Sighs of the ocean.

[Jade [Maggie]]

Jade sat a little ways from the edge of the ocean, perched on top of a boulder in the middle of the sand. Occasionally she glanced behind her, but she saw no one. The only living things besides her were all the way back in town, up in the mountain a little ways from the beach.

Running a hand through her ebony hair, Jade pulled out a cloth dampened in sea water and began cleaning a dagger at her lap. The engraved blade was caked in a dark green substance, which Jade knew to be blood. Earlier in the day, she had woken to find a hideous monster in her room, which had just been about to attack her. Several lacerations and bruises later, an annoyed Jade had thrown the beast’s body from her balcony, which extended slightly over the side of an edge of the cliff and watched it fall to the rocks below.

Jade frowned slightly as she thought about the event. Had the monster come specifically for her, or was it just causing random trouble? If it was there for her, then who had sent it? It could have been her great-uncle or grandparents, but she wasn’t entirely sure if they wanted her dead—which the monster obviously had. It was unlikely and likely at the same time that they had sent it. She was their last heir to the line, and yet she wasn’t like them, wasn’t evil. The other option, besides deranged family, was someone from Waefae’s clan trying to get rid of her—a more than likely possibility.

Suddenly thinking of the town she was in, Jade decided the monster must have been random. After all, it was extremely hard, nearly impossible, to track someone underneath the thick layer of magic that cloaked the town. So many magical artifacts were here, that all their auras mixed and flowed, so that one could feel the magic by just walking down the street.

That was part of the reason Jade was here at the ocean. If there was such thing as a magical overdose, then Jade surely had it. She could barely breath in that town. But out by the ocean, listening to the waves crashing against the rocks, Jade was completely relaxed… or at least as relaxed as possible. But Jade was always alert. In this new world, one had to be. The new sides had created new tensions, and Jade was sure that there was war in the future. She knew she would side with the Queen and fight for good, but she still was nervous of evil temptations. She and her father were the first non-evil members of the family—what if she would be tempted too easily to switch to the dark side? She’d never do it willingly… but what if she couldn’t help being turned?

Slightly troubled, the young woman went back to cleaning her blade.

[Kal]

Sarcasm should not be used in negotiations.

Pft, that's stupid. I growled, flipping through the book I had just recently purchased. How To Rule an Organization was it's title, and at first glance I thought it was a joke, but, no, sure enough, it was real. At the time I'd bought it I thought it would be "real helpful," but so far it was more like a "real waste of money." I'm sure if I'd had an open mind (and hadn't loved sarcasm and being cynical so much) it might have seemed useful, but, as you've probably already figured, this was most certainly not the case.

I kept reading it, though. Gained a few curious glances, too, but no one said a word.

I found myself making progress towards the beach, the growing accumulation of sand in my boots, telling me this, and before I knew it I was practically walking into the water. With an annoyed sigh and a raised eyebrow, I lifted my eyes from tedious reading to spot a place to sit. It was only after I had clambered up the rock that I noticed there was in fact, someone else on it. Immediately thoughts like "Oh, gods, is it one of Waefae's men?" and "Is she a jewel holder?" crossed my mind. Why? Because it had become a habit that whenever I was surprised, shocked, interrupted, or simply prodded by a person, these issues would spring to mind and rule out the common things like "Oh, look, a person!"

Hello person!

What the- Why did THAT come out?

Erm, I mean, excuse me.

I managed, hiding my World Domination book behind my back. No need to make the situation worse.

[Jade [Maggie]]

Jade watched warily as the man swayed down the beach, wondering vaguely what he was reading that was so interesting. She unconsciously leaned away as he clambered onto the boulder, resisting the urge to growl. Instead she settled for curling her top lip and giving him a nasty look. When he spoke, her eyebrows went up as well.

Hello....

She said is slowly as if he wouldn't understand it otherwise, then glanced towards the book which he had tried to hide.

Why are you reading a book about ruling organizations?

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him, not even coming close to trusting him.


OOC: Bleh, sorry for the short post. My muse is draining.

[Kal]

Grephgyphyny

I cringed, unable to catch the jumble of words before they escaped. It was a bad habit of mine, swearing in the language of my home world. Or... the language of the trees, anyway. I glanced quickly around myself, looking for any plants I might have offended (if they knew the language) and found none. Good, I figured I'd have a hard enough time dealing with this human, let alone trying to apologize to a plant.

My gods, I sound insane, don't I? I know I do, don't try to lie about it, it's plain to see, I'm crazy. I mean, come on, why would I even care about offending plants?

It's not like they talk to me anymore, stuck up foliage.

... oh, for the love of the nine hells.

I didn't just say that, and... and...

Take a deep breath, hold it in. No, longer.... LONGER... okay, let it out... and reply with something that resembles normalcy, 'k?

They book is just... just for fun, you know?

I laughed here. Laughing seemed like a good thing to do, help lighten the situation.

I thought it would neat to read. Guess I just kind of.. got embarrassed.

I added, stuffing the book into my satchel, and safely out of sight.

[Jade [Maggie]]

Jade stared at the man, mouth slightly agape. She even forgot to glare. Instead, she found herself staring blankly at him, completely taken aback. Stuck up foliage? Was he as crazy as he seemed, talking of plants as if they could actually talk back?

Or did he just have abilities that she couldn't comprehend? Recovering from the sudden disarming, Jade regained her composure; she could feel every muscle in her body tighten and tense, as was usual for her when she was nervous or wary... which was pretty much all the time. After all, she could never be too careful. And what was with that ridiculous response about the book? For fun? Not likely. And she wasn't buying the embarassment thing either.

Really. It wasn't a question.

Jade shifted a few inches over on the rock, putting a small but necessary distance between her and this stranger. She didn't like him. Okay, so she rarely liked anyone--but she didn't like him extra. After all, she had met a fair few good actors, as well as people who had been fooled by them. For all likelihood, this guy used insanity to hide the fact that he was a genius.

Well, maybe it was a bit of a stretch. But hey, better safe then sorry.

[Kal]

I bit my lip, scooting away from her as an echo of her actions, and glancing nervously around myself. I probably should have just leaped off the rock by now and walked away, returning to my dedicated reading of my World Domination book and trying to forget all about this. There was no reason to stay and enhance the awkward silence, or annoy this girl. I had the strong feeling that every moment I stayed, I was strengthening her thoughts of beating me into a bloody pulp and dancing on my remains...

...Oh, geez, I didn't even know if she was the violent type, isn't that judgmental?

Always size up your opponent before speaking.

Oops, blew that rule.

Yeah.

.. OK, that was just stupid to say. Stay on target here, Kal. Get your butt off the rock, your feet on the ground, and move... that way. Yes, that way. No, not that way, look to the left... more left... see the guy int he shorts? The Fat one? Yeah, that way.

Wait, that was to my right... dang it.

Eh heh heh...

I laughed randomly. Use laughter to break tension, I remember the book had instructed...

[Jade [Maggie]]

OOC: I'm adding some drama and action to get this moving faster =]

Jade opened her mouth to respond, insults pushing forth and begging to be thrust out into his face. She dearly wanted this man to just get away from her--after all, she was here first. But she didn't get the chance.

She froze for the barest second as she looked over his shoulder, and the next moment she was tackling him off the rock. Later she would dwell on this obsessively, for she next understood why she chose to take him with her. The normal Jade would have let him sit on the boulder and be hit by the spell--a wispy line of silver shaped like an arrow, that faded as it flew over them. Something must have been very off that day.

Regardless of the reasoning, Jade found herself on top of the stranger in the sand. Her silver eyes narrowed and flashed in the direction of the hooded creatures, who were approaching at an eerily unnatural pace... and it looked like they were levitating their way over. With a slight blush, Jade realized she was still on top of the man, and leapt off, deciding it was best to worry about the embarassment later. Heart racing, head pounding, Jade instinctively conjured up her favorite power--a emerald ball of crackling energy (she just called them energy balls)--and held it up to throw....

...But hesitated. Something was familiar about these things, but she couldn't place it. She frowned uncertainly, suddenly not so sure if she should throw her energyball at them. And then the hesitation was gone and she tossed it.

To Jade's surprise and frustration, a forcefield crackled to life and rebounded the green energy, sending it flying back at her. Her eyes widened slightly and she ducked. Now what?

Oh, right... she wasn't alone.

That book of yours wouldn't happen to mention anything about defeating Laseru demons, would it?

[Kal]

Look, I'm- Gaaaa!

Were the only words that emerged before her life-saving tackle. A few obscenities slipped out, too, once I hit the ground and got more then my fair share of sand down my shirt and up.. more uncomfortable areas, but I was more concerned about that creatures which approached us. Heck, I didn't even realize the girl was on top of me until she got off.

Ehr... erm, demons?

My voice cracked for a moment as my mind struggled to cope with he "demon" comment.

... still coping, give me another sec, ok?

Right.

Erm, uh, no. Demons? No... well... no.

I rambled, fumbling to draw my sword. Where were my minions when I needed them? I should have had a legion of Grey Company men around me at all time. Just.. all around, so when stuff like this happened, they wouldn't loose their valuable and irreplaceable leader.

But, since you know what they are, I'm assuming you know how to fight them, right?

I ventured, holding my twin blades in hand. I spun them a around a few times, backing steadily towards the ocean.

[Jade [Maggie]]

Jade growled her response through her clenched teeth.

Why would I ask if I already knew? And what kind of ruler are you if you don't know how to defend against various magical beings?

Jade had a pretty good idea already that this man probably was reading that book for a reason other than curiousity. She felt comfortable assuming he was leading some club, if not an organization of elite terrorist mages. Whipping out her sword, Jade tried extremely hard to remember where she had seen these things before. Maybe she did know how to defeat them, and just couldn't remember. After all, she didn't remember much from the five or so fortnights her "special teacher" had spent trying to teach Jade her trade. She thought that maybe her teacher might have covered some evil creatures in the lessons, but Jade had been very young, and her father hadn't continued those subjects after he had found out about the lessons. Jade still remember the look of shock when she finally told her father about the lessons.

Her mind was obviously wandering again. She shook her head slightly as if shaking off a pesky insect, then returned her attention to the dem...

The arrows are poisonous, but cannot go through metal. Jade froze at the thought, not know where it came from but knowing it must be true. She threw up her sword and repelled the arrows now flying steadily as the monsters approached. Afraid she would trip over rocks, Jade had to back up much slower than she would have liked.

Use your sword against the arrows--they can't go through metal! But they're--AHHH--poisonous, so don't let them hit you!

Jade was getting extremely frustrated--she couldn't remember anything about how to get rid of these things. So all she could do now was work on defending herself and hoping they'd just get bored.

[Kal]

For someone who doesn't know how to fight these things, you sure are good at it!

I cried out, dodging a stray arrow that bounced off her sword. My dodging skills were, unfortunately, better then my fightings skills. Well, no, that's not unfortunate, that's smart. I'd been spending to much time in the company of the Grey Companions, their holy-quest ideals were really starting to effect me. I wasn't a very honorable person, you know. I acted honorable, but I wasn't afraid to run from a fight. Screw honor, I'd rather be smart.

Arrows sped in from all directions, skimming and skipping off my blades as I tried to shield myself. More then a few ended up being cut in half, falling to the ground and just waiting for me to step on one.

Ok, alright, dodging is good. Now what?

[Jade [Maggie]]

OOC: I have no idea where I'm going with this post, lmao.

Jade watched with an open mouth as the man bounced around randomly.

WHAT are you doing?! she yelled. She continued to bat away the annoying arrows, but she was growing tired, and wasn't sure what to do next. At the man's mention of dodging, she rolled her eyes. That wasn't entirely helpful.

I don't know! What should they do now? She thought as hard as she could but no more help was coming to her out of nowhere. And then she managed to trip over a rock, her sword flying back into the mess of rocks. She growled as she held the place on her side where the rocks had sliced through her vest, glaring at the monsters in frustration. She stood and looked around for her sword but couldn't see it, and the beasts were continuing their attack. What now?

[Kal]

She was down, weaponless, with a hoard of demonic creatures coming after her. Now, I figured, was the time for last-ditch efforts, and a little magic. The lessons of my childhood came back to me; spells of the earth, plant speech, and the weaving of the two together. And also a little soemthing from before I was born, something I rarely ever touched on.

By the gods, you'd better hope this things don't like sunlight.

I yelled, leaving my pile of broken arrows to leap before the fallen maiden, making a rather pathetic looking hero as I clipped and slid among the rocks. Oh well, image isn't everything when you're trying to save someone's life. And she'd better be thankful for this, dang it.

Sunlight like you've never seen, or felt, before came dooring from the sky, lighting the beach until there were no more shadows, and until a man couldn't even seen his hand before is eyes, if he had even been able to keep his eyes open. But I could see, with my outstretched hand before me, I watched the demons. I wasn't quite sure what was happening, but they didn't seem to be attacking anyone or thing anymore. Either they had fallen asleep, or they were dead. Preferably the latter.

I dropped me hand, falling down beside Jade atop the rocks and closing my eyes. I've been told they appear as nothing more then yellow, glowing orbs when I use my power. I can't really confirm that, though, since I can't really look at myself. Though there was this one time I had an out of body experience, that was kind of fun, because, I kind of... ehm, well, never mind. That's not a story for polite company.