Flux

Kho raised a hand as a bottle was handed to him. "No thanks..." he muttered, looking out at the setting sun. Its fading light reflected off the remaining shells of the scraeth. His grip flexed over then handle of his blade, the old habit taking place again. He could hear the rest of the group laughing behind him, happy with their survival. Meanwhile, his thoughts drifted to his past. Running at his opponent, swinging his sword wildly in fear. His master's voice- "...Focus! You need to move more fluidly!" Stumbling as he attempted a movement... "...let your mind and body become one! It should feel natural..." A feeling of elation at completing a parry. His master's smile. "...good. You're progressing well, Kho." His master's hand placed on his shoulder. -------------------------------------------------------- Gillem placed a hand on Kho's shoulder. The Vanda turned to meet his eye, looking surprised for a split second before his face resumed its usual composure. Gillem smiled. "Sorry if I startled you. Why don't you join us? Everyone's in good spirits." Kho glanced at the group before meeting Gillem's gaze again. "I... don't really get along well with others..." Gillem nodded, his faint smile still in place. "You have to start sometime, don't you? Come on, we're all companions here." He took the ranger's arm and began leading him towards the group. "H-hey...! I don't really..." Kho started, fading away as they reached the group. Gillem raised his bottle. "For Aervana!" he cheered. ------------------------------------------------------- The sun had disappeared. Gillem was preparing a tent, handing Kho a few blankets from his travelsack. "Pass these out to anyone who needs one, if you would. I'm sure you know how cold the desert gets at sundown. We won't have a fire to keep us warm either, for lack of kindling out here. Kho paused and then nodded, before heading over to the others in the group, offering the blankets to any who might want them. The beginnings of a smile formed at the corner of Gillem's mouth. "It'll be good for him to interact with the others..." he thought, staking the final corner of the tent. It stood tall and wide, taking up the majority of Gillem's larger bag. The tent would fit most of them. They would need people to stand watch anyway. He knew the sorts of creatures that walked the desert at night. He approached the group as he finished with the tent. "The tent is up. We should all be able to fit inside, if you don't mind the cramped quarters. It will at least shelter us from the wind. We'll need to set up watches for the night as well. There are creatures that roam around out here that could give us a lot of trouble." He raised three fingers. "I figure we'll break up the night into three watches. If there are two volunteers, you can choose which watch you'd like, and I'll take whatever's left." As he finished, he reached into his smaller bag, taking out some dried meat and bread, passing pieces among the group. "I don't know if any of you brought food, but I should have just enough to cover those without, at least until we restock in Sakiiri."

Sounds pretty interesting. (It's obviously my sort of RP since I run a fantasy RP right now.) However, I'm already in so many RPs that it's probably not very likely I'll join. Still, you never know. I'll wait until I see the sign-up thread, I guess.

Sorry... I couldn't resist. Also, he has a last name now.

Lars looked hesitantly at the screen. "This could get to be kind of irritating..." he thought. Then he remembered the strange rumors he'd heard. "I can't resist a little fun," he said resignedly. He quickly signed his name with a grin. "I, Lars Kaiser, Hereby accept these conditions."

(This isn't exactly the post I wanted to quote, but I couldn't find the one where you said something about levels. This one also deals with my point, though.) So we're using a level system? I honestly feel like for almost any Pokemon-related RP, a realistic system works better. The same goes for abilities. It's almost like you have to combine all a pokemon's potential abilities into one, or at least only pick certain ones for it to make any sense because some abilities don't work well in an RP setting. Sheer Force on Nidoking, for example, would be very difficult to portray in an RP. However, Poison Point and Rivalry would be easier to convey. The same goes for Pokemon like Aggron. In an RP setting, Rock Head and Heavy Metal seem like things Aggron would naturally just have. You wouldn't expect him to get hurt from a Head Smash when his head is made of steel, and you'd expect him to be really heavy. And again, things like Sturdy would be slightly harder to show. Tl;dr I don't think a leveling system works well for Rps (If that is what we're doing), and maybe Pokemon should have all their potential abilities? (If it makes sense) Otherwise only abilities that make sense. Hopefully this makes some sort of sense. I'm looking forward to this whether these affect your opinion or not, though.

Char. Name: Lars Kaiser Char. Age: 18 Starting partners: Nidoran M (Dominance), Abra M (Sleepy) Personality: Consistently bored, Lars spends a lot of time outside in nature. He constantly jokes around, never taking anything too seriously. While carefree and laidback, he can be quite stubborn about seemingly meaningless things. He has a dislike for authority, considering himself a free spirit. Upon hearing of military experiments, his curiosity is peaked and he decides to see what it's all about. Appearance: Mid-length bright white hair, fair-skinned, stands about 5' 10", wears a long black coat with neon blue trim. His dull gray eyes reflect his constant boredom, and he carries around a necklace with a crack in the center of its gem. Home state/town: WI Pic (optional): Just a quick sketch I drew before. It was originally the inspiration for Aervana, but he won't be until the sequel if we ever make it that far, so I'll just use him here. (Sorry for the smudges, I don't have a tablet...) Other/ additional details: To be determined... Now some questions: Are we going to be allowed to use any move a Pokemon has in its arsenal? (Tutor moves, egg moves, move reminder moves, etc.) Are we supposed to have met our starting two Pokemon already, will they be given to us, or will we find them in-character?

We could certaintly do with some posting... There's not much I can do to get group 1 moving until Braius gets back up and going, and it's not really in-character for either of my characters in group 1 to pull out a bottle of ale... As for group 2, I might be able to post something there even thought it'd be nice if I didn't need to post every other time.. -.- (It's pretty much just back and forth between Jory and myself right now...)

Blaze put a leg up to meet Theo's paw. "My name is... Blaze," he said as he stared in wonder at the rainbow light surrounding them. However, he couldn't enjoy it to it's fullest as his mind drifted back to the wind. Theo and Nivia said that they had felt it too. It was comforting to know that it was not targeting him specifically, but also unnerving to think that it had affected such a wide area. "Are you both headed towards the mountain, too?" he asked the pair. "I'm trying to discover what happened on...that day." He cringed a little as he said the last part, memories coming back once more.

Blaze stood up, embarrassed. There were few things more embarrassing than being caught while trying to hide. He had been worried at first, but these two Pokemon seemed to mean no harm to him. Still he found it somewhat strange that a Dewgong would be carrying another Pokemon around... He decided he would ask about that. As for that other Pokemon, he had no idea what it was. "...So, where are you to off to in such a hurry?" he said quietly, unable to think of anything else to say. He looked down at the handkerchief at his feet, seeing the Oran berry nestled inside. He gladly took hold of it with his front legs and fell back into a sitting position with his back two and began to nibble on the berry with his small mouth while he waited for an answer. He suddenly remembered why he was out so far from the woods and looked back at the trees nervously. That wind hadn't been natural, and he was afraid that whatever it was might still be after him.

I didn't think we were looking for a camera, though... More like a computer lab or the mainframe or something... I doubt you could control the entire camera system through a single camera.

Yeah, but Miki already sent off Jolteon to Discharge stuff... If we don't even have a sure place to hook in to, this could turn out bad...

Why was the Sega Genesis so good? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6IY-9gMHJc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA5wswdfWOk This stuff is why.

7/10 Looks like something from Sonic the Hedgehog, but I don't think it is... Honestly, I wouldn't know anymore.

/ponders whether it's time for me to post in Aervana #2 or not

Wait, for the covert ops, where are we connecting to to loop the footage? I'm a bit lost on that...

Blaze stopped as he exited the forest, looking out over the bluff at the rushing water. He still hadn't found any place that looked secure enough to rest for the night, and he was becoming especially uneasy the longer it took. He had a feeling that something powerful had caused that ominous wind, and he wanted to get as far away from it as he could. As he looked at the water, he saw a white shape moving quickly with the current. It appeared to be a Pokemon of some sort, and had something on its back. He tried to find somewhere to hide, but the forest was too far away, and there were no trees or bushes to use as cover. With no other option before the Pokemon came by, he spread himself out on the ground, hoping to make himself flat enough that it would swim past without noticing him.

"H-Hey guys, I-I don't mind, a-and neither does Raito here, short circuiting the drones in there b-but... A-Are you sure it would b-be okay for y-you to hack into the system? I-I couldn't help but notice you hesitating before. I-If it's not convenient or something, y-you should tell us. I mean, m-maybe we can f-find another way... And, ummm... Sorry if I-I seemed nosy..." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Flux gave a reassuring smile. He was surprised that Miki was the one who noticed that something was wrong. She had seemed so shy and reserved. He'd make sure not to underestimate her in the future. "No, it's no problem. Our priority right now is getting everyone through safely and accomplishing our mission." He shrugged. "Besides, if I can't even do this, I'm fairly useless here, aren't I?"

Gillem looked at Koz and gave a nod towards Braius. "You said you know some healing, right? You'd better look at him, just to be safe." He paused briefly. "Afterwards... I have something I'd like you to look at." He turned aside and walked a few steps, looking out at the bodies of the fallen scraeth spread amongst the desert sand. He could see Kho making an even pace towards the group. As Kho came close enough, Gillem approached him. "You fight exceptionally well with a blade. Your movements are so precise and graceful." Kho looked away, his fingers fidgeting with the hilt of his blade, before nodding his gratitude. Gillem could hear mumbled thanks as the Vanda walked past. He sighed. "He's not opening up to anyone very quickly, is he?" He returned to the group to see if Koz had found anything out about Braius other than sheer exhaustion. He expected it must be tiring after going into a rage like that. He gave a slight bow to Eleriese as he passed. "Thank you for your help out there. I fear I wouldn't have made it out alive, if not for you. I am in your debt."

Looks good to me. I think it will probably be easiest for you to join when the group(s) reach the capital, Sakiiri. Sorry for making you wait, but I'll make a post if a way opens up for you to join sooner. As long as people keep posting, it shouldn't take that long.

Dun dun DUUUUUUNNNN!!!! Super-sleuth Arkhidon has uncovered your scheme-thing! (Unless, of course, there was nothing to uncover and Bibarel was just innocently looking through the old RP threads.)

"What's Sakiiri like? What kinds of shops do they have? How's the food there? Can we stay at an inn before moving on?" Nash was surprised by the barrage of questions from the so-far quite elf. He took a moment to collect himself. "Well, as you can probably guess, it's a desert town. Well... more like an oasis, but it's still sandy and hot. It's a fairly large place, especially for being in the middle of the desert, mostly due to the fact that it's the capital city of the Shantii and a major trading center. Because of this, you can expect to see a lot of their people there. However, it's also home to many people from other races as well." He took a breath. "As for shops, there are merchants set up in stalls around almost every corner. Traveling caravans regularly stop through to trade their wares. You can find almost anything you want to buy in Sakiiri, if you're willing to search hard enough." Her next question was his favorite part of Sakiiri. "The food is amazing. There are restaurants and taverns ranging anywhere from the lowest of the low to five-star places I can only dream about eating at. The aromas that come from those places..." He trailed off, his stomach beginning to growl. "There are many types of food available as well. You can find a restaurant that serves the native food of almost any race. And as for your final question, I do believe Gillem has sent a messenger to book us an inn. We'll be spending a night or two there before continuing north." They walked for a while more before Nash turned back to the group again. "We should be reaching the desert by the end of tomorrow. If we continue at this pace, we should be able to reach Sakiiri in 4 days from there, leaving us with an extra day if no conflicts arise. Based on our lack of scouts, I'm going to assume they haven't found anything problematic."

"I think their numbers are low enough they may begin to flee after the decimation of their force." Gillem turned to see Olrien approaching. Sure enough, looking behind the elf, Gillem could see that the few remaining scraeth were indeed heading the other way. He retrieved his shield from where it lay in the sand. The strap that held it to his arm had broken, but it would be a simple fix. "Yes, you seem to be right," Gillem commented, motioning at the fleeing scraeth. As he looked in the distance he saw Kho standing over the bodies of three scraeth. "He defeated all three.." Gillem thought. It was an impressive feat, especially for one without any magical talent. "Now I see why the Vanda swordsmasters were so feared." He took out his sword, wiping the blood off of it as he spoke to Olrien. "Your fighting style is quite impressive. I was able to catch glimpses of you fighting in the small periods of time I had between conflicts. I wanted to help, but unfortunately they kept me busy," he said, motioning to the nearby body of a scraeth. He continued, "You use your wind magic to aid your physical skills, combining sword art and magic in a way I would never have imagined. It's quite impressive." He stood up, sheathing his sword. "We should probably see how the others are doing and assess injuries. Nobody seems to be terribly hurt, but it's a good idea to make sure." He held a hand to his side as he walked towards the others. "I should really have Rhea take a look at this when we meet up with Nash in Sakiiri. The burn from that demon isn't healing like it should." Gillem could feel the wound throbbing from the impact of where the scraeth had hit him. An idea came into his head. "Koz said he knew some healing. I doubt he's ever incountered a wound from a demon, but maybe he can do something." He sighed. While he wanted to have hope, he wasn't very confident that there was much any healer around here could do.

Kho's sword gleamed in the sunlight. There were three scraeth around him. He was breathing heavily now, a rare thing for him. "I'm out of practice," he thought to himself. "Still, I'm nowhere near finished." He circled around, ready to move at the slightest movement from one of the scraeth. He was in the eye of the storm right now, each side carefully watching the other. Then, all at once, the calm was broken. Two of the scraeth darted inward, snapping their pincers towards Kho. He jumped through the air, scarf trailing behind him as he landed on the back of one of the third scraeth. It lashed out with its tail, but Kho was ready. He weaved to the side and slashed at the tail as it swung past. His sword's razor sharp blade cut it clean off. Greenish blood spurted from the wound, covering Kho with its droplets. He stabbed downward between the scraeth's plates, then jumped off as it collapsed. He ran at one of the other two, sliding underneath it to avoid its tail. He stabbed upward, piercing its belly, then dragged his blade towards the creatures backside, cleaving it open from underneath. He rolled out to face the last of the three. It let out a hissing noise, its mandibles opening and closing as it glared at him. All at once, his exhaustion seemed to fade away. Kho approached it slowly, his mind connecting with his surroundings. He heard every noise, saw every twitch the scraeth made. This was what he had trained for. This was what he had accomplished in his training. He walked at a slow pace, ready to end this battle. The scraeth thrust its stinger at him, like a spear flying through the air. But Kho had seen it coming. He took a single step to the left, narrowly avoiding the stinger as it buried itself in the sand. Without breaking pace, he severed the creature's tail. The scraeth cried out, but swung a pincer at Kho like a hammer. Using its own momentum, Kho positioned his blade so the scraeth cut off its own appendage. Before it could react, he turned, quickly lashing out with his sword, severing its other claw. Without its weapons, the scraeth was defenseless. It let out what sounded like a whimper. Blood was dripping from its severed appendages. With a single thrust, Kho ended its pain once and for all. ---------------------------------------- Gillem was exhausted. They had killed so many, but so many remained. There still seemed to be around 10 scraeth left. Kho was surrounded by three of them, but despite how much Gillem wanted to help, he had his own to deal with. He raised his sword, his tired muscles still responding. He had yet to retrieve his shield; it lay just beyond the scraeth in front of him. He narrowly dodged a blow from its pincer, retaliating with a strike from his sword. However, his movement was too slow, and the scraeth pulled away its arm, striking Gillem with the other. It was a glancing blow off of his armor, but he could still feel the creature's strength behind it. He took another swing at the scraeth, leaving a shallow cut in its side. He could feel energy slowly returning to his body, and his movements became more fluid, with power once again backing his strikes. It had to be one of the magic users. He'd have to thank them later. Using his newly found energy, Gillem let loose a flurry of blows at the scraeth, severing a pincer before managing to strike beneath its plating. He twisted his sword, slicing the plate off of its head. He followed up with a lunge into the now defenseless area, and the beast collapsed.

"Aye lad. What about breakfast though..." Nash murmured, removing the sizzling bacon from where it hung over the fire. But Roland and Megaira were already too far away to hear him. He put on a thoughtful face as he considered what to do about that. "I guess we'll just eat on the move," he said to the group. "It'll give them some time to get ahead of us at least." Nash passed out the bacon to the remaining members before moving to gather his things. As he passed Crag and saw the bottle again, he gave a small sigh. "Guess we'll have time for that later.." he grumbled as he latched up his armor. * * * * * The sun shone down on the group as they moved down the path. The scent of wildflowers was in the air, the birds were chirping, and a cool breeze blew past every now and then. Rhea smiled as she walked along looking at the life surrounding her. The grass and foliage were a vibrant green, and scattered pools of water shone a brilliant blue. The breeze was refreshing as it blew on her light robes. She let out a sigh. "It really is a perfect day," she thought to herself. They were making good distance already -- their pace was brisk, but not uncomfortable. Better yet, there didn't appear to be any danger ahead, seeing as Roland and Megaira hadn't returned yet. Either that, or they'd already run into it. She didn't want to think about that, though. Such thoughts are how you ruin an otherwise wonderful day. Looking ahead, she could see that Nash wasn't exactly sharing her sentiment. He was slightly hunched and had an annoyed frown on his face. She switched to a light trot as she ran up to him. "What's wrong?" She asked with a smile. "Lighten up. The sun's out, and it's a beautiful day." Nash grunted. "It's hard to enjoy the scenery when you're dragging around heaving armor and carrying two people's travelsacks..." he said, giving her a deliberate look. Rhea shrugged and gave a light chuckle. "Oh Nash, I'm sure you can handle it. Besides, you're the one who volunteered to carry it." "Only after you complained for an hour.." Nash grumbled. He turned to the others. "Oi! You're awfully quite back there. Have either of you been to Sakiiri before? I've been through a few times with Rhea and Gillem, and it's a fairly bustling place. Traders and shops are set up everywhere. I'd advise not getting caught up in the back alleyways, though. Like any place, it has its share of shady businesses, but Sakiiri even moreso than most."