RPG Final Fantasy: Humanity's Last Stand. [13+ for cursing, violence, gore, perversion]

[Domon]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=Indigo][I]The wam water trickled and winded its way down his muscled tan back and then melded into the water at the bottom of the tub. Turning the water off, Cael reached for the towel rack, but his wet hair had plastered itself to his face and he couldn't see very well and he about fell over and out of the shower as he grabbed his towel and proceeded to dry himself off. As he stepped out of his bathroom Cael draped the towel about his waist rather loosely and he propped his right arm at the side of his window and stared out over the city, his white hair was now pulled back in a small ponytail for the time being, his eyes just stared out blankly at the landscape. For a few minutes Cael's mind just was somewhere else, until his phone rang. Picking up the black reciever Cael was greeted by his boss's voice.[/I]

"Cael, you're needed here pronto." [I]The gruff voice said and Cael muttered something and then hung the phone up.

Quickly shedding his towel Cael quickly dressed himself in his usual attire of his black long sleeved shirt, black pants, black strap boots, and a light tan trenchcoat. Glancing around his apartment Cael took his sword off its display hooks above his bed, then he grabbed a Hi-Potion out of his nightstand top drawer. As he walked out of the apartment building Cael was greeted by a balmy, arid breeze, quickly he signaled down a taxi. Sliding down onto the cushioned seat Cael set his sword across his lap.[/I]

"Where to sonny boy?" [I]The elderly man said as he looked in his rear view mirror at Cael.[/I]

"Axerion Corporation Headquarters." [I]With that the man floored the taxi and headed towards the global company's headquarters.

The car came to a slow crawl in front of the massive building stood amongst the sea of smaller skyscrapers and smaller buildings, its windows all melded as one made it look like some massive crystal. Pulling a crisp 100 gil from his pocket, Cael paid the driver and walked into the building's lobby with his trenchcoat billowing behind him as a breeze greeted him from the wind blowing out of the lobby.

A young quirky secretary sat answering the phone and directing calls to offices and to other people. Before Cael could say anything she mouthed for him to go to the top floor. Nodding Cael stepped into the elevator and propped himself against one wall and waited for the elevator to reach the top floor.

While the elevator climbed the building at a medium pace, Cael looked out over the city and saw the shores of lake Thyala, its pristine water glistened in the sunlight and Cael suddenly thinking about his pedafile of an uncle. The way he treated Cael was horrible, making him.. Quickly shaking his head to dispel the thoughts Cael undid his ponytail and let his hair fall loosely about his shoulders.

After a few more minutes of waiting the elevator finally came to a halt and the doors pinged open. Stepping into a lavishly furnished room Cael realized he had just entered the President's office. Sitting at a large oak desk was the persident, he was about thirty some with dark blond hair piercing green eyes.[/I]

"Ah, you must be Cael. Its a pleasure to meet you." [I]Cael nodded and took a seat.[/I]

"As you may know Axerion sent a space satellite into space to survey.."

"Yes, I know that already. Now , was I selected for the team or not?" [I]The president chuckled and nodded that Cael had definetly had been accepted.[/I]

"The rest of your team members are in the next room, so I suggest you go and meet them." [I]Nodding, Cael stood up and headed towards a large oak door and pushed it open and saw a group of other people.[/I][/COLOR][/SIZE]

Okay, that means that Hayden, Acacia, Edana, and Tylan will be interacting with Cael. Mages and Summoners will be doing their own thing for the time being.

[Sakura]

[COLOR=Navy]Reese woke up and stretched her arms above her head. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the time, it was still quite early. Reese opened her dresser and got out her usual attire, her long white dress and the black half piece of clothing that wound around her neck and formed sleeves. She walked through the door to the adjoined bathroom and reached into the shower cubicle to twist the tap for the hot water. She let the water heat up as she undressed from her nightgown. Reese saw it was getting warm so she turned on the cold water to balance the temperature. When it was right, she stepped into the shower and let the warm water run over her body. She sighed as her muscles relaxed from a stiff sleep. She hadn't been sleeping well lately. Reese picked up the bottle of shampoo and squeezed some onto the palm of her hand, she worked it into her long black hair and rinsed it off before doing the same with conditioner. Finally she picked up the soap and lathered herself before rinsing it off her body. When she finally decided she was clean, she turned off the taps and dried herself off with the towel before changing into her clothes and combed her hair.

When she got out, she saw she'd taken longer than she thought, she picked up her rapier and grabbed her gloves and ran out of the room. She was supposed to meet Prynn in the courtyard at 8 o'clock, it was 5 past 8 and Prynn hated tardiness.

Reese ran through the long, familiar halls until she reached the door to the courtyard. She stopped and took a deep breath before opening the door and walking out. Prynn stood in the center, waiting for her.

"I'm sorry I'm late." Reese said.
"Hurry and get read then." Prynn said.

Reese nodded and put her gloves on and put the rapier on her back, concealed beneath her hair like usual.

"Now, warm up with a regular." Prynn ordered.

Reese closed her eyes and Prynn waited to see who she would summon. He saw a wave of water and a large sea serpent coming towards them. It was Leviathan, the great Sea God. It stopped and then Reese sent it away.

"Very good, now, let's continue to practise the Double Summoning." Prynn said.
"Right." Reese said, standing by her master.[/COLOR]

[B]OOC:[/B] I just decided to not concentrate on Summoning yet. I'll wait for Strike Gundam to post.

[silpheedpilot]

[COLOR=Blue]Laying in an open field, the tall grass swaying in the morning breeze Bedros looked into the sky, eyeing the slowly forming clouds he raised a finger into the air he said a few quick words and a small flame danced on his finger tips, it suddenly formed into a rather small blaze.

"Fire." Bedros grinned, letting it drift away then finally just fading away with the gentle breeze itself. He let that hand drop to his siade and lifted his other hand into the air, with a snap of his fingers a small bolt of lighting stuck the ground near him, a tiny ploom of smoke drfting into the air.
"Thunder."
Bedros looked to the ploom of smoke in wafting into the air, and snapped his finger chanting a few words and small ice slabs formed together above the ploom of smoke forming into a slightly larger ice boulder, it crashed into the ground with a small 'bang'
"Blizzard."
Bedros sat up, and put his hand out. He cuped his hand and chanted a few qucik words as usual, a small sphere of water formed in the palm of his hand. Bedros brought the sphere of water to his lips and sucked in some of the water.
"Water."
Bedros let his cupped hand go and the water splashed onto the ground beside him. He stood up, taking up his staff as he carelessly stood. Looking up into the sky Bedros gave a loose two finger salute to the sun before walking back towards the village.[/COLOR]

[Veritas]

[COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=2][FONT=Century Gothic]Lake Thyala glistened in the sunlight like a polished saphire. Tylan watched the sun bounce off the lakes surface from a window in the conference room. He was dressed in his usual outfit for missions. He wore a tight fitting sleeveless turtle neck with a black metal collar, black tight fitting pants, a black belt with blue, white and black cloths hanging from it, shin high grey and black boots with an armor plate and black bracers on each arm. His sword was tied to a leather cloth hanging from the back of his belt. His knee length black hair was motion less hiding part of his sword and his back. A unique cross pendant swung around as he turned an walked over to a woman standing on the other side of the room.

"Its been a long time Acacia." Tylan said in a cold monotone voice.

"Yes it has Tylan. What have you been up to?" Acacia responded.

"Enjoying the benefits of a lakeside estate at Mi'hel." answered Tylan in a tone colder and harsher than usual.

"Hmmmm I see... that bad, that life style doesnt suit you." Acacia spoke calmly.

Tylan remained silent a fixed his gaze on the last one to walk through the door. He looked at him closely studying him with his piercing black eyes. Tylan's hair flutted as the solid oak door shut. Brusing his hair back he takes a few steps toward the newest arrival.

"Who are you?" Tylan asked in a demanding tone.

"I'm Cael, who are you?" Cael asked suprised by the suddeness of the question.

"Tylan, Are you the last?" He asked in his regular tone turning to look at the other 3 people in the room.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[The Vampire: Ed]

Slowly Hayden is awakened out of a deep slumber by the sounds of chirping birds, and a slight nudge from something. Hayden shook his head as his eyes clenched shut tighter before he finally turned towards the source of the nudges and snapped his eyes open waiting for the blurriness to fade and his eyes to focus. Slowly the face of a red headed beauty appears before him, and he just smiles and says "Hey, babe, didn't you get enough last night? Well, all right, I think I got enough for one more romp in the hay before I got to hit the road."

Hayden's smile fades as he sees the women looking frightened and rapidly glancing back over his shoulder. Hayden rolls over and comes to find his nose being pressed against by the barrel of a shotgun.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in my home, in my bed, and with my wife?!" The man yelled demanding an answer as he gripped the shotgun tighter.

"Uh-I'm with the government sleep disorder division, I go house to house testing out home owner's various relaxation devices, furniture, such as couches, chairs, beds--wives..." Hayden said with a slight nervous laugh following his answer.

The clicking of the shotgun being pumped caused Hayden to bite his lip and squeeze his eyes shut.

"Don't you mouth off to me you son of a *****! I'll blow your head off." The man replied.

Hayden opened his eyes, and grinned just before he shoved the shotgun away and jump out of bed knocking the man over. Hayden grabbed his small heap of clothes and his guns in their gun holsters hanging from the head board. He sprinted from the house quickly being pursued by the disgruntled husband blasting his shotgun nearly hitting Hayden as the women screamed for him to stop. Hayden leapt onto his motorcycle parked in front of the house fumbling for the keys in his leather jacket laying in his lap, after finally getting his keys out and starting the motorcycle another shotgun blast is heard as the asphalt beside Hayden is blown apart.

Hayden revs the engine for a second then takes off before another shot could be fired. Looking at his watch Hayden realizes he is late for the meeting he was to be attending at Axerion Corporation Headquarters. He fumbles trying to get his clothing on as he walks into the building while people stare at him, lastly he puts his leather jacket on and makes his way towards the meeting room. Hayden throws open the doors looking around seeing the faces of four other people giving him dirty looks for being so late.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Hayden says wiping off his face. "Well, let's get on with things I'm looking for some action."

[Cyriel]

[I]Jeez, why the h*** did I come so early?[/I] Edana shifted uncomfortably; she had been there for almost an hour in that sweltering room, and the others hadn't come until now. Her foot was falling asleep, and the pinpricks were running up and down her leg. She resisted the urge to hop madly up and down to get rid of the needle-feeling. But as she kept shifting her position, some of the others were looking with slight annoyance at her.

[I]Well, at least they're acknowledging that I exist. It's better than being completely invisible.[/I] Most of the other teams she had been with hadn't even looked at her. They had ignored her existence until she had proven herself to them, and even then it was reluctantly given, if at all. She held in an impatient sigh, and then continued to shift. Her back started popping, and Tylan glanced at her with the slightly annoyed expression. Acacia didn't even glance her way, but from her eyes Edana could tell that she too could hear the bones in her back popping back into place. Obviously she had been standing too long. [I]Well, if they hadn't been so late, they wouldn't have to put up with all my cricks.[/I] Another bad thought.

The door flung open again, and she stopped her breath from hissing as she usually did. Since she was so young, it didn't help when she betrayed nervousness; others thought that only meant for inexperience. [I]I'm no newbie.[/I]

Hayden walked in with a confident stride, wiping the light sweat off of his face, "What? Do I have something on my face? Well, let's get on with things I'm looking for some action."

Edana couldn't keep in her annoyance any longer, and her impatience overflowed. She couldn't resist the urge to throw a vocal barb, "Yes, actually, you do have something on your face, now that you've deemed to arrive. Your mouth seems to have swelled with your ego." As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted desperately to snatch them back and swallow them. [I]Crap, this is just the perfect first impression that I gave them; an annoying teenager who's also a smart-a**.[/I] But she merely shifted again, placing herself comfortably against one of the walls.

[The Vampire: Ed]

Hayden look surprised, and with his brow raised simply stared at Edana for a moment. Then that smile returned as he slowly nodded his head approvingly at the young beauty.

"Oh yeah, she want's me." Hayden declared in a low tone while nudging Tylan with his elbow who simply shook his head in disgust. "I can feel the love in this room. Hey, darlin', if you're back is bothering you don't hesitate to ask ol' Hayden for a back rub. I'd be happy to-uh, pleasure you."

Edana sighed, and looked away with a small annoyed grunt. The rest of the team had a similar reaction to the egotistical Hayden, but he seemingly unaware of utter disgust they were feeling for him at that moment. Hayden spun a swivel chair around flopped down, and spun back around placing his feet on the table as he leaned back placing his arms behind his head.

"So what's up, sweetie pie?" Hayden asks Acacia with a confident grin. "I like older women too, they're so mature-don't hurt that they know a little more the young ones too, huh?"

Hayden laughed leaning back further, and just as it seemed Acacia and Edana were ready to fire off their own opinions of Hayden he falls back having leaned back too far. He hits the floor and rolls over onto his face quickly getting back to his face looking a bit embarrassed but mostly retained his confident grin. Finally the silence was broken as everyone couldn't help but laugh, even the most serious of looking ones snickered softly at seeing the big headed Hayden fall.

"Hey, I meant to do that." Hayden stammered with his slightly bruised ego.

"All right, whatever you say Romeo. Just try to keep it in your pants, this is a job not a bar during happy hour." Cael replied as he rolled his eyes at Hayden.

"Whatever you say [b]boss[/b], just trying to ease the tension." Hayden says as he takes his seat again, then leans towards Edana and speaks in a low tone. "What crawled up his *** and died?"

Cael heard the comment, but much like Edana, he ignored the pompous comments of Hayden. Hayden cleared his throat, and slumped down in his seat muttering random things.

[Domon]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][I]Still standing against the left wall next to the doorway smirking at what this group was like, there were two others that were very quiet, and two that were practically new. Though Edana had very high level of maturity for her age. Cael held his sword at his side and waited for someone else to make an apperance, after about five more minutes Cael finally decided it was time for him to make the briefing. Pressing a couple of buttons the room darkened and a hologram of the entire world appeared in the center of the room.[/I]

"As you are all aware there are two lakes on this side of the world, Mi'hel and Thyala. But there is one more massive lake, but all attempts to access it from the air have failed, as have the three ground missions because the high infestation of monsters. So, at the moment I'm sure you all are wondering why the hell we would attempt another ground mission. The reason behind you four being chosen is because of your fighting talents and your other attributes.." [I]Cael said as he shot a glare at Hayden who was eyeing Edana, the youngster quickly turned back towards Cael and nodded for him to continue.[/I]

"Anyways, we are to travel via vehicle to a ranch just at the mountain base, there we will pick up horses and the rest of our supplies and continue through a path in the mountains. Now, any questions?" [I]Hayden raised his hand as Cael let him ask the question.[/I]

"What kind of vehicles are we taking??" [I]Cael only looked at him and motioned for them to follow him towards another elevator at the other side of the room.

The five of them crammed into the elevator and found something to occupy themselves while they waited for the elevator to finally reach its destination. Cael found himself messing with the collar of his trenchcoat, he noticed Hayden twirling his guns around his gloved hands, Acacia was merely looking bored as was Tylan, and Edana had her eyes closed but she was tracing her whip at her side.

As the elevator finally came to a halt Cael stepped out of the elevator first and the automatic fluorescent lights came on and illuminated the vehicles for transporting the five. Five very new looking motorcycles in several different colors sat waiting for them. Hayden let out a loud whistle of impressment.[/I]

"Damn these are sweet *** rides! I call the red one!!" [I]Cael smirked as he ran for the red motorcycle and lept on it. The others took some that they liked until Cael was finally seated on the blue motorcycle.

Nodding at the group they all started up their engines which triggered the garage doors to open.[/I]

"All right, keep me in sight and don't pull any crap!" [I]Cael said jokingly as he fired his bike towards the doors followed by Hayden. Their mission had finally begun.

Meanwhile in a dark board room in the Axerion building several figures sat around looking towards each other.[/I]

"So they won't find out about the experiments will they?"

"I'm sure they won't make it past the other side of the mountains, not with the powerful monster lurking there. Of course if that village does truly exist, we might have to find something else to stop them from finding it.." [I]A familiar voice lilted in.[/I]

"If they find it, they find it there's nothing we can do until then got it?"[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Veritas]

[COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=3][FONT=Century Gothic]The wind blew past Tylan's face back to his hair causing it to flutter. He had chosen a sleek black bike the same color as his eyes. He glanced back at Acacia and Edana then looking forward at Cael and Hayden.

"What a group they have assembled. Acacia, she can hold her own that im sure of. Hayden, I have heard rumors of but I'm finding them hard to believe. Edana, I haven't heard anything about her bad or good. Cael, I rememer hearing a few stories about him I am interested to see what he can do." Tylan thought as they rode through the city.

Tylan sped up catching up to Hayden who seems to be enjoying himself. Hayden looks over at him grins cuts over and starts accelerating.

"Child" Tylan thinks as he begins to try to pass Hayden to his right. Hayden cuts over blocking his path again. Annoyed by Hayden and his childish games Tylan starts acceleration to his right. Hayden once again moves over to block his past when Tylan quickly turns to the left accelerates lining up with Hayden. Tylan continues to accelerate past Hayden coming up behind Cael.

"It's good to be back out of retirement" Tylan coldly muttered under his breath. He thought of what put him into early retirement.

"Coup D'Etat...... I was a factor behind the scenes getting rid of parts that were in Axerion's way. I was a soldier but they made me an assassin then after they had their control they practically kick me out of the city and try to keep me contemp with a lakeside estate at Mi'hel. Now they ask for my help in finding a lake that has never been reached. What are they thinking of doing. There is more to this than meets the eye but what?" Lost in thought Tylan looks forward at the mountains growing
steadily in the distance picking off an outline of what looks like a ranch.

"Almost There"[/FONT] [/SIZE] [/COLOR]

[The Vampire: Ed]

Hayden's joy ride was a little hampered seeing Tylan speed past him, but his ego wouldn't let him let it go. Hayden reved the engine several times, then gave it gas speeding up while leaning back. The motorcycle then began to lift off of it's front wheel, then Hayden leaned forward again to balance it out as he showed off for the ladies behind him then drove right on past Tylan again then Cael.

"You're slacking off guys!" Hayden yells as he confidently waved at Tylan and Cael while still doing a wheeling. "I'm the man, and don't you guys forget it!"

Hayden laughed showing off, and while he looked like nothing more than a goof he obviously was a very skilled rider. The team was impressed at his riding abilities all though they were still annoyed by his big mouth, but the thought came to Cael's mind "I hope he's as good in battle as he is on a bike, because right now he looks like he'd just slow us down with his arrogant, and radical behavior."

Hayden dropped his front wheel finally feeling that he had impressed them enough, then dropped back by Cael's side.

"Cael, you were a complete buzzkill back in the office man. But if the motorcycles were you're idea I gotta say I'm impressed." Hayden yelled to Cael piercing the wind, and Cael just grinned before rolling his eyes again at another ignorant statement. "So, which one are you going for, huh? I like both the ladies, so either one's good enough for me. I'm given you first pick."

Hayden suddenly saw Cael's eyes grow a bit with surprised as he looked past him, a look he has seen many times on the wives' faces he slept with. It was usually a face that let him know he was in some trouble, and in trouble he was as he looked to his left seeing Edana and Acacia riding neck to neck with him.

"Hey, ladies, is ol' Hayden making you hot?" Hayden said loud enough for just them to hear, but Cael knew he had gone and said something else offensive to the women as they scrunched their noses up at him. "Aww, come on ladies. There's enough Hayden for the both of you. Hey, Edana, sweet thing, why don't you give Hayden a peck on the cheek?"

Hayden laughed and leaned his head over a bit teasing Edana, but he would soon regret it. Edana took her right hand off the handle bar and quickly brought it across Hayden's face as she speed up passing him. The impact made a thunderous sound as Hayden rocked back and forth a bit before spinning out. Edana had been shocked by her momentary laps in judgment, and worried that she might get him killed. Quickly the rest of the team slowed down, and spun around heading back towards Hayden now laying in the road with the motorcycle laying on it's side.

"Oh my god!" Edana screamed feeling guilty, and worried. "I killed him!"

They stopped and Edana ran over to Hayden's side and slowly rolled him over onto his back. His eyes were shut, but luckily he was still breathing and seemed to fall without so much as a scratch on him, well--except for the big red hand imprint left by Edana's slap. They all crowded around looking worried, and Edana kept muttering that she was sorry.

"Great, all we need now is to lose someone even before the mission is on it's way." Tylan said more annoyed by Hayden's antics than Edana's slapping him.

"I'm SO sorry! Please be okay, please! It's all my fault." Edana said as she leaned over Hayden moving the hair from his face while holding his hand.

"Don't blame yourself, Edana, the moron had it coming. I just wish you would have saved it for when we arrived at the location we were headed." Cael said as he just shook his head getting ready to call for some help from his cellphone.

Suddenly Edana straightened up completely as her body went stiff and her eyes stared off into the horizon, slowly she looked back finding Hayden's other hand caressing her backside. Her eyes widened as her face flustered both from embarrassment and anger, then she turned her attention back to Hayden now looking back at her smiling. The rest of the team shook there head is disgust again, but then watched on knowing Hayden was in for it again.

"You perverted big headed idiot!" Edana screamed as she mercilessly smacked the smile from his face, then rained down at least ten more in quick succession. Hayden's hand had released Edana's rear, going straight to his face cupping the red throbbing hot flesh of his cheeks. Edana quickly got up, but before storming off to her motorcycle kicked Hayden in the leg.

"OWW!!" Hayden yelled as he rolled around cupping his cheek, and now gripping at his leg. Then surprisingly he laughed and smiled through the pain. "Feisty! I like em' feist!."

"Hold on." Cael said into his cellphone as he watched the events take place, then went back to speaking to the emergency operator. "Nevermind, he's okay--for now. I might have to call back later though so keep an ambulance ready."

Hayden slowly got up limping a bit on his numb leg from Edana's kick, he grinned at his teammates but as usual received disapproving stares. Hayden watched as they got back on their motorcycles, and even heard Acacia mutter "asshole" under her breath. Hayden just sighed, and picked up his motorcycle getting on and starting it back up. Just as soon as Hayden started his engine the others took off leaving him trailing behind a small distance.

"So much for having a little fun..." Hayden muttered as he speed up to catch up to the rest of them.

[Cyriel]

OOC: -_-;; blech, little perv...and I didn't know that Edana was that...hysterical.

IC:

Edana raced off, keeping up on her bike with Cael, Tylan, and Acacia, while Hayden raced to catch up. Her face was burning red; never had she been so humiliated in her life! She kept her eyes on the road ahead, willing her blush to die down quickly, before any of the others really noticed. Of course, everyone [I]had[/I] noticed, but wisely kept it to themselves. As Hayden caught up, Edana quickly maneuvered as far away as possible from him, keeping to the outside of Acacia.

[I]I can't believe what a screwball that guy is[/I], she thought bitterly, as she kept Acacia and the others between her line of view of Hayden. He, too, wisely kept away...for now. [I]Why why why why why did I lose my ********** temper?? Argh, why the h*** did I do that???[/I] Edana wanted to scream again. [I]Oh, stop throwing a tantrum like a little kid! Get a hold of yourself. Jeez, by this time, that perv will probably be dead, the mission failed, and I held to be a completely hysterical moron just because I can't keep control of myself. D*** it![/I]

She had been unconsciously revving up her bike the entire time, and found herself a little ahead of the group. Her face growing a bit red again, she muttered to herself as she dropped back to match their pace. She must admit, though, that racing on the bike was making her feel much better. Glancing over quickly, she saw Acacia brush her eyes over her. Edana bit her lip. [I]Acacia still hasn't spoken to me either. She probably never will now, as I've shown that I'm completely incompetent to hold my temper even in missions. D***.[/I] She looked ahead again, just concentrating on not blushing and not thinking about "the incident."

[I]D***, I really want to kill him.[/I]

[Domon]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][I]Still a little surprised from the little escapade Hayden had put on Cael could only smirk in amusement. At this rate the group would either become good friends or end up murdering each other. Either way it sounded odd, Cael friends with other people?? Really the only friend Cael had was his sword master he had been trained under, other than that he didn't have anyone else. His parents killed in the Coup D'etat and his uncle dead (at Cael's own hands.) Cael really didn't have any family left to be around.

Turning his attention back to what lay ahead of him he saw the outline of the ranch, the group had actually made good timing. Glancing at his watch Cael let out a small whistle, they had definetly made good timing, his original thoughts were that the group would get there maybe around a later time and have to spend the night, but if they kept this up the group would probably be halfway through the mountain trail by nightfall, that is if the monsters didn't swarm them..

Picking up more speed Cael finally led the group to the ranch's long driveway and finally up to the house. The house was all on one level with a tan coloring to it and a black roof, aside from the house there was a standard water tower meant for storing the surplus water that any rural estate needed, and two large barns. One Cael guessed housed the horses, because of the loud neighing and the bales of hay stacked next to it, the other one then contained some small farm equipment. The owner of the farm finally walked out of the barn with a look of shock on his weathered face.[/I]

"Damn you five are early! How about you guys just take it easy and.." [I]Cael waved his in thanks but his look remained emtionless.[/I]

"Thanks, but all we really would need is some food, the rest of our supplies, and the horses." [I]The man nodded obligingly and led the group towards the house.[/I]

"My wife just got lunch set up and she makes plenty." [I]That proved to be an understatement because within ten or so minutes all the food was gone and the wife was left in awe, mainly due to Hayden and his total goofiness. Cael on the other hand was not in awe but sheerly annoyed, his left eyebrow twitched in slight anger.[/I]

"Thank you ma'am for the food, now we'll be on our way." [I]Cael said as he paid the woman at least three hundred gil for the trouble of feeding all of them. As soon as that was done Cael left the house and headed for the stable and saw the farmer slinging some supply bags onto the horses while the others picked out some horses for themselves. Sighing, Cael walked over towards a horse that was copper colored and had a pure black main and tail and some black coloring around its hooves. Stroking its face Cael decided this was the horse he'd take with him through the trail.[/I][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Balinese]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Vela closed her eyes and mumbled the words of a Protect spell that had taken her forever to learn. It wasn't that the spell was really tough, just that the intonation of the words kept slipping her mind. She raised her hands and felt the energy flow from her to create a shield.

"Very good, Vela." Her father nodded, smiling.
"Can I go out to the fountain in the village? Please? I promised Rosa and Locke that I'd be there this afternoon."
"I suppose. Be back in by dark. You have meditation to do, as well as practice." Her father walked into the giant library that comprised about two-thirds of the family's home.
"Yes, Father." Vela bowed slightly as her father left, then muttered "You arrogant pig. Study, practice, meditate. If it was all up to you, I'd never have any friends!" She took off to the fountain in the center of her hometown, a happy seventeen-year-old girl for the time being.[/FONT]

[StrikeGundam]

[color=navy]Prynn sat in the courtyard, leaning with his back against a stump in the middle of the courtyard. Sunlight filtered through the emerald leaves that made up the canopy over the clearing, and glittered on the surface of the small grotto that Prynn had built next to his garden. With a large yawn, he closed his eyes and basked in the warm sun. [/color]

[color=teal][i]It's after eight, but it's no problem. Frankly, I'm not sure how she either of us gets up this early all the time.[/i][/color]

[color=navy]Reese's familiar quick footfalls jolted Prynn awake. He quickly assumed a position that indicated that he had been waiting for a long time, and was slightly irked because of it. [/color]

[color=darkslateblue]"I'm sorry I'm late." [/color][color=navy]Reese said respectfully, her head slightly bowed. She knew that he wasn't really that angry, but they always acted out the same routine whenever she wasn't on time. [/color]

[color=teal]"Hurry and get ready then."[/color][color=navy] Prynn replied, completeing the routine. [/color]

[color=#000080]Reese got ready and preformed an effortless summoning of Leviathan. Prynn was amazed by how effortlessly that she pulled off calling forth the great sea god. [/color]
[i][color=teal]If she coninues like this, she'll soon surpass me... Time to move myself foreward as well...[/color][/i]

[color=#008080]"Very good," "now, lets continue to practice the double summoning."[/color]
[color=#008080][/color]
[color=navy]Prynn and Reese found a large clear area and stood several feet apart.[/color]
[color=teal][/color]
[color=#008080]"Remember that we changed the second set of hand motions to indicate class change. [/color]
[color=#008080][/color]
[color=darkslateblue]"Don't worry, I won't forget this time if you don't." [/color][color=navy]Prynn winced slightly, remembering all of the times that he had slipped and summoned his Bahamut instead of participating in the double summon. Prynn cleared his mind of all thoughts other than the ones needed for the summon. He raised his hands and did the complicated motions needed, making sure to include the new motions. An aura appeared, but it seemed very familiar to the High Summoner. The aura began to glow brighteras the summoning began to take shape. A pair of silver wings appeared, soon followed by two other pairs. Prynn watched a smile dawn on Reese' s face and felt hiss own mouth do the same. He thought to himself, [/color][color=teal][i]We have finally succeeded in a double secrect summon! Its unprecedented![/i][/color]
[i][color=navy][/color][/i]
[color=#000080]Just as soon as the thoughts entered his mind, the aura faded, and the creature dissappeared. [/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=darkslateblue]"Wait... What happened?"[/color]
[color=#000080][/color]
[color=teal]"Ummm... I... don't know. Perhaps we need... a break. How about breakfast?"[/color]
[color=#008080][/color]
[color=navy]Prynn [/color][color=navy]hurriedly snatched up his staff and quickly exited the courtyard into his home, followed closely by his skeptical apprentice.[/color]
[color=#008080][/color]

[silpheedpilot]

[COLOR=Blue]Bedros sat at the edge of town, playing with the elements he had control of with his fingertips like it was nothing. It was of course nothng, to him of course. A few people passed by Bedros glancing at his magic. Bedros flicked his wrist and awed the passing people with larger magic, in fact a large wave of fire skimmed the road, the grass on the edge of the road was nothing but singe.

"Its called Fira.." Bedros said, giving a quick smile before running a hand through his hair. He jammed the end of his staff into the ground, then let go knowing he placed in far enough in that it would not fall over. He smiled to the people as the left the town seemingly talking about the marvelous magic Bedros pulled off. To him, though, it was nothing but everyday living. Bedros leaned against the large rock he was sitting next to and glanced around, he saw people moving about inside the village but rarely even conversed with them. It wasn't because he didn't like to, he just wasn't a people person. After Bedros's little daydream a little kid sprang out from behind the rock startling him.

"Wha?!" Bedros exclaimed jumping at the sudden cry and shadow that leapt at him. He snatched the kid up by the scruff of his shirt and shook him back and forth.

"Heeey Bedros! Stop!" the kid exclaimed gripping at Bedros's wrists. Bedros let him go and ruffled his hair.

"You little worm! Dont scare me like that, you nearly gave me a heart attack." Bedros laughed then snapped his fingers, a small jolt of lightning struck the kid whos hair stood straight up and down.

"Yeee-owch!" the kid exclaimed barely able to utter a sound do to the sudden shock. "I'll get you Bedros!"

Bedros stood and took off without a word exclaiming the kid couldn't catch him and let a small water sphere splash the kid. "Come and get me, Tango!"[/COLOR]

[Balinese]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Vela looked up as a man charged by her, followed by a little kid who was soaked. "O...kay."
Her friend Rosa watched as the pair charged by with a dreamy expression on her face. "Ooh, that must be that black mage who lives on the outside of town. He's a real hottie."
"Rosa, get your head out of the clouds." A young man leaned over the edge of the fountain, flicking water in Rosa's face. "Mages with mages, remember?"
"Locke, shut up." Rosa calmly pushed on the back of Locke's head, dumping him in the water. "It was just a thought."
"And your thoughts tend to be all about men, huh?" Vela shoved Rosa backwards into the water. She came up sputtering and glared at her friend.
"You should talk to him. You two might get along. Besides, doesn't your dad want you to learn a little offensive magic?"
"C'mon, Rosa! I can barely do a Protect spell right!"
"All the more reason." Rosa gave Vela a shove after the man. "Go on. We'll cover for you if your dad comes looking for you."
[I]"Veha, veha. Mad ed pa ujan ouin rayt, peydlr. [/I] (Fine, fine. Let it be over your head, biatch.)" Before Rosa could get out a suitable reply, Vela was running full tilt after the man. "HEY!"[/FONT]

[Domon]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][I]After saddling up their horses the group continued towards the mountain, there no longer were any roads so they were going all across desert with minor watering holes that the goverment had provided along the route to the mountains. Cael just kept his eyes covered and watched as the mountains started to loom in front of them, he knew that the peaks being so far up had accumulated vast amounts of snow, which meant large quantaties of water, but the problem was getting it.

Turning his attention away from the mountains Cael noticed a few wild cactaurs running about like children. He'd heard people that moved into the city call the cactuars "Children of the desert." At first the lead one stopped and just stood there unblinking at Cael and then it just scampered off with its friend chasing it. Smiling Cael just clicked his tounge for his horse to move a little faster so they could get to the mountain base faster.[/I]

"Hey, Cael. What's the plan for when we get to the mountains??" [I]Hayden asked in a serious voice, which shocked Cael for a moment.[/I]

"Well, we'll make camp in a decent area and then the next day we'll go as far as we can and then make camp again. That is if we live through the night." [I]Being rather cryptic at the end of his sentence Cael grinned inwardly at Hayden's obvious shock that they would be sleeping out near monsters and such.

The proceeded on slowly but surely, by about twilight the group had finally reached the base of the mountains and Cael could already feel the cool air rushing to greet him. He breathed in deeply and sighed as his horse's hooves clomped down on the rock path. Climbing off Cael stretched his body and watched as the others did the same. [/I]

"All right, how about we walk for a decent ways and then make camp for the night." [I]The others nodded and they started down the decently cool pathway.[/I][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Veritas]

[COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=2][FONT=Century Gothic]Now leading thier horses forward toward the mountain that now towers over them. The sun was now starting to set and darkness was falling. Tylan's free hand gripped his sword out of instinct, not percaution. He glanced over at Acacia who was leading her horse a bit behind him.

"So different from old times" Tylan said looking at the setting sun.
"Yes it is" plainly relied Acacia.

Their idle chatter seemed to attract Haydens attention.

"You two know each other?" Hayden asked as he eyed Acacia.
"Yes" Tylan coldly answered.
"I see, You guys romantic?" Hayden asked glancing at Tylan.
"No" Acacia and tlan replied at the same time looking annoyed.
"Whoa I see, So Hayden has you all to himself."

Acacia glared at him then looked forward concentrating on the path. Tylan was now back to minding his own business. Tylan looked up at the mountain and thought "I wonder if Cael knows anymore about the mission? I"ll ask him when we set up camp." He tugged on the reins of the horse urging it at a slighly faster pace. He soon came up along Cael.

"We should probably set up camp before nightfall." Tylan said now walking at Caels side.
"Yeah I was thinking that too. I think there might be a possible place over there" Cael said pointing to a spot a short distance away.
"Also Id like to talk to you more after we've set up camp" Tylan remarked looking back at the desert they crossed.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Cyriel]

The sunset blazed across the sky, seemingly setting the desert on fire with its bright conflagration. As Edana looked back, she felt her spirit rise, and couldn't help but smile. Brushing her finger over the tattoo under her eye, she turned back to see the others on the trail up ahead of her. Remembering the cactuars, she laughed quietly to herself, stopping when Cael glanced over at her with a skeptical look. But when he looked away again, the smile returned to her face. She couldn't help it - the atmosphere was just so...full of hope to her. Despite the dangers of various monsters in the mountains, Edana couldn't get rid of the feeling that she wanted to leap and shout in happiness.

Leading her horse down the pathway scattered with shade, she breathed in the clear mountain air. It was wonderful, fresh with the scents of nature. Running her hand over the soft nose of her horse, she felt an unfamiliar wave of homesickness. Edana rarely thought of home, but now memories rose clearly before her, and it was with a melancholy happiness that she ran the memories through her life. The familiar scent of horses rose up to greet her, and she could remember helping her father train them on their farm... It hadn't been a bad life...but she had tired of it, and left. She hadn't seen her family since. [I]I wonder how they're all doing...[/I]

She was broken out of her peaceful trance at Cael's quiet call to make camp. Quickly hobbling her horse, she spread out with the others to search and scout the area. It was a small shallow, blocked from the fiercer winds, and farely quiet. Quickly shinnying up a tree, Edana was greeted again with the breathtaking view, and she stilled as the last warm rays of the sun lit upon her face. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply the last air of daylight, and felt night breathing upon her skin.

A voice below interrupted her, "Hey, ever think of wearing a skirt?"

Edana bit her lip, a blush spreading across her face. [I]Not him again.[/I] Looking down through the leaves, she spotted Hayden's familiar face near the trunk of the tree. "Don't you have something better to do? Like seducing some poor mountain goat?"

He laughed, and she bit her lip again, suppressing the urge to shout some embittered curses. "Seduce is a good word! For an innocent, I suppose. What, you don't like the more graphic ones? I can think of some, if you'd like."

Edana merely held her words back, the blush spreading. She grew frustrated; why the h*** did she blush so easily? She wanted to get out of the tree and away from him, but... [I]If I go down there, I'll probably try to kill him. Cael probably wouldn't like that, and then we'd have to waste time digging a grave. Better to stay up here....[/I] Sighing, she tried to ignore him, and climbed up higher in the leafy branches to lose sight of him. "Perv," she muttered under her breath. [I]Hopefully, someone will come get us soon. Or if I'm really lucky, then some monster will chomp his balls off before he can escape.[/I]

[silpheedpilot]

Aye yi yi! You guys...and guyettes advance time so quickly!
--------------------------------------

[COLOR=Blue]Bedros and Vela had spent almost all day together, laughing, swapping stories and all the such. Bedros was suprised at himself. Suprised he took to someone so quickly, though there was the fact that they shared much in common, plus she was very beautiful, and she and Bedros clicked almost instantly.

"Wont someone come looking for you?" Bedros asked, laying back in the grass, staring up at the darkening lavender and orange sky, the moon at a awe inspiring cresent.

"I suppose so, but they haven't yet." Vela responded, looking into the sky also, her arms around her bent knees. She bobbed to and fro and glanced around.

"What about your father? I heard he is a real hot head when it comes to you and...other things besides magic" Bedros said, nudging Vela and rasing his eyebrows quickly as if he was scheming the greatest bank robbery in history.

Vela rolled her eyes and laughed it off. "Bedros!"

Bedros grabbed at the grass to his side, picking it from the land then gently tossing it away, as it drifted off in the evening breeze. He heard someone yell, but it was incoherent, the person was pretty far away. Bedros sat up and looked towards the person, who seemed very angry and was moving towards them at an alarming amount of speed.
"Is this at the point where we begin panicking?" Bedros asked, giving off an obvious fake laugh.[/COLOR]

[Domon]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][I]Sitting at the edge of a pool that was in the vicinity of the clearing, Cael could hear the constant babbling of Hayden harassing Edana. Laying down on his back, Cael just watched the slit of sky that he could see from between the cliff walls. The clearing was decently covered with grass and had a few sparse tree, of course they didn't go up that high. Letting out a small sigh Cael continued to lay there until he heard Tylan's boots crunching the earth as he walked towards Cael. Propping himself up Cael turned and faced Tylan, the black-haired man then squatted down and looked at Cael with rather serious eyes.[/I]

"I need to talk to you about something." [I]Cael nodded and Tylan then pulled out a small data pad.[/I]

"I pulled up some information about this mission before we left, and I know that if we are trying to get land from anyone near that lake that we are to pay them off. My question is, where is all this money??" [I]Cael rolled his eyes, obviously this Tylan was very thorough and didn't miss a thing.[/I]

"All right, fine. You got me, the money is to be shipped when Axerion sends some big shot officials over." [I]Tylan nodded. Cael still remembered when he was told about the whole deal, it just felt wrong to him. Hauling himself out of his sitting position, Cael dusted off his jacket and turned towards the group. Seeing some Acacia already placing things within her tent, Cael decided he should start unpacking some of the other things like the food and his tent. Looking back towards Hayden and Edana, Cael yelled at them.[/I]

"ALL RIGHT KIDS!! I'M STARTING FOOD HERE IN A BIT SO QUIT PLAYING AROUND!!"[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Balinese]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Vela smiled at Bedros' fake laugh. "Aren't you an almighty black mage?" she said, poking him in the side. "We'll be fine."
The person continued to move toward them at an alarming speed, and Vela began to feel just a little nervous. "Maybe I was wrong?" She reached instinctively for her back, then realized that she didn't have her sword with her. "Ah.... aw man..."
"Just back me up." Bedros stood, watching the person and holding a ball of contained lightning in his palm.
"What?! I can barely..." she trailed off as she noticed he wasn't listening.

Bedros kept his eyes on the person heading toward them, breathing slowing in the concentration of a mage. Vela recognized this and began to slow her breathing as well, creating a readiness in her mind.

"Vela, just be ready to cast Protect." Bedros watched the form approach. It was an older man, yelling impolitely, and he relaxed. "It's just... an old guy."

The man kept yelling. [i]"Vela! Frana ryja oui paah? Ed'c bycd tyng! Oui cruimt ryja paah rusa ruinc yku!" (Vela! Where have you been? It's past dark! You should have been home hours ago!)[/i]

"What did he say?"
"He wants me home. That's my dad." Vela turned with a contrite expression. [i]"Cunno, Vydran. E'ja paah rana dymgehk fedr drec [u]pmylg syka[/u] yht E mucd dnylg uv desa." (Sorry, Father. I've been here talking with this black mage and I lost track of time.)[/i] She emphasized the words [i]pmlg syka[/i] (black mage).

"Ah, so this is that black mage that Rosa was babbling about? I thought she was covering for you so you could sneak off to see some young man." At these words, Vela blushed. Bedros raised an eyebrow and flashed a rather handsome smile.

"Bedros, sir. Your daughter was just telling me she would like instruction in black magic?" He raised his voice a little, as though he was asking whether or not she'd be allowed.

"Hm. [i]Vela. Fa'na mayjehk. Oui lyh dymg du drec ouihk syh yhudran desa." ( Vela. We're leaving. You can talk to this young man another time.)[/i] He turned to Bedros. "I hope my troublesome daughter hasn't caused any problems for you. Perhaps we'll see you around."
"Yes, sir." Bedros cast a sympathetic wink at Vela, who smiled at him. "See you, Bedros. Maybe we can work together sometime."

Vela and her father left. Bedros could hear him yelling at her from nearly two miles off. "Yeesh, and I thought I had it bad as a kid..." He shook his head and lay back down on the grass.[/FONT]

[The Vampire: Ed]

Hayden was feeling starved and wondered towards Cael ready to eat whatever he could get his hands on, meanwhile Edana sighed, closed her eyes, and then slowly began to climb down not wanting to leave the beautiful site behind. Edana finally put her feet back on the ground, and felt relieved that Hayden's attention had be taken off of her for at least a moment. Hayden stood watching Cael unpacking the food, all most tempted to just tear it out himself just to get at it.

"I'm starving man, can't you hurry up?" Hayden pestered Cael. "You're starving? You probably ate the most food back at the cabin, pig." Edana said as she slowly walked towards Cael, and Hayden. "High metabolism. I burn my energy up quick." Hayden replied with a grin. Edana rolled her eyes seemingly unconvinced, and started to help Cael unpack.

"Hayden." Cael called to which Hayden stood up straight and saluted jokingly. "Yes, sir!" Hayden replied. "Make yourself useful, and go collect some firewood." Cael said as he simply ignored him. Hayden looked a little annoyed, but went off to get some firewood. Edana gave Cael a funny look as she found some campfire logs all ready packed in with the rest of the provisions.

"Cael, we don't need any firewood." Edana replied holding up a log she found, but Cael continued unpacking and simply replied "I know."

Edana laughed to herself imagining Hayden stumbling through the forest collecting sticks, and branches for no reason. Hayden meanwhile just walked around grabbing the driest sticks he could find for them to use in the fire, a few times he was hit in the face by tree limbs blowing in the breeze but tried his best to keep his cool. Finally he had enough and went back to camp, only to find a fire had all ready been started. Everyone looked at him and laughed, causing Hayden to toss the sticks he collected away then yell "What the ****?!"

Edana suddenly went quite realizing Hayden was taking a seat next to her, and tried to ignore him completely. "Haha! You guys are real funny..." Hayden said with a sarcastic looking smile. "Maybe that'll teach you to stop acting like a dick." Tylan replied only to have Hayden wave it off.

"Fine, you guys had your fun, so what's to eat?" Hayden asked quickly perking up with the scent of food.

[silpheedpilot]

[COLOR=Blue]Bedros laid in the grass, the sky darkening every moment of the passing day. He thought about his day with Vela, a very beautiful White Mage, though he guessed she wasn't to proficient in the arts. Bedros was willing to teach her some Black Magic, though her father didn't seem to happy that she was away from her own studies, as well as with an man. Bedros smiled and sat up, her looked around then got up after a while of sitting. Bedros walked to town and entered the local tavern, taking his seat in the corner. The bartender brought him his usual drink.

"I'll put it on your tab, Bedros" the bartender said, walking away.

Bedros waved his hand in front of his drink and suddenly a small blaze was dancing on the surface of his drink. Bedros picked his drink up and downed it. A heroic feat if one must say. Bedros got up and left the tavern, waving to the bartender as he left. It was a quick visit to the tavern, a quick drink and he was on his way. Bedros stopped a passerby.

"Hey, do you know a Vela?" Bedros asked, leaning on his staff.

"Why, of course! Everyone does!" the passerby respoded

"How about where she lives?" Bedros asked, a smile forming on his face, and an idea forming in his mind. Something along the lines of a late night visit.[/COLOR]

[Sakura]

[color=navy]Reese sat at the table quietly. She still doubted Prynn's excuse of needing a break. It was still morning and they had only just awoken, so why would they need a break? But Reese wasn't going to tell Prynn, she would never go back against her master in case she was thrown out.

Reese cut off a slice of bread and buttered it before taking a bite.

"Will we be trying again after breakfast?" Reese asked.
"If you think you're ready then we shall, if you still need more time, then we can wait." Prynn said.
"I think I can do it. We almost had it earlier." Reese said determined.
"Alright, but finish breakfast first."

Reese ate in a hurry and hurried Prynn. She was sure she could get it.

They walked back out to the courtyard. They did another warm up, this time Reese summoned Ifrit, he arrived out of the ground and summoned a large fireball that took off into the distance. Then he disappeared.

"I think I'm ready." Reese said.

They stood and did the hand motions, they remembered the changes they had discussed in the morning and did it correctly. The figure started to emerge, Reese trembled with antisipation, but trying to get it so that it didn't interfere with the summoning.[/color]