Writing Homeworld Hell... ...Done Right.

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]So I decided that letting this story fade mercilessly into the twilight largely due to the busyness of everyone involved would be bad. And thus, strung out on mostly bad apple cider and a keg of sugar, I give you Homeworld Hell. Done Right.


[center]~~~~~~~~~~[/center]

[i]While Raiha's body might have cooled down from a temperature so high it had to be counted in Kelvins, the fire in her heart raged and roared and would not be tamed. Her eyes had almost returned to a normal shape and color, that is to say, opaque, but that was where her semblance of sanity ended. Her fingers were flexing and curling automatically, as if they still remembered being claws, and Vicky was standing near with a balled fist, ready to knock her across the floor if she snapped again.

Given the current state of her body, it was a marvel she was still standing. Regardless of what you might have heard about Saiya-jin births, they were hardly a cakewalk, even for the more seasoned among their kind. For a half Siyanan, a race that regularly had women perish in childbirth due to a multitude of complications... ...it was a freaking miracle. When she spoke to the assembled, her voice was barely over a whisper, but for some reason nobody had any difficulty hearing the words slipping over her tongue.[/i]

"...I'll kill anyone who stands against me."

"And I will be there to fight with you."

[i]Vicky clasped her hand briefly, steadying it from its constant twitching. Raiha's eyes flickered once more and returned to normal. But even as she spoke, only Neil and Will noticed that her mouth was full of fangs, not the normal teeth she usually showed when she talked. A feral mixture of fangs, incisors, and wickedly pointed molars, it was surprising she managed to speak coherently in the first place.

Nobody contested the women. It was about as intelligent as making a rape joke in front of Neil's mother. Or stealing a Saiya-jin warrior's children. Oh yeah, someone was going to burn. For an eternity. On and on with new pain. Always.[/i]

[b]Six Weeks Later[/b]

[i]I watched as my mother began to cook dinner. I was perched on the stool in her kitchen, for the moment glad to be sitting. No matter what people had said about Saiya-jin births, they'd forgot to mention the Siyannan postpartum depression. My father assured me it would dissipate in time, but these days I'd was so wracked with sheer psychic suffering that managing a smile was nearly beyond me. But life goes on, even when it seems like it's standing still. And there was my husband, pacing in the living room.

Tonight there's going to be a meeting between all of us. Everyone who was there that day. Why the delay? Why wait for the trail to go cold? Well there was no trail. Nothing. Zip. Nadda. And everyone had kept themselves busy repairing their starships for interstellar travel again. It'd been so long since they'd been necessary that everyone had quite simply neglected them. Vicky and Andrew spent most of their time in the shop with Neil and William in another. Connor had been spending a lot of time between worlds, using the dimensional shifting that only he could use, trawling for information.

Tonight he was scheduled to come back. Maybe tonight he would have news. But everything seemed so heavy. My body had healed itself, but for some reason I felt irrational sadness blossoming inside me at every little thing. A wrong look, a mistake, a slip of the tongue, everything seemed to be conspiring against me. And it felt like nothing would ever be right again. That fire I'd felt, burning inside me, had gone out.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]...Done Right, well there goes my pride. :animesmil

Anyway, I do hope you finish this D, because it was a great story, and really you were the one who had the most commitment to it out of any of us.[/SIZE]

[Raiha]

[i][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I watched the people filter into my mother's oversized dinning room. Quietly, I drifted there myself, and Gavin found me sitting quietly in a corner. He sat down next to me and took my hand gently, squeezing it reassuringly, while I gazed blankly upon the people.

Vicky and Andrew were holding hands under the table, both talking casually with Neil across the table, while William and Connor held a quiet conference in another corner. My father and mother were bringing dishes to the table, and some of the other parents were seated, conversing in hushed tones. It was like being at a wake, only we didn?t have any pictures, not so much as a small memory for a keepsake. I clenched my husband?s hand tightly and worked hard to keep my emotions under control. I would not start crying. I would not be the weak grieving mother. Only I could hardly be calling myself a mother with my children taken from me. Now could I? I suppose not. I turned my emotions inward, as I so often had, and then my parents sat. My mother gave the signal, and everyone began to eat.

I picked at my food like the proverbial bird, while the women at the table urged me to eat more. Connor?s mom gave me a reassuring touch from one of her hands, and I felt her magic flow against my stomach, then come up against the psychic block on me. I shrugged it away gently, and gave her a thanks, but no thanks look. Leila stuck out her lower lip in mock petulance and I felt like a heel. [/i]

?You need to eat more sweetling. You look so pale and drawn these days. It can?t be good for your body.?

?Appreciate it and all Leila, I?m just not hungry. I can?t make myself eat.?

?Try anyway darling. It?ll do you good. I promise you.?

[i]Her kind smile brought out a lancing pain of guilt, stabbing my stomach as bad as a birthing pain. I tried to force down a few more bites of my mom?s perfectly good rice and then put my fork down as a bad job. Turning back, I watched the people around me eat. They appeared to be keeping any semblance of good cheer off their faces for my sake. Perhaps for my sake. I reached out with my thoughts to feel the moods of the people around me. William looked up at me casually, and hardened his mind against my probing with a gentle nudge. I raised an eyebrow at him and turned towards the Saiya-Jins. My husband was feeling the same guilt as me, only he?d never stop himself from eating. My parents were feeling sad for my sake, but focused on their present tasks. Neil felt like his usual raging self, probably because his father was present at the table. Andrew and Vicky?s thoughts were closely twined around each other so much that I could barely pick out the individual sensations.

As I was reaching finally for Connor, he stood up abruptly, as if he?d known it was coming and struck the side of his glass gently one of his spoons.[/i]

?Everyone? I believe now?s a good time for us to talk about the tasks before us.?

?Not now! Dinner?s not half done!?

?What about desert??

[i]Indignant cries from the Saiya-Jins around the table nearly brought a smile to my face. I turned to Gavin, who hadn?t said anything yet, but I?m sure had just kicked his father from across the table for voicing such an opinion. He clasped my smaller hand in his, enveloping it completely, and I leaned against him just a little. My mother gave a frosty nod to Connor, and he turned on the computer terminal above the far wall. Instantly, small red dots began to appear against an image of what we figured was the space closest to us. Shivering with a flicker of interest, I focused my mind to the point where I could listen to Connor without my sadness and fear nagging at me.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Andrew]

[size=1]Well, thanks for telling me this was up, I might have missed out on it otherwise.

My apologies for not picking it up on my own, what with my lack of interest in the anthology and my recent boredom with the boards I would have missed the ending to this little gem. Glad you decided to take it on yourself in the event of our apparent failure to make it an RPG.

Not sure I can stand the depressed attitude it holds thus far though. I would have thought Rai would have resolved to be strong and get the kiddies back by now and stop being so moopy. Ah well, your decision I guess.

I'm happy to follow either way! ^_^[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]“These red lights represent planets Morrigan has destroyed or enslaved.”

[i]He turned the remote in his hand and the display changed to yellow lights, less of these, but still somewhat evenly dispersed.[/i]

“These are planets that Morrigan has on her list. She just hasn’t gotten to them yet. This is Earth.”

[i]He pointed. Surrounded by red lights, was our one yellow light. The safe haven we had built for ourselves was going to fall. People were dying. Dying. Everywhere. Gavin gave me a gentle touch and I began to pay attention again. Connor was speaking. I knew before he finished what it meant. We'd have to leave Earth and go beyond.[/i]

“She’s been taking young Saiya-jins and raising them as her children. Brain washing, experiments. She’s trying to create perfect body guards. Genetically engineering an army.”

[i]I didn’t shiver consciously, but I shuddered, and I gripped Gavin’s hand. Vicky, sitting across from me, shot me a glance, and William to my direct left gave me a gentle nudge. I didn’t know it at the time, but everyone says I began crying tears of flame. Flickering down my cheeks. My father said it was at that point that the fire began to burn again. And I felt anger. Rage again. The ice in my heart melted. At that point, all I could feel was a sure and steady loathing. Neil tells me it was fury. He out of all of us, would know. It had never occurred to me in that hazy time after my initial reaction and the depression...that my children were suffering without me. When they disappeared, I guess I'd assumed they were simply dead. I had been grieving their deaths in my heart, not even daring to hope for their lives.

I was embarrassed, sick to my stomach of myself. Ashamed and horrified with my own weakness, I felt my nails sinking into the flesh of my palms. Before I knew it, I was on my feet, holding no one’s hand, leaning on no one's shoulder. I was burning up, my skin beginning to flare and crackle, the tattoos I’d had since birth flaring up to glow in the semi darkness. The scent of burning fabric filled the air as my clothes began to singe.[/i]

“Nobody will brain wash my children.”

[i]I spit out every word with venom and bile, the fangs making it difficult to speak, but I got the words out anyway. Gavin stood next to me, a hand hovering near my shoulder, then he quickly turned and grabbed my fingers, pressing them to his cheek. I felt the pressure, then my nostrils flared against the smell of burning flesh. He held his hand there for an uncomfortably long amount of time, my skin singeing his body, my anger unquenchable even in the face of his self inflicted scars. Vicky stood as well, holding up her face closer me, her eyes beckoning. I pressed a finger against her cheekbone, and then released after a few moments. A brand. A mark of solidarity. She did the same to me, cutting my cheek open with her nail, the blood sizzling down my face and puckering against the bone.

I repeated it with William. Andrew. Neil. Connor. They had lined themselves up without gesture or invitation. Our parents smiled. I felt better already. My mother stood, imposing with her dark gray jacket, her mane of black hair flaring and billowing behind her in the wake of her ki.[/i]

“The ship is ready. We’ll give you a single escort out of this solar system, but once you’re out there, you’re on your own.”

[i]Leila stood as well, next to my mother.[/i]

“Tonight you’ll head out. We’ve already provisioned the ship. You’re going to go to her stronghold to take her down completely. Anything could happen. So we essentially just gave you food.”

“Ah yeah, who needs weapons, when you have food?”

[i]Neil and Gavin were elbowing each other, chortling. Vicky grabbed my arm and we ran down the hall together, and she kicked open the garage door pointed with pride. She had built a new ship. Glorious. But then again, I knew virtually nothing about ships. I can only assume that they had done a good job. William and the others had come up behind us and we stared. Gavin was smiling, and I felt better. Our parents stood with us and for that moment, I felt safe. I knew that once we had departed we wouldn’t be safe ever again. I looked over my shoulder and saw my father gazing up on the starship, not with pride but with confusion. Technology kinda wasn't his thing either.[/i]

“Wait. I’m confused. Are you going to wrap Raiha in fireproof fabric or immerse her in liquid oxygen or what?”

[i]I looked back up at the ship, then I looked down at my blackened and charred clothes. Then I looked back up.[/i]

“Huh.”[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Andrew]

[size=1]*Pointless shIty post so that Rai isn't accused of double-posting* ¬_¬[/size]

[Raiha]

[i][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]In the end, we’d decided it was safer to just put me to sleep. For a few weeks at a time anyway. Space coma, they call it. We all boarded that very evening and I kept up a smile. I didn’t feel brave, but I didn’t feel a rampant fear. Some fear is good fear. Caution. Discretion. Neil and the other Saiya-jins looked excited. Connor and William looked pensive. I kept my expression neutral. Without eyes it was easy to keep a poker face. Go me. My parents stood beneath the ship as we took off. I’m sure people were waving but I didn’t watch. Afraid I would see omens in the trailing smoke and steam, I couldn’t bear to watch. Vicky caught my eye and led me on a short tour.

We saw the galley, the infirmary, the barracks as she called them, and the bridge. It turns out Vicky and William both were very good at piloting. They’d shift back and forth while Neil and Gavin took care of the other functions. I however appeared to emit a Murphyonic field in the form of intense heat, unsafe for technology. We discovered this relatively soon when I passed my hand over a rather unimportant console and shorted it out virtually instantly. Andrew gave me a look.[/i]

“I think it’s time for you to get to sleep.”

“We haven’t even gone through the atmosphere yet! I won’t see anything!”

“I think it’s time for you to get to sleep.”

[i]Gavin had already joined the conversation and was patting me reassuringly on the shoulder. I sighed with resignation and turned to Vicky, who was beckoning me to go down the hall. Apparently, she’d thought ahead and prepared a hibernation pod for me. I laid myself down after stripping naked. Shivering in the relative cool of the chamber, Vicky flicked a needle, the contents in a glass tube, rather than a plastic one. I would’ve melted it anyway.[/i]

“You won’t feel a thing. Try counting back from 100.”

“Wait, you’ve already asked me to climb into this technologically advanced cot... Does that mean you’re also asking me to do math at the same time?”

“Certainly not. That’d just be cruel.”

[i]She gave me a reassuring touch once more and I looked up at her. Trusting in her science to keep me alive. To my left I saw Gavin and I managed a smile. The needle pierced the flesh, liquid rest sinking into my veins. Slowly. Quietly. Deepening my heart, quieting my thoughts. The last thing I heard was Gavin saying he loved me. Or at least I think that’s what he said. I was so tired. So tired.

In a moment, or so it seemed, I was gone. Empty. I felt weightless, floating quietly through emptiness and voids. Nothing. Shapeless and formless I felt disembodied, spiritual, sanctified. And then I saw my father’s face, melting back into the darkness, but still his face. I heard his voice. Felt it.[/i]

“Earth is under attack. She waited for all of you to leave. Then she went for it.”

“No! We have to turn back! I’ll tell the others!”

[i]I was panicking. I was a babe in the woods. I was frightened and freaking out and paranoid beyond reason that somehow this was all a conspiracy to render me helpless and incapable of helping my family.[/i]

“You can’t wake up now. You won’t either. But don’t be afraid. We have your mother, and the others as well. Leila too. I wouldn’t want her on the enemy’s side.”

“....you’re lying to me. You can’t tell me this without lying.”

[i]Reflected in his eyes, I saw my mother's face. Fierce, bloody, eyes glowing a brilliant blue. They pulsed, then were replaced by an image of Neil's father yelling and swinging upwards with a massive fist. As if I were scrolling microfiche, I saw everyone who could fight, flicker before my eyes. The last image was of Leila, both feet almost rooted into the Earth, her eyes wild and sparking with all of nature's fury. It was at that point that I recalled she was a goddess. A goddess tied to the soul of Earth. Suddenly I felt smaller.[/i]

“I won’t lie to you. I never did. I told you the birthing madness would pass, and it did. And I’m telling you that we will endure until your return. And you WILL return. I’ve seen it.”

[i]I turned away in sadness, feeling cold once more. My father always had that knack for seeing omens in steam, smoke, mists, and I inherited it, only I didn’t have the iron will he had. So I turned away from that gift. Or I had. I was Cassandra. I had no faith in my ability to divine omens without working under the preconceived fears. I shook my head. Or I shook what I felt would’ve been my head if I’d been fully conscious. Instead I felt heavy and yet empty at the same time. I wanted to feel my husband’s arms around me. To know that he was close by and holding my hands. A flash of rage sparked behind my eyes as I remembered how weak and cringing I’d been earlier that day. Or was it even the same week?

Where was time? What was time? Where was it all going?[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Vicky]

[SIZE=1]I can actually keep up this time around, haha (not that it was anyone else's fault other than my own, mind you).

So yeah, post more, like now >=O. It's definitely a great read and I could probably repeat what Gavin said in different ways and words, but I won't.

^_^[/SIZE]

[Raiha]

[b][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Six weeks later.[/b]

[i]I awoke very slowly. Lights flashed in my eyes, painful at first, then slowly blending down into a mere annoyance. At least I think I was awake, and I figured they were lights. I was so confused. But I only know what happened next because the ships cameras were constantly recording. Vicky was standing directly above me, monitoring my vitals while watching color bloom back onto my face. I remember feeling, through the confusion and insanity, that I was both hungry, and excited. Reviewing the videos later, I watched my newly awakened self reach up and pull Vicky down to my lips, kissing her as if she were the only person left alive in the universe. In the video her eyes had opened wide, then closed, and an instant later I?d let her go and flopped back again, exhausted and sleeping naturally.

I didn't understand it either, but William and Connor both had scientific explanations. I?m sure they were very interesting, but no matter how valiantly I listened, everything seemed to whoosh right over my head.[/i]

?It?s called the space sickness. The body can?t process the emotions or the sensations and jumps automatically to what will assure it that everything still works as quickly as possible. Hence, your instant attraction and sexual reaction to Vicky?s presence. At that point, you were operating on pure instic-?

?It?s like a fever in the blood, from the slow hibernation, and then the rapid awakening. Your emotional and psychological faculties must have been completely scrambled, hence the-?

[i]And at that point I stopped paying attention completely. Gavin was still struggling to suppress a fit of hysterics, while Andrew was looking somewhat out of sorts. I felt embarrassed to be sure, but on the other hand, it was giving me plenty to think about while not panicking about our situation. We were thousands of light years from home. Millions maybe, I have no head for this kind of spatial...stuff. Neil assured me that everything was safe. While I was out, everyone had organized and ranked themselves. Gavin was the uncontested Captain. It was his children after all. Andrew had taken over the piloting almost exclusively. William was the science officer, reading the scans and making meaningless reports. At least right now. Connor was scouting, leaping ahead and then back and forth through the endless universal dimensions to ensure our perpetual safety.

And Vicky I?m sure was doing something akin to keeping the peace as well as cooking. We?ll call her Ship?s Counselor. Don?t look at me like that. I loved Star Trek. About the time I was finally figuring out the ship?s hierarchy, I was also realizing that I wouldn?t even have a place on the ship. Because as soon as my body had recovered from the first bout of hibernation, I was going to be put back. But in the meantime, I was being sedated virtually constantly. My system, my energy, my magic was the virtual antithesis to everything that the ship was. Technology, logic, physics? My body, my physiology reacted to it at an instinctual level.[/i]

?Seriously guys, she emits a Murphyonic field. That?s the only word for it.?

?I think it?s cute. It throws her hatred of technology into such sharp relief...?

[i]Everyone was talking about me, even while I was in the same room. To be fair, I could only hear snatches of their conversation. I felt like saying something.[/i]

?You all realize that I am RIGHT here.?

[i]But my tongue felt heavy, and it dragged against my lips and the words never made it out. At least they weren?t insulting me. I?d already tried starting a fire in my palm, but I couldn?t even raise my hand without a monumental and heroic effort. Just walking around the ship, or shuffling really, was exhausting. Guess that?s what Vicky was going for, because I was starting to wonder if this whole thing wasn?t just some ridiculous herbally induced pipe dream. I heard another snatch of dialogue from what I guessed was Connor. Hard to say, his voice seemed to slip and blend and skip like a malfunctioning CD player.[/i]

?She should be on a motivational poster. ?Technology! Raiha does not like.??

[i] But seriously, it was starting to make me wonder just how Dad had made it to Earth. I made a somewhat foggy note in my mind to ask him when they put me down again for the next month and a half.

Gavin caught me mooching down a hallway towards what I assumed was the place where he slept, and picked me up without another word. My arms automatically twined around his neck and I began to kiss his throat and the sides of his neck. He nearly dropped me, but instead kicked open the nearest door, which I can only assume led to a storage area, set me down on a shelf, and reciprocated. Either the space sickness was still in me, or I was just hungry after weeks of sleeping alone, and while higher thought was beyond me, my instincts were working just fine. [/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Yay, I'm the captain and apparently get to do a Kirk with the sexiest of the alien women on the ship. Life is good !!

All kidding aside, I can't believe how much you've written in such a short time, it's going to be a bit of a challenge to keep up. Still I'll be finished for Christmas after tomorrow so it shouldn't be as much of a problem.[/SIZE]

[Raiha]

[i][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I kissed my husband?s lips, desperate for more. And he was more than willing. Apparently Vicky had locked me in, and any coma fondling was impossible. Not that I would?ve known, or particularly cared, but it didn?t matter now. What was important, was the fact that for the first time in what was now several months, my sex drive was back. Let us sing and rejoice. A lot.

Gavin, sensing my urgency, ripped off the shift I?d hastily thrown on after Vicky had cleared me to walk. His lips found my collarbone, my chest, my nipples. He bit down when I shoved my hand into the base of his neck. Laughing, through what felt like a drug induced tunnel, I found his shorts, and ripped them off with my clawed toes. He didn?t notice, or if he did, he failed to comment. Instead, he tilted me back across the ledge and shoved up against me before I could breathe a sigh of relief. Lonely for caresses, starved for attention, we eventually rolled right off the shelf and onto the floor, but I only know this because Vicky had recorded the entire thing. For science! Or so she said. I think she?s a voyeur.

But back to the current situation. Just as I was dragging a hand across Gavin?s sweaty forehead, the ship alerts went off. I frowned up at the speaker in the ceiling, and pointed a finger at it before he could slap down my hand. It melted into itself and I blew against the tip of my finger. Apparently I?d just sweated and secreted out all of the sedative Vicky had pumped me full of. My god could I possibly write a sentence that wasn?t overflowing with innuendo? Apparently not. The alarms still reverberating through the rest of the ship, my husband dragged me from the closet, even as I attempted to pull him back, and we made our way to the bridge. Vicky didn?t glance in our direction, but everyone else sure did. It was at that point that I realized my hair was sex hair, and we were both in varying stages of undressed. Only I was relatively naked and my husband was relatively not.

William looked up from his console and reported.[/i]

?We?ve been getting a signal from some...thing. Or someone, who knows? It sounds like a standard greeting, but then it changes over to threats of violence. And it?s not quite in Galactic Standard, so who bloody fucking knows??

?You mean you haven?t been able to figure that much out??

?Cut me some slack. Inter-Galactic Space Linguistics wasn?t my major before our school was burned down.?

?No back talk!?

[i]While this thoroughly adult conversation transpired, I slunk across the bridge and sat down next to Vicky, making a heroic effort to keep myself calm. She took one look at me and sighed.[/i]

?You don?t have any sedative left in you...do you??

?Not a bit baby face.? [i]I twirled my fingers through the air, the heat from just my fingers creating steam in the relative cold of the air. She rolled her eyes and went back to attempting to decipher the data stream. I reached over with one hand and set it to play on the main speakers. And while it miraculously played, I?m pretty sure that I was the only one who understood it. Being Siyannan, with my dad?s natural proclivity for foreign languages, had always been a good time. It was Galactic Standard, or at least a rough patois of it. And it sounded at least to my ears, like how my mother?s cat would?ve sounded. If someone had taught it how to talk. I started speaking over it, once it?d looped several times.[/i]

?This is Iki. I am a Feral from the planet Dejir. I?ve been caught in the gravitational field of Eunin for a month now. Please follow these imbedded coordinates and rescue me and my partner before we die in a blaze of fiery death.?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Revelation]

[size=1][color=#8B008B]I'm so glad I came upon this again. It soothes my rampant, overloaded mind. Though, I wonder who Iki's partner could be...*wonders*

Anywho, can't wait to read more of this stuff, D. =][/size][/color]

[Raiha]

[i][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]At that point though, it switched over to another voice, although this one was female. Or I was pretty sure it was female. Hard to tell with all the distortion.[/i]

“Save us and I swear I won’t kill you once you do. I’ve gone without sex for two weeks now to conserve energy and it’s going to make whoever rescues us one lucky bastard! I swear to [b]Eiyagameya[/b] if we’re not saved, I’m going to haunt each and every person that got this transmission and fucking ignored it!”

[i]As I spoke these words out loud, William and Neil both had to choke off laughter. I had to struggle to keep my voice steady too, but fortunately for me, the transmission ended at that point and looped again.[/i]

“Okay, so I have no idea who or what [b]Eiyagameya[/b] is but I can roughly guess that it’s either a deity or someone’s mother. .....we’re going to go with deity for now. And that’s where my usefulness to you all ends.”

“It’s good enough to start. Let’s pick ‘em up. Maybe they’ll start an orgy.”

[i]Vicky was shaking with repressed giggles. Neil was rolling a jaundiced eye in our general direction while Gavin lounged in his chair, holding up a data pad in one hand and projecting a semblance of productivity. William set up the coordinates, and Andrew swung the ship towards Eunin. I busied myself with reading the star charts Vicky had handed me. According to known data, Eunin was a destroyed planet that had been rendered totally uninhabitable. But it’d also been centuries since the destruction, and Morrigan wasn’t known for returning to planets that had been totally ransacked and done down in a horror show of bloody planet-wide holocaust. I scrolled down further and saw Dejir on the list of destroyed planets. Apparently it had been, at some point anyway, populated with Ferals. Sexy things with tails and ears and possibly fur. I didn’t like using the word feral though, even when used as the name for a whole race of people. Feral to me meant one of my many forms. So I’m going to just go with galactic sex kitten. Kami knows that’ll be a huge hit with whoever we end up rescuing.

Connor decided to skip forward and see if he could find them, just to make sure they weren’t dead and the message completely pointless. He skipped back in half a minute, assured us the targets were alive, and we continued as usual.

Half an hour later, we were there. They were being quarantined in the event that either one of them had fleas. Oh yeah, my racism is going to go over like a lead balloon, I can feel it already. I traipsed down the hallways to where they were being kept with Gavin on my heels. Vicky was there, doing a short battery of tests while Andrew stood by, ever watchful in the event of violence towards his woman. I kissed his cheek and stepped through the walkway towards the two newcomers. The taller one was Iki I assumed, covered with a coat of black and brown fur, pointed ears, and a mane that spiked down his back to cover his shoulders. Other than that though, he looked moderately humanoid, as did his partner. Only she was disturbingly female, and my first impression of her was that of a hunter. A killer. She turned to me in a whirl of cream colored fur and azure eyes with a hideous, blood saturated growl.[/i]

“Whadaya you looking at? [b]Tharn[/b] bitch.”

[i]I hissed in an instant through half formed fangs, my ears rotating to the top of my head, and my fingers sprouting claws.[/i]

“I was looking at you. Fucking pussy. If you ever call me that again, I’ll kill you so hard your past ten victims will make miraculous recoveries.”

[i]My hackles were raised, my body beginning to steam, when Gavin jerked me back with a light blow to the side of the head. Almost simultaneously, Iki had grabbed his mate and given her a sharp bite on the neck. Both of us, in relatively subdued states, contented ourselves with hateful glances. I had never met someone I hated on such an instinctual level, not even Sella. Perhaps it was just an unreasonable response to her flinging my race in my face, but I was sure that leaving the two of us alone, even anywhere, was a monumentally stupid idea.

I stalked off and let Gavin assume diplomatic formalities. I’m sure the conversations involved a lot of apologies and excuses, but I spent my time reliving tension by trailing my claws across the titanium paneling of the hallways. Neil found me extracting my right hand from a section of wall and crossed his arms over his chest like a disappointed father.[/i]

“I take it you didn’t like our new passengers.”

“The male was okay. But the female rubbed me the wrong way. She called me a [b]Tharn[/b] bitch.”

“[b]Tharn[/b]? That slang for something?”

[i]I kept my voice to a pleasant growl while taking on the tone one normally uses to explain things to toddlers.[/i]

“[b]Tharn[/b] is a racial epithet for people like me. Halfs. Those that mixed races when they procreated. According to the texts, most aliens are pretty against half breeds like me. Although nowadays I hear it’s more common. If only because Morrigan’s driven most species to the brink of extinction. My father was considered insane for marrying outside of his race. That’s probably why he fled his homeworld.”

“Was it overrun by Morrigan too?”

“Hardly. The magical field that surrounds the planet, produced by the auras of every living Siyannan makes all ships trying to enter die a horrible death. Unless they’re the sort of magic/technological fusion my father must have used to make it out here.”

“Sounds... ...fun. Just try not to make any fur fly. God knows you’re going to have to be sedated again before we make the next stretch towards Morrigan’s base.”

“Just keep her far away from me. And nothing will happen that’s irreversible. I’m pretty sure those galactic sex kittens can’t regrow limbs.”[/FONT][/COLOR]

[P.J. McKrafty]

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=#000000][COLOR=DarkRed][B]I want more of me in this story... please.

There I said it, now post again, nuff' said.[/B][/COLOR]
[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Raiha]

[i][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Neil chuckled as I continued my rampage down the hall, inflicting damage on nonessential inanimate objects left and right. I clawed carefully, and almost artistically, keeping the lines as straight as I could. While it didn?t sound too good, it did relieve a bunch of tension. At that point, I realized that the Ferals must have had excellent senses of smell, even better than mine. She?d known instantly that I was a [b]tharn[/b], even before she?d gotten a good look at me. I didn?t even know her name yet.[/i]

?It?s Eriju. She?s not sorry she called you a [b]tharn[/b] by the way, but she has calmed down a bit now that she?s had a chance to breathe the nice oxygen and all.?

[i]I turned around and found the male right behind me. Apparently I?d been so absorbed in my thoughts, that I?d forgotten to throw up a psychic shield to protect against general intrusions. And his kind could read minds. .....maybe she didn?t have so great a sense of smell.[/i]

?Are all of your kind so politically correct??

[i]My fingers laced behind my head casually as if I wasn?t longing to retrace my steps and sink all twenty of my claws into her body until the blood covered every flat surface.[/i]

?Just her. She?s had a rough time, but now that you?ve picked us up, things are looking better. And not all of us are psychic. Just me. She really does have an amazing sense of smell though.?

?Perfect. ....just what I need. All you have to do is keep her away from me, and no bad will happen. Or perhaps give her a course in sensitivity training, and that?ll do the trick too.?

[i]Iki chuckled, only it sounded like a half growl, half purr, and he flicked his tail once. I stepped out of his way, only to have him gesture all courtly like, and I laughed and bounded down the hall towards the bridge. Perhaps this is why space comas aren?t recommended for mentally unstable people. Halfway there I realized that I was scampering and restrained myself to a normal looking walk. I was keeping up my paces, when I found I?d walked straight into the door. Apparently, my senses had gone haywire, because I could?ve sworn I hadn?t made it all the way to the door yet. Whatever. I walked in and sat down where I?d been before, at Vicky?s station. Andrew was navigating as usual, and William was sipping a coffee with his feet up on his console. I shrugged and went for my own cup, only to find that William had somehow propelled himself through the air and snapped down on my wrist with his hand.[/i]

?No. Coffee. For. You.?

?Awww, come on. How is this a bad idea? What could possibly go wrong with giving me coffee??

?Oh you know. EVERYTHING.?

[i]I mugged a pouty expression and sat back in my chair, coffee free, and feeling fidgety. I still kept my energy down, withdrawing my magical aura into my body, which was working better than I would?ve guessed. I just felt weak and pointless and couldn?t help but feel a certain amount of annoyance with pure ki users. This annoyance was only going to get worse, I couldn?t help but feel it. I absentmindedly gazed across the room into the swirls of steam coming from the coffee pot. They instantly formed images, bursting in my vision as if my face were only inches away. I sharply inhaled air through my teeth, gripping the sides of my chair to keep from toppling over. My gift spiraled out of control, the Sight overwhelming my already frazzled senses.

Faces pushed themselves to the forefront of my eyes, dueling for dominance. And suddenly I saw the broad expanse of pure empty space, staring me in the face. Two angry faces. The faces of boys really, rather than men, appeared in my mind?s eye. Filled with rage, yet void of expression. I didn?t understand. I couldn?t really, I?d never met them, but sensed that we were meant to know them. I realized at that point that I had been babbling what I was seeing, when I felt a hand on my shoulder and then the sharp pain of something shoved into my spine. The cameras show Vicky coming up behind me with a glass syringe full of the same liquid used to send me into the space coma last month. Apparently while I was in my Sight trance, I had begun shorting out everything within immediate range. [/i]

?That sneaky bitch...?

[i]In the void of thought and time and space that must?ve been my subconscious, I considered my father?s face. He looked tired, but pleased. Apparently Leila, my mother, and all the others had proved too powerful a force for Morrigan?s far flung minions. Not only had they gone down to defeat, Leila had extracted a variety of interesting tidbits of information from them before turning the hapless things over to the Saiya-jins. Tagged and numbered, they?d been released for hunting. I laughed, heard my riotous cheering echo in the private space that had formed between us. He passed along what he knew of their fighting styles. Some could teleport, but for anyone with a basic grasp of energy sensing, finding them after their jump was the work of a second. Others used ki with a relatively sloppy style that must?ve been a cheap imitation of Saiya-jin ki manipulation. There were relatively few magic users, which wasn?t surprising. Enslaving spirits of energy and elemental power was generally overly difficult work and a total waste of resources.

My father?s face drifted out of my vision and I settled back to the relative quiet of my subconscious. I rubbed my mental eyes with mental fingers and tilted my head back until I was arched out like a cat. Speaking of which. I didn?t like Eriju. I could sense her through the many layers of my psyche, loathing me, detesting me with all of her power. However her mate, or just whoever she?d escaped her homeworld with, was alright. I could sense him as well and the brush of his mind on mine denoting his psychic awareness. William felt listless. Confused. He was probably puzzling over the video feed of me before.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Andrew]

[size=1]Pretty interesting so far. I'm especially fond of the seething hatred of Rai and Eriju! I'm a sucker for female aggresion. ^_^

That being said, I'd prefer a more less-boring role. Since I imagine a sophisticated ship would have it's own navigation system, a pilot would have very little to do. Do something more interesting with me, it's boring when I don't have any lines. ¬_¬[/size]

[Raiha]

[i][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Awaken. Rebirth. Restore.

I blinked several times, and sat up. Vicky wasn?t there, but according to the calendar she?d nicely decided to tack on the wall right in front of me, it was again, six weeks later. It was then that I noticed there were two more pods to my left and right. I jumped up instantly, and realized that my legs weren?t working anymore. I nearly sank down and crushed my feet beneath my legs, but caught myself and stood. I slowly stepped across the space between the pods and looked down. A boy, no more than 19 was reposing, perhaps in his own space coma. I stepped across and looked in the other and thought I?d gone mad. Another boy, also about 19, with no variance of feature. They looked like twins. I peered closer. They were twins. Identical marks on their left and right cheeks. Only those looked like brands. I looked again. They were brands. Twins. Probably taken by Morrigan.

Both had nondescript features. Brown hair, pale skin, purple eyes. Wait. Purple? And why were their eyes wide open if they were in space comas? Or were my eyes open too when I was sleeping? And they were the same faces I?d seen before I was put under. Those two boys were the boys from when I?d used the Sight. With a sigh, I turned away from them and wandered towards the doors and nearly face-planted against Vicky. She took a step back automatically.[/i]

?You?re not going to try and screw me this time are you??

?Well....?

[i]She laughed and brushed against me while I headed towards the nearest thing resembling my husband. Fortunately he was right there, waiting in the curve of the wall, and caught me as I went charging past. I struggled for half a second when I realized that it was in fact, only Gavin, and that killing him would be overreacting. He kissed my open mouth and I purred and cuddled against him, lonely. Then I suddenly remembered and pushed against him slowly.[/i]

?Who are the twins??

?We found them floating in identical, contained space pods. Both were in sleep, but we?re planning on not waking them up until we reach the next planet to refuel at.?

?Which is...??

?Opir. It?s apparently scrupulously neutral, controlled by the same kind of of creatures as Leila apparently. Morrigan couldn?t overrule it, so now it?s a safe haven for both the evil and good creatures of the universe. Ferals apparently have a colony there, while Saiya-jins avoided it because of the non-violence policy.?

?Non...violence. It sounds so...so...awful.?

?Well actually that policy only applies to cities. In the wilderness, you?re allowed to apparently kill as many people as you want so long as they?re within range.?

?I am totally down with that. How far until we?re there??

?About three minutes from now actually. I was sending Vicky to wake you up, but you popped up on your own. That?s...weird...?

?Let?s not question it. But I?m still wondering, what?s going on with the new people? Iki and that...cat thing.?

?Her name is Eriju. But since she calls you that ?[b]tharn[/b] thing? I guess it all evens out. Just do us all a huge favor and don't strangle her in her sleep. Or set her fur on fire. If you stay in the following quadrants and she stays in hers, we should avoid any unpleasantness. ?

[i]He handed me a map of the ship, with parts of it marked in red and purple. I narrowed my eyes so far I could barely see through them and hissed through relatively normal looking teeth. Then I un-hunched my shoulders and relaxed very slowly, with the hairs on the back of my neck smoothing themselves.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Revelation]

[size=1][color=#8B008B]Well lookee here...if I'd known better, I'd say you just turned me into some killing-machine cat-girl! =P And how did I not see that Iki would be the calmer of the two?

I'm really hoping to see a show-down between Raiha and Eriju.[/size][/color]

[Raiha]

[i][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Gavin patted me gently, stroking the nape of my neck while whispering what a good girl I was for obeying him. I playfully snapped at his fingers and let him lead me to our bedroom, where I figured I could find some real clothes. While the ship was a good place for me to forget to wear clothes, I figured that while on Opir, going around naked was a good way to be arrested. That is, if the laws were anything like the laws on good ole Earth. But that wasn?t really an issue. I supposed that at least while on Opir, I could let my aura be it?s normal shape and size.

Singing to myself in a haphazard manner, I showered myself as long as I could stand it. ...apparently someone had used up all the hot water and standing under the waterfall of 5 degrees wasn?t my idea of a good time. I couldn?t even heat up myself to get over the cold. Teeth chattering in the unfamiliar chill, I dressed in the moderately fire proof pants and battle jacket Connor?s mom had developed just for me. Boots weren?t really necessary. My feet had the tendency to sprout long talons and reshape themselves into sizes totally unfit for shoes. No pun intended. But who cares? Fully dressed, I waited at the loading dock next to the others.[/i]

?Where?s the cat thing??

?Ah, Iki told her to wait for five minutes until after we?d left, so neither of you would be tempted to break the ?no violence? rule right off the bat.?

?That works. But she and I can get it on later right? And by get it on, I mean try to rip each other?s heads off.?

?Sure. Why not? Sounds like a good time to me.

[i]Vicky and I lounged lazily against the walls and waited for the docking clamps to engage. Connor jumped ahead in typical ?I don?t need to wait for doors to get out of the way so screw you? fashion. William, Gavin, Iki, and Neil waited like good boys in the back, sensing that if they pushed ahead of either me or Vicky, ball crushing would ensue. Due to an unfortunate game of rock, paper, scissors, Andrew found himself sitting on the ship at the helm with a black eye and a bad attitude.

Finally, we were cleared, and as the ramp came down, the pair of us bounded across the walkway and into sweet, normal gravity. I skipped across the metal path and stopped to give the others time to catch up. Eventually, we stopped in front of the nearest bar, which was called ?The Surly Mermaid? for some reason. I put my feet up on the counter and took the beer that Vicky handed me with a moderately sour face. It wasn?t that I didn?t like the stuff, it just wasn?t my style. Then again, we were on a foreign planet, and it was probably safer than the water.[/i]

?Cheers.?

[i]We clinked our bottles together and leaned back. The bar was full of a variety of aliens. Several Ferals were clustered in a corner, watching everything that went on with eyes that glowed in the dark. I shrugged my shoulders at Vicky when she caught my eye and we both resumed the alien watching. Two Saiya-jins stood in another corner, talking with Neil and Gavin, while William and Iki both sat down at a relatively quiet table and were dealt into a game of what I could only assume was Texas Hold ?Em. How that game had made it so far out here I?d never understand. Vicky leaned against me to make room for a large, dog-like creature who sat down to her immediate left.

Eventually I suppose Gavin had gotten all the information that was to be had, and caught my eye. Making my way across the tables, and avoiding bumping into anyone was easy enough, until one of the Ferals in the corner glared at me. I naturally glared back, wondering what it was about the male that reminded me so much of Eriju, until I realized that my body was reacting in the exact same manner as it had to her. He mouthed a word to me that I could only assume was ?tharn? and I smiled at him in a decidedly unfriendly manner, showing almost all of my fangs in one go.

Before more exciting things could happen though, Gavin clapped a hand down on my shoulder and pulled me against him, giving everyone in the bar a sweep of his glance. Once I?d been pulled into the relative safety of the alley, he spun me around and commenced in his best lecture tone.[/i]

?Now I know this is difficult for you. Having to actually use your self control for a change, but I?d really appreciate it if you abstained from any threats of violence while we?re here. You getting arrested would put a real damper on our plans. And since I just got the right information on our next destination, let?s .....?

[i]I cut off his train of thought by rubbing the top of my foot against the back of his calf. My fingers trailed through his collar and his expression muddled itself, then smoothed over again as I paused in my seduction. I went on tiptoe and put my lips by his ear.[/i]

?I?ll be good. The best you?ve ever seen. But only if you plant me and Eriju in the wilderness nearby in under half an hour.?

?You want all of us to take a break so you can fight with our guest??

?Well they?re not our guests because of me. You?re the one who made an agreement with Iki. They?re the ones who want to come with us to get their kits back. I wouldn?t call them guests so much as people loosely affiliated with our team.?

?Whatever. But I guess all of us could use a this chance to blow off some steam. And we were going to have to awaken the twins eventually. Maybe they can help us.?

[i]I mumbled something incoherent to that as I stalked towards the ship. If by help, you mean do their damndest to kill us maybe.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[P.J. McKrafty]

[quote name='Andrew'][SIZE=1]*Pointless shIty post so that Rai isn't accused of double-posting* ¬_¬[/SIZE][/quote]

Yeah, I'm gonna pull that move.

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Poor Gavin, having such a hard time. I assumed himself, Andrew, Connor and Neil would want to cut loose for a while before finally taking on some of Morrigan's fighters.

You've got me awfully curious about those twins hun, what're you planning ? :animesmil[/SIZE]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Eriju and I watched each other. She was crouched in the dark green grasses that grew wild in the field where we?d both been dropped. Her eyes flashed a bright brilliant blue, the vertical pupils searching my face for expression. I was grateful to my father for the distinct lack of pupils, or irises. It made me a helluva poker player, that was of course when I chose to actually sit down and play. But right now, it was time to stand up and fight. Duel for dominance. Gavin and Iki both had spouted the rules before dropping us down. Both of them were hovering a safe 600 feet out of range, standing near the pods holding the still reposing twins. Neil and the others were also watching, some from air and some from a generally safe distance. Mentally, I reviewed the laundry list of rules, mostly so I wouldn?t break one and be instantly disqualified.[/i]

?No throat biting, no hitting with the closed fist, no removal of limbs, no tail pulling, no elemental or ki attacks other than the basic expansion of aura....?

T[i]here were a couple more, but I didn?t bother straining to remember those, mostly because I?m pretty sure they were no flying. And since I wasn?t a fan of the quick flying thing, and more a fan of the pouncing and running, it wouldn?t matter. Eriju flung herself at me without preamble, all four limbs extended and claws opened. I instantly rolled over on my back and kicked up my limbs to catch her and toss. Instead, she latched on, and I found myself being pinned by her weight. With a feral snarl, I shoved against her so hard I could feel her muscles ripping underneath my fingers. I opened my mouth, roaring in a mix between hatred and sheer mindless pleasure, noticing her own scream rising to match mine. She spat out words through a mouth that was rapidly becoming less humanoid by the second.[/i]

?I?ll flay your chest open until you bleed every time you breathe.?

?Oxygen is for pussies anyway.?

[i]I forced the words out of my mouth, tongue flicking over sharpening fangs. Jerking myself away from her, I kept my desire to burst my whole body into flames in check, but reformed my shape into the relatively lupine shape I?d assumed when facing up against Sella. A muzzle, sharp and pointed like any wolf?s, and black eyes, without any iris or discernible pupil. I raised paws instead of hands and growled at the female cat stalking around me. I let her circle a few times, just to lull her into a false sense of security, then struck when she strayed into reach. A splay of four talons and a wickedly pointed dewclaw caught her full across the cheek and left shoulder, and she reciprocated. My right shoulder split open in a starburst of agony and I threw myself at her, sinking my teeth into her wounded shoulder. We grappled for a few moments, exchanging body blows with pure, bloodlust driven force.

Eriju bunched up her neck muscles in an attempt to force me off, scrabbling at whatever flesh of mine she could reach, while I threw my full weight against her. Saiya-jin blood be praised, I was too heavy for her to throw. Tasting the sweet surrender in her blood, I sank my teeth in deeper, not crushing the bones, but making her struggle more painful by the second. She contented herself with weak snaps, but I kept on shaking, and slamming her down by the shoulder until she went limp and stopped thrashing. Gavin and Iki alike watched solemnly.

I stood over her, rising to two limbs, spine still hunched over slightly, my aura slithering down my body in short bursts of power. My mouth had already become more human, and I showed one fang as I spoke, my lip curled in victory. My shoulder ached like fire, and blisteringly hot blood seared down my body, but I didn?t notice.[/i]

?Your flesh has become my flesh. Submit to me.?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Revelation]

[size=1][color=#8B008B]Eh, like the others this is a 'for the sake of no double-posting' as well as: For a short battle, that was pretty intense. At least it didn't drag on like most battles do in stories. Aww but poor Galactic space kitten...[/size][/color]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Revelation'][size=1][color=#8B008B]Eh, like the others this is a 'for the sake of no double-posting' as well[/size][/color][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Bah, seems you beat me to it.

On the actual update, you're ability to write such visceral combat is really impressive, twice as much for me because I can't write fight scenes for shit.[/SIZE]

[Raiha]

[i][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]The feral hissed at me, but there was no fire behind it. Her badly savaged shoulder lanced her body with pain, but she forced it aside and rose up to her knees. Her eyes flashed with rebellion, but she kept it in check. I smiled slightly, and then relaxed my posture. She stood as well and stalked back to Iki, smarting with defeat, even as he stroked her cheek to console her. Gavin gave me a short wave, and I bunched up my spine, snapping it back into it?s original shape with a quick jerk. Body realigned, I stepped across the field, the grass beneath my feet sharp and jagged. He laughed with a sharp crow of victory, and sized me around the waist, swinging me up to swirl above his head.[/i]

?Impressive hun. You?d think the months of sleeping would?ve dulled your edge.?

?If only. That way I wouldn?t have had to challenge her in the first place, because she would?ve gone after me while I wasn?t paying attention.?

[i]He set me down, his arm around my waist, and I chortled in victory. Iki came over, a sheepish grin on his face.[/i]

?She says she?s glad she fell to you and not any other [b]tharn[/b] bitch.?

?No shame in falling before a superior enemy after all.?

[i]Neil had joined us and had his arms folded over his chest, his perpetual frown exchanged for a partially amused look. I nodded at Iki?s words, feeling magnanimous enough to not throw in a few barbed insults. We turned and began to examine the twins. Vicky opened their pods, and started the reanimation sequence. While they were moderately different from mine, I suppose the concept had to be pretty similar. Then again, I have no bloody clue. Don?t look at me like that! Neil peered down at their faces, then stepped back as they regained a healthy color.

The twins both came to almost instantly. One hurled himself forward, launching himself at Vicky in a frenzy of ripping, bloody screams and howls. The other appeared to be waiting for the precise moment to attack, but by then it was too late. As he started his own lunge, to follow after his twin, Andrew appeared to protect his mate, having leapt down from his vantage point on top of the ship. The sounds of animal howls, fighting, everything, filled the air. A flash of tails. Matched Saiya-jin twin boys. I felt a surge of grief in my heart, and then threw up a protective shield around both myself, and Eriju, who had slunk around behind me, to curl at my calves. She didn?t talk, but she shook out her mane in a sparkle of guard hairs and under fur. I kept my tone conversational, the scents of my shield and her wounds alike filling the space around us.[/i]

?You know, when you?re not trying to eat my innards, you?re a pretty kitty.?

[i]I looked down at her, and she gazed back with eyes devoid of hatred, or any other strong emotion. Her wounds were healing themselves, but not as quickly as mine. I put a hand at her wounded shoulder and held the ripped flesh shut, sealing it with my heated hand. She flinched and nearly tore away, until she realized I was helping. Vicky meanwhile had thrown her twin across the field, and powered up enough to where she filled her jacket more than usual. Her hair snapped in the backlash of her aura, and her tail flared and bushed out behind her, snapping with energy. The boy screamed again, seemingly incapable of speech, and flung his arms forward in an unfocused, but destructive burst of ki. Vicky growled out a command, and centered all of her energy in one fist.

Her hand held out before her, parallel with the ground, she absorbed the attack in one movement. Then she returned the favor, redirecting the energy back with all the discipline I?d come to expect from her. Andrew was dishing out much of the same, until, surprisingly, his particular twin gazed straight up into the sky. He stared directly at the sun. Then he changed. A ripple of flesh, a storm of black and brown fur, then came the Oozaru. He stamped in my direction, only to be headed off by both Vicky and Iki. The other twin switched over as well, as Gavin and Andrew strove to contain the new threat.

Shades of Neil. ....Connor sighed and reached for his sword with the air of one who has seen it all. William stood next to him, a shield up and ready to drop at the order. A ball of stray ki burst towards Eriju and myself, and I dropped the shield in an instant, and kicked one leg high in the air, reflecting it back towards the battle. Eriju surprised me and reformed the shield, almost identical to mine, only smelling less like wood-smoke, and more like flowers. Moving in the same way he?d done before, Connor swiftly sliced off one twin?s tail, and then the other?s. Two beaten boys, sank down to their original shapes, and were swiftly put into submission holds by whoever reached them first. Gavin held up his prize by the hair, his other arm pinned across the boy?s chest, and Vicky kept her foot on the throat of his brother. [/i][/FONT][/COLOR]