RPG Stone of Car'e

[ArunueShekamari]

Arunue woke, suddenly, starttled.

"Damn...I need to get going..." Arunue got uot of bed and looked around. She couldnt beleive she was leaving her brother's dojo.

Arunue sighed and walked outside. She came to a pile of dirt with a cross at the top; she had burried her brother last night.

She bent down at the foot of the grave and prayed in the ancient language that all had forgoten but her and her brother.

"Teshimanu torii kalu nakii, Natuu ganee yolike, Te na me Roki, La Shite no mine, fare Kamunashe, " She got to her feet and stared at the grave. Her brother was the one who taught her how to fight. he was the last of her relitives. And now...she couldnt think of it.

Arunue began to walk away, towards the woods serounding her brother's dojo. To take her mind of things, and in her brother's morning, she bagan to sing lyrics of which she often heard him sing durring thier work.

"Tekumani laku,
Nahi ma Nu me shi,
An okra ne Kano,
Shori.

De Humano hu Toshia Re,
Camen Ne tee lacku Nahu La Ne...
Lakune Maran-"

Arunue was cut off by a crack of a twig and a dark figure standing just inside the edge of the woods.


"W-Whos there?

[Guest Naota]

Yusuke stepped out of the shadows, staring intently at the grave. "How do you know that language?" Yusuke eyed the girl suspiciously. "I haven't heard it in a long time....not since...." he paused. "Wait, what the hell am I talking to you about that! I'm here for business..." Yusuke suddenly spied the grave behind the girl.

"I was hired to assainate your brother. Someone must have beat me to it, though. Looks like I've got no use standing around here. But I hope you don't mind me asking before I go, Do you have any idea who did it?" Yusuke questioned.

[ArunueShekamari]

Arunue stood there, astonished. Then she turned her back to him and crossed her arms.

"hmph...I know who you are! Your Yusuke Shinjuki! That arogent, wanna-be assasin! And yes! Your pay will be deducted I suppose! And you want to know who killed him?" Arunue turned only her head to look at him, "I did!" This was a lie but Yusuke couldn't tell that.

"Hmm...ah, sibling rivalry! Oh well! Saves me the trouble...I'll say that i did the dirty work and get my pay! No worries for me!" Yusuke started to walk away.

"Wait!" Arunue ordered. Yusuke turned around. She walked up to him and looked him in the face. She made a grab for his left-hand without looking. She snatched the glove off and examined the stone halfway erect out of his hand.

"Hey!" He tried to pull his hand away but Arunue had a firm grip.


"So...your...the demon...with the blue stone..." Arunue faced him. She untied the bandana she had and revealed the red stone in her forehead. "See...who ordered you to kill my brother?" Yusuke
made no will to respond. "It doesnt matter...whoever it was...they knew I had a peice of the stone..." She looked from Yusuke's hand to staring him in the face, "And they knew you had a peice too..."

Arunue let go of his hand and slapped him.

"YOU MORON! YOUR NOT GUNNA TELL [I]ANYONE[/I] AS LONG AS YOUR WITH ME THAT YOU HAVE THAT STONE! IT'S DANGEROUS TO TELL PEOPLE! YOU DONT WANT TO BE KILLED DO YOU?!?!?!" Arunue was yelling so hard that Yusuke had fallen down.

"Well...i didn't tell them...if it makes a difference...THEY ALREADY KNEW!" Yusuke was now yelling.

"Well..." Arunue sighed. "We cant do anything now...but...we do need to find the holder of the green and yellow stones...I sugest we leave, before night fall..." Arunue sounded calm now. She refastened her white bandana and started walking.

"You coming?" Arunue said as she turned back around to face Yusuke, apperently annoyed at his procrastination.

[Guest Naota]

"Well, it's not like I've got anything better to do." Yusuke yawned for a long time. "We ought to get going before dark you say?"


Yusuke looked up and saw a bright afternoon sun hanging in the sky. "What are we running from, eh? I think we should hang around until dark, the go. It'll be harder for them to see us that way." He smiled at Arunue, "Besides, I kinda like it around here, nice and peaceful, quiet. Just about the complete and toal opposite of what I've lived through my entire life....."

"So, you got a place to sleep around here? Is that your brother's dojo over there?" Yusuke said as he began walking over to the dojo. "I'm kinda hungry, do you have any food?"

[Kieko]

Shindi walked silently through the shade of the trees. She touched the crumpled piece of paper in her pocket that held the information on how to get to wherever the man had sent her and the information of those she was to find out about. She remembered what the man had said to her. She was to ask their names and see if the match the ones he found.
Shindi stopped at the edge of the forest. She had always told herself that you should keep out of sight and servey the area before you come out into the open. Years of theivery taught her that. As she crouched behind a low bush, she listened intently to her surroundings. She could hear voices coming from the dojo. She snuck up to the closest wall and peeked in the window. She could see two people there. Hopefully these were two of the people that had a piece of the stone.

Shindi straightened up and walked around to the front of the dojo. Then she spotted something. There was a grave to the left of the dojo. Shindi quickly looked away and headed towards the entrance. She didn't want to think about...she couldn't think it.

Shindi entered the dojo without a second thought as to ask first.
"Are you Arunue and Yusuke? You fit the descriptions and I think, Yusuke, that you were sent here by an elderly man? Is that correct?"
"Heh, yeah, that's me." Yusuke said.
"Who are you?" Arunue asked. She seemed warry. [i]Who was this girl?[/i]
"Hm. I'm Shindi. I hold the yellow stone. It allows me to control weather depending on my mood. I'm a vampire. But I'm sure you already knew that when I told you what stone I had."
"Well, now all we have to do is find the person with the green stone and-" Arunue started to say, but was cut off.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. The old man seems to be doing a great job getting all four of us in one sitting so far. I think he'll get the human here just fine." Shindi said and took another sip of the tea she had been served.

[i]Yes,[/i] She thought to herself, [i]the human is sure to be along shortly.[/i]

[Imp]

OOC: Hey, how'd you know I was coming? You must be psychic! (Just like my character...)
IC:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[color=blue]It was a dark and cloudy night on the planet of Natali, on the island of Na'ishte. The island was big, as big as an island called Australia on a planet called Earth. A 10-year old girl named Mereduin was inside her house, looking at a map of Earth, staring at the continent of Australia...
Soon, her mom came. "Why Mereduin," she said in a mellow tone, "you're looking at a map of the faraway planet Earth. That planet very far away, in the other universe. It's said to be Natali's twin.
"Strange," Mereduin added in a bored tone, "I thought a planet called Venus was Earth's true twin."
"Oh my smart girl," Mom said with joy, "she knows everything there is to know about the Natural Universe..."
"Mom..." Mereduin cut her off, "quit embarrassing me..."
Mom ignored her. "One day, she'll be the greatest astronomer in the world..." Mereduin got a look of suspicion and fury on her face. "That's it..." she whispered to herself... then all at once, her anger peaked...
"ENDIOS!" Mereduin shouted. Out of her hand came a blue fireball which scorched her mom's head.
"Hey, MEREDUIN," Mom talked back, "No magic in this house. You know that, right?"
"Celestia doesn't."
"Celestia? Hmmm..."
"She uses her psychic powers all the time here, and she never gets in trouble..."
"But she's gone..." Mom cried suddenly. "She's gone! Oh, my poor baby..." Mom sobbed. Mereduin, being in a bad mood, ignored her and went outside. "Mereduin! Not you too!" Mom cried even harder.
"Relax, Mom. I'm just going to take a walk."
"That's the same thing Celestia said when she disappeared..." Mom cried as her daughter left the house.

As Mereduin walked across the field, she, like her sister, was completely unaware of what was around her, as if she was in the same trance as she was when she disappeared. A while later, she bumped right into a tree. "Owww... not my day," Mereduin muttered, and walked on. But she had only gotten a few feet when the ground collapsed beneath her and she fell into the center of the planet...

The image suddenly vanished, and Celestia opened her eyes and ahook her head lightly. "Bad dream," she muttered under her breath. When she looked around her, she was in a cemetary, a huge one. Thousands of tombstones surrounded her in every direction, and the sky above was as red as the devil...

Arunue, Yusuki, and Shindi waited... And waited. [i]And waited.[/i] And waited more... "I don't get it," Shindi whined, "I thought for sure that human was going to be here..."
"Maybe she got lost," Yusuki suggested.
"Well, whatever," Arunue grew imaptient. There was no use waiting around. They had to go. It was getting close to midnight already.
"The holder of the green stone is named Celestia," Shindi read on the slip of paper, apparently memorizing what Celestia looked like. She completely ignored what Arunue said. "It says here that she's often in a trance and doesn't like being around people. No wonder we haven't found her yet... I bet she's completely ignoring what the old man said... Hmmm..."
"Oh don't worry about that," Yusuki said. "We'll find her soon... hopefully."
"Oh let's just leave already," Arunue almost shouted. "It's obvious that Celestia just doesn't care about this mission, so let's just leave without her. If she's as psychic as she claims she is, she'd know where we are if she decides to join us late..."
The rest of the group stared at Arunue for a long time. Arunue's impartience peaked. "Fine. Then I'm leaving by myself. Maybe I don't need you two. The girl with the green stone just won't come, so it's pointless to wait forever. Goodbye." And she left.
Yusuki and Shindi stared for a long time. "Hey wait up," they said in unison and followed. The three of them left on their journey without Celestia.

Celestia stood in the center of the graveyard for a long time, and she grew worried. She began to pray...
"Orabime la maia, kiara sai sari ti lusia tei sa toubi kani..." She chanted those words three times, and all of a sudden, a light surrounded her, engulfing her, answering her prayer. Then, when the light vanished, the graveyard was left empty, with not a soul around, not even Celestia. Where had she gone? Was her prayer [i]really[/i] answered? If so, how?[/color]

[Guest Naota]

Yusuke began to feel through his pockets, and found what he was looking for.

Yusuke withdrew a long, sleek katana from his pocket. It was impossibly long to have fit, but no one said anything.

"At least with this if I get into a fight I won't have to use my powers...." he said aloud.

Yusuke looked over at Arunue, his eyes full of suspicion. He thought back to what she had said about her being the one that murdered her brother. Yusuke, skeptical about that, tightened his grip on his sword. Looking over at Shindi, Yusuke tightened his grip even more. Where had she come from? he thought, Why should we trust...no...Why should I trust her?

Reflecting on this, he eventually had to think about the old man that had sent him to collect Arunue's Brother's life. "Yusuke, I want you the holder of the Blue Stone and a demon of the UnderWorld to claim this girl's brother's life." Yusuke hadn't even questioned that earlier, he simply just went for it. In fact, he hadn't even asked how the man had known so much about him.

Suddenly, Yusuke thought of something, "Wait, guys, stop." Arunue and Shindi turned around and eyed him. "Don't you think it's a little suspicious that this old man brought us all together? And, to add on to that, we're also hunted and feared by most of the people on this planet? In case you didn't know, there's a high bounty on our heads, and maybe this old man is trying to get us all together so he can kill us all at once......"

[ArunueShekamari]

Arunue chuckled slightly.

"Oh...you think your so smart...well it's only common sense of that! The man's name is Shikono Lanamutaw...he wants us togeather to get the stones and use them for evil like all those stupid fairy tale books..." Arunue walked up to Yusuke. "You moron! He wanted my brother dead because he's the one who chose us four to hold the stones! MY BROTHER WAS. . ." Arunue clasped her hand over her mouth, "I've said too much already...well...I guess you have the right to know..."

"A long time ago...this man...Shikono Lanamutaw...had an idea...see he's sort of like those villans in movies that had escaped a syciatric ward...now...he heard of the stones...well back then it was only one multi colored stone...and he knew there power...he decided he wanted the stones to just kill every one on the planet for no reason...he's a mental case! And so...my brother..." Arunue's expression grew pained, "My brother was the high preist...of this land...yeah...that was him...and he sensed the trouble this man would cause...so...he split the stone and sent it to them to sepertate unborn childeren...he sent one to another world even...the one that hasn't showed...one to a soon to be boy...Yusuke...one to a girl...Shindi...and one...of coarse...to his soon to be sister...and to make sure our parents didnt suspect anything of the stone sticking out of my head..." Arunue's tone changed to sarcasam at that. Then back to serious, "He killed our parents...so now...that he's dead...we have no one to help us from this basterd and we have to kill him..." Arunue grew sarcastic again, "Yeah...he'll die and we'll all live happily ever after!"

Yusuke and Shindi stared, wided eyed trying to comprehend what she just said.

[Kieko]

O.C.C: Oh, I'm being SUCH a nuicance.... well anyway. Can you guys try to keep my character like she doesn't really show emotions or tell if she doesn't understand? She kind of just sits back until she's needed and uses sarcasm as her only emotion shown. Sorry, I know I'm SOOOO annoying.
______________________________________

Shindi smirked.
"Don't worry. There's no way he can kill all of us...unless you don't know your true strength. You don't need to rely on your brother. Do you doubt yourself, Arunue? Or haven't you mastered your strength?" Shindi said.
"I don't doubt myself! And I HAVE mastered my strength! I'm just saying that we should be careful." Arunue exclaimed angrily.
Yusuke yawned. "Well, I'm getting tired. I think I'm going to take a nap while you two sort this out."
"Correction: you. I'm going to be in that tree if anyone needs me." Shindi stated turning into a bat and perching upsidedown in a giant oak near by.
"Hmph! Fine then. [i]I'll[/i] get the firewood!" Arunue said irritably, and she stomped off into the darkness of the trees.
"We don't need firewood..." Yusuke said sleepily. But Arunue was already out of earshot.

[i]Hmm. Those jerks! Making me get the firewood! Their so lazy! Hmph,[/i] Arunue thought to herself. But her expression immediately softened. [i]No. I don't mean that. Right now they're the only ones I've got and, even though they annoy me a little, we've somehow become friends.[/i]

Arunue came to a clearing and cut down a tree at the edge of it with her claws. She then broke some limbs off that would be good for firewood. She had almost collected as many as she could carry when she heard someone, or something walking through the forest, heading for the clearing.

[i]Stand up. Get in fighting position and don't make a sound,[/i] Arunue told herself.

Suddenly, the footsteps stopped. Everything was silent for a while with the exception of the wind rustling the leaves. After a few minutes, Arunue dismissed the sound as a chipmonk or something of the sort. She picked up her stack of wood and headed back to where the others had made camp. Once there, she lit a fire and they ate and went to bed, although Shindi could have sworn Arunue was still awake, so she stayed up, too. Shindi could tell something was troubling Arunue, but she hadn't told her what. Nor was she going to. Arunue decided not to tell the others of the footsteps she heard in the clearing, let alone the ones she thought she heard following her back to camp.

[ArunueShekamari]

Arunue Quickly sat up.

"What is it now?" Shindi asked annoyed.

Arunue stood up and imeadetly held a fighting stance. She heard it again...but this time it wasnt footsteps...it was a silence she recognized as a black cloud.

Black clouds were comon there. What they were was shadows. But the shadows had no body...nothing was casting the shadow. They could be from a few feet wide to a mile wide. Any thing that was shaded was drained of power until near death.

[I]No[/I] Arunue thought [I]thats not it...its...something else...it smells...like...a human almost...[/I]

Suddenly Arunue colapsed on the ground and passed out...Shindi and Yusuke wern't effected obviously by whatever it was.

[Imp]

[color=blue]We last saw Celestia in a graveyard, and she vanished into thin air. Now...

Celestia heard something... maybe a voice in her head. She opened her eyes and looked up; there were dark clouds in the sky. "Oh great," she thought to herself. "I hope a storm's not coming..." Then she stopped short; her heart almost skipped a beat. She heard more voices... people talking? Celestia thought for a moment; were those voices friendly or not? She listened some more...
"Did you see what happened?"
"How come Arunue passed out and we didn't?"
"Oh, Arunue, are you OK?"
"I smell a human..."
"Celestia's STILL not here..."
At the sound of her name, Celestia jumped in surprise. Was someone looking for her? By then, she was sure it was a trap. She decided to approach with caution. She took one step toward the voices, then another, trembling with worry every second. She took out her wand and held it out, just incase. The end of it glowed, and Celestia chanted something under her breath. She began to come into a clearing in the forest...
"I knew it!"
"There she is!"
"Finally!"
Celestia gasped and took a few steps back, her wand glowing more intensely.
"...Who are you?" Celestia stuttered, half scared to death. There were two demonlike creatures and a vampire in the clearing. All of them introduced themselves and told her about the old man and the stones. While they talked, Celestia looked at her own stone, a green one, on a necklace she wore. She stared at it for a long time, wondering what it could all mean...

"Hey, what happened to Arunue?" Celestia wondered.
"Dark clouds..." Yusuki muttered lazily. The whole group except Celestia was getting tired.
"Yawwwnnn... How come you're not tired?" Shindi wondered.
"Hmmm... I don't know..." Celestia replied in her usual distant tone. She didn't hear Shindi ask, "What's wrong?" or hear Yusuki snore a little. He was fast asleep.

"OK, I guess we'll start our journey tomorrow, if only I could get to sleep... I got too many things on my mind..." Shindi muttered to herself, sounding quite worried. A few seconds later, Celestia pointed her wand at her, which glowed and shot a soft blue beam of fog at Shindi. She immediately grew a little more relaxed and slowly fell asleep. But Celestia stayed up and tried to revive Arunue, who still seemed to be unconscious. Well, at least she was breathing...

An hour later, the moon emerged from behind the clouds and glowed brightly in the sky. The soothing light caused Celestia to fall asleep as well, almost completely ignoring Arunue.[/color]

[Kieko]

Shindi opened her eyes. It took a moment or two for her brain to awaken as well, but when it did she got up immediately. She saw that the others were still asleep. She lowered her hands.Then she thought of something.

[i]Wha- my strength is fully restored...but, how?[/i] Then Shindi remembered the human pulling out her wand and blue light coming out. [i]The human? But that's near impossible. Only the strongest human magic can restore a vampire's full strength, especially mine.[/i]

It was miraculas (sp?), when the clouds came over, the shadow seemed to drain almost every ounce of strength Shindi had. Could it have been a black cloud? It wasn't as intense as Shindi remembered a black cloud being, but maybe it was a new one. Or maybe the human saved them all with her magic. Just then, Shindi felt a slight change in mood from Celestia, not to mention her groan.
"Heh." Shindi said and walked to the edge of the cliff they had made camp upon and sat down hanging one leg over the edge and the other close to her chest, resting her arm on it and watching the sun rise. She tried to recall last night's events, but it gave her a headache, so she stopped.
"Ah." Shindi heard Celestia say in a soft curiousity. She had probably spotted Shindi. "You're awake. But you're suppose to sleep longer than that else your strength won't be fully restored."
"Hm. I feel fine. I'm going for a flight, tell the others if they wake up. And don't worry about getting me breakfast or leaving without me. I can get my own breakfast and I can catch up to you." Shindi said, and she let herself fall from the cliff. Celestia was worried for a second, but when she saw a bat flying into the sunrise, she remembered that Shindi was a vampire and could therefore turn into a bat and fly. Celestia watched for a little bit, it was so beautiful. Now she felt bad that she could ever have hated bats. Shindi's wings moved up and down in a graceful rhythem flawlessly and her body glided smoothly through the fresh morning sunlight.

[i]I almost forgot how wonderful this feels. It's like magic. I had forgotten what it felt like to have the crisp morning air blowing through my hair, or how wonderful it feels to be riding on a breeze with nothing but air surrounding you.[/i] Shindi thought to herself. It had been a long time since she had been able to fly like this, and now she wasn't going to waste a second of it. She did loop-de-loops, sharp dives, and speedy flying. It was better than anything she had felt in ages. [i]This is amazing. This is wonderful. This is...[/i]
"Fun." She spoke the last word. It sounded rusty and unused. She hadn't had fun in a long time. She hadn't even thought the word in a while. But it felt wonderful to say it. So she said it again. "Fun...fun...FUN....FUN!!!!!!!" She said it over and over again. Eventually it slid casually from her tongue, sweetening the air with it's sound. But Shindi couldn't stay in the air for long, she was growing tired.

It requirs a lot of strength to turn into a bat. Or to turn into anything out of the ordinary, rather. But flying wasn't the issue anymore, Shindi had practiced so much when she was young, it was as easy as walking. But, maybe it was like too much walking.

[i]Maybe Celestia was right. Maybe I should have slept more to let my strength return.[/i]

Shindi shrugged off the fact she was tired, and the fact she was starting to sweat and breathe heavily and turned for the camp. She arrived just as the others were packing up. She then remembered she didn't have any breakfast, but she wasn't that hungry anyway. And besides, skipping one meal wouldn't hurt.
"You ok, Shindi? You look kinda tired." Arunue said.
"I'm fine." Shindi replied. Arunue still looked skeptical, but decided that if Shindi insisted that it's ok, then she wasn't going to argue.
"Ok, then, let's get going." Yusuke said, picking up his small sack.
"Alright!" Arunue said cheerfully.
"Let's go!" Celestia exclaimed, also picking up her pack. And they set off again into the forest.

[i]I wonder what has become of the man. He's not tailing us, I know or I would have felt his emotion. Or, at least, he's not tailing us yet.[/i] Shindi thought as she looked up at the patch of blue sky barely peeking through the trees.

[ArunueShekamari]

Arunue looked twords Shindi.

"Moron...He can't be sensed by the stones power...but I can sense him...not well...I haven't mastered the techneiqu yet...my brother had taught it...yeah but he is following us...sortof...I can't tell you were he is exactly...but he knows were we are..." Arunue said this as they walked.

"I don't know why we're walking though..." The others looked at her.

"Well where do we have to go?" Shindi asked sarcasticly.

"No where...for 3 weeks...thats the thing...we gathered early...real early...I say for the next three weeks we do nonstop training for you weaklings to shape up!...hm...Its what my brother would have done..." Arunue set her small package she caried down on a rock.

She drew her sword and looked at a large tree. She stood herself infront of it and drew her sword.

"Ha! You think your gunna cut that tree?!?! Not even I can do that." Shindi anounced.

Arunue payed no mind to her. She quickly slashed at the tree turning around as she did so. She stood with her back to the tree.

"I knew you couldn't do it! You didn't even toutch that!" Shindi began to mock

As Arunue slid her sword back into its halter the tree suddenly slid down; it had a clean cut straight through!

"I hope a simple thing like that didn't supprise you too much..." Arunue said as she sat down against an unbroken tree.

_________________

There...3 weeks...yeah...

[Imp]

[color=blue]Celestia watched and listened to the conversation Shindi and Arunue were having about swords. She sighed, not even having a sword. "I guess Arunue's right," she thought. "We must start training, though I've done enough of that before I got here..." She then looked at Yusuki. "You better start training too," she said to him. He growled softly, indicating that he was still a little tired. A few seconds later, he got up and ran into a clearing a few yards away from the camp.

Celestia shrugged and walked toward the other side of the campsite. Not knowing what else to do, she pointed her wand at a tree, and it glowed, along with the tree. Later, the tree shook, and most of the leaves fell off it. "Not good enough," Celestia thought. "Anyone could remove leaves from trees; they're so light..."

Meanwhile, Shindi and Arunue were having a little sword fight, just for fun. "Ha!" Arunue shouted with a cocky tone. "You can't beat me with that little dagger of yours!" They both laughed, seeming to be having fun. Meanwhile, Celestia decided to check on Yusuke. She looked in the nearby clearing, and...

Yusuke was gone! But where?

Celestia just shrugged, hoping that he would come back soon. Still, something inside her told her that wasn't going to happen... In fact, she sensed a dark force...

"Arunue! Shindi!" Celestia shouted so abruptly that they almost dropped their swords. "Yusuki's missing!"
"Yeah, and I'm sure he'll come back," Shindi assured her. "Don't be such a worrywart."
"Hmmm..." Celestia began to worry. If you want something done, do it yourself. She headed out into the clearing where Yusuki once was, trying to find him. "Alright, holy spirits..." she whispered to herself, "guide me... Show me the way, the way to the carrier of the Blue Stone..." Celestia closed her eyes and walked on.

"Haha! I won again! You gotta work on your strategy," Arunue teased, proud of her talent. "Hey, Celestia! Did you see..."

But Celestia was not there.

"Oh great, not her too," Shindi whined. "I told her not to worry about Yusuke's absence..." She then turned to Arunue. "Arunue, I think we should follow them." They both ran into the forest, hoping to find the human and the demon. "Yusuke! I hope you're OK..." Arunue was starting to get worried too. Suddenly, she spotted a dark figure with a hooded cape... "Celestia! There you are!" Arunue shouted in relief. "You know, it's wise to stick with the group so that... Ummm... why are you walking with your eyes closed?"

But Celestia was in sch a deep trance that she could not hear her.

"I think we should follow her," Shindi whispered to Arunue. Arunue nodded, and they followed. A few minutes later, Celestia started to walk faster, starting to run. She opened her eyes--a sign that Yusuke was somewhere nearby. "Wait up," Shindi panted, more skilled at flying than running. Arunue thought the same thing.

A few seconds later, Celestia stopped dead, and Arunue and Shindi accidentally bumped into her, almost knocking her over. Celestia was standing at the edge of a hole, possibly an opening to a cave. "Well, you two," she muttered, "we must go down there. I sense that Yusuke is somewhere inside it." And with that, she jumped into the hole. It was about a sixty-foot drop, but she landed gracefully, floating in the air about a foot off the ground before she landed. Arunue and Shindi soon followed. It was pitch black inside the cave; the only light was from the above entrance.

Luckily, neither of the three needed a light to guide them through the cave. Shindi, being a vampire, could see in the dark, Celestia used her intuition to tell where to go, and Arunue held on to the two of them, careful with every step she took.

As they went further and further into the cave, they began to hear a faint cry. All three of them stopped short. "He's close, [i]really[/i] close," Celestia declared, sounding determined. "I feel his presence as we speak."[/color]

[Kieko]

[i]What happened? I mean, why would Yusuke just jump into a hole? I don't think even Yusuke is that thick. I don't think that anyone else would be strong enough to capture him, either. But maybe it could happen.[/i] Shindi thought to herself.

"Celestia? Is there any circumstances you have to be under in order to read someone's mind? Or can you just read Yusuke's mind from here?" Shindi asked.
"Well, I don't know. I never tried. But I guess if I can sense them, I can read their minds. Let me try." Celestia tried.

[i]All I have to do is keep thinking of Yusuke's power source...[/i] She thought, and within minutes she had reached his mind.
_________________________
[i]Stay calm, Yusuke. All you gotta do is get outta here. Arg! But how do I do it without getting pulverized by that guy? Everytime I try to leave he pounds me back into the ground. What do I do now??[/i] Yusuke thought desperately. It was to dark for him to see anything so he had no way of fighting back.

[i]Yusuke? Is that you? Listen, we're coming to get you, stay where you are. And who's the guy you're fighting? Do you know?[/i] It was Celestia's voice in his head.
[i]Celestia? I don't know who I'm fighting, he moves too fast and the darkness doesn't help my vision at all.[/i]
[i]Ok, well, we'll be there in a second.[/i] And Celestia's voice was gone. It was just Yusuke and the man now. And the man had the upper hand.
_______________________
"He's fighting someone. Hurry. It doesn't sound too good." Celestia said. And they continued as fast as possible.

[i]Could this be the man? The man that brought us all together?[/i] Arunue thought. She was excited. A good fight was a way for her to train. Especially if it was in the dark.

[ArunueShekamari]

Arunue suddenly changed into her wolf form and ran ahead. She finnally spotted Yusuke; looking around like trying to find something...or someone...

"Yusuke!" Arunue's voice echoed through the cave. You see, The great thing about being a wolf demon and half vampire is that she had the abilaty to make her thoughts pyhsically heard when she wanted to in her wolf form.

She came up to him and imeadetlly started to sniff around him. She looked up at him and thought, "What the? You smell like one of my brother's old students. But...he's not the one fighting you...is he?"

"Well, thats a nice trick but I dont know who your talking about...all I know is thats he's...I hate to say it...stronger than me...and I can't get a lock on his aura!" Yuseke was exasperating.

Arunue looked around the cave. She was looking for an aura close to hers; if it had a color that she had, it would be easyer to find. Suddenly she found it. It's holder was darting about the cave. It was definetly her one of her brother's students;for one thing she could tell the style he was using was that of her brother's. And she knew who it was to. Zsade.

Suddenly, Shindi and Celestia caught up.

[Imp]

[color=blue]While Arunue was exlaining the whole thing to her, Celestia tried to find out who attacked Yusuke... Yusuke was trying to search for whoever attacked him, peaking with revenge.
Suddenly, a brief, sharp image came into Celestia's mind, and she stood there confounded for a second. Finally, she commanded, "I definitely felt something that time! Follow me."
And with that, Celestia ran in the direction the picture in her mind came from, hoping she was right. As she ran, she held her wand out, ready for anything.
"Come on, slowpoke!" Arunue teased. "Can't you run any faster?" Arunue, being a wolf, could run faster than a human, and Shindi could do the same thing in flight. Yusuke could also run fast, being a demon.
"You two are starting to ruin my concentration..." Celestia muttered. Slightly embarrassed, she shot a green beam to the ground with her wand, levitating herself telekinetically. The then flew ahead of them to keep up. A few minutes later, a growl was heard. Celestia stopped, and so did Arunue, Yusuke, and Shindi later on. The growl came again, and a voice was heard.
"Intruders..." it said. "How dare you trespass my home..." The figure was a cat person, with pitch-black fur and sinister-looking red eyes. "I am Koron, and intruders must be punished..." He closed his eyes and put his hand on his forehead. Seconds later, he opened his eyes, which glowed with an angry red light. Arunue and Shindi were thrown into a swirling blue vortex which led to the outside world. Yusuke was thrown across to another part of the cave.

When Arunue and Shindi landed, they found themselves at the edge of the forest, near a lake, quite far from the cave. "Oh great, now where are we?" Arunue wondered. Well, we're quite far from the cave, wherever we are...
"Koron must have teleported us from the cave," Shindi said. "But where's Celestia?" she wondered.
"Maybe she got transported somewhere else..." Arunue muttered. Suddenly, she got a weird feeling in her head, as if someone was trying to take over her mind...
It was only Celestia. "Don't worry," she said, "I'm still in the cave. That spell or whatever it was that Koron put on you didn't affect me for some reason... You must find the entrance to the cave again. Maybe Shindi can search from the sky."
"Hmmm, great idea," Arunue relplied. "We'll find you soon."
"Don't worry if you get lost; I'll guide you there."
Arunue awakened and told Shindi, "That was Celestia. She's still in the cave. Maybe you can search for the entrance from the sky."
"OK," Shindi replied. She transformed into her bat form and flew around, searching for the cave again.

Meanwhile, Celestia was in the cave, trying to fend off Koron by herself. "Grrr... I don't know why my little curse didn't work on you, but..."
"It all makes sense," Celestia muttered to him. "You should know spells like that don't work on those who possess psychic powers."
"Hmph. I can deal with you anyway." He charged towards Celestia, his ruby-red eyes glowing in rage.
"I hope you know," Celestia said in a sinister tone, "that that gaze won't affect me either. I've been trained to withstand hypnosis..." Her wand and eyes glowed, emitting a telekinetic force that sent the startled Koron flying through the air, crashing into a pile of sharp rocks. Muttering "Simple-minded fool...", she walked towards where Yusuke was, chanting what seemed to be a curse all the way.
"Yusuke..." Celestia called, waiting for him to wake up. A few minutes later, slowly but surely, Yusuke woke up. "Celestia, is that you?" he muttered sleepily. But Celestia appeared to not be listening. Instead, she was chanting a spell under her breath...
"Hey, what are you..." Yusuke started to say, but suddenly, a warm and happy feeling spread over his body like a soothing bath...
"Let's get out of here," Celestia suggested. "Arunue and Shindi are getting worried." She led Yusuke out of the cave without needing any light at all. But as soon as they left the cave, Celestia got ehat seemed to be a bad headache...
"What's going on..." she said in agony. She doubled over and fainted a few minutes later.[/color]
***MEANWHILE***
[color=purple]"...That should take care of the human," Zsade muttered. "Now, Koron, I would like the demon back..."
"OK, you got it," Koron replied. Within seconds, Yusuke appeared in front of him.
"Well done!" Zsade cheered.
"Hey, what the... What am I doing back in this cave?" Yusuke shouted. He then got slapped.
"I don't want anything else coming out of you!" Zsade shouted.[/color]

OOC: Hopefully that will clear things up... And I just edited the rest of my post, including Yusuke in it...

[ArunueShekamari]

God I'm sorry! I typed "Toshi" Instead of "Yusuke" ! Damn I knew my RPGs would get mixed up!!! damn! sorry but you'll have to go back and edit your post...I know I'm stupid and really sorry...I ment to say yusuke not toshi...but i edited it...sorry...

[Kieko]

"Celestia!" Arunue said as she bent over to see if she was still alive. She was, but she needed medical attention. "C'mon, Shindi, Yusuke, we've gotta get Celestia back to camp." And Shindi and Arunue started running back to camp; they didn't know Yusuke was back in the cave.
"Wait!" Shindi shouted. Arunue tried to stop so suddenly, she slid in some mud and crashed into a tree. Shindi dropped to the ground, she had turned back into a human and landed gracefully on her feet.
"Why'd you stop me, Shindi?! And it better be something good!" A muddy Arunue said.
"Well, if you concider loosing Yusuke again a good reason, than yes, it is 'something good'!" Shindi said.
"What are you talkin' about? Yusuke's right h-" Arunue broke off as she pointed to where Yusuke should have been, where there was nothing but air now.
"Koron must have teleported him back to the lair." Arunue said.
"And it's not just Koron. I feel another, one with superior strength. This must be Koron's master, and they must want Yusuke for something or else Koron would most likely not take orders from a superior." Shindi said.
"Well then let's go!" Arunue exclaimed and they headed back for the hole. Hoping they could reach Yusuke before Koron and his master finished him off.
_______________________
"Hm. You aren't well built, nor do you look very strong or fast." Zsade said, inspecting Yusuke. "Koron, are you sure you brought me the right one?"
"Yes, Zsade, I'm sure."
"Very well. Hold out your palm." Zsade said to Yusuke. Yusuke looked as if he didn't know if Zsade had spoken to him or not. "Hold out your palm, boy!" And Yusuke held out his palm. "No, no, the other one you fool!" Yusuke dropped his right palm to his side and held the left one up. Zsade held his hand, palm up, under Yusuke's. To Yusuke's surprise, the blue stone inside his hand started to glow a dulled electric blue.
"Well done, Koron." Zsade said, dropping his hand and letting Yusuke do the same. "We've got him."

[Imp]

[color=blue]Arunue and Shindi (Shindi was carrying Celestia) headed towards where the cave was and found the entrance. They entered again, proceeding through the darkness the same way as they did before, except with Yusuke missing and Celestia unconscious. They found a light...
"Aha!" Arunue shouted, spotting Koron. "I knew you were in here!" Koron stared at her, his eyes glowing again. Arunue just looked at the ground, and Shindi did the same.
"Well, you dodged my attack, huh?" Koron said in a menacing tone. "Well guess what?" Arunue and Shindi looked confused. "You see," Koron continued, "your friend with the green stone isn't here!" Arunue and Shindi jumped at those words. Shindi looked down; she was no longer holding Celestia. She gasped.
Meanwhile, Arunue was fighting Koron, who was no match for her this time. She defeated him easily with one swipe of her claws. They somehow left him paralyzed...
"Hah! Too easy!" Arunue said triumphantly. She looked around and turned into her wolf form, spotting a shadowy creature she recognized. "Zsade!" she shouted to herself. She sneaked up on him, waited a few seconds, and charged, biting him in the leg.
"Hey, what are you... OWWW!" He had just been bitten in the neck by Shindi. Zsade brushed the girls off and threw an energy orb at them. Shindi dodged it, but Arunue was hit. She quickly got back up and dashed towards Zsade again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Celestia was transported back outside the cave, quite a distance away from it. She was in a clearing, one that none of the group had been in there before. A sign stood nearby that said: "Warning: Wild harpies in this part of the forest." Sure enough, a birdlike creature was circling in the sky just above Celestia. When it spotted her, it dove ddown and landed gracefully beside her. And then...
"Oh drat, it's just a human. A human?!?" The harpy took a few steps back, being slightly afraid of humans. She was one of the few harpies who could talk, probably the only one other than her dead father. She looked rather beaten; she had wings that were purple and blue on the outside and black on the inside. She was extremely skinny and even wore some human clothes: just a torn purple shirt and a matching short skirt. She walked toward Celestia after discovering that she was probably dead and bent over to examine her. "...Hello?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. "Hello? Are you awake?" She rubbed Celestia, hoping to wake her up, but she didn't. "Darn, I hope I'm doing the right thing by waking her up..." she thought. After a few minutes, she picked Celestia up and flew off with her back to her nest. A small group of birds were there: a bluebird, a canary, and a cardinal. All three of them were ten times bigger than normal. "Hello, guys," said the harpy, landing beside the others.
"Hello, Ametite!" said the bluebird, whose name was Saphira. (Ametite was the harpy's name.) "I see you've brought a friend! Oh, is she OK?" Saphira went over to Celestia, and the other birds followed. "She's just unconscoius; I noticed she's still breathing..." Ametite sounded slightly embarrassed.
"This isn't like you, Ametite," said the canary, who was named Caryan. "You brought a human!"
"Yes, I did," Ametite said. "Does it matter? Should I kick you out like I did with that dumb pigeon months back?" There was a tone of impatience in her voice; she was irritated by Caryan's comment. Caryan fell silent, not saying another word. "Ummm... Ametite," said Wing (the cardinal), "I might know how to awaken her." He flew up directly over Celestia and flapped his wings quickly three times. A few feathers floated down, covered with magical dust. The feathers fell on Celestia, who sneezed and woke up. Finally.
"Huh? Where am I?" Celestia wondered. "Are you OK?" Wing asked. "Yeah, I am," Celestia answered, deciding not to ask who these birds were. But she sensed that Ametite helped save her life and questioned her. "I sense that you are Ametite, correct? And you are afraid of humans, right?"
"...I'm not afraid of them. I just had some past issues with them," Ametite corrected her without any signs of lying. "You see, this forest used to be swarming with harpies like me, but... but humans kept killing every single one of them, thinking they ment bad luck. Now... Now I'm the only one left... And I have developed a hate towards all humans now!" she said boldly to Celestia. "But..." she continued with a soft tone, "something inside me tells me you don't want to harm me, so I have my complete trust in you..."
"Thanks, Ametite."
"Oh, how'd you know my name? Are you psychic like Saphira here?" Saphira blushed at what Ametite just said and muttered "Awww..." under her breath.
"Well, sort of," Celestia replied, also feeling embarrassed. "You see... I hold this... this stone that gives me those powers..." Celestia held out her necklace with the green stone on it.
"That's... that's..." Ametite uttered in awe. "That's the Green Stone!" I heard about them... the Stones of Car'e! They're supposed to be really special... wish I had one... too bad there are only four... Well it doesn't matter anyways, because I have special powers even without a stone..."
"Like what?"
"You'll see. So, anyways, what were you doing there lying on the ground?"
"I got out of a cave and my head started to hurt real badly like a..." Suddenly, a funny feeling came over Celestia, like some strange force invading her mind... She started to get a headache again. "Oh great..." she uttered in agony, trying her best to keep the pain away. Her whole body glowed with intense green light, and there was an explosion seconds later. Celestia panted, completely exhausted. "Whew, that was a close one..." she sighed in relief. "Oh! I gotta go back and find Arunue and the others! And... uh-oh, Yusuke has been recaptured... I gotta go, Ametite! Bye!"
"Wait!" Ametite stopped her. "Celestia, please do me a favor and... please... can I come with you?" Celestia got a surprised look on her face. "Yeah, I know it sounds sudden, but I think I can be able to help you on your journey. Yes, I know it's dangerous, but... I'll stay until someone kicks me out. Just tell your friends I wanted to come and that I'm not a wraith or an enemy."
Celestia laughed at the sound of the word "wraith". "What makes you think that?" Ametite shrugged. "OK..." She tried to pick Celestia up to fly off with her, but Celestia stopped her. "I can sorta fly, don't you worry." And with that, she pointed her wand at the ground, shot a green beam out of it, and flew off. Ametite followed. "Don't worry," Celestia reassured Ametite, "I know where they are."[/color]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OOC: Hope that was OK... that was a long post... Hope it's OK to add anopther character... Ametite may not stay forever, but she probably will if you'll let her. Once again, she's not an enemy--I promise.