Kin Chronicles Realm: Betrayal of the Guardians

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Valius and Korius looked each other in the eye as Chronin's image showed and disappeared after Korius's comment. Korius gave Valius a look and he nodded. Valius knelt next to Talin, "Forgive me." He nailed Talin hard in the gut, knocking him out. He laid Talin on the bench near the water reservoir. He eyed Elistra, "Try not to kill him. We're not so stupid as to not know most of his wounds are from you." He sighed and sat on the floor, back against the bench and took another swig.

Korius put down Valia and the whetstone he was using down and took out Talin's red-hot weapon from the furnace. He began hammering the weapon and shaving it, very unorthodox, but effective if one knows exactly what they're doing. He eyed Drevo cautiously, not liking him very much like he does with everyone else. "So where'd you find this one? Let me guess, he said he saved you after you passed out? You know, that cut on your arm is far too obviously self-inflicted. Next time you try that, make sure the blade faces the other direction."

He picked up the whetstone and ran it carefully across the blade, examining it with every little crossing inch. He finally wrapped it in a strongly weaved chain cloth and handed it to Elistra. He went back to Valia and double-checked it before returning it to Valius. He took off his musty smith's shirt, revealing a slick, smooth, silver canvas of fur, drenched in sweat. He wiped it with the shirt and threw it aside, now donning a black, sleeveless gi, matching his black, ankle-tied trousers. Korius then hitched up a small sack and lifted a floor board, pulling out a dusty, sheathed katana, and small leather sheath belt. Valius quickly looked up, knowing those weapons all too well.

Korius strapped the katana to his sash and tied the sheath belt to the back of the sash. Talin stirred behind Valius and a dark glow coming from Talin's back. Valius looked Korius dead in the eyes, "You're seriously coming with us, aren't you? No one's drawn those weapons for over 900 years." He noticed Kiana's curious looks, "Korius tended to Mistress Koara's personal treasures as well. Those weapons are those of legend. The katana of Shinzuu Katame and the sai of Vee Uzima..." Korius finished his sentence, "...and I am a Grand-Master of both. Yes, Captain. I, too, will be joining you. It is the will of the Mistress, the will of destiny."

[Srgntcuddles]

Drevo used Koruis' comment on the self-inflicted wound to dodge speaking to Kiana.
"Self-inflicted? Peh...I saved Valius' life thank you very much...I don't need to take this..." scoffed Drevo as he turned and headed outside to his carriage.
He hopped into the drivers seat and sat quietly.
"Phew...barely dodged that one..." Drevo thought to himself scratching the back of his neck.
"I really should try to catch myself, I don't know what I would'ave said...Heh..."

[KittKat chunky~]

The two Szardas had melted into the background, and nobody seemed to be paying them much attention. This was a skill valued by the rangers and it did not bother Kitt's father that nobody was interested in them. Kitt on the other hand, was still watching Kiana with curiosity... he did not know himself why he was so curious, maybe it was her story she had told, or maybe... he sighed, thinking back to his mother... they had not seen each other for more than two years, and exact memories had become blurred and indistinct, only by his father retelling the story of his mother every night did Kitt keep a incling of his mother, the person both him and his father would not stop looking for.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chronin sighed walked towards Talin, and started to heal his wounds with whatever light magic was availible. Afterwards, he made himself visible to Elistra, but slipped slightly and caused Valius to see him as well. "Is Talin usually subjected to this... because I can hardly see an injury beyond a few cut marks..." Elistra tried to hide her embarrassment as to how she treats her companion. "It must be the training, for I would never inflict that much harm on him daily..." Chronin raised an eyebrow before interrupting "I never said how often..." Elistra gives up her defence and stays silent, wrapping her arms around Talin's weapon. "Well, if you're going to make this relationship work, you can't keep your distance like that."

Elistra reluctantly nodded and walked over next to Talin, leaning against him before finally realizing what Talin had picked up earlier. "Wait, you're his ancestor, right?" Chronin didn't respond and just looked at everyone else, who was probably trying to ignore what they saw as someone talking out-loud, to nobody in particular...

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana's eyebrows stayed pulled together and her mouth stayed in a tight thin line. She was practically fuming now since she didn't like it when she asked a question and someone didn't answer it, especially when it was a question that involved her in some way. With a slight flick of her wrist she could easily knock Drevo off of his carriage. She pictured this in her head and her expression loosened as she smirked. She only visualized it though because that was enough to make her feel better, if it hadn't been, she would have done it.

She turned her head towards the rangers and caught Kitt looking at her. This didn't bother her because she felt that he was more curious about her than "interested", so she didn't snap at him. While her eyes were on the rangers, she noticed Korius changing shirts so she looked at them longer than she had meant to, but angled her eyes up so she was looking over their heads at an uninteresting portion of wall. She didn't want to be looking at Korius while he switched shirts because she knew she'd feel embarrassed, and avoiding looking (the point of why she was doing so would be obvious to the others) and possibly being ridiculed seemed better to her than actually blushing.

When she was sure Korius was done, she turned her head back towards him in time to see him taking out the weapons. Her eyes widened slightly then went back to normal as she tilted her head slightly. "Those can't be..." She thought but Valius answered her thoughts. She couldn't believe that she was a part of this, that she was so close to things of legend. It felt pretty unreal.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Valius noticed Chonin reappearing again and eyed Korius. Korius un-holstered a sai and tossed it over. Valius threw the sai though the image, into the wall, and it finally disappeared.

Korius looked over to Elistra, "As I said, ironic that the Dark One's descendant would be the part of the fulfillment of prophecy to rid evil. By no means should you allow Talin to maintain contact with Chronin. Prolonged contact will allow Chronin's spirit to latch, possess and finally, take over Talin's body. Chronin Lazarus died a traitor over 900 years ago by Shinzuu's hand. However, his spirit still lived. 5 years ago, in the Defining War, Chronin did the same thing to Talin's father. Chronin was one of the few High Mages in history. Oddly enough, he was also the last one, having severed the Anil bloodline and murdering all those in the Academy, including Guardian Carina Gallant, who was his only equal in magic, but was always only ranked a mage, being unable to manipulate life. If Chronin gains control of Talin, it'll be the end of life as we know it."

Valius picked the sai from out of the wall and tossed it back to Korius. "There may be a way to slow it down, but in order to stop it permanently, Talin will need to be even stronger willed than now. Chronin's got him in his grip. As one who loves him, you need to look after him. Now pardon, but this will hurt a bit." Valius rolled Talin onto his back and lifted the shirt up to the middle of the back. There, glowing on Talin's back, was the black light from earlier, shaped like a jewel shard. Korius shook his head, "To think, the Black Gem still passes down to every child of Lazarus. One child, always male. The gem following the blood. That gem is a medium, his connection to his descendants, and the source of life for each descendant. Without the gem, the bearer will die.. Go ahead, Valius. Do it."

Valius took out the sigil from his money pouch and laid it on top of the shard, holding it over it, sigil face up. Valius raised his fist and slammed the rigid edges of it into Talin's skin, embedding it into his back, covering the shard's light. He looked at Elistra, "As long as this covers the shard's magic, it'll limit Chronin's contact with Talin, but not for long. There's barely any magic in that sigil since it was incinerated. It's best if we kill him, but I don't think you'd allow that. We can only hope that he'll get stronger. But make no mistake..." Korius walked beside Valius, "...we will kill him if he gets to stage 2. As the last captains of the Knights, we will uphold our responsibilities. We will never allow Chronin to come back to life." Korius's eyes glared unmercifully at Elistra and Talin, the dark, forest-green eyes that seemed to glow red. The eyes of an assassin.

[Srgntcuddles]

Drevo sat on the carriage for a few moments before looking at the gash in it from Valia.
"Oh...My baby! What did he do to you?!" he said moving over to the gash and looking at it intentively.
"This is going to cost me out the back end to fix..." Drevo sighed glumly with his head hung low.

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt's father pulled the younger feline close to him, one arm around his sons shoulder he leaned against the wall of the blacksmiths, watching the others closely. He had no reason to wish to draw attention to himself, though Kitt did seem to still be wanting to ask Kiana questions. He smiled as he thought about his son, his mother would be so proud to see him so grown up....

Kitt looked up to his father, then back to Kiana, he did indeed have hundreds of questions... though Kiana was the only person he felt like he could ask any of them to...

[Chrono Blackwyng]

The pain of the sealing seemed to also awaken Talin from his unconsiousness, and he looks around. "Where is he, where is that..." Elistra grabs the sides of his head and turns his face to hers. "Enough, Talin, whatever happened before is over with" Talin was about to rubuke her when she shook his head. "Its over Talin, get your weapon and we'll wait outside for everyone else... alright?" Talin's will to resist died and he nodded before getting his double volge and carrying it outside, with Elistra very close. However, since Chronin was not able to influence Talin by sight or sound, but he was able to still be visible, he appeared in front of both Korius and Valius. At that moment, everyone in the room could see and hear him. "an incinerated sigil, do you make light of my power, knight of Gaia?" he vanished with a haunting laughter, and then his presence was felt no more.

For the moment, anyway...

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana was relieved that no one brought her obvious evasion from looking at Korius when he was shirtless, as she listened to Valius and Korius' discussion but didn't exactly understand it. She then saw the figure appear, heard it speak, and saw it vanish. Seeing and hearing that made what they were discussing somewhat more understandable, but she just shook her head in response to what she had seen and heard. She also heard Drevo complaining outside and chuckled.
She then looked over at Kitt who was continuing to look at her with curiosity. "If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask them..." She told him. "Just so long as their not really personal, you know." She smiled.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Valius and Korius sighed and turned for the door. Korius grumbled, "Full of crap like usual. But as he said, it won't hold him for long. We must hurry." They walked out with the others, walking up to Drevo's carriage. While Drevo kept carefully examining the carriage, Korius knocked on the door of the carriage and the whole thing fell in two pieces. "I'm guessing you did that, Valius?" Valius nodded and walked off onto the main road. "That's a sturdy carriage to move from the forest's edge to here without breaking on the way. Come on, Drevo, we're walking."

As the party assembled and walked down the street, Valius walked up next to Kiana. "So, I know you're supposed to be a cheetah, but from how you were looking at Korius while he was changing, I could've sworn that you were a cougar with spots. So you're into the very young ones, eh? Robbing the cradle from all the remaining women of Gaia?"

[Srgntcuddles]

Drevo dropped to his knees, jaw almost to the floor.
"Ahhhhh! W-Wha-My baby!" He put his hands on his head looking over the ruins of his carriage. He muttered things unaudibly as the others began on their ways.
"Why did this happen to me?! Gaaaah-haaaa-haaa-aaa!" said Drevo falling over on the ground.
"I didn't even have it payed off!"
"...First I get cut...Then I get assaulted by the guy I save...Then he drinks the last of my Sake, then I'm smacked around and insulted and now THIS!"
Drevo slowly got up and reached into the rubble and pulled out a large straw hat and hung it over his head infront of his face.
"That's the last time I go out of my way to help someone..." grumbled Drevo slowly walking after the rest of them.

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt nodded to Kiana as his dad pulled him out of the blacksmiths after the others... Kitt's father smiled to Kiana, one arm around his son her muttered quietly to her... "he seems to have taken quite a liking to you miss Kiana. If ever his constant questions becomes tiring then do not hesitate to tell him, enough."
Smiling to her Kitts father kept an arm tightly around his son as they walked out into the street, the younger feline still watching Kiana with the curiosity of youth...

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Talin was in a mental fog as kept on moving with Elistra. He really couldn't think of what would happen, or even how dangerous it could get. All that seemed to matter now was that Elistra was with him, and won't die if he had a say in it. Tha- Talin pushed the voice out, it wasn't helping him or adivising. It was an annoyance and nothing more. Elistra was only concerned with Talin, for hes the only reason why she could leave the cave her father forced her to be in, and is the only reason she can even tolerate non-dragons.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana nodded at Kitt's father as she walked with the group. She glanced at Valius after he made his comment and looked forward again. "Did he change? I didn't even notice." She said, keeping a level head. "And I'm younger than him, if you hadn't noticed. Don't let my level in magic fool you into thinking I'm an old maid." She looked at him and just smirked.