Everflame: The Shard

[Self-sain]

Siyan blinked a couple times, then looked over the woman. Placing his hand behind his head, he scratched it, reaching for words.
   "Death." He took a breath, tasting the word as it fell from his tongue, numbing.  "In a sense I guess you can see how I truly feel." Siyan placed his hand at his side, looking at it, raising it, then, waving. "Hello."

Meredith was lost, he wanted her to push the rock down or in? Something. Regardless, he wanted her to do something which he could not do? That didn't make sense, her flimsy Innocent muscles could hardly lift her own body weight let alone the large mass that stood in front of her. She looked at the weasel, his face was as serious as death. Placing her small paw to the stone, it was cold but-... hallow. It wasn't hollow but was. Like it gave the feeling of emptiness with the reality of fullness. This was a puzzling conundrum, maybe she was suppose to fill it somehow? She thought of a pitcher of tea, thinking of the warm flowing water filling the jug. Her fingers tingled at the though, the thought of fullness. Maybe if she pushed she could knock over, or at least move, the full container. Her muscled tightened as she pushed forward.

[Entaru]

Nero cackled lightly as the girl dropped and fell, before his smile was extinguished as he looked on at Saviour's shining scales.  His face paled slightly under his fur as his new stomach turned slightly, a flicker of fear running across his face before becoming sneer as he retracted his shadow back into himself, eliminating it completely even in the wavering torchlight.  Looking back to Leo a bit of his mood returned with a smug smirk.  "If you think mere talk is going to upset me today, Leo, you are sadly mistaken.  I suggest you and your friends leave before the town meeting is over..."  He beckoned to Aman silently and continued up the stairs.  Inside he cursed himself for even feeling a bit of fear but consoled himself with the little package he left for Leo...and that filthy lizard.

[Grace.E]

Ara was also mesmerized by his stare, something about it feel so right as he began to move closer. that was until Dim broke it but putting his fingers over her eyes like an over protective brother, making her realize what was going on and that she blushed deeply. she was silent when Talin went on his rant, she did turn up to Dim with her innocent green eyes and said.

"He does have a point Sir" she said in her soft voice, trying to avoid not ruining them again.

[KittKat chunky~]

Yenchi watched Neesa scale the wall with short glances sent her way, his attention mostly on the deep wound in Imshi's shoulder. After being dragged down the alleyway she had collapsed again into a huddled ball that whimpered and wept. The arrow stuck out from her shoulder, its sharp head digging in deep and biting with pain every time Imshi moved.


"It's okay miss, just hold still... Its going to be okay." Yenchi muttered under his breath as he gripped the wooden haft of the bolt. As he did so Imshi whimpered again, the movement sending another deep spasm of pain through her shoulder and wing. The arrow finally came free with a quick tug and a sharp gasp from Imshi.


She fell back against the wall with a gasp, her left wing limp and her eyes closed as she bit her lip against the urge to shout or scream in pain. As he worked to bind the wound with a strip of cloth Yenchi shot glances down at the bloodied arrow. One look at the shape of the bone-carved head of the bolt, a fishing arrow, was all he needed to know its origin.




The two looked up to Neesa from the gloom of the alleyway, her lithe form silhouetted against the sky. Yenchi glanced down  to Imshi who nodded silently, then glanced back up to Neesa with a nod "Yes, we can still run."

[tangletail]

Leo's eye brow raised with interest as he watched not only the lizard glow, but found himself highly intrigued over the attributte that caused the Great Demon Nero recoil with what he thought was fear. The brow quickly dropped as the possed fox had turned to him just to say good bye before he departed. "Have a nice evening," Leo chirpped as his lips now creased into a smirk as he turned around to come closer to Little Foot and Andrea.
The feline crouched down next to her to check and see if she was hurt before looking up to the door that was just a few feet from them. He waited untill he was sure that Nero had left before turning to General Caisan and sighing,"Andrea, look after her for me? I want to see how they brought him back." The cat didn't wait for a responce as he pushed himself back onto his feet, and clutched the handle to the door. However, the cat haulted for a moment as he realized that there just might be some resistance or a trap lieing ahead in wait for him. Anticipating this, he slowly reached behind his hip and unholstered the plasma pistol and brought it to his side, gathering his nerve in the process.
He took a deep breath, and breathed out lightly just before he slamed his entire weight onto the door and forcing it open. With some quick reflexes he lifted the gun up while shifting his other hand underneath the handle to steady his aim.

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Dim Lane scowled at Talin then folded his wings in front of him and looked back out the window where the sun was just beginning to light the sky. When Aria spoke, he sighed and his shoulders slumped.
"What have we even managed to do here?" he said and dropped down to sit behind the girl. "Well what do you suggest we do?" he asked with a look over Aria's shoulder at Talin. "If we really are in such danger then Tina City is as safe a place as any, and as much as I hate inherent sexism, that's no reason to drop out of society and live in a tree house 'til you die."





The squirrel tilted her head in curiosity at Saiyan.
"Well that's not a way for anyone to talk," she said and beckoned him over to her. "Wanna come help me?" She gestured to the back of the house. "A little work does good for a lost heart."





Aman stayed close, coughing and gulping as he went. He scratched and clawed in pain at his own chest as he tried to keep up with his master. His mouth filled with black fluid and it dripped down his jaw. Eventually the pair reached the entrance hall, lined with six soldiers where there used to be ten. Ahead of them was the main entrance which lead out to the village square and the soldiers moved away from it, stuck to the walls as far as they could get from Nero's deathly aura.




The weasel moved up behind Meredith and put his paws against her shoulders, guiding and pulling at them with a careless force. "Arms are important, but..." He knelt down and grabbed her legs, moving one back to sit wedged behind. "Your whole body has more of everything. Both intent, and strength run through every part."





The further Nero walked, the less Saviour glowed until he was the lizard he had always been. He climbed down after Little Hands and moved up to her, while Andrea held her bleeding head, and pressed at her limbs to check for pain. Little Hands winced and coughed, murmuring to Seeker. Saviour nuzzled against her.
"She'll be okay. It's all relatively minor. She's surprisingly resilient." Slowly she lifted the girl up and Saviour crouched down for her to be laid on top. Little Hands coughed some more and gulped. Saviour gestured for the General to follow but she shook her head to decline and looked back to where Leo had disappeared. "I've got my own person to take care of you know." She smiled and headed off to the door while Saviour climbed back up the stairs.

Leo opened the door which opened to a corridor. A mink shrieked while another pulled him through a door along the corridor. Leo could hear the lock.





Neesa nodded back and moved to hang from the roof, then slide down the wall in a near silent landing. She moved down and inspected Imshi before taking her hand and pulling the injured girl's onto her feet.
"Now if you're struggling, you tell me." She looked into her eyes as she spoke, then glanced to Yenchi. "I'm relying on you to keep your eyes open. The wall isn't far and we have a window." She let go of the girl and raced over to the end of the alleyway to lean forward and peer out. She looked back. "Run," she said with a harsh whisper and raced across the street, the early light playing over her body in a flash before she disappeared in the alleyway ahead.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Talin walked over to the door and glanced over his shoulder at Dim Lane, then at Aria before finally calming down and letting the emptiness go away.

"I did not mean to stay here, good sir. But as far as I know, three likely situations will happen for me upon returning: Banishment, enslavement, or incarceration. I have another hundred years left in my life, and I would rather not spend them hauling crates or sitting in some dingy dungeon." He walked off the edge, only catching a single branch to lessen the impact of the fall before hitting the ground below.

[Grace.E]

Aria watched Talin as he left, she then turned to her boss "Sir, what do you think will become of us...now that Nero has returned? " her voice was hurting her throat as she spoke, Dim would obviously see the pain in her green eyes and delicate face as she spoke, but she was resilient against the pain.

and why is it that he and I are acting strange together... the emotion I felt from that moment was so over powerin that...in a way, I can't bear to part from him...

"Talin, where are you going!" Aria called to him but it hurt so much that she had to stop and swallow the pain, massaging her throat, she coughed again.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Talin's ears perked up when he heard Aria, and was already halfway up the tree when she started coughing. He stood at the doorway and almost rushed to Aria again, but caught himself and looked at Dim Lane. He first thought to ask Dim Lane how Aria did that to him, but then he started voicing his intent to Aria.

"I'm going to the Village of the Shard, to either kill or cripple Nero... though I am not sure if I will live past that."

[Grace.E]

Aria stared up at Talin for a moment before she nodded, she looked scared, scared for Talin, scared for Dim...she cared about them deeply, she reached up and hugged Talin, closing her eyes as she said softly "You'll live...I know it..." she then pulled away and went to Dim Lane's side and signed we are unfit to fight Nero, should we go elsewhere?
looking at him intently.

[x]

"Yes," Listy said, more than embarassed that someone had to wipe clean her muzzle. She pressed into Akela for the warmth, the brief comfort it provided. Her cloudy eyes looked downward and one of her hooves tapped nervously on the floor. She felt something else in the air, something that was...different. And it scared her. "I'll be fine. We have to hurry..."

[Entaru]

Nero smiled and nodded to the guards as he walked past them. Hearing Aman coughing, he let out a chuckle as he walked out into the sunlight. Grimacing at the bright light, he pulled his hood over his face and looked silently into the crowd that now stared at him. The people of the town had all gathered in the square, the news of the ritual and the laughter pulling them in. Many stood aghast at the figure that now towered over Aman, quaking in a mix of fear and reverence. He slowly stepped forward with his hands placed together like a monk's, causing the crowd to part in front of him creating a path into the center of the square. Once in the center of the square, he looked around him silently, not speaking for a minute as he took in the people's fear.
 
Then he slowly raised his arms to the sky, stretching his shadow over the crowd and up the buildings. The black stretched even farther as it morphed into hundreds of grasping claws that pierced into the sky and formed a great black dome around the city as the claws grasped each other at their peak. The sun now blotted out, the city was lit with purple light that emanated from the shadows. Bringing his arms back down, he pulled down his hood and smiled into the crowd.  "My friends....thank you." His voice was almost a whisper, but every citizen in the city heard him as clear as day. "Your efforts, your sacrifice...have not been in vain. While the rest of this land toils for a being that does nothing for them, you stood by and served something tangible." His voice raised into a powerful boom as he continued. "And now...your efforts and hard work have finally come to fruition! Now....you stand here on the precipice of divinity! In the presence of a true god! Behold and tremble in fear of your god! I...your lord Nero...have RISEN!!" His last word slammed through the crowd in a shockwave, stretching outside of the city for miles as he spread his arms to the crowd.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Talin was once again lost in unnamed bliss when Aria had hugged him, automatically nodding when she whispered into his ear. He seemed a little out of touch as he slowly turned back to the exit, and repeated his decent to the ground below. Once his head was cleared of the emotional fog, he steeled himself for the coming fight. He didn't have Fang, but considering the opponent he plans to fight... Fang might actually be more of a hindrance than a boon. He let the void 'fill' his body as he sprinted back to the city, just as the mass of darkness rose into the sky. He could feel the pull again, but it felt natural, just how He felt during his mission to find the stone.

[Cifero Windtail]

Elsewhere, about 20 miles away, Feuilly suddenly heard the word "risen" in a loud voice.
"What the heck was that?" he exclaimed. The winged cat shrugged. "I suppose I'll find out later."
He continued onwards. "There must be someone who has the answers I'm looking for..."
"Hello there."
Feuilly stooped in his tracks and turned to see a white kangaroo sitting on a rock. She waved at him nonchalantly.
"Where the hell did YOU come from?" he asked.

[tangletail]

By all means, the cat hadn't expect to see the very horrifying site of a mink screaming at him causing the feline to wince in pain as the voice carried down the halway and stung at his ears. Leo's hands raised to cup his ears lightly with his left palm and the gun in his right hand. He sighed in relife when the scream  was replaced with the clicking of a lock.


"Hm..." the cat hummed to himself as he silently padded down the halway closer to the door. He looked down to the door knob and gave it a quick twist, then a jerk to see if it was really locked. Seeing that it was, he then placed his handgun on the floor and gave it a quick spin. It spun around quickly, scratching at the dirty floor and tossing some dust into the air before it had finally came to a hault, pointing at the door. "Well... I guess we will break in then... good thing I have a lockpick," he sighed as he quickly plucked up the plasma gun pointed it at the door's handle.


He squeezed down on the trigger twice, first blowing off the handle, then shooting through the lock.