blaming one of their murders on him, causing him to end up with A) a short time in prison (short because he escaped), and B) a criminal record, something he never wanted to have because he wanted to be viewed as an innocent most of the time. (To make things worse, his accusation has shown up in the news a few times, even though it was actually false.) Then one night (the night of the ceremony), Kelsey went missing, and Merlin decided to help two friends search for her. Seeing that Merlin would not be going to NightMare that night, Lupin seized the opportunity--besides, he had a suspicion that Kelsey may have somehow ended up in there, though he couldn't be sure. And if he went, he could come back (hopefully) and tell Merlin about the place. So at the last minute he snuck into the school where the ceremony took place, followed along with it (it helped that Merlin had told him about what would happen in such a ceremony)... And nothing happened. Lupin immediately left the basement, planning to tell Merlin about how the ceremony failed. But while he was on the way to Merlin's place, he saw someone who looked familiar--yess, it was someone from that mafia-ish group. There was a chase, a few missed gunshots, quite a bit of hide-and-seek... At some point in the chase, Lupin ran down an alley, and as he did, he started to feel weary for some reason... maybe it was something in the air. Whatever it was, Lupin became so tired that he stopped, lay down (or fainted, almost, judging by how it looked when he fell), and fell asleep...[/color] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [i]The NightMare being...[/i] [color=green][b]Name:[/b] Aradia [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Personality:[/b] Aradia is quite a saturnine little faery most of the time. Although she has a good sense of belief in herself, she does have a tendency to be pessimistic, and to hope and pray her way through tough situations. She also tends to be quiet and shy, and when in a conversation with someone, she'd often have trouble finding the right words to express what she means to say. Also she acts as if she has no past... well actually, according to her, she [i]does[/i] have no past. Or maybe she did, and her memory was somehow erased. Because once in a while she thinks she "remembers" something about her earlier life... But Aradia is also noted for being emotional--in fact, sometimes she goes into one of two distinct emotional states. In her depressed state, her pessimism is enhanced, and she goes into constant "fits" of lamenting her many worries. Also she has a short temper in this state, and tends to act violently towards those who frustrate her--especially towards whoever (if anyone) caused her to go into this state. She'll want to be left alone, but if someone approaches her, she'll merely tell them not to worry about her instead of shoving them away. But on the other hand, there is her passion state, which is nearly the opposite. Okay, so she's not exactly overly self-confident in this state, but she's so vivacious and uplifted that she could dance around in the air. Also, she's so optimistic in this state that she tends to overlook any problems or pitfalls in her life. This is a major weakness for her, because if something bad happens to her in this state, she automatically switches back to her depressed state. Being a faery, Aradia is very spiritual in her beliefs. She's a strong believer in fate--in fact, she believes that anything, however absurd, is possible so long as fate allows it. (I dunno, she could turn into a wolf someday, for all she knows.) She believes that deep down inside, everybody is equal and special, for everyone has a soul or at least the essence of one (in a ghost's case). Nature is sacred to her, or at least what's left of it in NightMare. And paranormal occurences and magic are not foreign to her. Neither are such troubling topics as death and several states that are worse than it, and the extent of evil. Yes, Aradia does bite sometimes--she feels especially justified when doing bad things to bad people, and she enjoys finding excuses to take people down. Do I see a bloodthirst developing here...? [b]Appearance:[/b] Aradia looks like [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/qingrila/digipets/psiad.gif]this[/url], except she also has antennae on her head whose ends are diamond-shaped and look like her wings. Yes, she is a faery with a catlike figure and a catlike head... Oh, and she's only six inches tall. [b]Abilities:[/b] Don't judge Aradia by her size, for her abilities make up for it. First of all, she can use telekinesis, although she has a hard time lifting anything heavier than a person with it. And although she herself is mute, she communicates by sending telepathic messages to people. The last ability she has involves putting people to sleep by sprinkling faery dust on them. [b]Weapons:[/b] Aradia doesn't need any weapons. The only thing she would carry around for more than a few moments is a snack, because she runs out of energy pretty quickly...[/color] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is a lot more to these characters than what's in their signups, especially in Lupin's case (and of course Aradia's hidden past). I didn't even get to things like where he got his nickname and how he met Kelsey and why he turned to the criminal life, but I suppose I'll gradually reveal things like that in the RPG.

[color=purple]*looks at whole thread* *or not @_@* ...Well, it turns out I haven't posted any pictures yet! In that case: [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/qingrila/pics/faveoutfit.jpg]Click![/url] (more recent pic) [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/qingrila/pics/myvenusaur.jpg]Click![/url] (less recent, but still valid, pic) 'Tis my last act here before running merrily off to astronomy class.[/color]

Where did everybody go? I hope this doesn't turn into yet another RPG that dies because of me...

OOC: Ahh, I might as well get another post in. Besides, tomorrow is Lupin's birthday. :) IC: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [color=navy][size=1]As the Black Cat Bandits wandered along through the fog atop the Ice Path, the fog began to lift, and the surroundings started to brighten. Within a few minutes, they could see a white circle of a sun through a thin layer of cloud. By that time, Yamiko and Lupin (and the Pokemon they were riding on) were no longer surrounded by fog, and if they looked up they could see Pluto's face-covered abdomen protruding from the low clouds above, and the occasional magnet showing up in a hole in the clouds. Then the ground sloped downward, quite sharply... "Nine... Nine...Nine," Fulva panted as she called after Arcanine. Even though she was carrying the lighter person, she wasn't as big and strong as Arcanine was, and her feet hurt whenever she jumped down to a ledge. On one particular ledge, she barely avoided spraining her ank... er, wrist. (Front legs don't have ankles.) It was from this ledge that Fulva and Yamiko got a clear view of Blackthorn City, and the large patch of blue sky above it. The sun had rose over Mt. Silver in the distance, threatening to sting the eyes of all those who looked east. Above, Halberd, Warren, and Merlin stayed in the clouds to avoid this problem; below, Arcanine sped up at he headed down the slope with Lupin on his back, eager to reach a shadowy area just outside the city. "I don't know if we can continue down this slope without you getting hurt..." Yamiko commented as Fulva slowed to a stop. [i]"But then... how are you going to get down there?"[/i] Fulva asked telepathically. [i]"I have a Plan B..."[/i] Yamiko thought back as she returned Fulva to her Pokeball, and opened another one. "Gardevoir!" [i]"Time to fly!"[/i] Gardevoir nodded, and took Yamiko by the hand. Both of them became surrounded by an aura of psychic energy, which lifted them into the air. Up they flew, Gardevoir guiding Yamiko along towards where Halberd and Warren and Merlin were. "Let's start heading down..." Merlin suggested, just as he spotted Yamiko flying along with Gardevoir. His eyebrows must have gone all the way up to his hairline as he saw this. [i]Niiiiice. Maybe I should try that with Pluto...[/i] "Hey Pluto," Merlin whispered to the Dusknoir he was riding on, "let's try it--hold my hand and..." At that point, Merlin slid right off of Pluto's shoulder and fell toward the ground--Pluto wasn't holding onto his hand tightly enough. "Dusk...?" Pluto was looking around to see where Merlin went, and finally spotted him falling some hundred feet below him. For a second it looked like Merlin was about to fall right on top of Lupin. But just before he got there... "Noir!" Pluto used his Psychic attack to lift Merlin back up. Once he was back up, he rolled his eye, then held Merlin aloft while holding his hand. [i]Ah, so that's how it's supposed to feel,[/i] Merlin thought. Of course, while Gardevoir and Yamiko were flying along gracefully and in perfect synch, Merlin felt more like Pluto was pulling him along. [i]How does she do that anyways? I'm convinced she actually [/i]does[i] have telekinetic abilities. Although I think part of it has to do with their telepathic connection, and practice doesn't hurt.[/i] There was always someone around who tried to prove Kelsey had more psychic abilities than just a telepathic connection to four Pokemon--even if Bella was inside her Pokeball, now Merlin was doing it... "Boys..." Lupin muttered as he looked up at Merlin. "I swear it's that hormone that causes such craziness..." "Ark ark," Arcanine barked as he noticed the ground leveling out, and the sun coming out. From then on he did his best to stay in the shade. It wasn't too long before the fivesome arrived in Blackthorn City. They were walking along one of the main streets, where they could see most of the action taking place. However, it wasn't much--some Dragon Pokemon, some Coalition soldiers... A few of those soldiers looked their way, but didn't recognise them as soldiers of either army... maybe they were just visitors. At least Blackthorn City wasn't one of the more stringent towns that worked around the clock to keep a certain kind of people out or to shoot at any unidentified person what walked past. In fact, one thing that definitely gave the soldiers the impression that the Black Cat Bandits were more tourists than anything was the way they were looking around the place in wonder. At one point, Warren even reached out to pet one of the Dragonair. Some soldiers and other people thought it odd for someone to be underneath an umbrella on a sunny day, but that was Lupin's way of staying out of the sun. As the group wandered along, only three Pokemon were out of their Pokeballs--a Mightyena, a Buneary, and a... Metamon was having fun transforming into various objects or Pokemon. Dragonair, Gabite, a trash can, Shelgon, a Pidgey, a gun, Halberd, even a soldier... although the last two had Ditto's glossy pink skin and the tiny-eyed and wide-mouthed "Ditto face", and the soldier looked like a toy. Metamon often had trouble transforming into humans... The Black Cat Bandits saw many things, but one thing they [i]didn't[/i] see was a Federation soldier. Apparently Blackthorn was not a popular place to attack--since it had no major operations bases anyways. The only thing it [i]did[/i] have was a training centre for the Coalition troops, which several more experienced Coalition soldiers (and a group of Dragonite) kept close watch over all day and all night. Surely, whatever number of Federation troops that attacked this place would be in for a battle in which there were a lot more soldiers than expected. Provided Clair and some of the army generals stationed there were able to use some good common sense, they would probably have some of the soldiers-in-training help fight off any Federation troop that came too close. In fact, there was even a rumour floating around some of the Coalition soldiers that "the trainees would attack any Federation soldier who got as close as the Dragon's Den". Whatever the exact details were, it was apparent that Clair was keen on keeping Blackthorn City "clean", brushing away any Federal speck of dust that touched its surface. Yet, it was also apparent that many people didn't want Blackthorn to be a hostile place where some average Joe would walk in and be faced--at gunpoint--with questions about his standing in the war. Perhaps even Clair believed that whatever any Federation-allied person tried to do here would fail here in due time. After all, plans about the Coalition's actions were rarely discussed here--if they were discussed, it was usually with code words and nonverbal signals... Perhaps that was the reason why Ecruteak was in such chaos--it was quite the contrary. all Blackthorn was was a safe and secure place from which new Coalition soldiers came, it seemed like. After a while though, Lupin tapped Halberd on the shoulder, gesturing towards a place where maybe the group could sit down and talk about something. Halberd shrugged and looked at him, as if to ask what was wrong. Eventually Lupin led the group to a small table that sat in the shade of a building, right next to the main street. "Alright, Mr. Unnoticed," Warren said to Lupin as he looked around, "why the open location, with four, five... eight soldiers able to see us?" Then he continued in a whisper, "And one, maybe two able to hear us?" "It doesn't matter if they hear us," Lupin answered, "since we're on their side anyways, and anything we talk about might be useful to them. And if I were a soldier or even a spy for the Federation, I'd want to steer clear of any Coalition soldiers whenever possible, so as to avoid the risk of being questioned." "Of course, I don't know..." Yamiko commented as she looked around, paying special attention to the brick wall right next to her. "There could be hidden cameras installed by Federation spies, or maybe..." "Setting up a camera seems an awful lot of extra work in a place where not much important information is usually exchanged," Merlin added. "I'm not saying we should let our guard down," Lupin clarified. "I'm perfectly aware of the possibility of us being watched... there's [i]always[/i] that possibility. I'm just saying it's not very likely." "It's not very [i]smart[/i], indeed," Warren mentioned. "Of course, you can't expect every criminal, say, to be as smart as..." "True, true, certainly, not as they ought to be," Lupin cut him off the second he thought he knew where Warren's statement was heading. "Well, that's... their problem." As Yamiko looked around some more, she spotted the closest soldier writing in a notepad. Perhaps he was taking notes on some of the points the group brought up--she had to admit some of them were brilliant. But in the end she had to conclude that nobody could possibly be watching or eavesdropping them, as it was nigh impossible to wire anything through a brick wall, and putting an ear to the wall to listen wouldn't work very well either, with so many pores in each brick to slow sound waves. "So what are we doing next?" Yamiko asked the others, in a fairly soft voice. Then she smiled briefly at Metamon, who was having fun transforming into a tire and rolling around on the street. She also noticed that Mimi's ears perked up, alert for the tiniest foreign sound, and Sirius was doing a similar thing by wandering around the area, sniffing at things and also keeping his ears open. "Well, it's already been said that it's not a good time to go to Olivine or Vermillion," Halberd reminded. "Personally I think we should head to Ecruteak first thing tonight." "Why--to talk to Morty?" Merlin asked, a confused expression on his face. He took out his Pokenav and shook it a bit with his fingers. "When this will do it without putting us all in danger?" "Mobile conversations can be tapped into," Lupin mentioned. "And to think, it would be with Morty that the most important conversations about the Coalition would take place." "Yes, but who knows about Morty and I, eh? You can't tap into a phone call if you're not even aware that the call exists. Same way that you can't sneak through a door that has no lock." "I'd question your use of that type of comparison, but there's [i]always[/i] that possibility." Merlin smiled, speaking in a deeper, quieter, and more solemn voice than usual. "I'm just saying it's not very likely." Yamiko giggled, Halberd smiled and shook his head, and Warren nearly fell off the chair laughing. That was just too good an imitation of Lupin. "All right then," Lupin said with a sigh, "Ecruteak it is... although, don't you think--that that's where every roaming Coalition soldier would be going as well?" "Good--we can meet up with them and hear their idea of a plan," Yamiko assured, traces of giggles showing up in her speech. [i]Oh boy... if Merlin became an actor, there would be no way he would make it into any theatrical genre other than comedy...[/i] About three hours later, the Black Cat Bandits were inside the Sky Pirate once more, but were not up in the air. They were all in the "bedroom" of the large aircraft, sound asleep. (Their bedtime just recently became noon.) Halberd looked like he was wearily trying to count Mareep, until his arm fell limp and he fell asleep. Warren seemed to have a hard time falling asleep, as it was the middle of the daytime, but he made it there eventually, especially after a little massage from Merlin, who was sleeping in the same bed as him. And Yamiko and Lupin were already in deep sleep in the third bed. Good day, you five little creatures of the night.[/color][/size]

[color=navy][size=1]Like a large metallic bird glistening in the pink glow of the sunrise, the Sky Pirate soared through the sky over Johto, headed in the direction of Mahogany Town. It really was a gorgeous airship, Halberd's most prized creation. It looked mildly like a Ho-oh that had been turned to silver and bronze, except with gleaming rose-coloured "eyes" that provided light if needed to the path of this airship. The "feet" and "tail" of the Sky Pirate were glowing with either blue flames (in the feet's case) or with little ripples of bright green energy waves (in the tail's case). Some lights on the tail occasionally flashed in a little rainbow of colours. The lights were actually the signs of a sort of radar system working, so as to detect anything sneaking up on this newly crafted airship from behind. Four people were inside this spacious aircraft, four people who looked to be quite happy. After all, they had just been reunited after spending such a long time away from each other, and were about to reunite with one or possibly two other friends once they got to Mahogany Town. But who were these people exactly? Piloting the Sky Pirate was its creator, Halberd. Halberd really didn't need to do much to steer the airship at this point--he just kept occasionally glancing at the radar screen to see if anything was coming. Part of his time was spent looking out the wide window in front of him, which showed the sky in a beautiful shade of deep blue. Fortunately, he was facing west, away from the rising sun. Also occasionally, he turned around to talk to the other three people in there, or to the pink Butterfree flying around near him. "Pinky" wasn't the only Pokemon in the aircraft though--there were four, one per trainer. A Bellossom--"Bella"--was talking to Pinky as well. Warren, the blonde boy with the racoon hat, was sitting on a little sofa in the main room of the Sky Pirate (that's where everyone was at this point) with Mimi the Buneary in his lap. He was combing Mimi's little fluffy ears--Mimi always enjoyed a nice ear-brushing in the morning. It felt good, just like any morning should. After all, Mimi was one of the few Pokemon out of all of the ones these four people kept who was mostly out in the daytime--this was a mostly nocturnal group. Yamiko and Lupin were sitting next to each other not too far from Warren, and a little Umbreon named Alice lay curled up near them. Yamiko was trembling with excitement, for out of the window she could see the Dragon's Den in the distance, meaning Mahogany Town was close by. And this meant that she would be introduced to Merlin--the fourth Black Cat Bandit and the supposed leader of the Coalition. She kept glancing out the window, then at Lupin, then at Bella, then back at Lupin again. "Well, we're almost here," she said in a mildly excited tone. "Oh yes, of course," Lupin replied, while both looking out the window and petting Alice. Okay, so this was a mostly happy or excited group, but Lupin was quite possibly the exception to that. He certainly seemed to be the most calm out of the group, but at least he wasn't worried or upset about the present situation. Maybe it was because the sun had just started to rise, meaning that daytime was approaching. Naturally, anyone who loved the night would not be too pleased about the sunrise. Lupin mildly wished that they had headed to Mahogany Town a bit earlier, but apparently Warren had a bit of trouble waking up earlier, so accomodations had to be made. Just then, a mail icon appeared on a screen one one of the side walls of the Sky Pirate. This screen was actually a built-in computer, and the icon indicated a new email, one from Merlin judging by the crystal ball icon on the envelope. "Oh! I'll get it!" Warren jumped up, momentarily forgetting about Mimi. The startled little rabbit jumped off Warren's lap and ran over to where Bella was. Once Warren clicked on the envelope icon on the screen, what came up was indeed an email from Merlin: "There's a change of plans. There are no troops here, but there is something similar to a police system that kicks out anyone involved with either army in this war. I know we're not technically aligned with either of them, but I fear that they might kick us out for discussing anything relating to war-related plans. Even something as benign as meeting up with Morty. That is our plan, right? (Hopefully) *~AbraKadabra Alakazam~* P.S. We're meeting on top of the Ice Path instead. Make sure Alice is roaming, and Coil once you land." At that point, the Sky Pirate was soaring right above Blackthorn City, in which various dragon Pokemon and Coalition troops patrolled about. Mahogany town was close, and the Ice Path was even closer... all that was left was to look for Merlin. But how? It would have been unusual for Merlin to have his Dusknoir or Honchkrow or Lunatone fly around and be visible, as the usual tendency of the Black Cat Bandits was to avoid detection by anyone other than themselves. Fortunately, Merlin mentioned Alice "roaming", which meant "being outside her Pokeball". "It's Merlin," Warren announced to the group. "Apparently we're meeting atop the Ice Path instead." "Oh! We're close!" Halberd realised, and began to steer the Sky Pirate west of Blackthorn City. "...And apparently we're using the telepathy method to find him," Warren continued. "Alice is out, right?" "She's right here," Lupin answered. Alice's ears perked up at the sound of her name and the word "telepathy"--ears that soon after picked up what Lupin said to her next. "It appears as if Oracle is trying to talk to you." Oracle was Merlin's Espeon, one whose goal was to establish a telepathic connection with as many of the Black Cat Bandits' Pokemon as possible. So far, the connection worked only with Pluto, Imperio, Alice, and all psychic-type Pokemon except Loony, and worked best with Alice. (Maybe it had to do with both of them evolving from the same Pokemon?) So Alice closed her eyes, and thought about that admittedly dreamy Espeon... [i]"Ah, Alice,"[/i] Oracle said telepathically. [i]"Whee...! Where are you anyways?"[/i] Alice answered. [i]As Halberd probably sees now, the Ice Path is surrounded by a thick layer of fog... as it usually is."[/i] [i]"I can see that..."[/i] Alice looked out the window to see a cloud-topped mountain just west of Blackthorn City. Apparently Halberd had noticed this, as he had the Sky Pirate decelerate and activate its radar. At the same time, Alice leapt off Lupin's lap and instead went to sit atop Halberd's. [i]"I think you'll have to go a bit north..."[/i] Oracle thought to Alice after a while. "Umbreon." Alice momentarily opened her eyes and pointed her paw at the top of the radar screen. "Oh, heading north, are we?" Halberd mentioned, understanding this gesture. [i]"Wait, now you're too far east..."[/i] "Breon." This time, Alice pointed to the left of the radar screen. "Hold on, hold on, I'm looking..." Halberd muttered. [i]If only I knew what I was looking for.[/i] "If I remember correctly," Lupin commented, "didn't Merlin use to use one of his Pokemon as a landmark?" "Oh, of course, that's right... so that means I'm looking for a... Mismagius, Dusknoir, Honchkrow, or Lunatone... I don't think he'd send Oracle or Loony..." Halberd lost his train of thought when he finally spotted something witch-shaped on the radar screen. "Ah, he's using Imperio this time," Halberd realised. Then he said to Warren, "Do we need to do anything else?" "Erm... we need Coil. AFTER landing, of course," Warren replied as he returned to his seat. [i]Sending out Coil before landing might damage the Sky Pirate's operating system, causing us to crash, yadda yadda yadda...[/i] "Sorry, Mimi-chan," Warren whispered to his little Buneary as he picked her up. [i]"All right, Halberd spotted Imperio,"[/i] Alice said telepathically to Oracle. Meanwhile, a smile sneaked its way onto Yamiko's face as the Sky Pirate descended into the fog. "I always liked the fog..." "Best alternative to darkness, if you ask me," Lupin commented. "Good--this means we don't have to be standing in sunlight for three hours." It wasn't too long before the Sky Pirate landed, and the five Black Cat Bandits exited the large bird-shaped aircraft. As Lupin walked out, he briefly glanced to his left at a smaller aircraft shaped like Darkrai, the "Nightcraft" that he owned yet Halberd built. [i]I suppose we won't be needing this for just a meeting.[/i] As promised, Halberd let his Magnezone out of its Pokeball upon exiting (and getting a good distance away from) the Sky Pirate. A series of beeps issued from Coil's mody and its magnets spun around, then it pointed those magnets in one direction. "MAGGG-nezone," it declared in a robotic voice. "Well, there's no need to ask which way to go [i]now[/i], huh?" Warren commented, resulting in a little but of snickering from the group. He was always the one to say the funniest things... Halberd led the group, following closely behind his Magnezone. Imperio, Merlin's Mismagius, was floating down to the group from her lookout spot, looking almost invisible against the dark purple fog (the sun had not yet fully risen). Soon enough he followed Yamiko and Lupin, who brought up the rear of the group. Alice walked along in front of the two, hoping to catch sight of Oracle. Yamiko was holding Bella in both hands--the fog creeped out the Bellossom a bit, as things like this usually did. She wanted to use Sunny Day to get rid of this fog, but doing something like that was selfish--selfish actions were usually not accepted in a large group. There were already so many Pokemon (and one person) who preferred it to be dark like this... Lupin had one arm around Yamiko so as to not lose track of her, but otherwise kept looking around for Merlin or... anything else that looked suspicious or interesting. There appeared to be no wild Pokemon around--maybe most of them were sleeping in the cave part of the Ice Path. And finally, Warren was jogging along behind Halberd, eager to avoid losing sight of him, holding Mimi close in his arms. The magnetic signal Coil picked up came from Merlin's Lunatone--Coil nearly bumped into it before it stopped before those sinister red eyes. "Well, of course you were able to find us," Merlin said as a sort of greeting. He barely ever said a simple hello to greet people. "All right! Merlin!" Warren jumped up and nearly hugged Merlin as he approached him. He would have had he not a Buneary in his arms. "Ah, and there's the happy couple now," Merlin noticed, for he just spotted Yamiko and Lupin emerge from the fog. "Very good job with the setting," Lupin commented, looking about the area. Here was a sort of "oasis" amidst the rocky expanse atop the Ice Path, where there was grass and one or two trees and even a small pond. The fog around the place was a little more lit than before, but the surroundings were still barely visible. "The fog is even my favourite colour..." Yamiko noted, at the purple tint the fog took on. "Of course, who could say no to purple fog--even if it won't stay purple forever?" Merlin replied. "We could very well be on the inside of a Smoke Ball, or perhaps a giant Mismagius is using Ominous Wind on us all." "Mis mis miss..." Imperio muttered, proceeding to use a miniature-Ominous Wind attack himself. "Ha ha, bellissimo!" Merlin giggled, even applauding slightly. The meeting was meant as both a discussion of what to do next, and as a little rest stop. All of the Pokemon were outside their Pokeballs, and either took the time to interact with each other, admire the surroundings, or mope around in a corner... or just stay with their trainers. Fulva, Mesmeria, and Gardevoir were gathered next to the pond, which Starmie and Sakurabyss immediately jumped into. Airmor and Raven started to fly about the area, careful not to go too far so as to avoid losing sight of the group. But at one point they collided with each other, which was rather painful on the Honchkrow's part. (Colliding with a Skarmory? Ouch...) Maneki just curled up in a little patch of grass for a little nap--besides, Alice or Oracle (who were sitting not too far from where she was) might wake her up before it was time to leave. Nimerta and Zorro were both meditating underneath one of trees, so the trio of ghost Pokemon near them (Imperio, Pluto, and Banette) had to keep quiet so as to not interrupt them. All three of them spent their time either having staring contests or getting to know Banette a little bit more. Pika, Ambipom, and Beatrice were involved in a game of tag for a moment, but then Pika and Beatrice got annoyed at numerous times when Ambipom tagged both of them at the same time with the hands on his long tails. Such an unfair game... not to mention Pika threatened to shock Beatrice if she cheated. All three just argued a bit underneath the other tree. Near them, Pinky and Bella were engaged in quite a conversation, although Pinky spent much of her time talking about her extensive love life with other Butterfrees. () Scout was wandering about the area and soon spotted Weavile talking with a group of wild Sneasel--she mostly bragged about now being stronger than them, her older siblings. But he wsn't aware of Metamon spying on him from a patch of grass, transforming into a perfect copy of Scout. Scout finally looked back and got an annoyed look on his face when he spotted an Absol that looked just like him, trying to stifle a loud belly laugh. And high above the group, Coil floated in solitude, though it occasionally glimpsed Lunatone, who was giving Loony a ride around the area. Meanwhile, the five trainers were gathered around a large rock, and some Pokemon were with them as well. Warren was still holding Mimi, although Itachi was peering over his shoulder, wanting to be petted as well. Sirius and Arcanine were both seated behind Lupin, obviously two of the most loyal and true Pokemon of the group. (Why were those two with Lupin rather than Yamiko? I have no idea...) And all five people were indeed discussing what to do next. "Well, I think the obvious thing to do is contact Morty first," Merlin suggested, taking out his Pokenav. Out of all the Black Cat Bandits, Merlin used the call feature of the Pokenav the most frequently--he usually used it with Morty, although usually he didn't get a reply. And while the Black Cat Bandits were separate, he called them the most often. But now he tried Morty again... "Would it be safe to head to Ecruteak yet?" Warren asked. "Sorry, it still won't do us any good," Lupin answered. "Wars are overrated anyways, and if we go there, we'll likely be shot at or captured by Coalition soldiers." "Even if we're on their side?!?" Warren exclaimed. "He has a point--we're not even soldiers ourselves," Halberd commented. "Ha ha, Lupin, I'm sure you won't object to picking out a Federation city to explore." "Actually, I will," Lupin replied, causing a surprised stare from both Halberd and Warren. "Keep in mind that it's practically daytime, not a wise time to go wandering about in an enemy town. (Unless it's foggy like this area.) What might be an interesting thing to do eventually is to head to the Indigo Plateau and check on what the Elites are doing, or perhaps to sneak into their supply base and see what kind of supplies they have in store." "Erm... where is that supply base? Which town?" Yamiko asked. "Hmm, now that's a good question," Halberd muttered, suddenly deep in thought. "If Olivine or Vermillion City are under control of the Federation--wait, I think at least Vermillion is--there's a good chance they could hold supply bases--since they're ports." "Wait a minute..." Yamiko started, then began to think as well. "I remember Morty telling us that... Celadon and Mahogany are neutral, while Pewter, Saffron, Ecruteak, and... Cerulean... are with the Coalition. So every other town must side with the Federation--oh dear, that means both Vermillion [i]and[/i] Olivine could be supply bases." "With two supply bases, it's a good thing we ain't fighting against the Federation--you know, as soldiers," Warren mentioned. "Hold on," Halberd halted them, "let's find out what Morty says first... if he answers his phone." Merlin had his Pokenav to his ear, intently listening for Morty's reply. All of a sudden, a grin spread across his face. "Morty! Greetings from the foggy area atop the Ice Path!" The rest of the group spent the next few moments with their heads turned eagerly towards Merlin (except Lupin still occasionally looked around the area some more). Occasionally Merlin muttered such things as "Uh-huh" or "Sure" or "Where are you?" or "What are you up to?". At one point he even asked Morty whether or not he knew where the supply base(s) for the Federation were. Whatever the reply was, Merlin frowned, then said, "Tsk tsk tsk, Lupin's not going to be happy about..." then was cut off by Morty's continued speech. ... ... Finally, Merlin smiled broadly again and nodded, ending with "Oh, thank you so much, my friend..." before hanging up. When he did, Warren was staring at him as if to say "What? What's the news?" "Heh, Morty says hi to everyone here," Merlin announced to the group. "He seemed rather glad to hear from me--he said he's been busy lately. Ecruteak apparently is under constant patrolling by Coalition and even some Federation soldiers who are looking for him. Morty's been sitting in his gym for such a long time, almost desperate for backup, he says. Of course, you could imagine how pleased he must have been when his best friend called him, no? Apparently, the last few times when I tried to call him, he was busy trying to call for other reinforcements... But anyways, he says that it's likely that Olivine and/or Vermillion could be supply bases for the Federation--although that really is common sense." "Obviously they're not trying to hide their bases," Lupin commented, "with such obvious locations as those." "Yes, really," Merlin continued. "Quite the opposite of us in too many ways. (With the probable exception of Sabrina--hee hee...) Anyways, he told us that it might bee too dangerous to try to break into the supply bases--if that's a good term, 'breaking' in--but we certainly might check up on some of the less violent Federation towns to see what they're up to. So how about it--shall we pick a town?" "How about Violet City?" Warren suggested, as an out-of-the-blue idea. "Now now, let's not go picking towns yet," Lupin retorted, looking towards the sky. It was still foggy, but the fog was barely purple anymore. Clearly the sun was high enough in the sky to be called "daylight". And a quick glance at the clock on his mobile told him it was 7:34 AM. "It's just after 7:30--maybe it would just be better to check the status of Blackthorn City, then we'll call it day perhaps." "Right, right, we have an hour and a half until 'bedtime'," Warren mentioned with quite a bit of levity and almost sarcasm. "Oh? And what happened to your suggestion of staying up until noon every day?" Lupin teased. "You know I was joking, right? Mornings are good too, you know. And this way we can wake up and it will be nighttime already." With that, the Black Cat Bandits started to round up their Pokemon, although they left a few out for the short trip to Blackthorn City. This time, only six Pokemon were out: Mimi and five of the larger Pokemon. A short trip like this wasn't worth a flight on the Sky Pirate. So they rode out... Yamiko was riding on Fulva as usual--the Ninetales was barely able to support her weight while dashing low on the rocky surface of the flattened mountain. The two of them followed Lupin, who was riding on Arcanine. Merlin was above them, being carried on the shoulders of Pluto, his Dusknoir. On the two sides of Merlin and Pluto were Halberd and Warren, both riding on Magnezones. The one Halberd was riding was Coil, but the one carrying Warren was actually Metamon--Halberd's Ditto--who had transformed into a duplicate of Coil. (Warren himself didn't have any Pokemon big enough to ride on, but he was still holding Mimi as he hovered along.)[/color][/size] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OOC: That's all I'll post for now... Don't worry, my posts will be a bit shorter after this.. for some reason I always tend to make my first posts relatively long...

Darn... I started my opening post today, and had them arrive in Ecruteak City... Then I remembered that I said in my signup that they were to start out in Mahogany Town. ...So in the post I was working on, I had Merlin's location be unknown to my other characters for the past six months--I had my other characters head to Ecruteak in search of Merlin (and Morty as well). Whoops--that's not what my signup said! Unfortunately, I don't have time to change my first post right now, so I'll probably come back tonight and post it.

[color=royalblue]Unfortunately, someone [i]had[/i] seen Ai's wound, but fortunately, that someone was quite possibly the one who was least likely to laugh at her or call her weak. Ai happened to be standing not too far from Selenia after being hit by the poisoned arrow, and the two exchanged short glances after Ai "bandaged" the wound. Ai's glance was more of a dirty one, while Selenia's was more of a blank one. After a while though, Selenia shook her head and held her finger in front of her lips. Selenia was just about to reach for her bag when an arrow whooshed past her, barely missing the top of her head. Startled, Selenia jumped back up, took out her little silver knife, and ran towards the very last archer--the one who attacked her--slipping right by him with almost unnatural speed. The archer then noticed someone was behind him, and turned around with an arrow out, prepared to stab Selenia with it. (Shooting it was useless, as Selenia was close enough anyways.) Immediately Selenia ducked and slipped between his legs, again narrowly missing the arrow. The archer hardly had time to turn around again before Selenia stood up and slashed her knife across his throat. While the archer fell backward and peace was finally restored to the group, Selenia just sat there for a while, holding the bloody knife in her outstretched arm. Slowly she started to get back up, looking at the knife as she did. "Favre-shiwali, you seem to be destined for such evil purposes." After that, Selenia ran (yet again--how much running has she done so far tonight?) off into the darkness, in the direction of the not-too-far-away river. And a few minutes later, Selenia was back with the group, Yuna standing a short didtance away from the still-burning tree. An orb made of water hovered in the air next to her, and soon entered her little cauldron. Selenia was also holding a bottle in her hand, which contained a syrupy fluid that was as blue as the midday sky. Selenia walked over to Ai without a word to the rest of the group, and sat down next to her. "I've found this to be able to cure most poisons," Selenia whispered to Ai, indicating the substance in the bottle. "The sooner it's rubbed on that wound of yours, the better the result..." Ai stared at Selenia, the same dirty look on her face. Nobody was supposed to find out about that! "...Oh, and it doesn't sting either," Selenia added, thinking that that was the reason for Ai's stare. (But it wasn't.)[/color] OOC: I'm completely unsure how Ai would react to what Selenia did, so I'm leaving that up to you, Knuckles' Girl.

OOC: Hmm, I guess I'm obviously not good at making signups short. I [i]used[/i] to be good at it, but it's an ability I've lost completely... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [size=1][b][u]Halberd[/b][/u] [u]Real Name:[/u] Ryan Inistacht [u]Age:[/u] 25 [u]Gender:[/u] Male [u]Description:[/u] Halberd is 5'10" tall, just barely the tallest of the Black Cat Bandits. His coarse black hair is tied back and loosely braided, and runs halfway down his back, and he also has a trace of a moustache. His skin is lightly coloured but slightly tanned for the most part. He really does have a large figure, and would look muscular were it not for the thickish layer of fat covering it. Now, as far as outfit is concerned, he tends to be pretty casual. One such garment is a fading gray shirt with no sleeves, kind of like a loose muscle shirt or simply a T-shirt with the sleeves cut off--call it whatever you want. Then he wears plain-looking black pants (which look reasonably faded when he stands next to Lupin or Yamiko), plain-looking grey socks, plain-looking black sandals... Yet, something about this whole scheme gives him a sort of handsome air. Maybe it's the way his chocolate-coloured eyes sparkle when he's calm as usual, or maybe it's his humble choice to not wear anything particularly colourful. Whatever it is... [u]Faction:[/u] Ally with Coalition [u]Commander:[/u] Morty, sort of [u]Bio:[/u] [i]Pre-BCB[/i] The Inistacht family was one of those stubborn little families that refused to leave its hometown no matter what happened. Their house was always in the same location in the same little block in the same corner of Hearthome City, Sinnoh. Ryan proved to be a pleasant and interesting individual through his early life, although his family life was rather boring. Both of his parents were working hard in jobs, one in the teaching field and one in the medical field. And at home, they spent most of their time talking about what was new in their jobs, and not much time with Ryan. They didn't even have any Pokemon for Ryan to play with. His parents did earn a lot of money from these two high-paying jobs, but something was missing... Then a miracle happened: one day, both of his parents quit their jobs, and came home one day with a little boy. A new brother! What's more, his parents promised to spend more time with Ryan (and Raymond as well) from then on. This was perfect! (For next part, see the "Chronicles" at the end of this signup) [i]Within BCB[/i] During the Black Cat Bandits' golden age, Halberd was the unofficial leader of the group. When the group wasn't traveling, Halberd worked on building a small aircraft, having had an interest in mechanics ever since he was a little boy. However, for some reason he only showed a moderate interest in flying such an aircraft, and thus Lupin became the owner of it. But that "Nightcraft" was still indicated as Halberd's most notable contribution to the group. [i]Post-BCB[/i] Unfortunately, the very nature of the Black Cat Bandits caused it to split up after six years since its creation. But all was not lost for Halberd; he stell kept in touch with the other three in the five years afterward, during which he started a repair shop and earned pretty reasonable business. Later on, that shop doubled as a small Pokemon gym--both were based in Slateport City, all the way in Hoenn. Also, as a side project, secret to everyone except the other Black Cat Bandits, he worked on designing a larger and awesomer (hopefully) aircraft that would function as a sort of movable house as well. The other Black Cat Bandits were always on his mind as he built the "Sky Pirate", and in fact functioned as a major inspiration for everything he did during those lonely yet productive five years. But far away in Kanto and Johto, trouble was brewing--the champion Red and the Elites established an almost totalitarian rule over Kanto and Johto, causing much unrest among the citizens of those two continents. Over time, Halberd began to hear about this conflict about the news, and also that some of the gym leaders of Kanto and Johto were setting up an army to take on the "Federation". Ohh, wonderful! Another evil organisation to work on taking down! With that, Halberd decided to get the other Black Cat Bandits together and travel to Johto... [u]Pokemon:[/u] [b]Magnezone[/b] (Coil) (Genderless) *Halberd's first Pokemon* [b]Butterfree[/b] (Pinky) (Female) *Is pink in colour* [b]Starmie[/b] (no nickname) (Genderless) [b]Ditto:[/b] (Metamon) (Genderless) [b]Skarmory:[/b] (Airmor) (Male) [b]Gorebyss[/b] (Sakurabyss) (Female) *Often called Sakura for short* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][u]Warren[/b][/u] [u]Real Name:[/u] Raymond Donly [u]Age:[/u] 18 [u]Gender:[/u] Male [u]Description:[/u] Warren is 5'5" tall, caucasian, with blond hair only a few inches long and blue eyes, nothing special... Erm...?? Anyways, Warren would probably look a little thin if it wasn't for the attention paid to his cute, boyish face, or if he's not standing next to Lupin. But ah well, many people would say he's kind of cute in a little boy-ish way anyways, especially with the tiny little freckles still visible on his face. Little bunny freckes... Anyways, Warren's usual outfit consists of a yellow T-shirt with a happy face on it, faded jeans with holes at the knees, old-looking white sneakers... Oh, but you can't forget the most important thing: the racoon hat! He doesn't go anywhere without wearing this, except maybe school. [u]Faction:[/u] Allied with Coalition [u]Commander:[/u] Morty, sort of [u]Bio:[/u] Raymond came from a family of artists. Specifically, his mother loved to paint, and specialised in Hoenn's scenery. Dad was a poet, and a Pokemon Coordinator as well. But Raymond liked them, not to mention he was thrilled by watching Dad in a contest. The shiny belly-dancing Medicham accompanied by Psychic attacks... whee! Anyways, when Raymond was five years old, his parents took him on a "cruise" around the Orange Islands. However, the timing of the cruise was terrible: the cruise ship happened to be stuck in a storm on the way there, and a huge rock coming from the not-too-far away Tangelo Island collided with and sank the ship, in what Raymond often referred to as the "tropical Titanic". But among those who drowned were Raymond's mum and dad, and Mum's Smeargle. Raymond was among the survivors, as was Dad's Medicham, and both kept each other company in a Stranded Child Refuge back in Hoenn. However, both of them were far from happy--Raymond had just lost his parents, and "Nimerta" lost her trainer. What was to become of them? (For next part, see the "Chronicles" at the end of this signup) [i]Within BCB[/i] As a Black Cat Bandit, Warren was the one to suggest trying out things, but he was also the one to panic whenever potential trouble arose, especially when the group ended up doing something illegal or risky. But hey--he was the youngest in the group, so what else was he supposed to think? Warren also entered a few Pokemon contests with his late father's Medicham, but never won any of them. Perhaps it was just bad luck... [i]Post-BCB[/i] After the Black Cat Bandits went their separate ways, Warren got into a relationship with a girl named Lucy, who was interested in becoming a nurse. But the two made a happy couple anyways and decided to get married after traveling around the Orange Islands for a while. Yes, eighteen is kind of a young age to get married, but for some reason Warren couldn't wait. Not to mention it was an excuse to move into a new house--so from then on he lived in a quaint little duplex in Veilstone City, Sinnoh. Things were good with this happy couple, but after a few years, there was a time when Halberd, of all people, came knocking on his door, with some news about corruption in the government of Kanto and Johto. He also presented the idea of the Black Cat Bandits getting back together again, and to try again to overthrow an evil organisation... Anyways, Warren was excited about the opportunity, but Lucy wasn't--besides, she didn't want to give up school. Oh well, hopefully this mission wouldn't last too long... [u]Pokemon:[/u] [b]Buneary[/b] (Mimi) (Female) *Warren's first Pokemon, not counting Nimerta* [b]Raichu[/b] (Pika) (Male) [b]Furret:[/b] (Itachi) (Male) *Sometimes called "Tachi-tachi"* [b]Ambipom[/b] (No nickname) (Male) [b]Bibarel[/b] (Beatrice) (Female) [b]Medicham[/b] (Nimerta) (Female) (Shiny) *Acquired from Warren's late father* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][u]Merlin[/b][/u] [u]Real Name:[/u] Vincent Estrel [u]Age:[/u] 21 [u]Gender:[/u] Male [u]Description:[/u] Merlin is the shortest Black Cat Bandit and also the one with the darkest skin. But not by much--he's just five feet tall with moderately tanned skin, and is not particularly skinny or fat or muscular in figure. His eyes are a dark, dull green in colour, so they don't stand out by themselves. But his eyes do stand out, because Merlin usually puts on green eyeshadow. But people also pay much attention to his hair, his outfit, or the expression on his face. His straight black hair is fairly short in some places, but fairly long in the form of wispy bangs in the front, and even longer in a sort of ponytail in the back. What makes it stand out is the fact it's dyed deep purple in most places. Merlin really does dare to be different and stylish! Yes, different and stylish--this goes for his outfit as well, which consists of clothes he sewed together himself (except for the shoes). His shirt is made of white satin and is covered with a tightly fitting (which also means he can't button it up), long-sleeved, light jacket that is dark purple on the outside but is coated with hot pink satin on the inside (which shows up on the collar), and little bright green buttons. Hehheh, Merlin especially has talent and flair in designing jackets. Anyways, Merlin also wears deep blue pants which flare out similarly to bell-bottoms, and shoes made of a grayish leather. Also, lastly, Merlin wears two rings on his left hand, one with an amethyst stone and one with a ruby one, both with rune designs on them. [u]Faction:[/u] Allied with Coalition [u]Commander:[/u] Morty, sort of [u]Bio:[/u] [i]Pre-BCB[/i] Vincent was born in Ecruteak City, Johto. His parents studied the history of Pokemon, and made a side study of how Pokemon acquired their various abilities, and also how psychic abilities worked. They usually attended meetings with people who conducted similar studies, and decided to bring Vincent along to these meetings as well. But little Vincent learned quite a bit from these discussions--and made a friend along the way. For the building in which the meetings took place happened to be the Ecruteak Pokemon Gym, which was at the time owned by one person from the meetings, who also used Ghost-type Pokemon. His grandson, Morty, became a good friend of Vincent soon enough. They had some memorable times together, but a job change forced the Estrel family to move away to Sinnoh... Jubilife City was awkwardly bustling and lively, and got to be a little too much for young Vincent. He liked Ecruteak a lot better, with its nice atmosphere and the two towers nearby... and of course with Morty. Vincent really missed Morty, and could not find a replacement for him. He tried looking for potential friends when he started attending the Pokemon Academy there, but for a long while, nobody really captivated him... and some people were freaked out because he had a little obsession about wanting to be able to use psychic abilities. (For next part, see the "Chronicles" at the end of this signup) [i]Within BCB[/i] As a Black Cat Bandit, Merlin probably made the least amount of contribution, but he was still accepted by the rest. Well, he was good-looking (in his own weird way), charismatic, charming, and quite intelligent, and if you were a Black Cat Bandit, you might say that Merlin is the most fun to be around of all of them. Not to mention Merlin showed a strong interest in Pokemon throughout, and earned the most badges out of all the Black Cat Bandits. [i]Post-BCB[/i] When Merlin left the group, he immediately headed for Johto, in pursuit of Ecruteak City. When he finally walked into the Ecruteak gym, Merlin and Morty rejoiced in their reunion, and Morty even offered Merlin a little home in a little room on top of the gym. Times were good... At home Merlin spent much of his time pondering about things, meditating, and even attempting to use telekinesis on small objects. (Without success.) But a year or so later, news came of the formation of a sort of coalition between the Elite Four and some of the gym leaders in Kanto and Johto. (To Merlin's dismay, one of the gym leaders was Sabrina, who he had heard of and admired in his youth.) In response to this, Morty announced taking a stand against this "Federation", which only got him into trouble. Merlin wanted to travel to Kanto to try to convince Sabrina to turn against the Federation, but he found himself unable to even enter Saffron City. So he had to come up with a better plan... Two years later, Ecruteak's base, headed by Morty in the three towers, moved to a secret location, which Merlin was not told about. After all, Merlin had grown more and more distant from Morty over time, because Merlin didn't want anything to do with the war at first. He just kept on biding his time in his little room atop the gym. Then came the day when Merlin received an e-mail from Halberd, telling him to meet the newly reunited Black Cat Bandits in Mahogany Town... [u]Pokemon:[/u] [b]Dusknoir[/b] (Pluto) (Male) [b]Espeon[/b] (Oracle) (Male) *Merlin's first Pokemon; evolved to Espeon because of Merlin's interest in psychic abilities* [b]Mismagius[/b] (Imperio) (Male) [b]Lunatone[/b] (no nickname) (Genderless) [b]Mime Jr.[/b] (Loony) (Female) [b]Honchkrow[/b] (Raven) (Female) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][u]Lupin[/b][/u] [u]Real Name:[/u] Edwin Tasselbury [u]Age:[/u] 23 [u]Gender:[/u] Male [u]Description:[/u] Lupin is about 5'9" tall. His hair is fairly curly and long--as in almost touching his shoulders--and a light brown in colour. (More specifically, various shades of blond.) His eyes are a deeper, darker brown, an interesting contrast to his skin, a very pale shade thanks to lack of sunlight. Gaunt best describes his figure, yet he manages to avoid looking weak or dead. Besides, at least his face and hands don't look that bony. You won't find a whole lot of muscle on him (except maybe on his legs, since he's a very fast runner)--just enough to be able to move around and such. And with absence of strength there is flexibility anyways. Form really does follow function... Lupin wears a fairly long black jacket that fits him perfectly, so it doesn't look big on him or anything. There is the occasional golden button on the end of a sleeve or near the collar. He wears a shirt underneath the jacket, but it can't be seen at all anyways because he always buttons the jacket all the way up to his neck. Also he wears what look like black jeans, except they're made from a slightly more comfortable material. These too are not too tight or baggy. He's not a firm believer in sneakers, and thus instead wears another kind of shoe made from black leather. He also wears a pair of glasses that have rectangular lenses and barely visible frames. Without them, his vision is still pretty good, but not as good as with them. Besides, the lenses (which look very slightly tinted) allow him to see invisible laser beams used for security and such. Also, he doesn't carry around any sort of bag or backpack or anything--he just keeps everything his jacket pockets for the most part. [u]Faction:[/u] Allied with the Coalition [u]Commander:[/u] Morty, sort of [u]Bio:[/u] [i]Pre-BCB[/i] Edwin lived with a relatively poor family in Vermilion City, Kanto. Hehheh, poor in Vermilion? The city of beach resorts, cruises, sunshine, and a quite interesting gym leader? Well, Edwin's parents were poor because housing prices were high, and the only financial support came from his father's little job in a nearby convenience store. His mother was unable to find a job, yet she still wanted a child in these meager conditions. Dad was even angry at her for wanting a child so badly ("How are you going to support him, eh?"), but decided to take out most of that anger on Edwin instead. He even took to hitting him and torturing him, in as many ways as possible. (It would probably not be wise to go into detail at this point.) Though over the next couple of years, Edwin started to venture out into town at night to be free from his father. While out, however, there were occasional times when he nearly got into trouble for spying or pickpocketing or encountering small, petty, child gangs. Oh well, at least it was better than hiding in his room all the time. Over time, he started to take advantage of the time when his parents were asleep, usually to steal food or money from them. ...Although this only led to a mad Dad. Anyways, eventually Edwin got really desperate and decided to try running away. The journey was long and uncomfortable (he had to stay hidden), but Edwin finally ended up in Sinnoh. Something fortunate finally happened to him shortly after his arrival: some generous woman brought him to an orphanage that was there. It took Edwin quite a while to get used to being treated with kindness, but a couple years later, he met a girl named Kelsey. Kelsey really stood out to him, mostly because she was much more respectful than the others, and because she was sort of a miserable girl as well. But, they barely had time to talk to each other before someone came along to adopt Edwin... (For next part, see the "Chronicles" at the end of this signup) [i]Within BCB[/i] In the group, Lupin played a huge factor in helping the group stay out of trouble, especially when around Team Magma/Aqua. However, he also proved to be the most selfish out of the group, and most often went by his own ideas when the group was out and about. Not to mention that he continued his normal acts of thievery, even after one or two protests by Merlin and Warren. Also it could be noted that Lupin was the one most likely to let his Pokemon wander about outside their Pokeballs. [i]Post-BCB[/i] After the Black Cat Bandits split up, Lupin took the Nightcraft and left. Just as he was leaving Sinnoh, two people from Team Rocket, specifically Butch and Cassidy, wanted to recruit him, because other Rockets had been "watching him". Hmm, Team Rocket didn't seem dedicated to any foolish and destructive mission like Teams Magma/Aqua were, so he mildly agreed. Yes, [i]mildly[/i]--he refused to take Pokemon from other trainers, but at least he proved to be excellent at stealing rare items and such. However, things changed when he saw Butch and Cassidy take a Kirlia from someone he knew from the past: Kelsey, the girl he had met in the orphanage! Soon after, Lupin left Team Rocket, after taking a Pokemon from a trainer from the first time. But that was taking Kelsey's Kirlia from Cassidy's grasp, so that was a different matter. For the next month or so, Lupin did not do his traveling alone--this time he was with Kelsey. Their time together was full of happiness and adventure (they were wandering around Sinnoh at the time), but one sunny afternoon (oddly enough), it was interrupted. Kelsey and Lupin were walking around in Veilstone City, when all of a sudden the police came by and took Lupin away. Oh no--if he's being arrested for theft, that amounts to an extremely long prison sentence... Actually, it was worse--he was arrested for stealing four Chanseys and two Blisseys from different Nurse Joys throughout Sinnoh. ...Which was something various people in Team Rocket did a week or so before. Apparently they had taken their worst recent crime and blamed it on him, as a little act of revenge and/or jealousy. But it wasn't that bad--after a couple of weeks, he escaped from the prison he was taken to--and continued his travels with his Pokemon. Two years passed, and it wasn't long before Lupin met up with Kelsey again. To make a long story short, the two of them did three things: continue their Pokemon journey through Sinnoh (and its underground), enter the Pokemon League there (but neither of them won), and help defeat Team Galactic (although Dawn did most of the actual fighting). By that time it had also become widely known that the Chansey and Blissey fiasco was quite possibly not Lupin's fault. Note I said [i]quite possibly[/i]... (For the rest, see Yamiko's bio) [u]Pokemon:[/u] [b]Absol[/b] (Scout) (Male) [b]Mightyena[/b] (Sirius) (Male) *Lupin's first Pokemon* [b]Arcanine[/b] (No nickname) (Male) [b]Umbreon[/b] (Alice) (Female) [b]Lucario:[/b] (Zorro) (Male) [b]Weavile[/b] (No nickname) (Female) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][u]Yamiko[/b][/u] [u]Real Name:[/u] Kelsey Murakage [u]Age:[/u] 18 [u]Gender:[/u] Female [u]Description:[/u] Yamiko is 5'2" tall, and quite thin-figured. Although this is more due to smaller bones than anything else. (It can also be noted that she's the lightest of all the Black Cat Bandits.) But anyways, then there's her lightly-coloured yellowish peach-ish (how many other "ish"'s can I mention?) skin , her blood-coloured hair which looks quite fiery in the sunlight, her bluish purple eyes... Now as far as outfit goes, Yamiko wears a pair of black velvet pants, a nice match to a light purple shirt on top. It would look like a turtleneck sweater if the sleeves weren't so short, the neck part so wide (it must fit a huge-necked person snugly), and the bottom only going down to just above her belly button. Over this she wears a soft, darker purple sweater, which instead of buttons has a tie around the waist, is long enough to almost cover her knees, and has two large pockets on the sides. Oh, and she wears black sneakers too, if it really matters. Who would pay much attention to her feet anyways? They'd more likely pay attention to the way her soft-looking black hat looks so perfect there on her little red head. [u]Faction:[/u] Allied with Coalition [u]Commander:[/u] Morty, sort of [u]Bio:[/u] Kelsey's mother died upon her birth, so Dad was left with Kelsey and had to raise her on his own, in his quaint little house in Saffron City. Kelsey and her dad were very poor, and spent most of their time sitting inside their little house and holding each other close. This continued for four miserable years, until the police "rescued" Kelsey by taking her away, to an orphanage nearby. There, she was immediately met with name-calling from the other children, but she did talk to one older boy who sat far away from the other children and did not make fun of her at all. The boy was named Edwin and seemed really friendly, but the moment only lasted a few minutes before someone came along to adopt him. So Kelsey was left friendless... However, her life started to improve at that point, especially when she went away to a Pokemon academy near Cerulean City somewhere. Kelsey received a Pokemon after her short stay there--a Ralts. Things were okay on the early parts of her Pokemon journey--she didn't earn any badges, but at least she and Ralts got along very well. While on the journey, she even visited her father once. ...That is, until shortly after Ralts evolved. All of a sudden two people from Team Rocket came and took her Kirlia away from her. This really sent Kelsey into a state of shock and depression, so much that she ran back to Saffron City and found her father. Dad didn't want her to stay with him for long, but he did give her a Pokemon egg as a present before she left two weeks later... What's more, he told Kelsey of Celia, her great-grandmother who had supposedly put a curse on the whole Murakage family. Supposedly, the only way to remove a curse was to defeat her in a Pokemon battle. Oh well, at least that was a possible cause of her misfortune... The egg hatched into a Drowzee, and after a while Kelsey traveled to Sinnoh to explore there a bit. Kanto had gotten too depressing for her... Anyways, to make a long story short, after a while, Kelsey got her Kirlia back--someone familiar had rescued her from Team Rocket... It was Edwin, the boy she met in the orphanage! Except he was much older now, and had changed his name to Lupin. Anyways, after that, the two of them started journeying together. ...Wait, did that make sense, journeying with someone who used to be in Team Rocket and who was a highly skilled thief? When those two things had been the reason why Dad was broke and Kirlia was so miserable? Nevertheless, Lupin really seemed to be a wonderful person to be around--it could even be said that at this point Kelsey had a crush on him. Good things and bad things happened on their journey, but it was mostly for the good. A few interesting things happened to Kelsey on her journey--it was almost as if her luck turned good for a while. Over time, she developed a telepathic connection to all her Pokemon except Persian and Bellossom--this was mostly due to the otherwise passionate bond Kelsey shared with everyone she cared about since day one of her life, and due to the fact that most of her Pokemon had some sort of psychic ability. (It can be noted that this ability only worked with Ninetales rather than Vulpix.) Also, Kelsey became quite interested in Pokemon contests as well--it was her way of expressing the unique styles of her Pokemon. And, thirdly, there was her action against Team Galactic. Most notable of her actions against them was releasing Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf from their captivity while Dawn battled Cyrus, Galactic's main boss. Fourthly was her participation in the Pokemon League, which she got to the semifinals in before easily losing to someone else... And lastly of all was Kelsey's defeat of Celia in a Pokemon battle. Wow--did this free her curse? Nope--the curse on the Murakage family went back to when Celia's father grabbed a Ninetales by the tail, so it still had a few hundred years to go. Celia only wanted Kelsey to think this would solve the curse, so as to set up a goal for her to set for herself. Celia spoke these wonderful words to Kelsey about this with the most unlucky timing: on her deathbed. Greeeeaaaattt... Yet in her honour, Kelsey took care of her Banette, and called herself Yamiko from then on--Yamiko was what Celia called her all the time. Ahh, so Yamiko would have a good life ahead of her at last. Perhaps she would marry Lupin, and the two of them would move into a nice little house in Lavender Town, where Yamiko would start a sort of sanctuary for abandoned Pokemon. Or not--as usual, Yamiko's dreams were shattered. Well, maybe not shattered--maybe "delayed" is a better word. For Yamiko then heard about the Elites in Kanto and Johto taking over the continent, setting up a very strict rule over it. Hmm, this was an idea. Didn't she and Lupin have a knack for defeating evil organisations like this? Anyways, just as the idea came up, Halberd arrived in his new airship and took them to Johto, so as to meet up with Merlin and reunite the Black Cat Bandits. All together, they would form a plan to stop the Federation in its tracks... [u]Pokemon:[/u] [b]Gardevoir[/b] (no nickname) (Female) *Yamiko's first Pokemon* [b]Bellossom[/b] (Bella) (Female) *Wow, what a creative nickname!* :nope: [b]Ninetales[/b] (Fulva) (Female) [b]Persian[/b] (Maneki) (Female) [b]Hypno[/b] (Mesmeria) (Female) [b]Banette[/b] (no nickname) (Female) *Inherited from her late great-grandmother* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [u]Chronicles of the Black Cat Bandits[/u] (briefly) 1. The Inistacht family adopted Raymond. 2. Ryan and Raymond attended the Pokemon Academy in Jubilife City. 3. The Inistacht family adopted Edwin. 4. Raymond and Vincent became friends in the academy; Vincent began staying at the Inistacht residence for lengths of time. 5. The four boys called themselves the "Black Cat Bandits" just for fun, and gave themselves nicknames in the process. (It can be noted that my avatar is their logo.) 6. The Black Cat Bandits got their first Pokemon from the Pokemon Academy in Jubilife City, Sinnoh. 7. Travel to Hoenn, catch Pokemon, earn badges, blah blah blah... 8. At the same time, the group began investigations of Teams Magma and Aqua. They did various things to the teams, such as spy on them to find out their motives, dress up as grunts and enter their bases to foil some of their assignments, and they even managed to steal the Blue Orb from Team Magma... 9. The fiasco with Kyogre and Groudon caused the Red/Blue Orbs to vanish, and Teams Magma/Aqua to realise the danger of their motives and disband. 10. ("Well, at least we managed to prevent Team Magma from capturing Groudon before Team Aqua got there...") 11. The Black Cat Bandits went back to Sinnoh to earn more badges. 12. Partway into the journey, they decided that they needed to get their lives together a bit more... so they split up, although still keeping in touch with one another. 13. (In the present) The Black Cat Bandits join together again with one new member, and plan to defeat the Federation![/size] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OOC: Hmm, I guess if I had to pick one of those five as my "main" character, it would probably have to be Lupin... simply because he's my favourite of the five. And Halberd's only the [i]unofficial[/i] leader of the group.

OOC: Don't worry--Kailo won't be forgotten. In fact, she'll play quite a role in this post... To clarify things a bit: Yuna = Selenia's horse Eca = Selenia's sword (since the other Eca is gone) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [color=royalblue]The burning tree caused the white horse named Yuna to whinny loudly and run away from the fire. However, she didn't get too far before she approached one of the men in the shadows. She skidded to a stop and whinnied again when she was within inches of hitting one of them, standing on her rear legs and waving her front legs in fright. Then she took a few steps backward and landed on all fours again. ...Bad move. For the man then jumped right onto Yuna's back, positioned himself on the furry blue saddle, and tried to direct Yuna away from the tree. Wait--direct her [i]away[/i] from the tree? That was easy--the man didn't need any reins or anything to do so. Yuna started running away from the tree, man still on her back, jumping over another man as she went. "Oi! Yuna!" Selenia called yet again as she noticed the horse's escape. Leaving her bag and water-filled cauldron behind, she ran after Yuna, jumping over the same man that Yuna did. There she goes again, chasing after her horse... This time though, it was different. This time, the ground was level and grassy, and there was a man riding Yuna. This made it more difficult to run after Yuna, who was now going almost full speed into the darkness. Yuna got further and further away from Selenia as she ran, but at least Selenia could still see her white body in the moonlight. Yet how would that help? The man was about to steal Yuna away... After a while, the man tied Yuna to a smaller tree, then started running in the other direction, towards the others. Selenia crouched down and put her head down, so as to (hopefully) avoid being seen. It worked--after a while the man ran right back to the group gathered around the fire. "Yuna!" Selenia whispered loudly as she approached the tethered horse, who was struggling to get free. Then she petted her until she calmed down a little bit. "I know, I know how frightened you are... But it's all right--you know I never intend to leave you." The two stood there for a while, looking in the direction of the fight that was taking place. Selenia really wasn't in the mood for fighting, or at least not a few minutes ago. As time went by, Selenia felt like she was abandoning the others by not helping them out. Maybe it was guilt, or maybe it was energy--caused by both running so fast and so far, and by the fact that the moon was nearly full. A fuller moon usually meant a higher overall energy level for her, so why not use it? Selenia thought about mounting Yuna and riding her back to the tree, but after a while she decided that was not a good idea. So instead she decided to leave her there with the tree. She wasn't too far away from the scene of the fight, so Selenia could see her if she was in danger. It was a clear night, so no clouds would stop the moonlight from shining on the white horse. Anyways, speaking of danger, Selenia took out her sword, holding it up to the moonlight for a while. Then she started drawing a circle in the ground around Yuna and the tree with the tip of the blade, an act that supposedly offered protection. Maybe it would, due to Selenia's connection to lunar magic. With a final reassurance for Yuna, Selenia ran back to the tree on fire, stopping short of a few men facing the tree. On the other side of one of them was Kailo, who was forming some sort of small energy ball with her staff. Then, without warning, she fired the little fireball-thingy at the man, hitting him on the right side of his chest. But it didn't stop there--it burned right through the man's body, and then headed straight for what was behind it: Selenia's sword. Selenia didn't have any time to react to this--the concentrated fireball made contact with the crystal blade... ...And vanished. Somehow the fireball that could burn through anything couldn't burn through Eca... When Selenia looked at what had happened, she saw a small puff of steam erupt from the surface of the blade. Wait--steam, not smoke? Apparently the sword had been charged with the very essence of water--that seemed to be the only way how it could negate the effect of such fire magic. Why was it infused with such a power? Maybe it had to do with a special bond with Selenia, reincarnation of water, or maybe even the fact that Selenia recently named the sword Eca. Maybe this was even one of the abilities that Eca transfered to her in that little energy orb! For this ability certainly didn't exist yesterday... Selenia wasn't able to keep the sword named Eca away from Kailo's little "fire spell", but she was able to jump to the side when the man nearly fell backwards on top of her. After that, Kailo looked at Selenia, an irritated expression on her face. Apparently she was upset at the burning of the apple tree, for Selenia had glimpsed her reaching for an apple a while back. Then, Kailo looked at Selenia again, and gasped in surprise. Apparently she wasn't irritated enough to be officially "angry". "Oh! Selenia! I thought you were one of them for a second! Did I hit you?" she asked. "You know, with the..." "You got my sword," Selenia said rather calmly to Kailo, holding the blade of Eca out to inspect it a bit, "but didn't damage it. You're lucky my element is Water." "...Well, I..." Kailo barely got the chance to say anything else before she was attacked by one of the men. Then she fought back with a combination of fire and hand-to-hand combat, both of which she was quite skilled with. Still, she was too busy to talk to Selenia any more, although she occasionally glanced her way. Selenia soon met the same fate--one of the men started to approach her. Instinctively, she lashed her sword out at him, but she did this too soon and missed. ...Or did she? Instead of the blade itself, a semicircular wave of lunar energy struck the man, knocking him backward onto the ground. Selenia thought she had seen Eca do something like this before, but not often enough for her to get completely used to it. Anyways, after this little act by the sword, Selenia turned around to see Isa standing there. Immediately she got an idea. "Hey Isa..." Selenia called rather uncertainly to him, "...do you think you could help me out for a little bit?" "Erm... Okay," Isa replied with a shrug, turning towards her. "How, exactly?" "I'm going to summon some water here... when I pull my smaller knife out, that's your signal to freeze it. That okay?" "Ice, the perfect partner to water," Isa commented. Did he answer every question anyone threw at him with such intensity, such style? What's more, did he seem to add a special intensity to everything he said to [i]Selenia[/i]? All was ready. Resheathing Eca, Selenia turned towards her little cauldron, which was still full of water. But the water didn't stay in the cauldron--it magically floated right out of the cauldron, and materialised into a wavy, columnar shape. Selenia moved this watery mass to three of the other men (including the one Kailo struck and the one Yuna jumped over), using her right hand to guide it along. Was she using telekinesis, perhaps? "Hydrokinesis", more like it... Selenia then turned this wavy column of water sideways and broke it up into twelve apricot-sized droplets. Then she morphed each droplet until they all became pointy. Isa kept a close eye on what Selenia did, mildly surprised at some of it, waiting for her signal... The second the droplets became pointy, Selenia pulled out her silver knife. As soon as she did that, the twelve large droplets turned to ice, all thanks to Isa. Selenia could still keep these icy spikes floating in the air, but not for long. She used the last bit of this weaker control to send the spikes flying at the three men, four per man. Unfortunately, two spikes missed, and one hit the exact spot where Kailo's concentrated fireball hit, but the others caused quite a bit of pain a while after impact...[/color]

[color=royalblue]"Well, Isa," Selenia replied, "I suppose they'll eventually..." Selenia was cut off by the sound of a thud. Manny had run straight off the cliff, jumped down the whole mountain, and landed at the bottom. After a while, Ai did the same thing, and some of the others headed down as well. Selenia and Isa stared at Manny and Ai, especially, not knowing whether to call them showoffs or just very eager to start an adventure. And then of course, there was Sanagi giving Riiko and Natin a ride down the mountain, which reminded Selenia of a landslide. Having control over earth, thuder, and wind seemed to help in going down mountains--what did that make the others, then? Selenia and Isa made their way down the mountain together, Selenia leading the slightly-less-frightened-than-before Yuna down with them. Soon enough, they came to a stop at the base of an apple tree, where Manny burned an apple by striking it with a thuderbolt. While Selenia proceed to fetch an apple by cutting it down with her sword, Nero started talking, almost yelling, to Isa... "Alright mister weird, vague, and non-sense. Now we're at the bottom of the damn hill, I hope you're happy." "Come on, Nero, it was a figure of speech," Selenia commented in a playful tone as she caught the apple. Then she walked away from the tree and sat on a nearby rock, basking in the moonlight, the crystal blade of Eca glowing with its magical illumination. Selenia then listened to some talk about the possibility of camping out for the night, and some uncertainty as to where to go the following day, and what goals had to be set. What enemy were they facing? How would they know where to look for this enemy? Selenia thought about these questions as they were voiced, but while Ai, Sanagi, and Kailo seemed to get into an intense argument about this, Selenia looked at the situation rather calmly. It was a mystery, but Selenia had an idea about what to do... "Well then," Selenia announced to the group, as a gentle introduction she often did before a speech. "I, too, think it would be a good idea to set up camp at this point. Right here seems like a cozy spot, and we certainly won't have to worry about food. Then we can ease into the night, get to know each other a bit better... After all, when traveling, it is a good idea to be a little familiar with who you are traveling with. Now, as for the journey itself... It is true that not much is known about the enemy we are facing, but that shouldn't be a reason to sit around and do nothing. Rather, it gives us a chance to be free, to do what we want. Perhaps we can explore the land a bit, look for clues and such, become a bit more familiar with our powers... Soon enough, information about this enemy will come to us. We just have to be a little patient. But let's set up camp so we can rest for the night, shall we?" Whatever the decision was, Selenia then ventured out to the nearby river (somehow she could sense where it was), and soon after returned holding her cauldron, which was filled with water. It seemed to be enough water for one small glass per person. That is, if anyone brought glasses... Well, Selenia did have two empty bottles in her bag and took those out in case people wanted to use them... She usually used these for storing potion ingredients, but she always cleaned them when they were empty, and then were just... bottles... until she put ingredients in them again.[/color]

[color=royalblue]When the orb of water entered Selenia from behind, Selenia's sword flew out of its its sheath, through the space between the handles of her bag, and hovered in the air for a brief moment, as two swords rather than one. Apparently, one of the swords was Eca's--this one had turned into more of a ghost of a sword. The blade of Selenia's sword glowed with a bluish energy form that looked a lot like water in a lake. Then the two swords merged together, and eventually returned to the original sword that Selenia had known for a while. This sword fell right into Selenia's hand. "I shall name you Eca," she said softly to the sword. I've been looking for a name for you for so long, and naming you so is my final and eternal act of gratitude for the original Chosen." After putting the newly named sword away, Selenia looked behind her to see Yuna cantering down the mountain. She had apparently been startled by all the energy orbs, and started to run away from them. "Oi! Yuna!" It really was crazy to try to outrun a horse, but Selenia tried it anyways. She didn't waste any time--she bolted towards the edge of the mountain, leapt down onto one ledge, then another, keeping an eye on Yuna and another on where she was going. Fortunately, Yuna had to stop for a while because the slopes made running dangerous, then started to trot towards a larger ledge with a few rocks and a patch of grass on it. The ledge looked large enough to hold four or so people and one horse, so Yuna must have felt pretty safe here. However, going down the mountain from that ledge was going to be difficult... At the same time, Selenia had reached a smaller ledge above the larger ledge where Yuna was. Then she started running down a steep slope that led to the larger ledge, and came to a stop right next to Yuna. Yuna whinnied in fright when she saw someone approach her, but it was only Selenia. Besides, the ledge and the slope below made it difficult for her to run away without getting hurt. Selenia was looking down at the very same slope... "That certainly is not the easy way down," Selenia observed. Far off to her left was the getler slope where she and Yuna had ascended the mountain a while earlier. "You just had to pick the hard way down..." Here Selenia stopped to catch her breath, and Yuna whinnied again, probably in displeasure, as Selenia guessed. That horse had a special connection to her ever since becoming a "were-horse" and talking to Selenia in her dream. But Yuna could only actually talk to her while she was in her seahorse form, which she would not enter again for another month. The moon was full last night, after all--now it clearly appeared to not be perfectly round. Selenia patted Yuna on the back and fed her a small potato from her bag. Yuna loved potatoes. "It's all right--you were just a little frightened. It must be perfectly natural for you. ...But, we still have to find a way down the mountain from here. It shouldn't be too hard for us, after countless times of effortlessly going town hillsides, but let's still be careful..." A while later, Selenia led Yuna towards a rocky and slightly more level slope, which Isa was now descending. The going was fairly slow--Selenia didn't have as much trouble getting around on the slopes, but Yuna was more fragile--one near slip and she would probably jump right out of her skin. Fortunately, Yuna wore special horseshoes that provided more friction against the ground, so slipping wasn't as easy as without them. Within a while, Selenia and Yuna were right behind Isa, careful to keep a slight distance from him in case Yuna did happen to slip. After all, Selenia was definitely not strong enough to stop such a heavy animal from tumbling down a mountain. But she was close enough to Isa to catch him if he started to fall. "We're lucky that what you said earlier was a figure of speech," Selenia said to Isa as she comforted a slightly startled Yuna. "Who knows--we might encounter wolves on our journey," Isa replied. "But of course a [i]real[/i] pack of wolves is not who we're after." "Exactly."[/color]

OOC: Wha...? Thirteen replies in two days? :wow: I have to get up early the next day, but I'll cut my sleep time from 7 hours to 6 just for this RPG. :catgirl: IC: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [color=royalblue]The newly proclaimed "water lady" known as Selenia had awoken late in the foggy morning on Castle Hill, riding on the silvery white horse known as Yuna. The night before, Yuna had transformed into a seahorse due to the presence of the full moon, and had called to her in her dreams to come to a mountain clear on the other side of the land. As she descended the slopes of Castle Hill and passed by a few early-waking civilians, some people mistook her for a sort of hallucination--a dwarf or an elf riding on a pony, perhaps, human though Selenia was and almost fully grown though Yuna was. She and Yuna rode over the plains and along a river--the Moonlight River which was always so calming to Selenia. This was the same river that started at the top of Castle Hill, gathered bits of fog along the way, and traveled all the way to the foot of the mountain she was now headed for. Unfortunately, it was a quite shallow river, so it would not be easy for Selenia to get there by swimming. After an hour or two, close to noon, Selenia dismounted Yuna--she had arrived at the mountain. She noticed a group of seventeen people on top of the mountain--two of them had apparently had a sort of fight, involving a tiger and a dragon summoned by thunder. A girl with a black-and-white dress and roses in her hair was shouting at one of the thunder summoners. But there was one woman in the group that was talking with a younger woman (younger than Selenia, in the very least) with blue hair and a blue outfit. Talking with them was a woman who now shifted her gaze to Selenia. This woman looked almost exactly like Selenia--the same hair, the same face, and the same style of outfit. But she was wearing a simple purple jacket instead of Selenia's cloak-ish bluish, erm... Anyways, the woman's eyes were also a deep, iridescent blue, in contrast to Selenia's raspberrry-coloured ones. The woman was a bit taller than Selenia as well, and started announcing something to the group while keeping her gaze on Selenia... "Erm... I think we can leave now--I believe my reincarnation has been found." Selenia knew who the woman was talking about immediately, Yuna following closely behind. "A dream that called to me last night told me to look for Eca, who I suppose is standing right before me, my twin of sorts." Selenia then bowed slightly to Eca. "And you indeed are Selenia, my reincarnation." Eca spoke in a voice that was softer and higher-pitched than Selenia's was, which was probably why Ai and Lia mistook her for a younger girl. "And that sword..." Here Eca pulled out a sword that looked nearly identical to Selenia's. Selenia pulled out her sword as well, and the two blades touched with a nice soft clink. "...why, we match. It seems reincarnation causes similarities to the original, if connections between original and reincarnation are strong." Selenia couldn't help but agree with these wonderful words of wisdom. It was as if she had come up with the very idea herself. Ai was talking to Lia, but had occasionally glanced at Selenia ever since her arrival. Eca had previously commented on how Ai and Lia were similar, after all, and here stood Selenia and Eca, looking almost like identical twins. "I suppose now you get my point," Eca commented to the two. "Original and reincarnation share many things in common, yet some more than others." "I hope I wasn't holding you back..." Selenia said half to Ai, half to random people in the group. "I can tell we should all be leaving soon. I truly apologise for being late--though I would have been later if it weren't for Yuna here." Selenia indicated the young white horse standing next to her. Then she spoke mainly to Ai. "Let's see, partners of Wind, I suppose you are? Do you happen to know why we have been called here? For some reason I didn't pick up on the reason, but I suppose Water is not supposed to know why it flows." Selenia paused for a moment. She often spoke this strangely when talking to strangers. "Anyways, I'm Selenia, and you are...?" Selenia blushed at finally saying something useful. "...Ai," the younger woman replied. "Now, which one of you is Eca?" Ai had a hard time stifling a giggle. "I know, funny isn't it?" Eca laughed, though much more gently. "I'm Eca." "Oh of course, the original's always taller, right?" Sa commented. "HEY!" Ai retorted. First she calls her skinny, then she hints at calling her short...[/color] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OOC: Yes, I know, that post was rushed... I just don't want to hold everyone up.

[quote name='MistressRoxie'][color=#9933ff]Here in North New Jersey (North, not central or south) we have something called Bagels. ;) We also have pizza, because I'm sorry California, but your pizza SUCKS. The concept of the California Pizza Kitchen having good pizza is practically an oxymoron.[/color][/QUOTE] *agrees* *agrees* Admittedly, the best bagels my mum and I have had were in New Jersey, and the best pizza my mum and I had was in New York. And the same goes for hot dogs as well. Unfortunately, I live all the way in California, so this means I don't have access to those... Wait a second, actually I do. Where I live, it's a lot like the whole world (or at least most of it) in one small area of the world. My mum is what I guess you can call a gourmet--she's good at searching for good food from good places in the neighbourhood. And escpecially within the last few years, we've found access to, well, all the foods everyone else has mentioned so far (escept the part about the pig, obviously), made the same way as in the place of their origin. This especially includes foods from Mexico, Asia, and the rest of the US. Yes, I agree with what Raiha says about California having no regional food and thus a mishmash of everything else. Well, basically you trade focusing on your own area with focusing as many other areas as possible.

"Here lies Nefertimon, who committed suicide because she was never as clever or as funny as some of the other OB gems." Okay, I was not being serious there. In real life, my tombstone would probably say: "Suminda: A Spirit Behind Her Creations" Suminda being my nickname. *goes to change her username* *or not* And if that's true, my ghost will not be of me, but of all the different characters I've created for stories, RPGs, etc. One character in particular who I was in love with might have a tombstone of his own. "Here lies a person who was never even real anyways." ...Or not. Or, my tombstone might say the following: "Here lie a thousand maggots" "Do not disturb" "Anyone who reads this tombstone will die in seven days" "(Insert your name here)" Or maybe... "Servings: Will vary Calories: 666 Calories from fat: 65 Total Fat: 13g Saturated Fat: 13g Cholesterol: 6g Sodium: 2 kg Total Carbohydrate:

I'll just list the games I actually bother to play. [b][u]DS[/b][/u] [i]Pokemon Diamond[/i] This is the one I play the most often, although Animal Crossing comes close. Yes, this is the one where I have 300 or so hours of playtime and only five badges (meaning I'm about less than halfway through the game). But I take pride in raising all 48 (wait, 49--I just added a Cranidos) of my cute little Pokemon (well, mostly--you can't call Torterra cute, and Floatzel looks rather scary from the back)... [i]Pokemon Pearl[/i] Oh boy--I suppose I really am crazy--I got both Diamond AND Pearl. At least in this one I have fewer Pokemon, so I'm a little further along in the game here and have shorter play time. That Team Galactic... Well, at least they are more of a true "evil organisation" than Team Rocket was originally, but they're still rather annoying... (Wait, or are they supposed to be?!?) [i]Animal Crossing: Wild World[/i] Okay, it seems boring--you create a town and chat with the many animals inhabiting it, you catch fish and bugs and decorate your house... Wait, no it's not! I've been playing this game for about a year and haven't even tried it on Wi-fi yet, and it really is a blast. It's hard not to get attached to some of the townsfolk (*sniff* Tangy, Kiki, Friga... *sniff*), and... Okay, I can't describe it too well. [b][u]Game Cube[/b][/u] [i]Mario Kart: Double Dash[/i] A huge improvement on the original Mario Kart from the N64 IMO. Wait, there was one anti-improvement: there's no Toad here! Darn--in the N64 version, I always enjoyed playing as Toad! Grr... Well, at least they kept Peach and added Birdo. And not to mention that two riders per kart are better than one. [i]Kirby Air Ride[/i] Best racing game IMO, though closely tied with Mario Kart. Every single Kirby game I've played that wasn't on a handheld console has been wonderful, and this is no exception. Not to mention you can race as Dedede or Meta Knight as well as Kirby. W00t! ^^And, some of the music in the game is the same as in Kirby Superstar! Talk about a blast from the past... [i]Pokemon Colosseum[/i] 3D graphics, a better storyline than the handheld games have, and no wild Pokemon. Plus, in other games you're not allowed to capture other trainers' Pokemon, but in this game the only way you can get Pokemon is to snag them from other trainers. Kind of like playing the bad guy, if you ask me! Not to mention certain members of Team Snag'em are very interesting (*nods to Venus and Miror B*) *Although about 50% of the time I use the Game Boy Player on this console. :rolleyes: [b][u]GBA[/b][/u] [i]Pokemon Sapphire[/i] This was the first Pokemon game I bought for the GBA, but then it was stolen from me at some point... Then I got Ruby, and it was stolen just before I beat the game. Now I got Sapphire again, and am at the same point where I was in Ruby, and... arrrrgh, it's useless. [i]Pokemon Leaf Green[/i] They didn't do a bad job with this remake at all. It really is a remake of Pokemon Red/Blue, only with better graphics, the addition of the Sevii Islands, and all the new attacks they had since Ruby/Sapphire added in there... XD I just beat the Elite Four there and am now having fun capturing Johto Pokemon in various places. [i]Pokemon Pinball Ruby/Sapphire[/i] Pokemon Pinball really is a fun game, even for non-Pokemon fans from what I've heard. And this version is better and slightly easier than the original Game Boy version IMO. (The Red field in the original was so frustrating...) Whenever I play it, I quickly become bored with any other pinball game I encounter elsewhere. Plus some Yu-gi-oh game I forgot the name of (because I haven't played it in over a year, but still like it) :confuse2: [b][u]N64[/b][/u] [i]Pokemon Snap[/i] What?!? This is a pretty fun game if you think about it, or perhaps if you're an artist like me. Photography has always been very interesting to me... By the way, this is the only game I've heard of that focuses on taking pictures... Very original indeed. And if you'e a Pokemon hater... well, it's fun to throw pester balls at the pesky little Pikachu all day. *The original Mario Kart would be on this list if it weren't for a certain Game Cube game... [b][u]Game Boy[/b][/u] [i]Game Boy Camera[/i] Wait--is it a video game, or just an accessory...? Ah well, haven't used it in a long time anyways. But it really does seem to me like a portable version of the print machines that were (or maybe still are) popular in Japan, and it really is fun to toy around with this thing. Not to mention there are other mini-games and such... [i]Pokemon Crystal[/i] Yes, I still go back to it occasionally. Out of all the Pokemon games, I think this one is the best as far as region design and game music and plot design goes--although it is a bummer that you can't catch Ho-oh until you catch all three of the legendary dogs. But I love a lot of features from the second generation of Pokemon, like as in Crystal, the radio, the bug-catching contest, the addition of Kanto into the picture... and the phone call feature has never improved in later games. [b][u]Super Nintendo[/b][/u] [i]Kirby Superstar[/i] Best video game overall IMO, or at least out of the ones I own. This is Kirby at its best. Eight different games in one, each with its own little quirk or plot twist, all of which are excellent IMO. And both the music and the graphics are wonderful. The Kirby creators always do an excellent job with character design and game music IMO. [i]Smart Ball[/i] Okay, so this evil sorceress has transformed this boy into a ball that hs to get through all these levels filled with strange creatures... Weird idea, but I really love this game nevertheless. Not to mention that this game has the best game music I've heard yet, and some of the "bosses" of each of the levels are very interesting indeed. [i]Zelda: A Link to the Past[/i] Ahh, this is a classic, and a good one at that. I have a Zelda game of some sort for the Game Cube sitting in my closet unplayed, but I think this one would be better than it anyways. It's so hard to explain, but the world design, the weapon design, the, erm... should I rant further? [i]Super Mario World[/i] Another one of those good classics, this game got me interested in the whole Mario deal. Out of all the Mario adventure games, I think this one is definitely the best. Not to mention that there are five different Yoshis available in this one. :blulaugh: *Those four games are so good that I keep going back to them, even if they are outdated. :luv: Haha, I guess I am a Nintendo freak... :freak: I have all the Nintendo consoles except the original NES and the Wii. I'm just not going to bother getting a Wii for some reason...

[color=royalblue][u]Name:[/u] Selenia [u]Age:[/u] 28 [u]Gender:[/u] Female [u]Personality:[/u] Selenia's name means "divine sea", and such a name certainly has had an effect on Selenia's personality. Like the gently flowing waves of the sea, like a brook cascading its way through the foggy hillside, Selenia flows through her own fantastical world. She is a very creative and imaginative sort of person, one who sees beauty and purpose in the world around her. Perhaps that is why she's so into music and potery, as those two are expressions of the essence of life. Selenia really formulates a lot of what she talks about out of her own observations and ideas, so it can be said that she's selfish under the surface. Actually, above the surface, she can be a very kind and respectful person. It's just not in her nature to hate people--a part of her system of beliefs is to respect those around you, and to always be aware of divine presences all around. One such divine force is karma--an extra reason to be extremely careful in causing any sort of harm. In fact, the only reason why she might carry weapons is as a form of self-defense. In her case, self-defense really is an issue, so... Other than that, Selenia does like to be involved in conversations with people. Maybe not to start them, but to help them along, like the waves of the ocean causing a boat to bob up and down. Also, as for when she happens to be in a perilous situation... If she's assaulted or kidnapped, say, she'd most likely wait patiently then sneak away when the time is right. Just like water leaking out of a pipe that strives to contain it. Selenia really is good at sneaking around and being unnoticed, and if she were not so worried about karma, she might make a good thief as well. Well, she might be a good (insert name of destructive occupation here) if she really had reason to be. And perhaps if she could only focus on something instead of drifting away into other states of mind... Anyways, as for likes and such, Selenia does not like to fight and loves cloudy or foggy days and clear nights, and has a slight love of the darkness in general, as it is during the nighttime that the moon is out and has the chance to cause beautiful reflections on the water. She also has an affinity for legends and rumours. [u]Appearance:[/u] Selenia is a short little woman, not too much taller than four feet, a rather slender figure topped by wisps of long black hair. Her light, pinkish skin tone compliments her raspberry-coloured eyes, not to mention her pointy little nose and the way her ears slant back in an almost elf-ish sort of way. As far as outfit is concerned... Most people who see Selenia first notice a unique crystal-blue garment made of a soft yet fairly thick, glossy, and flexible material. It looks a little cloak-like on the top because of its large, elbow-length sleeves and the little hood in the back, but then on the bottom it tapers off into three petal-like tails on the sides and back. The whole cloak-like thingy (?) is fastened in the front with a circular charm consisting of a crystal orb and silver wiring across it. But enough about that. Selenia also wears a skirt that's white on the top and dark purple on the bottom, and short black boots made of a very soft fur. 'Tis about it... unless you count the large, padded bag made of a sort of black reptile skin. [u]Reincarnation:[/u] Eca (Water) [u]Powers:[/u] Selenia's powers are more of the magical sort, especially of water and lunar magic. (Well, countless water goddesses have also been moon goddesses, so... and besides, the moon influences the tides.) She's most noted for being able to manipulate the shape and pressure of water, sort of like using telekinesis to move water and only water. (It works with ice and steam too, but not as effectively because they're not in the liquid phase.) When combined with an ability to breathe underwater, this makes a person who can move through water very quickly. Anyways, Selenia is also very good with potion-making, as that is also considered a water-based practice. One of her most common potions is one that instantly heals wounds--it also helps that blood is also ruled over by the element of water, so this would be easy for her to make. Selenia also has a few moon-based powers--the effectiveness of these varies with the lunar phase (they're most effective during a full moon). Most notable of these is a blast of lunar energy fired from her sword. Then there's the ability to detect the presence of water. Finally, Selenia's energy level tends to vary a lot with the lunar phase. [u]Weapons:[/u] Selenia mainly carries around a sword made of crystal rather than any sort of metal (well all right, the handle is made of silver...), and even has a few sapphires embedded in the handle. The crystal part of the blade really helps with channeling lunar energies, and in some cases can be used as a dowsing rod... Still, Selenia is not an expert in using a sword, so it's a good thing the sword is light and also has another "ability" or two. But anyways, Selenia also carries around a small cauldron and a few little bottles for storing potion ingredients in (one of which always contains something similar to holy water), an ocarina, and a little silver knife that can be used for anything from stabbing people to cutting up ingredients to picking a lock. [u]Bio:[/u] Selenia comes from a sort of community that occupies an entire hill, called Castle Hill. It's an obvious name, since it's a hill with a castle on top. This castle obviously houses the king or queen of Castle Hill, currently the benevolent King Ferien and the mischievous Princess Blackmere. Supposedly the King has known for ages about the Chosen Eight and has awaited their return for several years, and the Princess is formulating a plot to destroy the Eight. The castle itself guards a portal to a foreign world where it is always nighttime, a world that's inhabited by faeries and dragons and merpeople and the like. The king's main job is to regulate what can go through this portal, and he's very strict about not letting any non-humans through the portal. The only people that have been through this portal were kings or queens, or members of a certain family of thieves and spies. This family was the Reishi family, and was the family Selenia was born into. Selenia only traveled through the fabled portal once in real life--when she was a little girl, her mother carried her through there on one of her nighttime sneaks into the castle. The only thing Selenia remembers about that experience was riding on a dragon for a short while, an experience that occasionally showed up in a dream later on in her life. But over time it became increasingly harder to enter the portal (it became more heavily guarded), so another such opportunity never arose. But this gave Selenia the opportunity to focus more on the little things in her life on Castle Hill. So she would explore the grassy slopes and the foggy river and the moonlit lake, and take up interest in such things as cooking, dancing, writing, and potion-making. The latter she actually learned from her grandmother. Long ago, residents of Castle Hill undertook a journey at some point in their life to discover their true purpose in life. The journey often involved going through the portal in the castle, but that was obviously near impossible in the present. Selenia always wanted to take such a journey into the outside world. Even though that journey was delayed by taking care of her three children for a while, Selenia eventually found herself wandering into a cave in a nearby hill... which led into a word of fog she couldn't see in at all. Eventually she came to discover a crystal sword, which led her back home. This sword seemed to be embedded with water magic and lunar energies, and also seemed to be part of a new turn in her life... For over time, Selenia began to discover abilities within herself, which she always found out about through prophetic dreams or through meditation, and which she often practiced near the lake by moonlight, secure under cover of the surrounding fog. For Selenia could not imagine how people would react to her newfound abilities. Then Selenia had a dream where a seahorse swam out in front of her and said, "Hello Eca, deity of water. Or should I say 'reincarnation of Eca, deity of water'. Do not be afraid, water child. Come with me, ride on my back, and you shall unite with the other Chosen Eight. I will meet you by the lake on the third night of the full moon..." Anyways, after the dream, Selenia immediately headed out to the lake the seahorse told her to go to, upon which she immediately spotted the little seahorse jumping in and out of the lake. A few minutes after she spotted her, though, a shadow moved across the full moon, causing a lunar eclipse. When the moon was fully eclipsed, the seahorse transformed into a horse that Selenia knew too well--Yuna, a young white horse with hooves that looked to be coated with silver, a horse that had been her companion for many years. Apparently, Yuna had just become a "were-horse", a horse that transformed into a seahorse during a full moon. But anyways, the following day, Selenia left the village, riding on Yuna towards another voice that called to her...[/color] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OOC: I hope having the horse is okay... I added the bit about beign a "were-horse" (see last paragraph of bio) just for a little fun... :) And I might have the king and princess mentioned in the bio take part in the story as well...

OOC: Here goes with my first post! Now that I'm finally able to use the dialogue style after soooo long... Heh, I suppose this post could explain a lot of what is described in my signup--or vice-versa. Or at least it can give you a bit of an introduction to my little team. IC: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [color=indigo]Dresden, Germany, was a city which had once been destroyed in a war, but it has been rebuilt quite recently. A German restoration crew tried to restore as much of its centuries-old charm as possible and almost succeeded, but it wasn't really the same anyways. But it was a peaceful little town, despite being around other towns which were much more technologically advanced, and despite being so near one of the main governmental centres in the solar system. One particularly cheery place in Dresden functioned similarly to a restaurant, a bar, and an entertainment venue all at the same time. A cheery little band was playing near the back of the old-looking building (the horn and fiddle players especially drew attention), and a small arrangement of little wooden tables and counters filled the space in front. But we're not focusing on the band; we're focused on the five people sitting at one of the larger tables in the corner, away from the band. These five people were the newly reunited Black Cat Bandits, so it was very appropriate that they picked such a cheerful place to spend the evening. Specifically, it was about seven o'clock in the evening, and these five had just arrived at this place. All five of them--Halberd, Warren, Merlin, Lupin, and the newly joined Yamiko--had obviously made attempts to look their best in this place (yes, even Halberd). At the table, Halberd and Warren sat against the wall on one side, and Yamiko sat in between Lupin and Merlin on the other. Mostly they were talking to each other about their separate lives away from the group, as there was not that much time to socialise when Halberd was picking everybody up and bringing them here to Dresden. (Which was a long trip to Mars and back to pick up Yamiko, and then heading to Ireland where everyone else was, then here.) [b]Halberd:[/b] So Merlin, did you figure out how to fix the outer security controls yet? [b]Merlin:[/b] Finally, after Mr. Fix-It wasn't able to. *points at Halberd* [b]Halberd:[/b] Hey, this was a [i]computer[/i] problem, which [i]you[/i] always do the fixing for! [b]Warren:[/b] Aww, Merlin, you didn't need to go through the trouble. The airship's called the Sky Pirate--what need would, say, a pirate ship have for outer security, other than a lookout? We do have two lookouts already... [b]Merlin:[/b] Yes, well, everything's technologised and computerised nowadays, isn't it? Yet wow, Halberd, again I admit your job on the Sky Pirate was brilliant. [b]Halberd:[/b] ...Well, it [i]is[/i] all I've been working on for the last five years whenever I didn't have to attend to customers. [b]Warren:[/b] You're lucky you actually got a job. Lucy and I are currently living off of scholarships for her medical school. [b]Yamiko:[/b] That must amount to a lot of scholarships. [b]Warren:[/b] Twelve of them. But don't worry--I helped her with most of the essays. She's intimidated by essays, you know. But of course I'm not too good at them, so Merlin helped me with some of them... [b]Merlin:[/b] With pleasure. [b]Yamiko:[/b] ...What, so you used him? [b]Lupin:[/b] He's not the only one who's being used. [b]Halberd:[/b] Well, being used by friends is a different matter, isn't it? Friends are people who trust each other, so there's no harm in "using" each other. ...Oh. Halberd then noticed the waitress, who began taking orders from the group. As Halberd told her what everyone wanted, a side chat between Lupin and Yamiko began in the corner. [b]Yamiko:[/b] ...I just can't get over the fact that you're here. I mean, Merlin just told me you escaped from prison a few months back. It's just... wow, five years ago when that incident at the theatre happened, I thought you were gone for good. Of course, maybe I'm exaggerating... after all, a similar thing happened to my dad when he and I were separated, and I never saw him since... but obviously you're not my dad. [b]Lupin:[/b] Yes, I daresay the escape was not an easy one, what with the new security systems and such--yet still it is slightly harder to break in than to break out. [b]Yamiko:[/b] Er... it is? I thought it's the other way around. [b]Lupin:[/b] In some cases. Yet especially with places like banks, for example, there are far more levels of security than that, and finding the right location, say, can be very tricky. But anyways. Say, how was life for you after that point? [b]Yamiko:[/b] Not bad, actually. I hapened upon my aunt, and learned about this part of my family I never knew I had. You know what? It turns out my family's been cursed for a while, so perhaps that accounted for a lot of misfortune in my life... But maybe it wasn't a curse--maybe it was just a test meant for me or something. [b]Lupin:[/b] It probably was. Any sort of hardship in life can do that--misfortune acts like a playing field from which one's skills and characteristics grow and develop. [b]Yamiko:[/b] Yet still I wish this bad luck I seem to have wouldn't spread to other people... [b]Lupin:[/b] Well, surely I... Lupin had to stop talking immediately when the waitress came back. Soon enough plates and glasses were soon passed around--a large platter of the inn's special cabbage rolls, four slices of different types of cake, and a round of beer for everyone. [b]Halberd:[/b] ...Fese babbage olls ah ood, yust like da wetress suhd. [b]Warren:[/b] Halberd! Am I the [i]only[/i] one who was told not to talk with your mouth full? [b]Merlin:[/b] So was I. :sip: Ahh, so good indeed. [b]Halberd:[/b] Eh, it's not like this is manners school or anything. [b]Warren:[/b] Hehheh, first one to belch gets twenty euros. ...Just kidding. [b]Lupin:[/b] I daresay it's a good thing you were. [b]Warren:[/b] ...What? You know how I am about being funny. Have those days in prison made you so cold all of a sudden? [b]Lupin:[/b] In a way. [b]Yamiko:[/b] Well, it *hic* doesn't seem to bother me. (whispering to Lupin) I'll always love you no matter what. To this Lupin bowed his head and closed his eyes for a while, devoid of any emotion whatsoever. [b]Lupin:[/b] ...I suppose I would say the same thing. [b]Yamiko:[/b] Oh, which reminds me... Yamiko took the chocolate-covered spoon from her little plate and tapped it gently against her glass. The other Black Cat Bandits immediately turned to face her. [b]Yamiko:[/b] ... ...I wish to propose a toast... to the reunion of the Black Cat Bandits. Although I have little or no knowledge of the good times that were had during your "golden age", I hope that we can stay together always, and not let any real-life problems tear us apart. ...We are not like separate cats that live alone; we are... more like, erm... friendly cats that act a little more like... a pack of wolves, say. *glances at Lupin* So... here's to the Black Cat Bandits. [b]All:[/b] To the Black Cat Bandits! :beer: About an hour later, the Black Cat Bandits prepared to exit the inn. After all, the reason they came here to Germany was to investigate any nearby gangs. Ever since the bombing of the IGEC headquarters in Seattle, they wondered if a similar attack was about to happen on the Centre for Inter-Global Affairs, which was also in Germany. During his time in the gang he was in, Lupin had heard about the gang's plans to overtake any rival gangs in Europe eventually, although it probably made sense to start in their own home country first. From this it seemed likely that that very gang would want to either destroy or take over this important Berlin-based headquarters. Although the former seemed more likely, because some of the gang's members were originally from Germany themselves (the rest were either Italian or French, and the gang itself gave itself a tentative name called "En Facade"), amd might have felt that the IGEC "took away some of their property" upon setting up the Centre for Inter-Global Affairs in their country. But at least they probably had [i]something[/i] planned with the building. Thoughts about this complicated mission flowed through the minds of all five of the Black Cat Bandits as they prepared to leave the table, or not... [b]Merlin:[/b] Ha-ha, the cake I picked was the best of them all. You see Halberd, the house specialty isn't always the best. [b]Halberd:[/b] Oh well, best isn't everything. You really do have a habit of picking the best dish of them all--and not to mention for drinking the most as well. [b]Merlin:[/b] Is it fair to say I'm the "best" in several other things as well? [b]Warren:[/b] Yes, that's why girls can't stand you. You're too good. [b]Yamiko:[/b] You know, I'll have to agree with that. Although I do find his fascination with the paranormal quite, erm... fascinating! [b]Lupin:[/b] On that note *nods to the band*, shall we venture off into the night? [b]Halberd:[/b] Yes, as soon as you're done eating. [b]Lupin:[/b] Well, let's go then. [b]Halberd:[/b] ...So two cabbage rolls, no cake, and half a cup of beer is your new definition of "done". Well, *turns to Warren* shall we? [b]Warren:[/b] Heh, I bet your arm will soon be thicker than his waist. *To group* As Lupin said, let's "venture out into the night"! The moon outside was half-full, and a few glowing blue clouds threatened to obscure its view. Underneath the heavens, the Black Cat Bandits ventured out into the trees dotting the hillside, a place that En Facade used to pick as a popular gathering place. Now it was all a matter of whether or not they still used the place...[/color] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OOC: In a while I'll make a few changes to my signup as well.

OOC: *gasp* *points to the short RP sample featuring Star Wars characters* Wow--how long as it been since dialogue was popular in RPG's here? Talk about a blast from the past! We share the same goal of reviving the good old OB, mate. (Okay, maybe that's going a little too far...) Hmm... I think I'll do a classic Nefertimon signup by creating a team of characters that are in-depth and fun and stray slightly from the main plot. So I'll put a description of the team as a whole, and incorporate each member's signup into it. And of course, as I always do, I'll go wild! IC: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [color=indigo]The Black Cat Bandits are a fun little group to be in. They really go by their logo, a cute and comical-looking black cat holding a holden star with a happy face on it. (Remind you of a particular Super Mario item?) ...Or at least the group as a whole does. Its individual members may lead different lives, some of which may be very serious and miserable, and occasionally the group may break up for short periods at a time, but so what? One becomes insane if one spends his/her entire life in such a group, so this is much like a fun little gathering or cult. As a group, the Black Cat Bandits love to travel and explore, and just to have a good time. However, they have been known to cause quite a bit of trouble, thanks to one particular member's skill as a thief, and the group's tendency to be involved with random gang activities. The good thing, though, is that no crime report has ever mentioned this group--that lucky spirit of the black cat has kept them undetected for so long. But perhaps the most interesting characteristic of the Black Cat Bandits is its individuality. Ah yes, Halberd, Warren, Merlin, Lupin, Yamiko... Even though they work as a team most of the time, each member has separate lives and personalities that are worth mentioning. Even the nicknames they gave themselves reflect their individual values more than their connection to the team. To sum up all the Black Cat Bandits' roles in the team: Halberd: Unofficial leader; main pilot of the Sky Pirate and occasional pilot of the Nightcraft; plans out ideas that Warren or Yamiko come up with Warren: Comes up with ideas of what to do next; brightens the hopes of the group and helps with safety issues Merlin: Co-pilot of the Sky Pirate; also there for persuasion or distraction purposes Lupin: Usual pilot of the Nightcraft; helps with planning; usually does most of the work (and goes away from the group) when plans are put into action Yamiko: Provides spontaneous tips and important information; occasionally accompanies Lupin on his individual ventures Hee hee hee, what deep and exciting Black Cat Bandits indeed. But it's time to compare them a bit: Most likely to be leader of the Black Cat Bandits: Halberd, then Lupin, then Warren, then Merlin, then Yamiko. Warren and Merlin are more followers but can take the initiative if they really had to. Yamiko is obviously not a leader while Halberd obviously is (look at their Personalities). And Lupin's in a very close second place because, well... you'll see in the RPG. Best with computers: Hmm, Merlin sure seems like it--after all, he's very familiar with both the Internet and computer-based control panels (as in the operating system of the Sky Pirate) and uses both quite frequently. But it's very possible that Lupin surpasses him, because he's even more familiar with such control panels and working with the code behind them, and/or "hacking" past computer-based security systems. Most difficult to deal with: In terms of the Black Cat Bandits, it's Warren because he complains and occasionally ends up trying to split the team apart. From the viewpoint of strangers... probably Lupin and Yamiko. Strongest: Halberd, by process of elimination Bravest: Lupin, or Yamiko in her Fear State (in a way) Funniest: Warren, obviously Smartest: Hmm... is it Merlin, Lupin, or Yamiko? It's hard to tell, since their intelligence is scattered in different regions. Merlin is good with words and numbers and logic, Lupin learns and thinks quickly (but doesn't forget quickly), and Yamiko has a photographic memory and frequently sees connections between things. So it really is hard to tell... Dumbest: Me, since I can't figure out who is. :stupid: Unfortunately, the very nature of the Black Cat Bandits caused it to split up after six years since its creation. But at least it provided an opportunity for each of its members to live their separate lives, and for one particular girl to join the group later on... Black Cat Bandits forever!!! But what caused them to split up and get back together again? Perhaps a look at their individual selves may provide an answer... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][u]Halberd[/b][/u] [u]Real Name:[/u] Ryan Inistacht [u]Age:[/u] 25 [u]Planet of birth:[/u] Earth [u]Organisation:[/u] Black Cat Bandits [u]Involvement:[/u] Might be involved with some of the gangs, as explained later--but otherwise, just the other Black Cat Bandits [u]Bio:[/u] [i]Pre-BCB[/i] The Inistacht family was one of those stubborn little families that refused to leave its home planet/country no matter what happened. They always lived on the same life-abundant planet Earth. Their house was always in the same location in the same little town in the same region near the northern part of Ireland. It was a world of sameness to which Ryan was born, even in the face of constantly advancing technologies all around them and the occasional change of the town's name (which has been Cedar Glen for the last century or so). Yet still, Ryan proved to be a pleasant an interesting individual through his early life, although his family life was rather boring. Both of his parents were working hard in jobs, one in the teaching field (physics professor, to be exact), and one in the medical field (the amiable medicine lady who brightened up every pharmacy she worked in). And at home, they spent most of their time talking about what was new in their jobs, and not much time with Ryan. His parents did earn a lot of money from these two high-paying jobs, but something was missing... [i]Post-BCB[/i] Unfortunately, the very nature of the Black Cat Bandits caused it to split up after six years since its creation, and one year since the creation of the Nightcraft. But all was not lost for Halberd; he stell kept in touch with the other three in the five years afterward, during which he started an aircraft repair shop and earned pretty reasonable business. He also specialised in enhancing certain aircrafts with everything from installation of a new sound system to a conversion to a different fuel source to a wicked paint job. To the customers he trusted quite well, he even showed some of the aircrafts from satisfied customers as a sort of model for what he can do. Also, as a side project, secret to everyone including the other Black Cat Bandits, he worked on designing a larger and awesomer (hopefully) aircraft that would function as a sort of movable house as well. The other Black Cat Bandits were always on his mind as he built the "Sky Pirate", and in fact functioned as a major inspiration for everything he did during those lonely yet productive five years. [u]Personality:[/u] Halberd is the mellow sort of person who calmly looks on the bright side of things. He sees everything through rose-coloured glasses, and he encourages himself to share what he sees with everyone hw knows and trusts. This also means that he tends to only look at the positive aspects of a person and tends to overlook the negative stuff. He believes in those he trusts, an important quality of a good leader. He also listens to those he trusts--in fact, during a typical Black Cat Bandit adventure, he would take suggestions from his friends and use them to formulate a daily plan. And when complications arise, he gently lifts them aside and goes back to his peaceful state of mind. This allows him to remain calm in most situations, but also not very well focused. If a problem arises, he's more likely to ignore it than to solve it. Or perhaps he thinks that ignoring it is the best way to solve it. Whatever. When Halberd is in unfamiliar territory, he can be very dependent. He gets confused and starts asking his friends what to do. (Which is good since many other Black Cat Bandits are very productive in ideas.) He's not very good at coming up with ideas, but he is good at putting other people's ideas together and setting them in action. What wonderful qualities of a group leader. ...But what about people who are not group members? Halberd acts quite friendly and generous to his customers, but he tends to act indifferently to strangers otherwise. Basically he ignores everything that's different or unfamiliar. [u]Skills:[/u] After building two important aircrafts for use by the Black Cat Bandits, Halberd has become an experienced mechanic, especially in the field of aircrafts. He's a pretty goos fix-it person in general as well--for example, he's usually the one to repair a fellow Black Cat Bandit's broken mobile phone. Note that he's not too good with the data in computers, though--just hands-on mechanical things. [u]Equipment:[/u] The only equipment for which he can be called the main owner is a large airship called the Sky Pirate. The Sky Pirate is like a flying house, although it's not shaped like a house--that would be very impractical for flight if it was. Instead its shape resembles a bird. Now, most of the aircrafts Halberd is familiar with run on electromagnetic waves, but the Sky Pirate is so large that must have a standard fuel engine in the back as well, much like the one a rocket does. The airship itself is composed of several rooms. The largest room is the control room, which in terms of the "bird" would make up the head and the front half of the body. It also functions as a sort of lounge, and even contains a video game console like the one Halberd really enjoyed with most of the group when he was little. The "wings" are made up of storage rooms, each for a specific type of object. One is for aircraft parts, and another is for various emergency-type stuff, like what you would find in a first-aid kit or in the arms of an evacuation crew. Then another is for anything edible and sort of functions as a kitchen as well. Yes, a kitchen, and there's a restroom in there somewhere in the wing as well... yes, the Sky Pirate contains most of the house essentials. In the back, shielded from the occasional noise of the engine room, is the bedroom, which really only contains two beds. (One larger one occupied by Halberd, Warren, and Merlin, and the smaller one by Lupin and Yamiko, to be exact.) Hey, there's not much space in there anyway! But anyways, the only thing Halberd really carries around with him is his mobile phone and a few little trinkets used for fixing machines. [u]Description:[/u] Halberd is 5'10" tall, just barely the tallest of the Black Cat Bandits. His coarse black hair is tied back and loosely braided, and runs halfway down his back, and he also has a trace of a moustache. His skin is lightly coloured but slightly tanned for the most part. He really does have a large figure, and would look muscular were it not for the thickish layer of fat covering it. Now, as far as outfit is concerned, he tends to be pretty casual. One such garment is a fading gray shirt with no sleeves, kind of like a loose muscle shirt or simply a T-shirt with the sleeves cut off--call it whatever you want. Then he wears plain-looking black pants (which look reasonably faded when he stands next to Lupin or Yamiko), plain-looking grey socks, plain-looking black sandals... Yet, something about this whole scheme gives him a sort of handsome air. Maybe it's the way his chocolate-coloured eyes sparkle when he's calm as usual, or maybe it's his humble choice to not wear anything particularly colourful. Whatever it is... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][u]Warren[/b][/u] [u]Real Name:[/u] Raymond Donly [u]Age:[/u] 18 [u]Planet of birth:[/u] Saturn [u]Organisation:[/u] Black Cat Bandits [u]Involvement:[/u] Might be involved with some of the gangs, as explained later--but otherwise, just the other Black Cat Bandits [u]Bio:[/u] [i]Pre-BCB[/i] Raymond came from a Saturnian family of artists. Specifically, his mother loved to paint, and specialised in Saturn's scenery. Dad was a poet, and could play the Neptunian Horn exceptionally as well. But Raymond liked them, not to mention he was thrilled by the sight of Saturn's rings. Speaking of Saturn's rings, when Raymond was five years old, his parents took him on a "cruise" along the rings of Saturn. The Donly family got exactly what they wished for on this trip, especially when the pilot decided to do something he'd never done before: dive down into Saturn's rings. This was a very unique and awe-inspiring experience, but beauty and risk has a price. The airship was barely able to travel a few thousand miles through Saturn's rings before it collided with a huge space rock that was part of the ring. As a result, the airship was damaged and flew out into space, suspended in mid-space for a week or two. Most other passengers either died of starvation or stress, but eventually the ship managed to return to Saturn and land safely on a floating town there. (The outer planets--Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune--are made of gas, so any towns on it float in midair.) However, by the time the airship arrived, only eight people survived. Raymond happened to be one of the survivors, but his parents had both died in a collision with a meteorite somewhere along the way. So Raymond spend to next few days in a stranded child refuge there... [i]Post-BCB[/i] After a few more years, Warren began to get a little tired and uneasy about the Black Cat Bandit activities, and began to feel sorry for the home life he now missed. For some reason he badly wanted to go back to school, because he felt extremely guilty for slacking off in school like he used to. So yes, he was the one that proposed that the Black Cat Bandits go their separate ways. Anyways, after that happened, Warren entered junior high school with new confidence. And this time, the essence of the Black Cat Bandits kept him relatively happy. Anyways, Warren continued on all the way through high school, during which time he started a special study program in art history, mainly to gain some intersting ideas about various art forms. One type of art he fell in love with was the late 19th century development of cartoons and animation, anime and such--he began to like the simple, often comical drawing style involved. But those are details... Oh and also, as an obscure "anime law" states, those who don't try as often to make friends often end up with friends anyways, and it especially applies to romance. So over time Warren got into a relationship with a girl named Lucy, who was interested in becoming a nurse. But the two made a happy couple anyways and decided to get married after Warren graduated from high school. Yes, eighteen is kind of a young age to get married, but for some reason Warren couldn't wait. Not to mention it was an excuse to move into a new house and finally have a pet rabbit. [u]Personality:[/u] Warren's personality could be similar to Halberd's, but in a different way. He too looks for the beauty in life, but the physical or emotional beauty of things rather than the positivity of them. When problems arise, he's more likely to fret or mope over it, and he might even have the tendency to become insane momentarily when he's in a panic. This is one characteristic he tries his best to control, but obviously there are those moments when he's not very successful. He gets nervous and scared quite easily, just like a little bunny rabbit. But nowadays he doesn't scream or shout when startled; he just starts quivering. However, he gets over fearful and scary moments fairly easily nowadays; once a moment of panic is over, he can return to being pleasant again quite easily, although he might occasionally mention how huge a relief it is to have the chaos overwith. Warren takes a good liking to animals and anything cute. He even likes to draw little cute cartooney animals on various things such as school notes or Lucy's backpack. This tendency to be cute gets into his head as well, to the points where he forgets to take things seriously and slips in a little joke here and there. Not to mention that he also gets confused easily. If one of his friends is in danger, he'll run around frantically wondering what to do, even if he does constantly hope for the friend's well-being. It can be noted that he takes good care of his friends--maybe that's because he doesn't want them to meet the same fate as his parents. So the most likely thing he'll do when a friend's in trouble is hope and pray that they won't die. But hey--often times prayer works. Warren is also the kind of person who wants to avoid trouble altogether, although he is kind of getting over that. It was once true that he was completely against taking risks, but he's gotten over that too. He tends to adapt to the beliefs of his friends, so if they all say something is okay or not okay, he'll quickly abide by it. He can be quite capable of adjusting his own attitude to fit the requirements of his friends, maybe just a little. [u]Skills:[/u] Erm... Well, Warren is fairly familiar with computers, but the most "advanced" things he knows how to do on one are using simple web design and artwork software, and pirating music. All three of which he learned from either Merlin or Lupin or Yamiko then began to master a bit. And he can draw pretty well, but is that even important in terms of this RPG...? [u]Equipment:[/u] Warren carries around a high-quality digital camera, mainly for use in photography for artwork and such. (Yes, he truly takes after his parents...) He's had it ever since he was nine years old, and cherishes it dearly. The only problem is that it takes a while for it to turn on, so if he needs to take a very quick picture, he ises the lower-quality but faster camera on his mobile phone. Anyways, when joining up with the rest of the Black Cat Bandits, Warren decided it would be a good idea to bring along a gun, for the sole purposes of self-defense. It's nothing less simple than a pistol, as anything big and complicated like a machine gun would be harder to handle, Warren figures. But of course he painted it and decorated it, so it's now known by him as the "bunny punch". Oh and lastly, the thing Warren will miss the most about joining up with the Black Cat Bandits again is most likely Mimi, his pet rabbit. That soft, cuddly white fur, those warm and snuggly, toffee-coloured ears, those pretty little brown spots on her back, those beady black eyes, those little pink paws... Ahh, precious little Mimi's too hard to resist, Warren figures--why not bring her along with him as well. [u]Description:[/u] Warren is 5'5" tall, caucasian, with blond hair only a few inches long and blue eyes, nothing special... Erm...?? Anyways, Warren would probably look a little thin if it wasn't for the attention paid to his cute, boyish face, or if he's not standing next to Lupin. But ah well, many people would say he's kind of cute in a little boy-ish way anyways, especially with the tiny little freckles still visible on his face. Little bunny freckes like the ones Mimi has on her back... Anyways, Warren's usual outfit consists of a yellow T-shirt with a happy face on it, faded jeans with holes at the knees, old-looking white sneakers... Oh, but you can't forget the most important thing: the racoon hat! He doesn't go anywhere without wearing this, except maybe school. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][u]Merlin[/b][/u] [u]Real Name:[/u] Vincent Estrel [u]Age:[/u] 21 [u]Planet of birth:[/u] Earth [u]Organisation:[/u] Black Cat Bandits [u]Involvement:[/u] Might be involved with some of the gangs, as explained later--but otherwise, just the other Black Cat Bandits [u]Bio:[/u] [i]Pre-BCB[/i] Vincent was born in Italy, where his parents studied the history and rich culture of various places. Which is why they stayed on Earth--what sort of ancient history could be found on other planets? But they were especially involved in the study of paranormal activities and practices from all over the world. In fact, when Vincent was still very young, the family moved to Spain because of a job offer involving a certain board of paranormal research. Throughout Vincent's early childhood, both of his parents attended meetings that dealt with these studies, and since they were uneasy about leaving Vincent in daycare, they decided to bring him along to these meetings as well. But little Vincent learned quite a bit from these discussions-- a bit about concepts such as souls, vampires, ghosts, telekinesis... you get the idea. However, as a little boy he enjoyed telling his schoolmates about what he learned whenever the chance arose, so his schoolmates usually saw him as a freak of some sort. Anyways, one day, like a bolt of lightning, a gang of religious extremists desecrated the paranormal studies group that the Estrel family had faithfully attended, in a slew of Satanic hate crimes. Vincent's parents were shocked at this action, so they grabbed Vincent and fled to Cedar Glen, Ireland. [i]Post-BCB[/i] When Merlin left the group, he went off to college and took a major in physics (if fact, his physics teacher was Halberd's father). But occasionally he became a little adventurous and took fun classes such as astronomy and even martial arts for a short while. While in college, he took only one or two classes at a time while spending time in the library to conduct paranormal research on his own. He decided on physics as a major because he heard parts of it were connected to paranormal events, especially the quantum physics region. Outside of college, he opened up a little store complex. One functioned as both an herb shop and a hookah lounge, and the other was a room where he would tell people's fortunes and head his own paranormal studies group. And above these two shops was his small yet wonderful little flat which he called home. At home he spent much of his time pondering about things, meditating, and even attempting to use telekinesis on small objects. He once claimed that he could move a straw across a table with his mind, but obviously there's much debate on whether or not that is true. When he was particularly bored with the above, he used his previous textilial knowledge to make clothes, although he only had time to do this for himself and for Lupin later on. [u]Personality:[/u] Merlin is an eccentric, proud, and captivating young wizard. He enjoys telling people about things he knows about and finds fascinating, which also makes him often refer to ancient legends and various works of fiction for quoting purposes. He can also be called a bookworm--he loves to read whenever he finds time. He especially loves the fantasy and science fiction books, as well as any nonfiction that has to do with paranormal topics or ancient legends. He can be seen as quite scholarly in this area, as he has shown a thirst for knowledge in his areas of deepest passion ever since he was a little boy. Perhaps if he were to choose a lifelong career, he would be a teacher, because the above personality characteristics make an excellent and interesting teacher. Not to mention that he's not afraid at all of public speaking or performing (it can be noted that he recently took up an interest in acting as well), and that he tends to exaggerate or stretch the truth to make it more exciting. (He especially exaggerates details about himself, making him seem a bit conceited.) Merlin follows a belief that everyone should be respected and appreciated for their actions, and that the concepts of good and evil are too complex to judge people by. So he'll never plot revenge against any of the numerous people who teased him in his youth, because they're stil people with souls and life force. (So yes, he really is a flower-hugging peace-loving hippie. :smoke:) He is a firm believer in karma and thus is aware of the consequences of doing something ev--I mean harmful--to other people. But he can tolerate doing a limit of harmful activity to those who are harmful--that he calls "forced karma". Besides, he tries to sit through bad feelings that result from bad karma or bullying or such, and tries not to panic. However, he might let out his frustration by being a bit melodramatic in a tight situation. Before Yamiko came along, he was the most emotional of the Black Cat Bandits. [u]Skills:[/u] Well, Merlin does have quite a bit of mathematical skill from his studies in college, which could prove to be useful in piloting the Sky Pirate. Not to mention that he took a side course in astronomy while in college... There's also the fact that his fortune-telling methods prove to be quite accurate, if that even matters. [u]Equipment:[/u] Other than little trinkets used for divination purposes, not much really. He doesn't believe in carrying weapons, so the only little gadget he carries around is his mobile phone. Which is decorated with an intricate purple cell phone cover with a wizard's cap design on front, in case you're interested. [u]Description:[/u] Merlin is the shortest Black Cat Bandit and also the one with the darkest skin. But not by much--he's just five feet tall with moderately tanned skin, and is not particularly skinny or fat or muscular in figure. His eyes are a dark, dull green in colour, so they don't stand out by themselves. But his eyes do stand out, because Merlin usually puts on green eyeshadow. But people also pay much attention to his hair, his outfit, or the expression on his face. His straight black hair is fairly short in some places, but fairly long in the form of wispy bangs in the front, and even longer in a sort of ponytail in the back. What makes it stand out is the fact it's dyed deep purple in most places. Merlin really does dare to be different and stylish! Yes, different and stylish--this goes for his outfit as well, which consists of clothes he sewed together himself (except for the shoes). His shirt is made of white satin and is covered with a tightly fitting (which also means he can't button it up), long-sleeved, light jacket that is dark purple on the outside but is coated with hot pink satin on the inside (which shows up on the collar), and little bright green buttons. Hehheh, Merlin especially has talent and flair in designing jackets. Anyways, Merlin also wears deep blue pants which flare out similarly to bell-bottoms, and shoes made of a grayish leather. Also, lastly, Merlin wears two rings on his left hand, one with an amethyst stone and one with a ruby one, both wuth rune designs on them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][u]Lupin[/b][/u] [u]Real Name:[/u] Edwin Tasselbury [u]Age:[/u] 23 [u]Planet of birth:[/u] Earth [u]Organisation:[/u] Black Cat Bandits [u]Involvement:[/u] Might be involved with some of the gangs, as explained later--but otherwise, just the other Black Cat Bandits [u]Bio:[/u] [i]Pre-BCB[/i] Edwin lived with a relatively poor family in the seaside town of Markshire, on the southern coast of England. Hehheh, many a stray traveler would marvel at good ol' Marky due to its liveliness and tight hold on tradition (it was definitely not a technologically advanced town), and its park and its pleasant architecture and its friendly-minded craft shops and its underground trade centre and its view of the sea and its lack of attention from most foreigners. Dad was angry at Mum for wanting a child despite these conditions, but decided to take out most of that anger on Edwin instead. He even took to hitting him and torturing him, in as many ways as possible. So over the next couple of years, Edwin started to venture out into town at night to be free from his father. While out, however, there were occasional times when he nearly got into trouble though... Over time, he started to take advantage of the time when his parents were asleep, usually to steal food or money from them. ...Although this only led to a mad Dad. Anyways, eventually Edwin got really desperate and decided to try running away. So one day he hitched a ride on a truck and eventually an airship, and ended up on Neptune. There, he was brought to an orphanage that was there, during which time he met a little girl named Kelsey. Edwin ended up taking quite an interest in Kelsey, but they barely had time to talk to each other before someone came along to adopt him... [i]Post-BCB[/i] After the Black Cat Bandits split up, Lupin took the Nightcraft and left, and Germany was his first area of choice for some odd reason. But one interesting thing about Germany was that it happened to be the home country of one of the larger and more dangerous gangs. Lupin occasionally had fun spying on that gang, and even doing certain things the gang planned out before the gang could to them. But over time, the gang he was "playing pranks on" started noticing that someone was stealing their misdeeds, someone who could somehow carry out the task faster and more efficiently. What was the gang to do? Of course, they could always go on a search-and-destroy mission for him, but they ended up... Wait, that's what their original intention was. They found Lupin pretty easily, but they didn't succeed in killing him--at the last minute, one of the gangsters said that he could be "useful" and therefore made him join the gang instead. He did for a short while, until the gang decided on a particular blast from the past as a victim. This "blast from the past" happened to be Kelsey, the girl from the Neptunian orphanage who had almost become Lupin's friend. When Lupin found out about this, he suddenly disappeared from the gang and "rescued" her from it. For the next month or so, Lupin did not do his traveling alone--this time he was with Kelsey (who had supposedly become his girlfriend by then). Their time together was full of happiness and adventure (they were wandering around Mars at the time), but it was also short-lived. For one sunny afternoon (oddly enough), Kelsey and Lupin were standing in line in front of a theatre, when all of a sudden the police came by and took Lupin away to Ceres. Oh no--if he's being arrested for theft, that amounts to an extremely long prison sentence... Actually, it was worse--he was arrested for the kidnapping, torture, and eventual murder of a little girl. ...Which was something the gang from above did a week or so before Lupin even joined them. Apparently the gang had taken their worst crime and blamed it on him, as a little act of revenge and/or jealousy. But it wasn't that bad--after a couple of weeks, he escaped from the prison--and continued his travels alone from then on. [u]Personality:[/u] Lupin is probably most noted for defying rules or laws or even authority, and for doing things as secretly as possible. He's also not the one to show much emotion, not even the stronger emotions such as anger (revenge perhaps--but not anger), sadness, or even joy. Instead, he'll mantain either a smirk or cold gaze when around people, or else stick around and remain silent. Or he'll just avoid other people altogether--after all, he prefers to do things alone. However, he can tolerate being around his friends a little. Although he tends to be selfish, he might be capable of showing compassion for just about anyone, mostly to get what he wants. There is nobody he completely trusts, although he does show quite a bit of trust in the other Black Cat Bandits, especially Yamiko (Kelsey's new nickname). It can be said that if it weren't for his involvement with the Black Cat Bandits or his relationship with Yamiko, Lupin would not be alive at this moment. ...Wait a minute, actually he would still be able to survive on his own, most likely! :sweat: (If you look at the Skills section, you'll know that he would...) Except he'd be a cold-hearted, bitter, emotionless loner who is just too akin to the darkness to see the light. Well, for the last couple of months, he's actually gotten much closer to that type of personality than ever before--maybe that was due to his (though short) time in prison and the misfortune of his childhood, as well as overhearing that he might not live to be 20 or 30--whichever. Now, most anyone with that type of life and personality would likely be depressed... Not Lupin. Something about his life must have given him an immense amount of willpower. When faced with anything from a regular ache or pain to a perilous situation, he'll push himself to or even past the limit of what he can do in order to endure or cure it, if he really has to (or at least not complain about it at all). Well, he does practically [i]everything[/i] only if he really has to, just to save what little time and energy he may have. He figures that any moment could be his last, and practically dares death to fall upon him. So of course Lupin is okay with an element of risk, all to achieve the full potential of his abilities. And I suppose one can say that adventure and theft are both risky...? But as for theft, especially (it can be applied to nearly everything else he does), he does it quickly, quietly, and reasonably. He stays calm throughout, and if anyone is in the way, he's much more likely to wait or distract them with a false kindness than just push them aside. (Going for anyone but the target is pointless and might arouse suspicion, he figures.) What's more, he takes careful measures to ensure the same thing does not happen to him. Most of Lupin's weaknesses are physical, yet there is the fact that he has nightmares (which he never remembers) quite frequently. Which is strange, given the fact that consciously, he really doesn't fear anything. Anyways, as for things he dislikes: Personal questions -- To these he'll do anything but answer truthfully in most cases (though he's not likely to shout at the asker either), though he'll usually mention it not being important or lie about it. Sunlight -- Well, if he doesn't like to be noticed and can see pretty well in the dark, it would make perfect sense for him to be nocturnal. Teasing and name calling -- Who doesn't?!? To this he'll usually explain why it's not a bad thing, or just glare at the person. But he also takes measures to narrow down his reasons for being made fun of this way. ...Among other things to be revealed in the RPG. [u]Skills:[/u] Most notably, Lupin is a highly skilled thief. ...Wait, that's it? Well, that one major skill grants him other "minor" skills as side effects of a sort. Let's see, it branches out into things such as a keen ability to avoid being noticed, high intelligence, fast reflexes (especially in his right hand), and slightly heightened senses. It is true that one thing leads to another... [u]Equipment:[/u] With the help of Halberd, Lupin has an aircraft called the "Nightcraft". It is a pretty small aircraft (only four feet wide, six feet long, and three feet tall, to be exact), containing one front seat behind a button and screen-filled dashboard, and a back seat which Halberd, Warren, and Merlin can just barely squeeze into. The Nightcraft itself is dark metallic purple in colour, but not really shiny. On top it has a round window of glass which extends from the back of the back seat to the front of the dashboard. To the sides it has batlike wings that can fold and unfold, but not flap (:bellylol:). On the bottom it has a circle of metal-ish material that is very reflective and generates an electromagnetic current that allows it to stay afloat, so there's no need for an engine. In the back it more of that metal-ish material, a storage space, and a large wire used for recharging. In the front it has (most interestingly) headlights that emit black light, so they provide visibility but are not too bright. (Yes, count on Lupin to not want things to be bright...) ...Wait, the Description section says that Lupin "keeps everything in his pockets", and the Nightcraft doesn't fit in a pocket... so what does? Besides the key to the Nightcraft, the most important thing is a unique weapon called the "Firewand" for some odd reason. At first glance it looks similar to a lighter (hence the "fire" part), but instead of a flame, it sprouts a straight, fairly thick wire surrounded by a high-voltage electric current. (This makes the wire glow red.) It's also been known to absorb other electric currents as well... ...Among a couple of other trinkets to be described in the RPG. [u]Description:[/u] Lupin is about 5'9" tall. His hair is fairly curly and long--as in almost touching his shoulders--and a light brown in colour. (More specifically, various shades of blond.) His eyes are a deeper, darker brown, an interesting contrast to his skin, a very palse shade thanks to lack of sunlight. Gaunt best describes his figure, yet he manages to avoid looking weak or dead. Besides, at least his face and hands don't look that bony. You won't find a whole lot of muscle on him (except maybe on his legs, since he's a very fast runner)--just enough to be able to move around and such. And with absence of strength there is flexibility anyways. Form really does follow function... Lupin wears a fairly long black jacket that fits him perfectly, so it doesn't look big on him or anything. There is the occasional golden button on the end of a sleeve or near the collar. He wears a shirt underneath the jacket, but it can't be seen at all anyways because he always buttons the jacket all the way up to his neck. Also he wears what look like black jeans, except they're made from a slightly more comfortable material. These too are not too tight or baggy. He's not a firm believer in sneakers, and thus instead wears another kind of shoe made from black leather. He also wears a pair of glasses that have rectangular lenses and barely visible frames. Without them, his vision is still pretty good, but not as good as with them. Besides, the lenses (which look very slightly tinted) allow him to see invisible laser beams used for security and such. Also, he doesn't carry around any sort of bag or backpack or anything--he just keeps everything his jacket pockets for the most part. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][u]Yamiko[/b][/u] [u]Real Name:[/u] Kelsey Murakage [u]Age:[/u] 18 [u]Planet of birth:[/u] Earth's Moon [u]Organisation:[/u] Black Cat Bandits [u]Involvement:[/u] Might be involved with some of the gangs, as explained later--but otherwise, just the other Black Cat Bandits [u]Bio:[/u] The Murakage family has an interesting family history. They originated as a family living in Viet Nam and rumoured to be curse-casters of a sort. As a result the family had very bad luck in recent generations. One such stroke of bad luck was that Kelsey's mother died upon her birth, so Dad was left with Kelsey and had to raise her on his own, in his quaint little house on the moon. It was slightly difficult, but Dad really loved Kelsey, and tried to take care of her as best as he could. This was still true during a particular time of tragedy, when a small gang beat Dad up and took all of his money. From then on, Kelsey and her dad were very poor, and spent most of their time sitting inside their little house and holding each other close. This continued for four miserable years, until the police "rescued" Kelsey by taking her away, despite the pleading and protesting from both Dan and Kelsey. Dan had to move to the slums of Venus as a result, while Kelsey was sent to an orphanage on Neptune. (After all, the only other family Dan knew Kelsey had was Mai, who was dead anyways.) Kelsey was immediately met with name-calling from the other children in the orphanage, often for being small and a crybaby. But she did talk to one older boy who sat far away from the other children and did not make fun of her at all. The boy was named Edwin and seemed really friendly, but the moment only lasted a few minutes before someone came along to adopt him. So Kelsey was left friendless... that is, until the owner of the dance school she attended offered to take care of her. So she lived there for a while (still on the light side of the moon) and continued dancing (it can also be noted that her physical health improved greatly at this time), etc. etc... One day the dance teacher went on vacation to Earth, taking sixteen-year-old Kelsey with her. The two only had time to travel to Europe, but it was still fun anyways. So they traveled to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany... Wait, Germany? Something interesting happened in Germany. One night, Kelsey had an errand to do that involved getting something at a store, so basically she was walking about some town at night. But while she was walking, someone walked up to her... someone familiar. It was Edwin, the boy she met in the orphanage! Except he was much older now, and had changed his name to Lupin. Anyways, Lupin said something about a gang being after her, and the two ended up fleeing to Mars--a pleasant little ride in Lupin's little aircraft--and just wandered around all over the place there. The two basically "lived on the streets", but it wasn't bad at all. Lupin really seemed to be a wonderful person to be around--it could even be said that at this point Kelsey had a crush on him. But a Murakage girl has a tendency to bring bad luck to anyone she gets in a close relationship with--it happened to Mai, and it happened to Kelsey as well. For one sunny afternoon, Lupin was sent to the prison on Ceres all of a sudden. Yet just as she did when Dan was robbed, Kelsey just kept quiet and hid--or more precisely, ran away--and cried afterward. As usual... Anyways, Kelsey did manage to survive "on the streets" for a few days, but then came the day when she happened to run into someone else who knew her. It was a woman named Vi--Vi Murakage. Vi happened to be Kelsey's aunt. So not only did she agree to take care of her for a while, but she also told Kelsey about the Murakage family, but especially about Celia, Kelsey's great-grandmother. Celia apparently held the curse-casting gene of the Min family, and supposedly had put a curse on the whole Murakage family. It was disheartening, but at least Kelsey learned more about her family and a possible cause of her misfortune in her life. Kelsey lived with Vi for the next two years, and Vi proved to be the best family yet--and Kelsey almost saw her as a link to her soul. (Which is a remarkably high honour.) Yet, Vi wasn't as good a "link to her soul" as Lupin was, and she kept missing him. Lupin seemed not only to be a link to her soul, but the only key to it. He helped her realise that all the misfortune she deals with (and perhaps the whole Murakage curse) is not completely bad--that it makes her stronger in a way. This misfortune, this darkness... Darkness really meant a lot to her by that point. Just like in Yamiko, which in Japanese literally means "child of darkness". That was the name that Celia would have given her. Anyways, a while later, Celia died, but by that time Kelsey was really happy for her, and Celia was really happy for Kelsey for learning the secret of the Murakage curse. Kelsey really felt as if the "curse" was cured when Celia died, but she showed her appreciation by calling herself Yamiko from then on. [u]Personality:[/u] Yamiko is not a fun and happy girl. She tends to look on the negative side of things, and when presented with an idea, she's usually the first to come up with ways it can go wrong. Maybe this was due to having bad luck in the first place--it seems that every Murakage girl after Celia was like that. Perhaps she figures that trying to remain happy all the time is pointless, because there's always the chance that something can go wrong. And if something can go wrong, she figures, it probably will. Well, at least she's aware of negative consequences--she doesn't just head into something, not caring what can happen. Anyways, this bad luck and such also has an impression on her self-image--she tends to be very modest when talking about herself. In return, whenever someone compliments her, she often doubts it, or else feels quite embarrassed. But on the inside, she actually has a fair amount of self-confidence, though she can in no way be called conceited. As far as social details go, Yamiko is pretty mixed. When around her friends, she tends to keep quiet. When she does want to talk, she sometimes has a hard time coming up with the right words to say in order to describe a situation--this especially applies when talking about how she feels. However, often times she makes up for it by showing quite a bit of emotion during communication, so sometimes there's the lucky case where someone reads her facial expression and figures out what she really meant to say. In this way, Yamiko doesn't like to start conversations--often times she'll say what she wants to say only if someone else speaks up first. This applies to a more general case too--she's definitely more of a follower than a leader. Now, as far as friends in general go... Yamiko's very ambivalent about being around friends. There are those times when she prefers to be alone, and there are those times that she really needs someone (often times a specific person) with her. But no matter which state of mind she's in, nowadays she's better at things like establishing her own personal space around people, or assuaging her loneliness. But the last part still can be difficult if it's someone she really loves (Dan, Vi, and Lupin, most commonly). But Yamiko is mostly noted for being very emotional. In fact, although she feels otherwise confident in herself, she still occasionally has a hard time controlling her emotions. In fact, under very complicated conditions, she goes into one of three distinct emotional states, which function similar to multiple personalities except they all call themselves Yamiko and have access to the exact same thoughts and memories. In her depressed state, her pessimism is enhanced, and she goes into constant "fits" of lamenting her many worries (whether aloud or in her head). Also she has a short temper in this state, and tends to act violently towards those who frustrate her--especially towards whoever (if anyone) caused her to go into this state. Also she always wants to be alone in this state, but if one of her friends approaches her, she'll merely tell them not to worry about her instead of shoving them away. Now, there's also the notorious passion state. Yamiko tries to avoid going into this state, as she was in that state the whole time she was wandering about Mars with Lupin. After all, in this state, Yamiko feels so content and/or excited that she feels that nothing could possibly go wrong. So obviously if something does go wrong, she or someone near her could be in big trouble. And finally there's her fear state. Yes, Yamiko does feel fear, although she doesn't express it. While in the fear state, she is complete control of herself, so she eithre doesn't panic or accepts panic as a antural occurrence (wait, that [i]is[/i] control...). And, she remains alert and focused, her senses heightened, her reflexes sharper than ever. The fear state certainly does seem to be her "strongest" state, but she usually comes out of it shaken and exhausted. [u]Skills:[/u] Other than the remains of being a good dancer, most of Yamiko's skills are mental. She has an excellent memory, especially of weekly events which most people forget, and hardly ever takes a long time to remember something. This really does giver a "false" sense of intelligence, as if she needs to solve a problem or something, she'll often times dig up a memory or two and make connections between them. But that really is about it... [u]Equipment:[/u] What? Equipment? What equipment? Certainly a mobile phone is not special enough to qualify here (although it can be noted that Yamiko always has an interesting ringtone on it). But she does keep quite a few personal "treasures" that remind her of Dan, for instance, and a few items that Lupin could not keep in his pockets (or that he sort of gave to her). One such item looks like a picture of Warren's pet rabbit at first, but the eyes function like motion sensors, and the rabbit says "Mimimimimimi" whenever they pick up something. It does sound strange, but after all it was something initially of Warren's design... [u]Description:[/u] Yamiko is 5'2" tall, and quite thin-figured. Although this is more due to smaller bones than anything else. (It can also be noted that she's the lightest of all the Black Cat Bandits.) But anyways, then there's her lightly-coloured yellowish peach-ish (how many other "ish"'s can I mention?) skin , her blood-coloured hair which looks quite fiery in the sunlight, her bluish purple eyes... Now as far as outfit goes, Yamiko wears a pair of black velvet pants, a nice match to a light purple shirt on top. It would look like a turtleneck sweater if the sleeves weren't so short, the neck part so wide (it must fit a huge-necked person snugly), and the bottom only going down to just above her belly button. Over this she wears a soft, darker purple sweater, which instead of buttons has a tie around the waist, is long enough to almost cover her knees, and has two large pockets on the sides. Oh, and she wears black sneakers too, if it really matters. Who would pay much attention to her feet anyways? They'd more likely pay attention to the way her soft-looking black hat looks so perfect there on her little red head. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Are the Black Cat Bandits just a random group which just wanders around and goofs off? It used to seem that way, but now they hoped to be involved in defeating some of the major gangs. Their main gang of focus is a Germany-based one which was responsible for Lupin being sent to prison, but they'd target any of the gangs at random times as well. ...So they're on the good side? Probably, although they act much like a small gang themselves...[/color] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OOC: EDIT: Perhaps this signup will be better than my original--less cluttered and all.

*rates movie 9.5/10* *runs away from people holding razors which want to kill me for not rating it 10/10* Whew, now that that's over... :sweat: I think the only reason I rated the movie only 9.5/10 was because I'd seen it before as a play, and all the songs were the same and such and such... But that's a pointless personal reason. I first saw the movie on the 30th of December, and loved it. I loved especially the soundtrack in the beginning, and the song where Sweeney and Lovett are scheming about all the different types of pies they could make. (No, it has to be grocer--it's green!) :laugh: Another thing that is just me, but that I couldn't stop thinking about as I watched it, was that I recognised three of the actors from the Harry Potter movies, and immediately drew connections between the characters they played in [i]both[/i] movies. Which was especially funny in the judge's case. :animesmil And the fact that both take place in London, of course.

[quote name='ZeitGeist']You might have seen my screen name on a Smashing Pumpkins album. I assure you this is quite coincidental![/quote] Yes... but it's not as bad as when I created a RPG character who not only was named Lupin, but so happened to resemble a certain someone from a certain anime I found about later on. Coincidences, coincidences... I joined OB back in 2002, when I was thirteen years old. At the time my favourite Digimon was Nefertimon, so that became my username. Of course, now my favourite Digimon is Arukenimon, and I'm quickly losing interest in Digimon. So many things have changed since I first joined... my maturity level, my posting style, and little details like this. But hmm, should I change my username or not? I'm still debating that idea...

Hmm... I got partway into my signup (a good 2 hours work) before I saw that this RPG has been open for six months. Is this still allowed even, to be revived after six months? I'm still concerned about that, but if mods don't close it or something, I'll DEFINITELY sign up. Nighty night for now. If the RPG remains open, I plan to sign up as a small team (5 members is small, right?) that is kind of on the border of good and evil. They don't exactly support the government or the SS66, but they are loosely involved in a plan to disintegrate the larger gangs. More detail will be provided in my signup. But I sincerely hope this RPG stays open. I just love this RPG so far, and it would be so sad to see it close... (Might I suggest re-starting it and removing the rating from the title?) :worried: :bawl:

OOC: Okay, now to think up some way for Sayuri to get to where Micheal is. So far I'm the only one who has both posted in the RPG and specified a specific location on Nightside--currently I can only guess where on Nightside the rest are. IC: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [color=purple][size=1][i]Okay, so I start my pointless journey to Ear--I mean Nightside--in what used to be Kyoto. I get teased and nearly killed by the civillians, which to my surprise speak English rather than Nihonic. Then I ask for my grandfather's company because he owns a starship. So we leave Nihon for good and try desperately to find another place on Nightside that doesn't look like it's in ruins. Fortunately we don't meet up with any Vamtyrs or anti-space alien people on our travels, but we end up camping out in remote seashores or forests all the time. We fail to find any city worth staying overnight in, and are disappointed by the chaos Earth has fallen into all this time...[/i] Sayuri was thinking about her experience of Nightside so far, whilst checking both her mobile and her little laptop for any signal. But as she was currently located on a small, remote, Vamtyr-free island, getting any sort of electrical signal was nigh impossible. It didn't mean that she was bored and lonely though, as she was still with her grandfather. It was getting towards the end of a sunny day on that island, and Sayuri just sat there talking with her grandfather. If anyone was watching the two of them, the scene would look rather odd--much like a human girl talking to an old humanoid fox. Indeed, "old humanoid fox" almost completely described Sayuri's grandfather. He had pretty much a human figure, except his arms and legs were covered in soft tawny fur, and his hands, legs, and most of his head pretty much matched those of a fox. Indeed he was one of the animal hybrids Sayuri was descended from, though he looked to be half-human as well. ...Or otherwise, half fox hybrid and half, um, elf or something--well, that would make sense given the fact that he was only half as tall as the average human and seemed quite younger than his actual age of 122, but no guarantees... "So, the day is ending," Grandpa commented as he gazed across the sea. "Maybe it's about time we should be headed back to Kyoto?" Sayuri requested. "After all, we're I think in the middle of... what is it, the Atlantic Ocean if I remember? Which means Kyoto's on the other side of the globe, practically." "Eh?" Grandpa seemed a bit confused, for reasons other than old age. "Practically, erm... [i]dai-ke[/i]." Sayuri knew that Grandpa didn't have much of an English vocabulary, so there were many cases like this when she had to translate bigger words for him. "[i]Taere Kyoto [/i]dai-ke[i] da rui yankin-bi pane dansu-na[/i]," Grandpa repeated with a little giggle. "Yes, of course," Sayuri started to giggle as well--partially because her pet snake Treasure licked her ear. Facing the snake, she cooed, "[i]Dai na, sen riesu.[/i]" "We should go, then?" Grandpa requested. "You should not waste time calling the snake a treasure if its name is Treasure." Grandpa then began walking back to his little starship, which looked strikingly similar to a giant empty medicine capsule. Soon thereafter he, as well as Sayuri and Treasure, was seated in the starship, quite comfortable in their seats with just a little room to spare. The back half of the starship had a back seat which Sayuri was sitting in, and opaque walls with little round windows on the sides. The front half was completely surrounded by clear window, and inside were a few control panels and the place where Grandpa sat. At this point, Grandpa began hitting a few switches, pressing a few buttons, in a completely un-senile fashion. For some reason, whenever he was seated in the front of his starship, he seemed to Sayuri to be exactly the still-clever fox he was. Anyways, within a few moments the starship lurched forward and left the ground, gliding out over the sea towards the gradually sinking sun. "Now to Turbo Mode," Grandpa announced as he prepared to hit another button. Sayuri knew what this meant, and held on tightly to the precious snake in her lap so Treasure wouldn't get hurt. For as soon as Grandpa hit the button, the ship took on an even greater burst of speed, and rose even higher above the water. At that point they were flying about a hundred feet off the surface of the ocean, at roughly twice the speed of sound. (And yet Turbo Mode didn't ever accelerate the ship to its maximum speed.) Waves and currents flew past below in a split second, and the rain from storms made minuscule streaks on the windshield for a little while. All this continued for another half-hour or so... "Land ho!" Grandpa announced, for there in the distance, he and Sayuri finally spotted land. However, they knew that this was not their final stop; they still had quite a long ways to go. "...Which means we have to fly higher," Sayuri concluded. But just as she said "higher", the ship wobbled up and down, then slowed down and started flying lower. "[i]Hei nai da ri...[/i]" Grandpa started to stammer as these odd changes occurred. "...Erm, Sayuri? I think that our forward and up motion is slowing. The... electrical force that moves the ship seems to be foltring..." "It's 'faltering'," Sayuri corrected. "But... my goodness, that can't be good." "Truly not good," Grandpa agreed. "It means we have to land in the water, then go on shore to find the problem." And that was precisely what the ship did: it lost more and more altitude until it hit the water, bobbing up and down like a buoy. Fortunately, though, it had enough momentum from the high speed it was flying before to still be moving forward after hitting the water, and to continue forward until reaching the shore. The piece of land that Sayuri and her grandfather had reached included a short stretch of rocky beach and a stretch of dusty plains in the distance. However, unlike their starting point, this area was definitely not remote. A larger starship sat near the beach, and there were a pile of dead Vamtyrs close to the water. More living Vamtyrs were chasing after a vehicle that was heading away from the shore. "Are those... Vamtyrs?" Sayuri asked, indicating the large robotic creatures. "Don't ask me," Grandpa replied. "But if they are fighting and robotic, they must be." Sayuri could tell Grandpa was worried. After all, Grandpa had vaguely heard of the Vamtyrs before, but had no idea what they were like before seeing them at this moment. If they really were robots, that would mean that the weapons Grandpa brought along with him for emergency purposes would be either ineffective or not as effective as they would be on humans, say. Because of this, Grandpa used the last of the ship's usable energy to bring the ship to a stop on a sandy patch behind a pile of rocks, so that it wouldn't be seen by the Vamtyrs. However, as he did so, Sayuri thought she saw one of the people in the vehicle take a look at this newly arrived, capsule-shaped ship.[/color][/size] OOC: This is a long post already, so I'll leave it at this for now. I hope it's all right that Sayuri's grandfather will be with her for a little while, at least until Sayuri leaves with the others.

Hmm, I know you can make up space stations, but as for planets... Well, I hope making up a planet is okay. You'd think technology was advanced enough to find life on planets in other solar systems anyways... *Hmm... special powers must have a weakness or downside? What if they're simply useless against the Vamtyrs? [color=purple][u]Name:[/u] Sayuri Lutriel [u]Age:[/u] 16 [u]Gender:[/u] Female [u]Race:[/u] Human, mostly. There are only a few oddities that will be described in the Appearance section. [u]Birthplace:[/u] A planet called Koratia. Koratia is not in the same solar system as Nightside, but contains a portal that leads to Nightside. A few thousands of years ago, the planet and a few others close to it had a mild connection to Earth (or at least had an influence on its mythology--but the details are too complicated). As for the planet itself, to put it briefly, its surface sometimes glows with various colours--this results from the sun's rays interacting with the atmosphere. The sun itself is a dark blue star called Suriluna, and it produces heat but very little light. Koratia contains a space port that leads to other planets around it that are called the "Galactic Circle". (Earth was once part of this circle, though very few Earthlings knew about it. Nightside is unofficially part of it now.) Out of all the planets, it is probably the most technologically advanced, and consumes the most electricity. Koratia's people (or at least some of them) know three languages. The one that is most commonly spoken comes from another planet in the Galactic Circle and was unknown on Nightside/Earth for most of its history. The second is English, which was adopted over time from the rest of the Galactic Circle, which initially adopted it from the old Earth. The third is Japanese, which is dead both on Nightside and on Koratia, but still some Koratians know it. (Though on Koratia, it's called "Nihonic".) This is because the portal leading from Koratia to Nightside comes out somewhere in Japan. As a result, some Koratians, like Sayuri, have Japanese first names. *Why did I mention these languages? Because Sayuri knows all three of them (though her Japanese is very limited because in her case it's a dead language). [u]Current Home:[/u] Nightside--specifically, an area that used to be Japan. [u]Personality, etc:[/u] As far as personality goes, Sayuri is quite mature for her age--maybe that's a side effect of having distant relatives that were animal hybrids and thus had shorter life spans. She is quite fussy about her appearance, but doesn't throw a fit if someone teases her about how she looks. Speaking of appearance, she values appearance in other people as well--and she can't help but stare at someone who looks attractive to her. Such a person, not surprisingly, is often times of the opposite sex. However, just because she enjoys looking at someone doesn't mean she would enjoy talking to them--there have been occasions in the past where a young man she was looking at would walk up to her and start talking to her, and she would just say something like, "Oh, I'm sorry... you just looked good enough to draw eyes like mine." Sayuri doesn't usually like to start conversations, but she can keep talking if a topic happens to interest her. Other than that, she is in general a respecting person, but often times she ends up ignoring people around her and waits for them to notice her. That is, unless someone handsome catches her eye. Sayuri fits the typical Koratian stereotype of being a "techno-freak", in that she likes to use so many technological devices that it would be hard for her to live without them. Back on Koratia (and on Nightside whenever she could), she spent a lot of time either on the computer or walking around with her mobile and talking to or texting a friend. (The weird part was that even while on Nightside she could talk to her Koratian friends.) However, this also means that Sayuri might spent a bit of time complaining about the differences between Nightsidean and Koratian technologies. Also, interestingly, Sayuri has a pet snake named Treasure. She is named so because she is a special species of snake called a Witch Snake. Witch snakes are typically about two feet long and are black and purple in colour. While they are venom-wise the deadliest snakes in the Galactic Circle, they are also the gentlest and as a result are seen as good pets. However, they're not allowed to live in the wild on Koratia. Oh, and, witch snakes get their name from their ability to read people's auras. Unfortunately, neither this ability nor any sort of venom will help against the invasion, as robots don't have auras and are made of metal. [u]Appearance:[/u] Sayuri is only four-and-a-half feet tall, as humans living on Koratia have a tendency to be on the small side. Her skin is a bright peach colour, and her hair is a caramel-ish brown, with black on the ends. Her eyes are the same caramel-ish brown in colour. As for what she wears--let's say her fashion sense is a little odd, but... Anyways, her favourite outfit consists of a glittery dark blue tank top, long black pants with a black skirt over it, a pair of sandals that look wooden, and a purple scarf wrapped around her neck. She also carries a large bag that holds her belongings and matches her shirt in colour (without the glitter). Okay, I mentioned earlier that Sayuri has a few odd physical features. For instance, there are little tufts of brown fur on the backs of her ears, and her thumbs are about half as long as they should be. But the feature that's most visible, not to mention embarrassing, are a pair of whiskers that emerge from the top of her cheeks. Fortunately, they're a light shade of brown, so at least they match her hair... Sayuri would cut these off, but she tried it once before and ended up with concentration problems until they grew back. [u]Other:[/u] Sayuri moved to Nightside mainly to explore the place, as very few Koratians ever visited there. Often times the few that did were either killed or laughed at. Well, those two things almost happened to her. Sometimes people teased her about her whiskers, but some people just overlooked them because they thought she looked good otherwise. Then a couple of people tried to kidnap or kill her because they "didn't take kindly to space aliens", but both were instead killed by Treasure. (One other characteristic about witch snakes is that they're most likely to attack people that seem to have a negative aura or try to harm them or those around them.) Anyways, Sayuri went to Nightside very recently and is currently thinking about going back to Koratia because of the Vamtyrs and the barren nature of the planet. However, it's only a matter of time before she meets a certain boy who owns a starship...[/color]