Soldiers of Light - Chapter 1: "Organizing"

[Raiden]

The sound of heated battle echoed through the halls of the dark fortress. The colossal structure was epic in scope and dwarfed even the nearby mountains in scale, but that was a benefit of harnessing the collective power of demon and mortal alike. Nestled within the structure like a withered heart, supernatural flames of purple and green lit up the throne room where Talkatz, the Demon King, sat and listened to the fighting carrying on outside. He stood at 11 feet tall, his skin a dark blistering mix of crimson and black, with six orbs glistening in his chest. His warped double-edged blade of demonic iron rested against his throne of stone, but he gave it no particular care.
It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for one of his station. Shogun, solitary heroes, and ragtag groups lead by a young soldier with hair and sword bigger than his brains often believed they would be the one to put him down. That they had the special something that made them unique compared to the hundreds of others who came before them. But it always ended the same. Just more stains on the front walk that had to be mopped up by the kappa. Most never even made it inside the fortress walls, and even those that did were put down like mad dogs by his Weapon Altmas. At this rate he'd run out of humans to eventually rule.
A loud knocking on the large iron double doors leading into his throne room began to clang. The demon lord's three eyes looked to stare at the doors as they were smashed open, the corpse of his Sword Altma tossed into the room with his dog-like head hanging to the body by only a thread of flesh. Following it in with a tipsy stride was a single warrior, his armor of samurai design with a facemask depicting a bird. The man reeked of cheap alcohol, and the stains and wetmarks on the front of his clothing indicated he had been drinking intensely.

"Ah! Talkatz! It's good to see you! Heard so much about you, but the stories just plain don't do you justice, sir!" The samurai stepped on the dead dog demon's corpse as he walked in, a loud crunching sound being heard. "Oops. Your dog left a mess on the floor."

The demon lord looked the warrior up and down. He had made it into the throne room. Whether this spoke of the samurai's skill, or the harm age had done to his Altmas, that was yet to be proven.

"You think yourself funny." The demon lord got up from his chair, his full height towering over the human samurai. His hand grasped the massive double-edged blade and hefted it up. "They never laugh very long." The demon king then hesitated when a flash of light seared his eyes, making him cover them.

"Oh, you don't like that? Yeah, it has that effect on you things." The samurai was holding a glowing katana inscribed with seven runes, the aura alone causing Talkatz to feel his strength drain away. "Beautiful, isn't she? Makes you just want to look at it for hours." The samurai reached for a gourd at his hip, pulling a plug out with his teeth as he drank down the alcoholic contents. Talkatz frowned deeply.

"I recognize the make. You wield a demon's blade, mortal."

"Well I have it now. So it's a Daisuke's blade, demon."

"...be pleased, warrior. I will kill you now, and save you further embarrassment."

"It'd be borrrring if ya didn't." His words were starting to slur more.

"And whose name should I spread as the latest samurai to be gutted and fed to my followers?"

"Yer mother." With that the samurai sprinted at the demon king, his glowing sword slashing in low.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
1000 years later
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~~Daisuke Village~~

Daisuke Kurama kneeled upon a cushion in the house of his family, quietly awaiting his guests. The Raigaki, the Sword of Light, rested upon the floor before him. It had been...what? Ten years? Ten years to the day that he had discovered the blade while wandering the grounds of the village? Whether it was a rustle of the wind or a sign of his ancestor, Kurama had stumbled across the small shrine dedicated to the legendary blade. His family had, mostly, taken it as a sign of the Demon King's return. Others simply saw it as fanciful luck. Regardless, from that day he had been trained to wield the blade until its grip was almost a part of his hand.

And it had served him well. Demonic presence was building across the land, with more chaotic kami and wells of corrupted elements bursting into existence. It had been controlled for a time, but now few villages were safe. Many humans had moved to the relative safety of the larger cities, hoping to find protection in numbers. Daisuke village was overflowing with refugees, as the location was believed a Bastion of Purity. Or some other such nonsense. A steel blade did just as well against a demon as that of the Raigaki.

He sipped at his tea. He was not looking forward to this meeting. In an effort to quell the demon growth, a plan had been forged to assure that the Demon Lord would be incapable of returning. But it was a silly plan, truth be told. But it was all they had. And so he had made contact with several who would be willing to fight for him, whether out of duty or coin. And so, he waited.


~~ The Dark Fortress ~~

The millenia had not been kind to the home of Talkatz. Scavengers and time had picked away at the external decoration, the tops crumbling down so even the mountains could hide them away. What remained was a skeletal husk of a building. An iron framework kept most of it up, but the only rooms to retain any true function were the inner sanctums. It was there that a small group of Talkatz's chosen had gathered. As they arrived one by one, a tall figure in thin gold spectacles and a robe of white made notes about their features and presentation. His main focus, however, was a truly elderly mortal man who sat upon an old stone throne. He would check his blood pressure, look into his eyes, even check his teeth. But he did not seem to respond to any until all were present.

[PhoenixFlame]

Daisuke village wasn't the most inspiring locale. Not a city or castle town, there was no way the local environment could reasonably defend the packed mass of refugees, some of whom lived in crude tent-cities outside the village limits. Izuna walked down a cobblestone road with a purposeful step, eyes darting between the various buildings for the Genkai's ancestral residence. She had not been since she was much younger, and the memory was quite ancient indeed. Still, the building was not difficult to find.

She'd not dressed particularly incognito, but hid all of her features to avoid entanglements with the edgy populace. In her right hand, she carried her weapon, the naginata's blade peace-wrapped with a red sunbeam-design cloth head, and a scroll case in her left. While it was hard to receive letters in Bhava-Agra, luckily for Kurama, Izuna listened intently to her prayers.

The young woman kicked her sandals off before entering, finding Kurama in his common-room with a cup of tea. Taking the mat next to him, she gives the warrior a smile, "Ohayou, Kurama-san~" glancing about the room and hoping her host had prepared a dish for them. Travelling was tiring, you know?

[Krylo]

"Um, excuse me?" A voice came from the entry way shortly after Izuna entered, followed shortly by a lithe young woman covered in a layer of traveling dust that made what might, otherwise, be a nice Cheongsam and pair of leggings look like the clothing of a hobo. The large sack she carried over her shoulder didn't help this appearance either.

"Is this um. . . are we interviewing to fight demons?" she asked a little unsure of herself as she stood nervously in the door way.

[Overcast]

In the town known as Aidas, stood the temple to their patron daemon. The terror that walked, bringer of storms. A little under a thousand years ago the girl whom had won his friendship had been buried in that very spot. Old age catches us all sooner or later. There the staff had laid for all the years since, a silent reminder of the protection the land was under. A morbid thing that kept the bandits and certain lawmen from any ill will. Those who brought it were not seen again.

The head of the town had received the message from the one who claimed heritage to Lord Kurama, it checked out entirely, and its implications were clear, "Lord Aidas, a threat comes to this town."

Thunder rumbled above and a voice echoed in the room, "WHAT DARES CHALLENGE MY WILL!?"

The caps lock in his voice was powerful. The man was suddenly very aware of how somewhat unhinged the daemon often was and tried to be very clear, "We have word from Lord Kurama..."

A boom rang in the clouds, "That drunkard?! I thought him long since dead!"
"Ahh, uhh ahh no my lord. Well yes my..."
"SPIT IT OUT!"
"His heir sir! Heir to his legacy, he calls all supporters to the forces of light to his side to beat back the coming of..."
"TALKAZ."

The staff lifted from the ground, and from it came the twisted cowled form of Aidas himself, large bloodshot eyes staring at the head of the town, "You are sure?"
"Y-yes my lord. Ill omens mark his return."
The short ugly thing limped across the space between them and stared up at him with terrible menace, "Hold this place in my stead. If I return to any tragedy I will find you, I will bring you back here, and I will swallow your soul."

There was no very clear response other than sputtering from the head, but Aidas's robe drifted past him regardless. His will very clear, and even if it wasn't, who was to say otherwise?

http://24.media.tumblr.com/9cb57bf6ae0fdddf6b55f058a18960bc/tumblr_mp9pmqJyjy1sukv2no1_400.jpg

From behind the unfortunate form of Izuna came the wicked, booming laughter of Aidas, still in his ratty looking robe looking much more the hobo for his travels, though he did lack the hobosack, "Demons?! They are not the only ones capable of darkness young woman. You'd do well to be prepared to fight anything."

His massive bloodshot eyes stared past as he let out a long wheeze, "KURAMA YOU DRUNK, ARE YOU IN THERE?!" There was no lack of stares at the strange man in the street.

[Arhra]

The throne room was dark and bare. Anything more perishable than stone and iron had rotted long ago, leaving strange stains and mouldering piles of undifferentiated decay to mark their passing. Fires were lit in the decrepit lanterns remaining, attenuating the darkness. The old shadows inhabiting the place retreated sluggishly from the wavering fire, lurching aggressively back when light dimmed.

Conversation with white robed man or the decrepit fossil seated upon the throne was infected by the same slow ruin. Pauses, emptiness, widening distance. Until all were gathered, there was simply nothing to do but wait.

Which is why Masumi had tea.

The false priestess crouched to inspect a kettle on a small lacquered stand. The fire beneath it bobbed about trying to escape, tugged here and there by stray breezes. Her fine hair drifted like dark smoke, played with by the same inconsistent winds. Her pale face and hands were hovering apparitions. The firelight lent a golden shine to the embroidered patterns of her sable kimono. The rest of her was one with the darkness.

With neat, precise motions she added a parcel of tea to the kettle and sat back, waiting for it to steep. Soon. Soon. Perhaps the root of all pleasures was anticipation.

[Sithdarth]

Clad in the robes of a traveling priest Akira wandered the streets of the small village. His walking stick (more of a cane really) sweeping back and forth in front of him as if probing the way forward. Akira usually pretended to be totally blind when meeting anyone new. After all there was no reason to give away your greatest strength to people you do not know.

Eventually he carefully selected someone with a nice looking aura and purposefully bumped into them. A carefully calculated ploy to elicit sympathy and get some help. After realizing that Akira could not see the man he bumped into was all too happy to lend a hand. He took Akira by the elbow and led him slowly through the village to the designated house.

As they made their way through the village Akira noticed that the land here did seem to be slightly unusual. Everything was brighter as if the spirits here were slightly stronger than elsewhere. That made sense of course given that this village was a place of destiny.

As the reached the appointed place the kind man Akira had bumped into helped him over the threshold and into the small crowd gathered at one of the doorways. This was clearly the place he was looking for and the man that had brought him was clearly nervous so Akira let him leave.

Clearing his throat he asked simply, "Does anyone mind helping a blind man find a seat? I've been walking for a very long time you know."

[Krylo]

"I'm ready to fight an--" the young girl started to respond to Aidas, turning to face him when Akira came up and cleared his throat.

He asked simply, "Does anyone mind helping a blind man find a seat? I've been walking for a very long time you know."

"Oh!" Nanako said with a slight start noticing Akira's affliction, she quickly tossed her bag down just inside the room, and took his arm.

"Sorry, sorry," she said gently pulling him inside, and helping him down next to Izuna. "Here you go, can I do anything for you, sir? Did you need help?" she asked tenderly, as she hovered over him.

[Red Mage Black]

Exactly 2 hours ago...

"Yawwwwwnnnn...." Streeeetttttccchhh.... The young (looking) nekomata rose to his feet and surveyed the landscape. "I hope Izuna-chan isn't too mad. We started playing hide-and-seek a few hours ago. I felt a little sleepy and decided on a quick nap. The sun is just great today! She probably found a great hiding spot, but she won't stay hidden for long!" He announced to open landscape. She did mention something about a village, maybe that's where she went!" And so, he began his kitty run in pursuit.

Now

Leer had spotted the shapechanged kitsune and snickered to himself. "Still haven't found one yet, Izuna-chan? I'll just let you think you've hidden and follow you from a distance." If only following hadn't meant moving around people in his path and would mean he actually remembered to hide his ears and tail this time. He didn't. With a one track mind, he continued pursuit of his quarry to a building.

Leap up one building... jump to the next... catch the edge... scramble like a cat on a ledge... Scritch scritch scritch... "Nyyaaaa-haaaa~" CRASH! Leer sat upright and greeted the others who had arrived, twin tails waving. "O-hai-o!" Then quickly discarded their presences to rush inside.

Without so much as a greeting to Kurama, he immediately leaps to her back and to the side, slams down on his knees and just stares at her with a big toothy grin. "You're not very good at this game, Izuna-chan. It only took me four hours this time. Last time it took several years!"

[Astral Harmony]

It had been the first time Mizuno Shizuka had ever visited Talkatz' grand castle, but she had heard plenty of things about it from her mother, Saki, who had visited several times during her long life. Saki described it well whenever she wasn't drunk enough to actually focus instead of shamelessly flirting with many of Mizuno Castle's forces, which consisted mostly of half-demon kunoichi and any demons that had allied themselves with the Mizuno family.

A testament to just how much things can change with the death of one demon, Shizuka thought to herself after a brief surveying of the room. Seriously, she had heard that this mighty castle put Mizuno Castle to shame, but an entire millenium had changed all of that completely. Once Talkatz had returned, hopefully he wouldn't want to stay at her place until his own castle had been restored to its former magnificence.

She sat in the seiza style with her face to the throne, and had been doing so for about ten minutes with no discomfort. She had wanted to get here earlier, to size up the others who would actually bother to want Talkatz resurrected. Most demons didn't because that meant there was still so much power to grab. That meant that if others were showing up, they were either diehard loyalists or those that were certain to gain more power through Talkatz' life than in his death.

[Steel Shadow]

Rubble crunched underfoot. Dust that had lain undisturbed for centuries trailed in Zelenha's wake. This fortress truly has seen better days. Perhaps it would again, if all went to its old dark master's plan. The state of the old decorations was tragic, but from what little one could make of their original design, they had one been the pinnacle of visual magnificence. To see the place as it was now was almost a crime against art.

The silent woman didn't make a single sign of caring about any of that, however. Her hard leather boots continued to crunch against the crumbling stone, the only part of her that was easily viable underneath the grey cloak that she wore, it's hood even concealing her face from the world, for now. Though little could be done to disguise the fact that, even for a woman, she towered a full foot above most people one might meet. Even here, occasionally she had to stoop to slip through a collapsed doorway.

"Well at least we know they have a taste for the obvious, huh?" A voice from above broke the silence.

"Does that surprise you? This job hasn't stopped being a cliche since it began. Another reason we should not be here."

"Oh you say that about everything these days. Always whining."

A soft green point of light spun through the air, slowly rotating over Zelenha's head. At least one of the voices originated there. "I do not! Just about the stuff we shouldn't be around, which you always-"

"Quiet." The cloaked woman's voice rang out through the dust, and the arguing pair fell silent, as though the simple command had bolted their tongues in place. For a few minutes more, silence once again ruled the castle halls.

Not long after, the traveler reached her destination - the throne room. Shrouded eyes passed over every being already present, taking a measure of each, lingering on the old man for a moment. Then she walked to the empty spot left for her and pulled back her hood, allowing what little light there was to illuminate her face. The torchlight glinted off her golden tresses, her long hair still mostly hidden by the cloak at her back, as she adopted a calm pose, apparently content to wait in still silence for the last to arrive.

[Inbred Chocobo]

"This can't be the right place." Kagi stated out loud to no one in particular. His figure stood staring at the castle doors, ancient and old, rusting away on the frame of the broken down relic of the fortress. Kagi took a long moment to stare at the place, trying to decide to go in or not, half worried the whole thing would collapse on him when he walked in.

"Is there like... a guard at the door. I was expecting to be greeted at the door." Kagi spoke to the door, as if the old door understood him and would speak back. After an uncomfortable amount of silence, the swordsman approached the doors, and with a heavy push, opened them up. There was a slight problem though, as these were doors meant to be pulled opened, not pushed. So when he laid his hands on the doors and pushed them open, the old rusted joints that held these mighty doors in place gave way, and instead of swinging open, they collapsed in front of him, slamming into the stone floor behind. They bounced a bit, thundering against each other and for a second the entire castle echoed to the sound of the collapse. Kagi stood there wincing from the noise, and after the calm just waited there.

"So um... I guess I'll just let myself in." He stated to the fallen door, as a form of an apology almost to it, then stepped inside. Luckily the hallways were big, and the floor a solid stone, if dusty from old age. That meant Kagi didn't have to watch his step, though he was careful not to lean or put too much weight or pressure on anything, just incase he would cause more items to collapse. After a moment of wandering, he stumbled into the throne room. "Ah, here we go." He spoke out loud, still with no direction to anyone in particular, though finally he was within earshot.

Kagi stopped, looking around. He knew this job mentioned he would be working with others, though he was expecting a bigger team. First was some pretty lady having tea. Kagi was almost tempted to go sit with her and ask for some, he was a little parched from the walk here. Though his eyes drifted, scanning the room for others, he noted the figure on the throne and the other, the one that seemed to judge everyone. It was clear though he was waiting on others. So great, he realized he was early. Then he recognized someone.

"Hey, you are one of those girls from the Mizuno Clan." He pointed towards Shizuka. Kagi approached her in a simple stride, no hurry or rush to it. "Well I guess I should be happy to see a familiar face, I hope you aren't mad about the whole, I killed your father thing." Kagi held his arms up, trying to show piece. He is used to people taking it personal when he was hired to kill someone or somebody. "So um... I wasn't hired to kill you if that is what you are thinking." Kagi just blurted that out, just trying to make peace, not exactly one of his forte's.

[Astral Harmony]

Shizuka didn't look Kagi's way. She merely inclined her head with a slight smile. "It wouldn't be right of me to hold a grudge against you for what you were hired to do," she said, though Kagi could tell that her breathing wasn't quite so calm and gentle as before. "If anyone should be harboring a desire for revenge, it should be my mother. I advise caution. She's usually out-of-control when she's drunk, and she's usually drunk..."

Shizuka's brow furrowed and she folded her arms around her ample bosom. "Damn... when was the last time she wasn't drunk? Takano-san always has a bitch of a time balancing the booze budget. I'm going to have to have a serious discussion with mother when all of this 'resurrection of our demon master' business is finally settled."

[lazy man]

The warriors of the darkness had begun to assemble in an area with a long history of death. While there had been few deaths in this abandoned area recently, due to the stigma associated with the long dead Talkatz spirits tended to gather in the area due to the power felt on both sides of life and death. And it was due to this power that the so-called Yuurei no Seishi, a phantom from the world of the dead, knew where to materialize in the physical realm.

Off to the side of the throne room, a small pool of mist materialized out of the floor, with no visible source or even any moisture in the air. With a feeling of wrongness spreading throughout the room as the mist continued to gather, something began to glow from the mist, and from the mist stood... or rather, grew, a vaguely humanoid shape illuminated by that faint light at its core. Wispy and unstable, it never held onto a single shape for more than a second before shifting and reassembling. It said nothing at first, but the feeling of otherness that emanated from it would have thrown any normal or unsuspecting person that saw it into a cold sweat, and a piercing stare could be felt from this thing by all in the room despite no real facial features.

"Greeting, warriors of Talkatz." A whisper carried by a legion of voices that chilled to the bone rang in the ears of all present, with no source to truly carry it. With what looked like a bow from the misty figure, the voices continued their greeting. "The world of the dead offers this one to aid in your coming conflict."

[Sithdarth]

The rather young girl with a very intense ki standing in the doorway immediately took notice of Akira and stopped mid sentence. "Sorry, sorry," she said gently pulling him inside, and helping him down next to Izuna who's aura was distinctly non-human. "Here you go, can I do anything for you, sir? Did you need help?" she asked tenderly, as she hovered over him.

Akira sat cross legged with his walking stick nestled against the fold of his left shoulder. "You're very kind miss," he replied softly "I believe just being able to rest and enjoy a cup of tea will be more than sufficient." The room was quite rapidly filling and everyone seemed to be extraordinary in their own way which is as expected given the nature of the present undertaking.

[Raiden]

Kurama looked up as the members of his group slowly arrived one by one, some seeming to know each other from the past while others were new faces. He quietly nodded to each, waiting for everyone to arrive.

That is, of course, until someone began to yell for him from the street. He stood up and grasped the Raigaki, binding it to his waist before looking to the outside of his family's home.

"One usually knocks before yelling at a household. Otherwise you never know who might answer. Now if you were invited, join us inside." He turned back to the rest of the group. Not everyone had made their way in yet, but no reason to not speak with them.

"Welcome, everyone. Thank you for joining me today. I'm certain that for some of you the trip was long, but the duty is necessary. I'm afraid I only have tea for now." Food had become more scarce in these times, and in an attempt to keep the peace amongst all the refugees he had passed out the majority of the larder. He was now down to rationing what remained. "Though we will have a dinner served once the day gets later."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The tall man in the white coat watched as more members of the group arrived, slowly jotting down their features before returning to the elderly man on the throne. The man seemed days from death, though whether he was aware of his surroundings was hard to tell.

[PhoenixFlame]

Izuna didn't look at Leer as he crashed down next to her. This was less out of disregard for him, and more out of respect for their host by politely ignoring the Nekomata's mannerisms. She raised her cup to her lips, and took a sip of her tea that she must had prepared between eyeblinks. That, or she had always had the cup of tea, and it simply hadn't been relevant to mention until now.

"It was the quickest way to get you to follow me here, silly." She demurely chuckles, reaching out with a hand to playfully paw Leer on his forehead. Kurama had taken the chance to stand up, grab his sword, and address them. Leer had always been somewhat difficult to direct without a leash, so Izuna used a figurative one to keep him from looking like a pet. That wasn't the sort of attention she desired or wanted, anyway.

The news that there wasn't fried tofu prepared for her hit Izuna hard, causing her to frown and wonder if Kurama really knew who he was dealing with. After all, there were rules to being the chosen one, and he was flagrantly disregarding them. Expecting her to appear on such short notice without an offering, pah! He required chastising, and fast.

The tea was decent, however.

She yawned silently, one of her fangs peeking out from under her upper lip as she rocked side-to-side once before responding. "Your summons was urgent, was it not? Surely you have more to say than that you have not prepared for our arrival."

[Overcast]

Aidas threw his nose up so high in the air he was almost leaning back in response to the chastising from the host,

"BAH! You've grown feeble in your rebirth Karama, in days past you would have thrown something combustible at my head. I'd have exploded it with my mind, the kids would ooh and ahh and everyone would have a nice long laugh. You are unprepared for the stresses that are coming for you."

Still Aidas did not stand in the street any longer, there was work to be done. He needed no tea, no food. He subsided on other things, darker things, so the lack of such did not bother him. He hobbled himself toward the household shooting a long glance at the blind man, before sniffing loudly somewhat close to his person,

"You stink of power cripple. Why do I feel inclined to believe you are leading this young girl on?"

The act of Aidas calling anyone a cripple was not an irony lost on him, but if the man was playing that part he would learn that title.

[Inbred Chocobo]

"Well I am glad we can put that to peace. Wait, is your mother coming to join us?" Kagi asked out loud as he processed what Shizuka had said. "Perhaps I should make a peace offering of booze, do you think that would help?" Kagi replied as she started to think about the booze budget.

Though before the question could be answered the air chilled with an odd feeling. Death, Kagi recognized it instantly. You don't kill things for a living without having a few dead spirits haunt you from time to time. This one was different, such as a collaboration, a congealed mesh, turned into something else. Though Kagi didn't have to ponder long before the form took shape and the mist introduced itself. "Okay, so we have dead people helping us out." Kagi mentioned to the side to Shizuka "You think he knows your dad?"

Before Shizuka could answer the question though, he turned to the man in the white coat. "So is everyone here yet? Can we get this started, or do we have more people that have to show up in light a thunder or bolt of lightning. Hell they might already be here in the shadows or something." Kagi was getting kind of impatient. Being in a dark throne room in the ancient ruins of a castle is not normally part of his job assignments, and the sooner he was done here the better.

[Red Mage Black]

Praising from Izuna was always the best. When she aims for his forehead, she gets a handful of hair instead as he nuzzles into it with a smile, twin-tails waving contently. "You don't need to tell me, Izuna-chan. I'll follow you anyway, because I love you so much." The love from this was to be more understood as familial as it came to be known over time. Leer himself seemed to have next to no understanding of anything more than that. Even if he heard of the stuff Izuna got up to.

Then Kurama started talking and he heard only one word out of it: Dinner. That meant, lots of grub. No one would mind sharing, right? He perked right up from Izuna's praises and watched the young man intently. At least before an old droopy faced man started shouting. Leer observed the fact it looked like this person was melting very slowly.

Along with that, he finally took on the curiosity of seeing who else was around. A girl he could admit looked like she would be as much fun to play with as Izuna, a blind guy he had to resist the urge to wave his hand in front of, his best friend and the droopy guy. He was distracted by all the new faces, but still managed to cling to his favorite person.

[Sithdarth]

"You stink of power cripple. Why do I feel inclined to believe you are leading this young girl on?" demanded a rather unsettling collection of energy that passed uncomfortably close to Akira. Features and fine detail were hard to make out under the best circumstances for Akira and what he sensed now was just confusing.

"Even though a bird may fly gracefully it still has trouble walking," came the rather cryptic reply from the blind monk. "Besides I wouldn't be much of a traveling mystic or worthy of being in this room if I didn't possess some measure of power." Using his right hand Akira slowly lifted his blindfold revealing for the a short time the dark pits that had once housed his eyes.

"I assure you," he continued calmly "I cannot see as you all see but with the help of my walking stick and my other senses I can make do most of the time. Although a little help never hurts especially when navigating an unfamiliar place. Unless our companions don't mind me accidentally smacking them in the shins with my walking stick."

[Raiden]

"You are right, miss. It was urgent. And I apologize I could not arrange for a more adequate presentation for our meeting, but desperate times means sacrifices must be made and I thought Demon Flesh might be insulting to serve." He moved back across the room and to his cushion, seating in a lotus position while placing the sword on the floor in front of him again.

"While not everyone has arrived, we will simply have to start without them. I thank you all for coming. I am sure that what I am about to tell you may be a surprise to some and obvious to others." He reaches behind the cushion to retrieve a long scroll of frayed yellow parchment. Placing it upon the floor before him, the roll is pushed forward to unwrap. Etched upon the scroll is a long portrait of a battle scene. Scores of demons and humans battled in the background, with certain individuals highlighted. In the forefront of it all was Kurama's ancestor and Talkatz dueling, the Raigaki glowing with a brilliant light.

"Talkatz, the Demon Lords, has returned."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The man in the white coat gives a look to Kagi.

"Hush. You'll wake the patient." He looks back to the elderly man. He checks the blood pressure. Checks his eyes. Checks the breath. He nods and takes a note. "Just a few more moments."

The elderly man's eyelids flutter, a flickering moment of clarity...and then nothing. They roll back and cloud over, the form slumping further into the throne.

"A perfect death. Beautiful." The man in the white coat grinned wide from ear to ear, stepping backwards as he adjusted his eyeglasses. It was in that moment the newly deceased man's body jerked forward with a powerful force. His head jerked to a point of the neck snapping, the chest tearing in points. The eyes melted from the head to be replaced with glowing flames of purple. After several minutes of violent shaking and shuddering the body fell back onto the throne. The mouth opened and a dusty breath flowed out.

"...Haran...perfect. As always." The wretched body sat itself up on the stone chair, looking to the group. "...kneel before...your lord Talkatz."

[Astral Harmony]

Shizuka kneeled forward from her sitting position, even going as far as to have her forehead touch the dusty floor. "How noble of you to grace with your own presense, goshujinsama. We would have been merely satisfied to simply hear your words through a messenger. How may we, your humble and loyal servants, serve your almighty will?"

She had tried to embellish the hell out of it, having done so many times before her own father. But it was odd. From what she knew of Talkatz, the demon lord always had an unsurmountable ego. Why bother presenting himself in this ragged old form? It was almost like a rat demanding that a group of tigers form a bridge so that it could cross a large river. Oh well, at least they were finally getting on with things.

[Red Mage Black]

As one of the first to peer at the old parchment, he reached ahead of Izuna, squeezing between her and Akira to paw curiously at the elaborate painting of the great battle. "Hey Izuna-chan, you mentioned that tall cat guy before, haven't you? He was a bad guy, right? Why is he back? Where did he go in the first place? I ask you because you're smart and know everything I don't. Which is a lot." He said the last part while bumping his head with a fist and smiling stupidly.

[Overcast]

"I never claimed you were not without sight Priest, but that does not mean you are blind."

Aidas smirked wickedly as he let out a raspy chuckle before tunring to stare at the parchment. He could note an image in the backdrop of purple arcs of lightning, with an unclear origin. Still he could recognize his signature anywhere, it was shameful to be considered such a footnote, but he could admit he was not a very notable presence in this most final of battles,

"Death must not have suited him, he never seemed the sort. Then again neither did failure or submission, and you dealt him both in shameful quantities. A brilliant show to see."

He leaned back and raised a very large, unsettling yellow grin, "Were I he, I'd still be pissed."

[PhoenixFlame]

Izuna glanced over the scroll with a reverent glance, not because it told her anything she didn't know, but because of the history it embodied. She had been present, granted, considerably younger and not hardly important or powerful enough enough to merit special mention. This time, things would be different. Meanwhile, Kurama told everyone that Talkatz had returned as if this was supposed to be some form of revelation.

"Yes, yes, because reasons, and Kyuu-Jigoku." Izuna responds curtly, answering all of Leer's questions honestly and truthfully without actually expecting him to understand the answers. She had to be polite, after all.

"Such manners~" Izuna smiled to Kurama, looking pleased, "I'll forgive you, but don't think I'll forget." whilst internally wishing he'd tell her something she didn't know.

[Inbred Chocobo]

"So, as much as I like kissing ass as much as everyone else, I'm here for a paycheck, not because I consider you a lord. The only reason I would kneel is because the gold you are paying me is too heavy for me to stand." Kagi stated in reply to Talkatz. Kagi worshipped no one, had no ultimate goal. What he wanted was a paycheck, and a hefty one at that. He has had lords and others ask for such things before, and he always replies the same way. No, get over yourself.

"Now what is it that you need from us?" Kagi was blunt and too the point. Though he knew he was getting a death stare from everyone in the room from this.

[Steel Shadow]

Zel eyed the room as it filled. Three demons, one a loud mouth, the others too soon to tell, and a spirit of death (she felt Asha shiver underneath her cloak. The small essence fairy was almost in pain, being this close to a being so opposed to her element) were to be her allies in this endeavor?

She considered that for a moment.

She'd had worse.

The remaining mystery of the room solved itself soon after, with the old man's death. Fascinating. She'd never encountered such a method of communing with spirits, but it made sense. To take advantage of the moment a soul left its body to depart for the afterlife so... difficult, certainly, but possible... It was only a theory as to what she had witnessed, but none the less, her respect for the man in white went up a few notches as she respectfully dropped to one knee, and bowed her head.

Whatever her personal ego might have dictated, Zel was always prepared to honor a client - and this one has offered her a reward unmatched elsewhere. A little respect was a request easily granted.

Still, she was curious how the fabled demon Lord would handle the dissent from Kagi. Was his need so great that he would tolerate it with little more than a dog's bark, or was he not so feeble as to ignore the insult? It would be a telling moment, one that might drive her to reconsider her services...

[Dracorion]

It was a nice, peaceful day. The sky was clear, birds were chirping. All was calm in town, and the citizens could go about their days wit-

*Bam! ~Crash~*

"Shorry, wrong house!"
"Get outta here you idiot!"

"I said I was shorry! Jeeezzzz!" In an otherwise normal shack, a window shutter opened violently, followed by a young woman crawling out of it. "Y'should think about getting bigger doors!"

Stumbling out onto the street, the woman dusted herself off from the tumble and rose, still clutching an empty bottle of rum in her hand. "Guesh it must be one'a those two!" Imara, quite intoxicated, pointed a little to the left of Kurama's house, as her drunken sight showed her two houses bouncing in front of her.

At a slow, zig-zagging, wobbly step, the wolfgirl managed to stumble and support herself against one of the walls of Kurama's house, and following it she found the front door.

The opened the door a little harder then she meant to, and it swung against the wall with a loud bang, followed by the martial artist's heavy, drunken footsteps falling on the wooden planks as she stepped inside and found the gathering in Kurama's common room. "'Eeeeeeeyy guysh! Shorry I'm late, but I brought boooooze!" Imara greeted the gathered individuals happily, holding up the empty bottle in her hand.

As it happened, she had wandered in just in time to hear the purpose of the meeting. "Talkatz, the Demon Lords, has returned."

"Oooh, that guy! Y'want us ta kill him butter- better?"

[Krylo]

Nanako had just finished seating the blind man when. . .

CRASH!

The noise drew her attention and what she saw was an. . . animal. . . boy? He quickly yelled out a greeting and then leapt to the stately woman's side and fell to his knees grinning at her.

Nanako's eyes slowly widened as she stared, thoughts slowly clunking through her mind, struggling to gain surface past forms and stances and combat tactics.

Slowly they clawed their way up in her mind as the ugly man confronted the blind man about not being helpless, the cat boy named the stately woman as 'Izuna' and Kurama said something about a tall cat coming back.

Tall cat.

Cat.

Cat.

"I'll forgive you, but don't think I'll forget," Izuna said, only to be suddenly interrupted by a girlish squeal.

"KITTY!" And then with a blur of motion the young martial artist was around to the other side of Izuna, directly behind Leer, each ear pinched lightly between two fingers, gently rubbing them in concentric circles. "So. . . soft. . ." the young girl cooed, seemingly oblivious to the drunken dog for the moment.

[Arhra]

An old man died.

In the moment as his spirit left the body, something else rushed in rapaciously to fill the void he'd left. While a corpse thrashed and gibbered and bit its tongue in the final stages of Talkatz's summoning, Masumi contented herself with aside glances at her companions-to-be.

Zel was a statuesque blond woman carrying a number of swords. So tall! Only her head was revealed. A concealing grey cloak was draped over the rest of her body. Still and silent so far. It tugged at Masumi's always poorly buried curiosity. She wanted to know more.

Next was the Yuurei no Seishi. A nebulous figure in a bank of mist. A spirit from the netherworld. A dark miracle, able to pierce that otherworldly boundary all by itself. She'd returned its greeting and immersed herself in speculation. Hmmmmmm.

Shizuka's hair was dark and her eyes were crimson. She was dressed in a short cut red yukata. She'd spoken to the other one. He'd killed her father? He'd drawn a little blood but she'd claimed she had no grudge and started talking about her drunken mother. Where was her fire? Distressing. At least she was easy on the eyes.

The torchlight gave Kagi a metallic lustre. He carried himself like a samurai. A hired killer, he said. Impatient and more than a little crass. That might need to be attended to.

Kagi spoke in such a manner to Lord Talkatz himself. "So, as much as I like kissing ass as much as everyone else, I'm here for a paycheck, not because I consider you a lord. The only reason I would kneel is because the gold you are paying me is too heavy for me to stand. Now what is it that you need from us?"

Masumi laughed.

"My, my, you are a bold one." she said, gliding over to stand beside him. "I should hope your sword isn't as blunt. To have lived as long as you have, you surely depend on it!" Masumi smiled at her joke and put a hand on his shoulder, applying a soft pressure downward. Mmm, yes, she thought, feeling his shoulder. Dense in all meanings of the word. "Well then, imagine that payment to come." She urged him. "Think of your knees buckling under that weight of gold. Think of such generosity that it threatens to crush you. He is Lord Talkatz and you will kneel."

[Red Mage Black]

"KITTY!" And then with a blur of motion the young martial artist was around to the other side of Izuna, directly behind Leer, each ear pinched lightly between two fingers, gently rubbing them in concentric circles. "So. . . soft. . ." the young girl cooed, seemingly oblivious to the drunken dog for the moment.

Leer's hair stood up at the squeal before the red headed girl suddenly started touching his ears. He was going to raise a complaint... was. "Nyaahaaa~ that feels good~" He was content now to sit there and listen to everyone talk around him while he was pampered. Purring was hard in this form, so he settled with a low, "Mmmm~." as not to interrupt the conversation around him. Leer was just as content to twitch his ears for her as well. As long as it got him more attention. Though he could tell it wouldn't be long before somebody told her to stop spoiling him. "Can you scratch them, too? That would feel even better."

[Raiden]

Kurama looked up towards the door. Was...that one of the people he had invited? To be honest his contacts had given him the names of several candidates and some he had never directly heard of. This must be one of those.

"Y-yes? Well, it is not so simple as that." He pulled the scroll back towards him. "Talkatz does not simply die. Even if the body should be mortally wounded, his soul would return to its husk and quickly regain his power. The Raigaki was the only blade in existence which could injure not only the body, but the soul as well. That, however, would not be a lasting death. The soul would rest and tend to its wounds and return to the body. But it cannot return to a body that is not whole. And so they had hoped a peace would be forged."

He looked up at the group. "They were not much for long-term planning."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The flames residing within the eye sockets of the elderly corpse flicker as they look to Kagi. The tall man in the white coat couldn't help but smile, bringing up his notes as he stared intently at the ronin. The corpse's breath rasped through the dry lips.

"Recognize...your betters."

Kagi's existence was pain.

It had started in several points down the center of his body and spread out, a pain like a searing flame on his insides. His ears rang with a high shriek as his vision was nothing but brilliant and painful colors. His bones felt like razors and even the friction of his pumping blood was too much to bear. Blood dripped from his nose as the man fell to his knees...where the pain instantly stopped.

Kagi's pulse was taken. His teeth checked. Notes were taken. The voice drifted from the corpse.

"Do not...mistake convenience...for weakness. I am...your lord."

The flames then flicker toward the others.

"Loyal subjects...welcome."

[PhoenixFlame]

Ah, the hero, seeing him here so noble, so innocent, touched Izuna in a manner she was rarely touched. She personally believed this cycle was engineered by labyrinthine agencies not even her own patrons could decipher, to ultimately better humankind by exposing them to hardship. After all, the water in a stagnant glass needed to be shaken from time to time to keep everything in order. Victory was not in question, as far as this Kitsune was concerned.

"Peace and planning has nothing to do with this. This is the way things have to be, as reunification was inevitable while the vessel remained indestructible." Izuna sipped her tea serenely, eyes closed, as she slowly shuffled away from Leer as Nanako glomped him. How unbecoming!

Popping one eye open, she looked at Kurama, curling her lips into a sly smile. "You have the Raigaki, don't you? Everything proceeds as the river directs it to." Her expression chilled after a brief pause, and she opened her other eye, licking her upper lip in a predatory fashion. "Unless your uncertainty is a sign that you feel yourself unworthy of the weapon. After all, by what right do you claim to use the Raigaki, hm? Conviction, focus? Devotion? Is your skill with a blade, though it be not my favored weapon, any greater than my own? Perhaps you simply happened upon it by bloodright, and know nothing of your role in this story? If you are truly Kurama Genkai, heir of Tama Genkai, where are your samurai? You are fortold to be a great Daimyo, leader of men, conquerer of darkness and paragon of humanity's divine right as given by the right hand of Amaterasu Okami. Yet before me I see a child who barely understands the forces he has summoned to his household."

[Overcast]

Aidas let out a large retching cough of disgust at Izuna's outburst. He believed in no such greater agency, and did not find victory certain as much as necessary. He shot an eye filled with stink her way as he raised his staff and brought it down with thunderous noise,

"Bah! There is no order to this, no fortelling, no FATE. Our lives are CHAOS, from the moment his ancestor picked up that sword he only carved his destiny out with the power within it, and the skill of his hands. This boy and his bloodline are gifted nothing but with the curse or responsibility. For if their efforts are not enough they will have the blame when this world burns."

He stroked the chin on his staff a moment and his own before turning his crooked smirk on Kurama as well,

"I do agree though, if you feel uncertain you may consider giving that blade to one stronger of will, greater of skill. It was the key that put Talkaz back in his hole one millennia ago, if we wish to do it again I'd prefer it be in the best hands."

[Astral Harmony]

Shizuka was awash with disbelief at the power Talkatz could wield even when thus weakened. She couldn't even manage to smile to herself at Kagi receiving his just desserts for not leaving his ego at the front gate where Shizuka had left her getas.

I feel a little sick, Shizuka's mind voiced her discomfort. Even with the ruination of the castle, the atmosphere didn't feel nearly as oppressive as when that old man finally died. I want to get the hell out of here as fast as I can.

"Goshujinsama, if I may be so bold," Shizuka faltered, trying to find the best way to coach her words. "Now that this Daisuke Kurama-san has laid claim to the Raigaki, the passage of time may very well be an even graver threat to the success of our mission than this young descendant of Tama himself at present. Would it perhaps be possible to receive your instructions quickly so that we may depart to serve your lordly will?"

Shizuka was having so much trouble concentrating no matter how hard she tried, and it was causing her to feel really unnerved. It was as though Talkatz was literally able to violate her body and mind just by being in the same room. How in the hell was Tama, a mere human, able to withstand being in Lord Talkatz's presense like this, let alone fight him? Shizuka sighed inwardly. Maybe I should blame my lack of experience with men other than my father. No wonder Talkatz was able to reign supreme over the Makai realm uncontested for so long.

[Sithdarth]

Akira sat quietly sipping his tea listening to the events around him unfold. The room around him had filled rapidly and the power gathered in it was considerable. Even someone without his unique gifts could probably feel the weight of it pressing in from all sides. Beyond that there was history here; some of it very ancient but not buried or forgotten. It is not often one finds himself surrounded by beings of such great age. Clearly the potential resurrection of Talkatz was being taken seriously. Unfortunately the personalities currently gathered seemed disjointed and wholly uncooperative. Strong leadership was required and hopefully their host was capable enough to provide it.

"I assume our host would not have summoned us," Akira interjected seemingly ignoring the current thread of the conversation "if he didn't already have some kind of plan in mind. Certainly it would behoove us to let the man finish telling us about it before we accuse him of being incompetent."

[Arhra]

"Recognize...your betters." Talkatz said, and then directed pain to drive Kagi to his knees.

Masumi's smile only widened.

In a whisper of silk, she knelt as well. "Oh Lord Talkatz," she sang, inclining her head gracefully, "Your loyal servant Hakeshi Masumi's heart swells to see you~"

Shizuka opined that haste was best, ill at ease and eager to leave this place.

Masumi rose back to her feet and circled Shizuka from behind, coming around on the right. "This is a portentous meeting." she continued musically. "It should not be rushed!" She raised one hand and brushed a strand of Shizuka's long, dark hair away from the kunoichi's face. "We are all eager to find the wielder of that cursed sword. Eager to find him, to fall on him like a hurricane and scatter his pieces to the four winds." she said, eyes sparkling with delight.

She drew back a step. "But you mustn't be hasty! First, I should think, introductions are in order." Masumi said, glancing askance at the throne.

The priestess took another step toward the throne to be in the full sight of the others. Her head swayed to one side and then to the other as she let her animal ears surface. Her twin tails twitched behind her. "I am Hakeshi Masumi, a nekomata. I have some small talent in the mystical arts. I hope they will be of benefit to this undertaking." Masumi bowed to her new companions. She brushed her lips with her hand like a crooked paw, a mischievous smile on her face. "Please treat me kindly."

[Steel Shadow]

Aaaah, there it was. So, this was indeed the Demon Lord Talkatz himself. In the flesh, so to speak. A smile quirked Zel's lips at the display of power, even in such a frail and reduced form. Yes, this would be a dangerous job, and the price of failure would be suffering without measure, but now she knew for sure that the reward she was offered was real. This was a being who could grant her desires.

At her back, she felt Asha shudder again, this time from sensing her resolve. A tiny hand reached out and gripped at the nape of her neck, silently begging her to reconsider. Zel almost laughed. It was far too late for that. Vis gave no indication of her thoughts, but she would be watching too. Her silence said more than enough.

"Lord Talkatz," she said instead, maintaining her respectful stance, "being graced with your presence is a great honor. I shall be your blade in this quest."

She glanced to towards Masumi at the Cat Demon's words. A Nekomata. Interesting. That one was devious, and spoke with gleeful honeyed tones that belied the true nature of the words she espoused. She was worth watching.

The demon she toyed with, however, was also quite curious. Zel hadn't quite put her finger on what she was just yet, but the open display of power from their employer seemed to have thoroughly unnerved her. But at the same time she maintained enough dignity to speak in the formal tones that she had preached since the beginning of the gathering. Nobility, maybe? It would explain her mannerisms. And one could not be a demon noble without the power to back the position up. No matter how nervous she seemed, she couldn't be discounted as a serious threat in a fight.

This was an interesting group indeed.

Still, an introduction was being asked for. Zel saw little reason to refuse - and also little reason to reveal everything about herself. "My name is Zelenha. I am a Sorceress, from beyond the far seas. I have studied the culture and history of this land for many a year, and I bring that knowledge, with all it entails, to our Lord's disposal. I will let nothing prevent us from reaching our goal." Her voice was calm, and matter of fact, her eyes sweeping around the room as she spoke. "As long as we all treat one another with respect, I foresee no problems."

[Inbred Chocobo]

Kagi felt Masumi's hand on his shoulder. The way she spoke she was clearly the best of the ass kissers. Kagi opened him mouth to let her know how much he appreciated the advice in a sarcastic manner. Then Talkatz spoke.

"Recognize...your betters."

It started off intense, and only went from there. Kagi had been struck by swords, hit with all kinds of items. He has taken injuries and everything you could think of to hit him with, he has dealt with. This though... this was different. His body was turned against him. It was as if each heartbeat was pumping pain rather than blood. His eyes betrayed him, showing nothing but images. His ears made sounds of almost unbearable noise. It was as if Talkatz convinced everything in his body to turn against him, and to fight back against Kagi.

Then the pain disappeared. Kagi found himself on his knees, blood dripping from his nose, sweat coming off of him. He was still recovering from it when the man in the white coat started examining him. Kagi's mind was still focused on what just happened. He had fought for many, he had slayed many, he had worked for many. Some were arrogant, others thankful for his service. However, there was never anyone like this, never anyone with this much power.

"Do not...mistake convenience...for weakness. I am...your lord."

Kagi looked from his kneeling position. "In my many years, many have sought me out and called themselves lord. You are the first to deserve the title." Kagi bowed his head in the kneeling position. Kagi didn't respect the name Talkatz, or his legacy. Too many times legends are embellished, turned into things to scare small children into behaving. The only thing he truly respected was strength, and the... thing, this Talkatz that stood before him, truly was stronger than he.

"I am known as Kagi, the wandering ronin. My blade is one that has slain many of people, man or demon. Behind me a river of blood flows from foes I have slain. I..." It was as if you could almost see Kagi swallowing his ego at this point. "Offer my blade to your services my lord."

[Astral Harmony]

Shizuka blushed after Masumi gently admonished her for advocating haste. Now she just felt like a fool. Why am I always only comfortable when on the battlefield or en route to the battlefield, she asked herself in her head.

"I am Shizuka Mizuno," Shizuka said, her cheeks less flushed after a deep breath. "The Mizuno clan is long descended from spider demons, although we have long since stopped building massive silk labyrinths. We do still eat a large number of our own siblings on our first day of life, however."

As she spoke, her willpower came back to her and she bowed politely before Talkatz again. "I shall wield my strength only to serve you, my master."

[Red Mage Black]

The nekomata could sense his bestest friend moving away from him. Unfortunately, this involved scooching away from the nice girl paying him attention. It was a sad loss indeed and oh so comfortable. He would have to nuzzle Izuna's tails later to see if it would make her feel better. Leer immediately lurched forward to latch on to the woman's waist. "Aww, don't be so mean, Izuna-chan. It felt so good and--" Oh right, the conversation. "He's only human. Give him a chance~" He didn't try very hard to win over their hearts, but leadership wasn't his forte anyway. "You too, Droopy Face-san." He says with a look at Aidas from his currently nuzzling position at Izuna's side.

[lazy man]

With the demon lord's introduction and display of power, one of those present in the hall did not cower or seem overjoyed, but became extremely curious. While the others introduced themselves, the misty phantom glided over to the floor closer to the possessed body, not even pretending to walk, so focused on this dark phenomenon.

An errant soul that had such power as to refuse passage to the other side, truly a fearsome power in this world. The situation was very similar to the phantom's own: great power in its own realm, but a mere shadow in others. Losing power like that, it seemed, was one of Talkatz's few fears. Growing ever closer, the ghost pondered what Talkatz could do to a being such as itself in a weakened body like this... but it knew that it was in danger of having its essence scattered to the corners of the earth if it defied him in any way. Such was the power emanating from the corpse.

But that threat was not enough to stop its thoughts of what would happen if Talkatz crossed over, and before long the phantom ended up face to face with the lord of darkness. There was no threat there, and others may have seen it as insubordinate, but this spirit was like a curious animal seeing something similar to itself for the first time.

"Greetings, oh Dark Lord," voices chanted, hoping to observe any reaction. And then, drifting backwards with another bow and a similar introduction as before, "Those of this country call this one 'Yuurei no Seishi'. To help you achieve your goal in this conflict, the spirits of the dead have decided to aid you. The collective hopes you will accept our aid graciously."

[Dracorion]

As Kurama explained the problem with killing the demon lord, Imara attempted to take a swig from her bottle only to discover that it was sadly empty. "Aw." The mutt whined, her ears drooping as she lowered the bottle.

"Y'got any boozhe 'round here?" She piped up, clearly prioritizing the most urgent predicament. Without even waiting for a response, the wolfgirl began to stumble around the common room, inspecting furniture and drawers for any hidden alcohol.

"Ash fer this Takkun- Tekken- Terrier- whatever! Why not jusht kill 'im dead and burn him to shit? Punch 'im too a few timesh." She suggested offhandedly as she searched.

[Raiden]

"My ancestor was a proud warrior, and a leader of legions. He freed the demon blacksmith who originally forged the Raigaki, used his charisma and connections to gather an army of unfathomable strength, and lead them against an invincible Demon King. I would never wish to sully his actions or his legacy."

He drew the Raigaki just slightly from its sheath. The metal itself seemed to glow with a brilliant light that was warm to the mortals in the room, and yet had an almost toxic sensation to those with demon blood in their veins. He could not help but to frown slightly. His ancestor was a great warrior, but his trademark fighting style had also been the slow downfall of his family line. There was reason their influence was not what it once was.

"And I will be first to admit that I may not have the perfect plan myself. I intend to leave this village and seek out the three pieces of Talkatz's body. Then, once recombined, a ritual a century in the making shall be performed to finally destroy his worldly vessel once and for all. There is a chance that the ritual will be unsuccessful. There is even a chance that once we have obtained all the pieces that his forces will simply take them from us. Hell, there is even a chance that he shall obtain his body before we can retrieve it and cast the world back into darkness and war."

He slid the blade back into its sheath, the ancient wood and leather binding hiding the light.

"And there is even a chance that my finding the Raigaki was exactly that. Just chance." He looks to Izuna. "But I find that if one thinks too much about chances, nothing gets done. That is my plan, and if any should feel the urge to join me, then so be it. Or if anyone again questions my ability to wield the blade of my family? Well..." He shrugs. "Simply take it from me. See where your chance lies."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The underlings had given their introductions to Lord Talkatz. He, of course, knew each of their names and their backstories intimately. One was not simply invited into the fold by rumor and hearsay. Talkatz had spent centuries repairing the damage done to his soul by that drunkard Genkai Tama. Then several centuries more biding his time and watching the development of the world, seeking those he could bring to himself and his works. Talkatz was powerful, but power was not something one wasted. Too much power at once called attention. A bitter toxin in a cup of tea would alert the drinker to the presence. Small doses spread over the course of several cups, however, worked splendidly.

The old eyes of flame looked to the group, and even looked past Yuurei. He reeked of the other side, a place Talkatz refused to enter for too long. The raspy voice whistled from the corpse's throat, the mouth moving in the way one sees a puppet's mouth move.

"You have...all been gathered...for your skills...and knowledge. My return...is imminent. My subjects...are gathering. But before...I can truly...take my place...I must have...my body." The left hand of the corpse fell off, the flames darting to look down at it. The wrist was crumbling with necrosis and corruption.

"Haran...will direct you...when not in...my divine presence. He speaks...for me...and hears...for me." The tall man in white gave a deep bow, holding the spectacles to his face to keep them from falling off. "Gather my body...bring the pieces...back to this place. Your reward...will be immense." The chest began to cave in as a black darkness burned itself into the corpse's skin.

[PhoenixFlame]

Izuna didn't deign to respond to Aidas, but she did give him a smirk that said all of the things she didn't. He was a foreigner after all, and she didn't expect him to understand how things worked here.

Akira on the other hand, was right, and she did feel it was unfair (although relished the opportunity for mischief) to accuse Kurama, but the kitsune was only doing her job. After all, order flowed the way it did because it was overseen. It wouldn't be proper of the hero oversight committee if they didn't make their charge answer the tough questions.

Of course, he didn't answer the tough questions, which annoyed her. Neither focus, devotion, conviction, nor bloodright, or even skill at arms had he claimed, but the simplest of plans. He stood and drew the Raigaki without intent to use it, as if showing it off like a common bauble, an action which caused the hairs on her neck to prickle. Izuna had no intent of revealing her power yet, or for that matter even what she was, but circumstances being what they were, Kurama practically begged to be tested. She prayed she would not find him wanting.

*snap~*

The sound of the slight bagginess of Izuna's clothing whipping against the sudden motion of her body echoed throughout the room as she rolled backwards, kicking the Sorano Sekai's haft with her foot while she rose to her feet. The naginata sailed to her hand like a loyal falcon, the cloth wrapping falling away from the blade as she wrenched the weapon into a proper grip. With a seamless shuffle forwards, she feigned to lunge at Kurama's upper torso, rolling her weapon at the last moment to slice for his legs while sidestepping away in the opposite direction.

[Overcast]

Aidas recoiled faintly from the light of the sword, its purity clearing his skin, refreshing his eyes making them brighter and more clear of color, reversing his age, for a moment someone might even consider him adorable. Disgusting. The blade had lost none of its potency in the years since he'd first met it, but the hand that held it still seemed lacking to him.

The emissary of the celestial order seemed equally doubtful after she stopped shooting that 'dumb foeigner' look his way. It wasn't hard to read the mischief in her heart, and he smiled smashing his staff into the ground as she propelled forward.

Lord Talkaz was not mearly a gifted combatant, he was mastr of the 6 elements. Aidas was beloved by only one, but it would be a suitable audition.

Aidas's grinning face appeared near the girl and himself, cackling its jagged features like solidified purple lightning, its voice like singing sparks as it cackled. The real deal was slowly gathering electrical charge giggling in mad tones as purple arcs began to cover his form. He would not fire, not yet.

[Inbred Chocobo]

Kagi noted the burning corpse, it was clear it would be insufficient to hold Talkatz's power for long. The corpse was burning up as they spoke, and in just another brief moment, it would be gone. After Talkatz's speech, letting them know the plan to bring his body together, he rose. It seems that Haran would take over here in telling them what was needed to be done. So as Kagi rose he turned to face the white coated man.

This time Kagi cut the sass and back talk. This was serious, and he still had lingering moments of pain. "Haran, since you speak for Talkatz, I believe you would know best where to find these body parts. Do you know where they are, what kind of protection they have?" Kagi was trying to stay focused on the job, get down to business and get this done.

[Steel Shadow]

"Your body shall be yours again, my Lord," Zel said, accepting the task with a nod. She remained bowed until the body had collapsed, and the Demon Lord's spirit had most certainly departed. Only when she was sure he was gone did she move to stand.

So, then. Yuurei No Seishi. Shizuka Mizuno. Kagi. Hakeshi Masumi. Ah, and Zelenha. These were the warriors that Talkatz had summoned. And this Haran - the Demon Lord's shaman? The one Talkatz had said spoke for him. He was to be respected almost as much as the Lord he served then. He was also the only one here who had not introduced themselves. Interesting.

Kagi was the first to ask the specifics of what they were to do, and though Zel didn't care for his tone as he did so, she had to admit he had improved greatly since his last attempt. And she did echo his question, albeit silently and in much politer terms. This was sure to be a difficult quest, and she was eager to begin.

Without a word, she turned to the man in white and waited for him to speak.

[Sithdarth]

As their host drew the Raigaki its light although pleasant and warm was almost searingly bright to Akira. He barely controlled that instinctive reflex to cringe and cover his nonexistent eyes to shield them from the light. Akira was quite happy to see the blade returned to its sheath.

As Kurama finished speaking there was a rather sudden and decidedly not friendly movement from Izuna. Given the nature of her weapon these quarters were far to close for a confrontation. As she lunged past him Akira decided that he was going to have to intervene if only to avoid him or anyone else in the room getting caught in the crossfire. While Izuna's movements were sharp and precise Akira's were decidedly fluid. There was no sound as he seemingly slid across the floor placing his walking stick in the path of the haft of the naginata. His ki filled the stick giving it an unnatural resistance and a very faint glow to those sensitive to those kinds of things. He would have prefered to redirect the weapon but there was not space or time for anything as fancy as that. As stick and haft met the distinct crack of wood reverberated through the room.

"I did not take you for one so rude as to attack a man in his home after being invited in and served tea," he chastised Izuna. "That is the kind of behavior I'd expect from the lightning monster over there. Besides I think both of you can agree that these relatively cramped quarters are not the appropriate place for this. If you insist on a test I'm sure a more suitable and less crowded venue can be provided. After all we wouldn't want any of our companions to be hurt accidently."

[Krylo]

Nanako spun up and whirled out of the way of the sudden aggression, rolling onto the the balls of her feet, stanced wide, and her hands in a defensive posture for just a moment until it was obvious the attack was not meant for her.

Izuna's spear lashed out at Kurama. A feint, obvious from where she was standing--the woman's weight didn't follow through properly, and. . . there was the foot work to carry it toward the legs. Still, with the unwinding fabrics, the sudden electrical shield, and the attack's, own, sudden nature, it'd be interesting to see if Kurama would be able to follow it in time to defend. . .

Or not.

Nanako sighed, relaxing as the blind old man blocked blow meant for Kurama.

"It's rude to interrupt a duel, you two," she chastised both the blind and the ugly. "It's just going to turn into a brawl at this rate!"

The young girl slid forward to place herself between everything else, "And you ruined. . . um, I believe the kitten called you Izuna?" she asked looking toward the disguised kitsune. "Regardless, you ruined her initial feint. A manuever like that won't work later! There were layers of distraction and misdirection on it, and if Genkai-sama is half the warrior he claims, a surprise attack won't work twice!"

She huffed.

". . .But it would be better to continue outside," she said brightening up. "I want to see more of Izuna-sama's skill. . . and both of yours as well," she added, addressing Aidas and Akira. "But, again, it's rude to interrupt a duel. Wait your turns," her voice and face firmed into that of a scolding mother for a moment.

[Raiden]

Kurama's body had been relaxed, his eyes tracing the path of the weapon the foxgirl had drawn. When the blind samurai intercepted, it was an interesting response. His thumb lowered from the hilt of his sword where it had been raised.

"Thank you Akira, though I am fully capable of defending myself." He stood up slowly from his cushion, the Raigaki held in his hand. "If my guest is so eager for entertainment, then we will entertain her. Outside to the courtyard then?"

The more open entryland to the Genkai household was lined with Cherry trees and small streams, its entire landscape designed for very particular reasons. Such reasons, of course, being lost centuries ago. But at the time, they were quite particular.

Kurama lead the group outside, and motioned for Izuna to follow him a shorter distance away to a cleared gathering area, where the grass would not intervene.

"Let us see now. I believe you were standing...that distance from me. And of course, I was sitting...here." He sat upon the grass in a lotus position with the Raigaki set on the ground in front of him. "Yes, that would be the position." He gave a small grin. "It would only be fair, after all, to allow you the same first attack you had hoped to get in. So, whenever you are ready?" He closed his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~

Haran, the man in white, was busy taking notes about the corpse as it began to decompose.

"An extra minute this time, my lord!"

The corpse's eyes of flame turned to Haran. "Soon...but now...prepare for...my next summoning." The mouth of the corpse opened and fell off, the corruption seething with heat as the body caved in on itself and left nothing but burning flesh on the stone throne. The man in white frowned as he poked at the decaying meat. "The elderly decompose so quickly. Almost time to attend the next level of study.


He turned back to the group, slightly surprised as if he had forgotten they were there. "Well then. It would seem I have all of you to myself for the time being. Yes, our great Lord Talkatz's return is nigh, and you lucky pawns shall be the instruments of his reincarnation! Our lord's body has been split into three parts. The legs, the torso, and the head. You must...go find it?" He shrugged and dug through his notes. "Yes, there is a list...somewhere."

[PhoenixFlame]

(Note: I'm not visibly displaying any of my 'foxgirl' features, currently. Hence no use of magic.)

*Crack~* Izuna completed her disengaging sidestep and huffed in a mix of frustration and disappointment.

To be fair, she'd expected this. It wasn't even too far out of reason to expect everyone in the room to attack her all at once in response, and Izuna did have an escape strategy. The monk, on the other hand, she'd given the least attention to, nor expected him to anticipate her deception ahead of time or move as quickly as he did. She reflexively shot him a glance that he wouldn't notice, expressing her disappointment and frustration with a pout.

"Well then I apologize, if I am annoyed with our host summoning me without a proper offering. I also apologize for accepting his offer to take the weapon from him if I felt him unworthy, because that is my duty and I would not shirk it for anything. I am doing my job, and I would prefer you did yours, master monk."

She nodded calmly to Nanako, and gently extended her right leg to toe the Sorano Sekai's wrapping, drawing it closer before reaching down to pick it up and replace it where it belonged. Once she was finished, she gave Nanako a kind smile, appreciating the girl's astute observations. Clearly, she was quite well taught in these matters, and would be a decent companion, though her practical skill remained to be seen.

"The young one is right, there is no point in continuing now." She huffed calmly, "Nor any to-

(and then I am alerted of Raiden's post-)

Of course by this point, Kurama offered her to continue. This was against Izuna's better judgement, as her deception was broken, and her opponent alert. Nanako had pointed this out, and she was correct, but Izuna's duty as celestial magistrate was not one easily cast aside. People like Kurama Genkai had to be held to a certain bar. She could not abide weakness in his bloodline, for other's sake.

As she followed him into the small clearing, Kurama insisted they take similar positions, she acquiesced, gears within her mind churning on how to repeat the maneuver with a new form of misdirection. She settled for being honest, a truly dangerous trait in her people.

After a few moments sat as they were, Izuna rolled backwards as she had before, kicking her weapon to her hand and wrenching it into her favored grip in an exact copy of her previous motions. She lunged for Kurama's torso with the same uncommitted footwork that fortold a feint that would allow her to transition to a low strike.

This time, she did not feint, her wrist-roll serving to invert the blade for a sinking thrust at the solar plexus.

[Red Mage Black]

It had all happened so suddenly to the nekomata. Izuna had sprung into action, the blind man blocked her strike and his new friend said some really complicated battle stuff that Leer didn't understand. That was alright, she reminded him of Izuna like that, but more red hair and a much less fancy look. Oh yeah and she called him a kitten. He wouldn't object as long as it got him more loves, even if he wasn't that much younger than Izuna. Now he had to ponder a way to get back at Droopy Face. The static from his lightning had caused the poor catboy's hair and fur to stand on end.

When they all fell into line out to the courtyard, he decided to stick close to Nanako. At least he could try to milk more cute points out of this while Izuna was distracted by combat. So, while all of this was going on, he got on the ground and nuzzled the martial artist's leg with a, "Nyaa," then a cute fanged smile up at her. It was boring watching Izuna fight anyway. He could also enjoy the Sun while this nice girl paid attention to him.

[PyrosNine]

Pyros was in really good spirits today. Sure, he had lost all his money to buy a "fishing license" which he was fairly sure was fraudulent, and was fairly sure those adorable street urchins had run off with his bag of belongings with their distraction ruse, and some random drunken swordsman had challenged him to a duel to the death and had actually cut him a few times before passing out in the street, but after long last, here he was fishing again!

Sure, the rod was made from a decent stick, and the string came straight out of his robes, and he had no bait to speak of, but the feeling of being on the water again was there! The smell of the pond, the sounds of nature, the occasional blip-blip of fish popping out of the water to feed upon unfortunate water skeeters, this was the life!

He'd figure out how to get something to eat, maybe make a rough lean-to or something, and of course he hoped there was no "camping license" for the pond area, but all of that was in the future. For now, he had no worries, no lingering feeling that he forgot something or should be somewhere!

Something this good wouldn't last forever, so he would make the most of it! Fishing! Sun! Sky! And maybe a nice nap later!

He'd even considered letting his wings out, but thought better of it. No need to attract any attention now, when everything was going right!

But then again, he knew what would make a perfectly fine piece of bait, with just a moment's discomfort!

*Pluck!*

A small sacrifice for a good day's fishing!

[Astral Harmony]

Shizuka didn't say anything, only hoping that this Haran-san found his notes quickly. It irritated her that this man actually knew things about Lord Talkatz that she had not. Granted, when the Makai Realm lost Lord Talkatz, the Mizuno Clan barely had time for sleep as they tried to maintain peace amidst a nigh-absolute collapse of order. But they had still tried to send some people out in the human realm to at least locate the three pieces of Lord Talkatz.

They needed to know three things right off the bat; the location of each piece of Lord Talkatz' body, the location of the Raigaki and its wielder who was propably inseparable from the sword, and which piece Kurama-san was planning to retrieve first.

Wait, there's a thought. "With Lord Talkatz not able to remain in any other vessel than his own magnificent body for long and the honorable Haran-san being more of an advisor who passed down our master's words, we should consider which of us would be best suited to leading us. With a good leader, we become much stronger than how we present ourselves right now. As for myself, I have both led and I have followed, but I shall admit that my experience at following orders is far greater so it should probably be someone else who brings us into a unit."

[Steel Shadow]

Zel tried to hide her wince. Oh dear. Haran was that sort of man, was he? That could get irritating...

Then Shizuka spoke, and it was an interesting idea that she suggested. Zel considered her words for a few moments. "I can agree to that. It feels a touch early, but the sooner we organize ourselves, the better."

The five of them had already made enough of an impression to judge who would be best for the job, at least. Shizuka was dignified, and seemed rather thoughtful. A suitable choice, one the sorcerer would be comfortable following - but she was hesitant, and did allow others to speak down to her more peaceably than Zel felt she should. Without knowing so, Zel echoed Masumi's judgement. Where was the woman's fire?

Kagi was loud and outspoken, but seemed to understand power when it was proven to him, and had acted quickly in pursuing their goals once he had been convinced. Still, that early display of arrogance had been off-putting. There could be no doubting the strength of a warrior that Talkatz had summoned here, but was this an attitude that she could accept as her superior?

The spirit of the dead seemed uninterested in such things anyway, and as much of a boast it would be to claim they were led by the vengeance of the underworld, one couldn't help but feel it would be bad for morale. Besides, he -it?- didn't seem all that interested in the rest of the group.

And Masumi. Cunning, and more than a little cruel. Leadership under her would be a dangerous thing. Zel had no doubt that she would lean towards striking swiftly and subtly, to great effect if she judged correctly. But of all the people in this room, save their Lord before he departed, this one had the darkest spirit. It was a feat, to be sure, but feeling the teeth behind your leader's smile was not a fun sensation. Could she follow this demon?

So then. Of the four options, she knew who she would support, and in what order. But there was always-

"Zel'll do it." A dark, female voice spoke from a place not far above her shoulder.

The Sorceress's eye twitched. "Vis, this does not concern you."

The tiny fairy waved a hand dismissively. "Saving time!" The spirit of darkness shot her Master a grin, before waving to the rest of the group. She didn't look much different from a human, save for her height of 6 inches, shimmering red hair and pale skin dressed up in a clingy black dress with fishnets along her arms and legs. "Zelenha's done all this junk before, and she's good at it! Trustworthy to, for the most part. Oh, and she's smart enough to not screw it up! Well, anymore than it was going to be screwed up anyway."

"Vis. Stop helping." The annoyance in the formerly very reserved battle-mage's voice was palpable.

"Oh, and she's totally the strongest out of the lot of you, too."

"Vis!" Zel's glare could have melted metal. The fairy took the hint this time, vanishing into the shadows with a mischievous giggle, leaving an irritated mage on her own.

Said mage let out a breath of frustration, before looking back to the assembled group. "I apologize for my familiar. The trip has been tedious, and she can grow restless."

"Her manner aside, however, she is correct in some fashion. I have led before, and I would be willing to do so again, if you find me suitable." Well there wasn't any way of undoing the damage. May as well carry on.

[Overcast]

Aidas quirked his brow as the old man blocked the poor girl's move. His shields dissipated, and his sparks settled down his body as he frowned. He cared somewhat little about property damage, in his history most knew that property damage kinda followed in his wake. His method of combat was hardly subtle, it was harsh, pragmatic, brutal and ugly as his appearance. Still he saw the fight moving out of doors and he decided to follow.

"I knew I smelled power on you old man. But you'll forgive me if I am not interested in testing a comparison between ours. I expect you to be my peer, not my leader."

He smiled at the chastizing remarks from the fiery youth as he leaned over to her, crooked yellow teeth clear in the forsaking sun, and being weirdly matched by the crystal in the tip of his staff,

"I do not believe their duel is a worthwhile judge of young Kurama's character dear. You must understand, Lord Talkaz the great demon lord is both a gifted martial combatant with a powerful weapon of corruption, and is also the master of the six elements. To prove to me he is worthy of that weapon he must not only prove he is ready to face another in a martial duel, but in a supernatural one. Her weapon, my mastery."

The sparks began to grow around him as he chuckled to himself, "I'm sorry if this offends your sensibilities..."

His sparks began to arc around him louder and louder as another wicked purple face leapt from his body and trailed Izuna, ready to respond to any attack with mocking speed, as both it and Aidas screeched,

"BUT I WILL NOT BE DENIED!"

[Krylo]

Nanako followed along outside, happily preparing to watch the battle. The only thing she liked more than fighting was watching other people fight. A keen eye could learn new techniques, new methods to strike and defend--even if the style and weapon was very different from your own.

For instance, the foot work and reversal necessary to appear a feint but not was in--

"Nyaaa?" Nanako glanced down, distracted for a moment, as the cat boy nuzzled her leg.

That. . . was actually a little creepy. I mean, if he was an actual cat it'd be one thing, but still human enough for that to be a little weird. She took a step to her side and reached down to push him away by the head, but those ears were soft and--

"I do not believe their duel is a worthwhile judge of young Kurama's character dear. You must understand, Lord Talkaz the great demon lord is both a gifted martial combatant with a powerful weapon of corruption, and is also the master of the six elements. To prove to me he is worthy of that weapon he must not only prove he is ready to face another in a martial duel, but in a supernatural one. Her weapon, my mastery," the man with the half melted face started, distracting her from Leer for the moment. Before she realized it she was scratching the catboy's ears as Aidas delivered his speech.

Then sparks began to grow around Aidas as he chuckled to himself, "I'm sorry if this offends your sensibilities..."

The sparks began to arc around him louder and louder as another wicked purple face leapt from his body and trailed Izuna, ready to respond to any attack with mocking speed, as both it and Aidas screeched,

"BUT I WILL NOT BE DENIED!"

Nanako tilted her head away from him and winced at the sudden shrieking. "It's not my sensibilities you should worry about," the girl retorted looking slightly annoyed, though whether it was the breaking of duel protocol or the screaming was hard to tell. "It's her you should worry about. . . it's her duel you're ruining."

She then rolled back on the balls of her feet, releasing a hand from Leer as her full attention moved back to the fight. "I don't really mind, so long as it's not interrupted again. It'll be fun seeing what you can do, as well."

[Raiden]

Kurama sat exactly as he had within the house. His hands were loose upon his knees and his shoulders relaxed and laid back. It was a warm day out. The sun upon his face was nice. It would not be long before summer rolled in its harsh heat, but for now it was the perfect temperature. The smell of cherry blossoms filled his nose--and there it was, the sound of wind startling.

The fighting style of the Genkai Family was one of loose counters, fluid motions, and rapid timed tightening of muscles. At its core it was a Drunken Style, meant to be attempted only while the wielder was inebriated. The origins of the reasons have long been lost, but it was still a very effective fighting style which favored those willing to respond with a loose detachment to the world around them.

The alcohol wasn't necessary at all, simply relaxation. And Kurama had become quite good at relaxing when in danger over the past decade. As the air exhaled from his nose he could feel his body tilt only slightly backwards. The weapon came closer to his chest and as it did, the air around it flapped open the top of his kendo gi. As it seemed the weapon would strike into his flesh his body spilled backwards, just inches away from the weapon. His legs continued up and after him, a hand just grazing against the Raigaki long enough to grasp it. The roll brought him backwards in momentum and the blade of the Sword of Light found its way from the sheath, the glow brilliant and burning against Aidas's electrical form. His sandals found purchase on the grass before moving in low, his free arm hanging in the air. A swift horizontal strike went for Izuna's belly, a crescent of light lingering as a trail of the blade.

[Overcast]

The light burned against Aidas as the sword was released again, this time his power alone was able to keep him ugly, but he could feel the purity of the damn thing trying to intrude upon him once more. His shield hissed in response and Aidas detached it from his own will, and Izuna suddenly could feel it at the edge of her mind. Not invading, but like a new limb she could fully understand how to control.

The shield would defend her as she desired, so as not to interrupt her style, it was common nature for Aidas to gift his power this way to someone he considered a superior martial combatant. Made coordinating their defenses much easier.

Meanwhile the purple arcs that surrounded the robed demon were growing in intensity, his body began to float slightly into the air as the electricity began to coalesce at his head, eyes glowing an intense purple, and his body convulsing violently. Still, he would not attack yet.

[PhoenixFlame]

No strike carried much weight when executed as the practitioner spilled their center of gravity. Now would be a great opportunity to tackle or otherwise pressure Kurama, placing some trust in her own body or this Aidas' shield to protect her long enough to crush him. Yet, this was not Izuna's way. Her style thrived in uncommitted movements, seemingly unconnected staccatos of attacks with wide open zones or sequences with long recovery times that seemed amateurish to the casual observer. None of these seemingly exploitable openings tended to repeat in any predictable pattern.

Kurama seemed relaxed, even peaceful. She did not feel serenity upon him, however. Indeed, it appeared that they possessed similar approaches in the theoretical field. Izuna resolved that baiting him out of his comfort zone would be the best course of action.

Izuna lept, body sailing over her weapon which was between her and his blade. The sword's searing light might make her uncomfortable, but did not sicken her, she was used to these things as part of her dual nature. The slight woman landed behind him, recovering her stance with a swift pivot of her feet, starting back to thrust at Kurama from behind, only to stop short and hop backwards by the balls of her feet, overextending her weapon into one hand as she did not carry it fully back with her. Truly it seemed she was playing with him, taunting him into taking the offensive, probing him for how quickly he could react, and how precisely.

[Red Mage Black]

She took a step to her side and reached down to push him away by the head

Rejected... His head tilted to the side. What was the problem? Most people would have thrown him a fish or something else to eat. Tough crowd we got here. As the rest talked and watched the match, he carefully edged himself back. Then suddenly... *POOF*

Leer didn't like this form nearly as much. He couldn't really jump around as he liked, but he would milk as much as he could out of this while they were distracted. Going near Droopy Face would be a bad idea because of making his fur stand on end and how uncomfortable that was.

A small cat rubbed up against each their legs, save for the duelers and Aidas. He stopped back at Nanako and gave it another shot, giving her leg a couple passes before meowing up at her. The twin tailed feline waved its tails, looking up expectantly.

[Inbred Chocobo]

Kagi just sighed. Haran seemed... distracted at the moment. Clearly he was more focused on just what transpired than what needed to be done. Not only that, now everyone was discussing who was going to lead the group. Shizuka had already made her claim, leaning towards following. Simple enough

Then Zel's little fairy shoulder thing started speaking, telling everyone to follow her. Big problem there is the guy is following the advice of a shoulder fairy. With the way it spoke about Zel, it was obvious that Zel might be good a formatting plans and making informed decisions, he would have issues making a quick group and coordinating an assault, and react fast enough to changing battlefield.

There was the dead spirit thing. Yuurei no Seishi is what it called itself. Being lead by a phantom would be a bad idea. One, it was uncaring, two, it probably wouldn't mind planning for a couple of them to die just to use their soul as fuel for something else. Three, just how much was it aware of the physical world? If he had to guess not as much as those that stood in it, so doubtful it would be able to make judgement calls.

Then there was the little priestess, Masumi. A cat girl, one that mentioned having skill in the holy arts. Modest, and weird. She spoke in an odd manner, and he had doubts about her tactical knowledge. With the way she spoke he wouldn't be surprised if her tactic of fighting the enemy was to rant to them until they were so sick of hearing bullshit they died.

That left one option, himself. He walked up to Haran who was flipping through his notes. "I'll make this easy for you guys, I'll lead." He snatched the notes out of Haran's hands and started flipping through. "Let's see here the location is..." Kagi's face squinted as he stared at the notes, turning the pages around. This time speaking directly to Haran. "The hell is this? Did you write all this down in the middle of an earthquake?" He flipped the notes out for everyone else to see, showing little more than chicken scratches, notes jarred down in such a hurry that they were unreadable all to but the writer. He slapped them back into Haran's hands. "Everyone moment we waste here is a moment out enemies gain on us. If we are to assemble Talkatz I believe its best we don't keep him waiting." He spoke directly to Haran as he handed the notes back, trying to light a fire under him so that they could get moving.

[Arhra]

Masumi's cat ears perked up at Shizuka's suggestion and especially at the appearance of Zel's talkative, flying morsel. Masumi tucked the traitorous things away. With a momentary pang, she hid her two magnificent tails as well and looked fully human again. Allowing either Shizuka or Zel to lead would be tolerable, she supposed. The two women both treated it with the due level of consideration. Though of the two, Masumi did have a preference. She did not feel Yuurei had the focus to do it, and the last option, well...

Kagi announced he was the boss and attempted to raid Haran's store of knowledge.

Masumi almost laughed. Bold, but stupid. And tactless, utterly tactless. She was tempted to step in, but concluded she had more important things to do than getting sidetracked by the crassness of a confrontation with the boorish creature. He was doing a fine job of eroding whatever support he might have garnered all by his own. Besides, she was curious what Haran might do to him.

She did laugh then - a soft, musical sound - as she turned her back on the samurai to speak with Shizuka, Yurrei and Zel. She shared a glance and the hint of a shrug with the three to say perhaps it was best to just laugh and politely pretend Kagi did not exist for the moment.

"If speed is what is desired, then there is a very simple solution." Masumi bent, poured a fresh serving of her tea into a new bowl, straightened again. "We vote. One cannot lead effectively if their followers are uncertain." She paused a moment, lightly tossing her head back to look Zelenha in the eye, sizing her up.

"I vote for Zelenha."

Bowl in hand, the priestess circumnavigated the little stand and moved purposefully toward the mage.

"Who do you prefer to lead?" she said to the tall foreigner, offering her the tea.

Oh and what shall you say? she wondered, smiling pleasantly.

[Steel Shadow]

Zelenha frowned. Did Kagi truly believe that leadership worked that way? Not a one sane creature would follow him into battle if he attempted to lead like that. It was something that required respect, something that could only be earned, not taken. And the dark samurai seemed set on losing any that his presence here had bought him.

And he still insisted on talking to Haran that way. Clearly he would need a longer lasting lesson than the one Talkatz had already delivered. She was starting to suspect he was a slow learner. Perhaps she-

Masumi shot the room a look, nonchalantly suggesting they let the situation deal with itself. The Mage considered it for a second, then acquiesced, settling back into a more relaxed stance. Haran, much like their Lord, was not to be underestimated. If he wanted Kagi dealt with by another, he had but to give the word.

And then a vote was suggested, and the Cat voted for her. Zel blinked in surprise. She had expected, when the rules were set, for Masumi to vote for herself. There was nothing against the idea, and it was certainly a more stable way to seize power than Kagi had opted to try. But instead...

Zelenha met the Demon's eyes curiously, before nodding. Without a word she gracefully took the offered bowl and raised it to her mouth, inhaling the aroma, before taking a sip. In this case, there was only one option to take. Interesting.

"Very well. Then in the interests of speed and simplicity, I vote for myself as well." Her mouth pressed into a line, expressing a hint of distaste at voting this way, but it was the best way to get this over with.

Extending her palm, she offered the bowl back. "Your tea-making is exquisite. You will have to show me the trick."

Because tea was important.

[Astral Harmony]

Kagi had always left a bad impression on Shizuka since he killed her father Mifuyu, and this was no exception. This is Fujiko all over again.

She stood up and dusted off her smooth bare knees. No point in dealing with that nonsense. "Well, if Vis-san spoke truely of his mistress Zelenha's strength and intellect and I have no reason to doubt his boasts, then she does seem to be the very best we can find in this entire realm. And I think that's all we need to be decided on that issue. Now, Kagi, leave Haran alone. You're only going to make it take longer for him to find his notes."

Although Kagi was being a pain in the ass, Shizuka begrudgingly admitted that his efforts were not without merit. They had a long trip ahead of them, plenty of time for strategizing, and much of that strategizing was only possible after they met Kurama and his entourage. Wait, would it be possible that Haran had notes on those who were joining Kurama? One could only hope.

[Raiden]

Kurama thought the demon would not stay out of it. It was in their nature, after all, so he could not fully blame him. They acted upon their nature. And at least this two against one was not two of his uncles wielded tetsubo and naginata. This was more inconvenience.

As Izuna flipped over him, his left leg smoothly floated just over the surface of the grass to turn and face her direction. The Raigaki followed with the momentum and a sudden rotation of his wrist flicked the tip of the katana up towards Izuna's weapon, taking advantage of the overextension of her arm to push it up and away from his body. He continued the momentum-driven spin as he spun in the direction of the foxgirl and a small spark leapt up from the metal of his blade as it left contact with her weapon. For a moment his face had turned toward Aidas. The woman was sticking to her weapon skills, so Kurama would deal with her so in kind. Aidas went straight for his magic, which demanded a return of favors. As the Raigaki spun in its natural progression around Kurama, a sigil on its broadside glowed with a soft red light. The air around it wavered as three long blades of light materialized from the sword and swung through the air in Aidas's direction. The wind screamed as they cut through it sharply and quickly.

As for the physical blade itself, it merely continued its path with Kurama. Her weapon was long and had reach. She was hoping to move and dart about, to lure him into proper positioning. Her animal-side would be proud. For now, until he knew how well she could control the weapon, his best bet would be to negate its range advantage and keep tucked in close and using his momentum and sudden body movements to bring the blade up towards her weapon hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

Haran gave a startled look as his notes were torn from his hands and they fell to the floor.

"My notes! My organizational system! It's all ruined, it's all-oh. Well. Here it is." Haran smiled as he bent down to pick up a piece of paper with even more notes scribbled upon it.

"Ah yes. The three body parts. The Bastard Warrior had dragged them to separate corners of the land in the hopes to minimize chances of them reconnecting. The legs are kept at the Purified Temple, some tower or another to the west where Monks train to kill demons." He shrugged. "They have interesting ideas but none of them backed up with any EVIDENCE. I mean, beyond a bunch of dead demons. But a correlation does not prove causation! As for the torso, it's being guarded in some Fortress to the North. The...Stone Vigil. Super paranoid lot. Hate everyone that's not them, and maybe the Genkai line. But I guess they haven't been keeping tabs on each other." He has to adjust his glasses as he reads from the paper.

"And finally, the Head of our Lord rests within the Great Mausoleum to the East. Lots of dead things there. Lots of ghosts. Spent my last vacation there. So much research..." He drifts off a bit in memory. "But, ahem, yes. So you now know where they uh...where the pieces are? Yes. Yes you do."

[Overcast]

Aidas's convulsing form shuddered in the air, apparently oblivious to being targeted by the wind blades coming his way, more electricity arcing from him until he let out a terrifying retch and a small ball of purple light erupted from his mouth and sent him flying backwards back into the house, and out of the way of the speedy blades.

The ball lightning giggled quietly as it drifted slowly up above the duel, despite the force it had exacted on Aidas.It simply stood there for the moment. Shuddering in a somewhat unpleasant fashion.

[PhoenixFlame]

Kurama had done exactly what she'd hoped he'd do. Most people who trained by reflex would fall for attacks aimed only near to their bodies, so the advantage of a stop short threat was to make them waste energy and maintain initiative. The Raigaki struck the bottom of her weapon as it passed over him, beating the head of the larger polearm away with the force of a strike, not a parry. This too, she had anticipated, and was the reason for her intentional overextend.

The Sorano Sekai's head sailed skyward, and Izuna trailed it, toeing backwards as Kurama shifted his concentration to Aidas in what he believed was an opening. She relaxed her grip to let her hands slide to the latter third of the haft before choking down, repurposing its new momentum into a spin, then adding her own. The air sang malignantly as Izuna's fulcrum-like action brought the tip's speed to an uncomfortable level for atmospheric friction.

*Vfing~*

Lunging forward, she transitioned into a diagonal haymaker sweep from low to high across Kurama's entire body. No longer was she toying with him.

[Inbred Chocobo]

"Alright, so apparently we are a democracy now. So congratulations Zelenha, you are now leading. Just remember people that we are a small squad, not a nation. We need to be quick, decisive, and effective. We have an enemy wielding a weapon that destroyed Talkatz's body and subjected his spirit for a thousand years, and more than likely has a following composed of who knows what." Kagi looked around the room, studying each person. "Not only that, each member hear of the team serves a different purpose, each has different capabilities. Each one is here for a certain reason, and we each bring a unique skill set."

Kagi then proceeded to stroll towards Zelenha. "This isn't politics, we aren't here to be nice to each other. We are here to do a job Zelenha, and we were put together to do a job. If you want to lead because everyone else voted for you, then we can play that game, but you best be ready to make those decisions when the time comes." Kagi walked over by the door, leaning against one of the standing metal pillars in the old castle, it creaked against his weight. "There is a lot more information we need before we set out. We know where the stuff is, but how do we get there, who else is out there, blah blah blah." Kagi brought up a hand a did a little talking motion. "Best make sure we get these questions answered." Kagi fell silent after that, staying motionless and quiet, more than likely to everyone's relief.

[Astral Harmony]

How the hell would Kagi know about what makes a good leader? Shizuka didn't need to study Zelenha much to feel that she understood the weight of lives and the price of wrong decisions.

"I will wait outside, then," Shizuka said, deciding that they had no further reason to be there. "I'm sure Haran needs his space to continue his research and find another temporary vessel from which we might hear our lord's peerless wisdom."

As Shizuka put on her getas and stepped outside, two women emerged from hiding. One wore a white mini-yukata with a red spider applique on the back. Her hair was as white as her yukata and her eyes were a brighter red than Shizuka's.
The other woman was a platinum-blonde with a brown mini-yukata who couldn't hide her weapons like her comrade could. She held a yumi with a quiver on her back.
"That man was Kagi," the kunoichi in the white mini-yukata said. "Your ability to remain calm and collected despite encountering both him and the almighty presense of Lord Talkatz is very admirable, Mizuno-sama."
Shizuka let out a sigh of relief. No kidding. "Thanks, Tsubasa. Did you bring it?"

The other woman, Takano, walked forward and presented Shizuka with a map of Nippon. Shizuka relayed to Takano what Haran had shared with them about the locations of the pieces of Lord Talkatz, and Takano drew three small heart shapes in the appropriate locations. The girl always had to be so stylized about everything. "It is quite a trek from piece to piece," Takano explained after rolling up the map and handing it to Shizuka.
Shizuka frowned. "I wonder which piece Kurama will go after first?"
"Shall I look into it?" Tsubasa offered.
"No, that's alright," Shizuka thanked her. "We knew that the Raigaki had found a new master in Daisuke Kurama ten years ago. He might even still be at his home, and is probably not in any hurry to get to the pieces. Besides, with both my father and I gone, the Mizuno Clan is going to have it rough enough as it is maintaining some measure of order in the Makai Realm. Please, return to the castle and tell Chizuru to come find me. I need her to come with us on our journey."
"Chizuru-san? She's like, the weakest out of all of us. Why do you want her?"

"Well, for one, she is an excellent messenger."

Tsubasa nodded. "And?"

Shizuka hung her head. "I have a feeling that none of us can cook."
Tsubasa and Takano exchanged glances. "Sounds reasonable to me," Tsubasa said without laughing. "We will make sure she knows to come find you as soon as possible, Mizuno-sama. Good fortune to you and your comrades in battle."

And like that, the two kunoichi were gone. Shizuka unsheathed the Kusabi and gave it a thorough glance. Ever since it was forged, the blade had never been used to kill, merely to inflict as much anguish on a sacrifice as possible. The Mizuno Clan had acquired it from a demon shogun named Arashi whom they destroyed after deciding that his method of sacrificing young maidens to grant his forces victory in war was just wrong. The sword was sharper and more durable than any blade the Mizuno Clan had ever forged or discovered up until now, which is why Shizuka had been granted the katana for this journey. "It's been decades since I last stepped into the mortal realm," Shizuka said. "I hope it's not as bad up there as it is down here. Aside from the fighting, this could be just like a vacation."

[Raiden]

And there it was. The baiting and attempts to throw him off balance or to strike while he was slow was often a favorite tactic of those seeking to draw out the flaws of his family's style.

But his family's style was only partly fluidity and looseness. It was also about sudden rigidity and strength. As Izuna's weapon came upwards in a hard and fast motion to thrust into his body, the Raigaki's arm came almost haphazardly in its way. And there it stayed. As the foxgirls blade struck against the Katana she felt much more resistance than there should have been, especially at the angle he was holding the edge. His wrist was tensed and flexed like cords of iron as her attacking movement's direction was turned into a form of propulsion, lifting Kurama up off the ground and into the air. His clothing billowed out around him from the lift as he landed on the soil behind the foxgirl, his blade turned to point towards her.

"I believe that is enough for a test. Do you not agree?" His body was still loose and relaxed, his back slightly arched. But he was still ready to continue, should she press the issue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

"Yes, yes. You know the destination, but how might you get there? Horse or vehicle? How, I would ask, did you all get HERE? For all I know you simply appeared from the Aether." He took a small look at the conglomerate souls friend. "Some I'm not wrong about.

[Arhra]

Masumi's vote surprised Zelenha, she could see it in that startled blink and curious pause. But then she nodded, accepted Masumi's offering of tea and, in the name of expedience, also voted for herself. She appeared to find that manoeuvre slightly distasteful but had gone head with it anyway. Did that mean Zel had reservations about allowing anyone else to lead?

Having finished the tea, Zel returned the bowl. "Your tea-making is exquisite. You will have to show me the trick."

"Oh no, there is no trick." Masumi said warmly, shaking her head to deflect the compliment. "Just care, patience and good raw material."

Shizuka supported Zel as well and, with that, it seemed things were more or less settled.

Haran then disappointed Masumi on multiple fronts. He did nothing but provide the most bare boned of outlines about where the three parts were to be found and responded to provocation with all the spirit and action of an affronted sheep.

"What else can you tell us about the three sites?" Masumi said slowly and carefully, with the patience of a saint. "If you have researched this as you say, surely you must know more about what protects each part?"

Kagi, discontented, espoused the basics of leadership to Zel. It was almost insulting. Masumi considered making Zel handle it, to see how she could take a challenge to her leadership. The behaviour of Vis had made Masumi wonder if Zel could properly lay down discipline if needed. Familiars did need a lighter hand, she conceded. She decided against it. It was a perfect chance to demonstrate loyalty and take Kagi down a peg herself. She glanced at Zel for permission and took a half step out from her to turn to address the iron samurai.

"It takes no great vision to see the Sun or the Moon, Kagi." the priestess said. "It takes no effort to hear a thunderstorm. For a force, even a squad, to be swift and focused in its efforts..." she turned fully toward him and flicked out her hair with one hand, "dissent cannot be tolerated."

Her amber eyes glittered in anticipation.

"Do you understand that, Kagi?"

[Overcast]

From inside the house a billowing yell boomed out, "NO! THUNDERCLAP!"

The ball exploded in a boom of blinding light and sound, in short order from inside the house several bolts of lightning pealed forth as Aidas he hobbled forward, each purple arc exploding from his body without noticeable effort despite his earlier theatrics. A charge ran through his arm and down the staff before another ball thrust forward, this one having a more witchlike cackle than the subtle giggle from before.

[Steel Shadow]

So it was set. Zelenha was to be the leader of this dark band. In a way, she was now in charge of ending the current age, one way or another. Ha, Fate was nothing if not consistent. Destruction would surround her, no matter what form it took. That was her destiny.

Not that it would be making things easy. Already difficulties were cropping up. Kagi did not react to his rejection well. While he claimed he was willing to go along with things as they had fallen, the disconnect between his words and his intent was clear. It would seem the Sorceress had to make things clearer before they left.

But before she could, Masumi caught her eye once more, and stepped forward. Her words were clear and merciless, with no question of her meaning. Once again, Zel found herself hiding a smile. She'd not been wrong. This one was very interesting. But still, she couldn't let others handle everything for her. That would rather undermine the point of the current conversation.

"I am aware of such things," she offered tolerantly, a minor olive branch. "And I will deal with them. You need not concern yourself with those matters."

Her eyes flicked back to Haran. "If our Lordship's hand has further information to give us..." she trailed for a moment, giving the man in white a look to add her lot in with the questions Masumi had already asked," ...Then I suspect he will need a moment to collect his thoughts after your inspired interrogation. I'm somewhat familiar with the locations he specified anyway."

She stepped forward, tracing lightly towards the door. "In the mean time, as much as we are in a hurry, rushing blindly will hardly suit our purposes either. While we wait for Haran to gather himself, shall we not see one another's abilities first hand? It is important we know each other's limits."

She paused, glancing around. "Though obviously, not within our Lord's throne room. The courtyard outside shall suffice."

[PhoenixFlame]

Izuna cracked a grin as she felt her weapon connect, only to be surprised as Kurama was launched away like a solid object. There were many ways she could follow this, and she had her doubts he could defeat Talkatz yet, but he had the potential.

"I believe that is enough for a test. Do you not agree?"

Yes, this would do.

"NO! THUNDERCLAP!" Aidas seemed to disagree, which disappointed Izuna. He had his reasons, and they weren't poor ones, but Nanako had pointed out exactly why his intervention was unwanted. After all, it was their place to ensure that Kurama had his personal duel with the dark lord and was not interrupted. That aside, if she had wished to test Kurama with magic, she could've.

Lowering her weapon, she released her left hand, opening her palm and sweeping it to her side as if to grab an object from an invisible container. With a sudden thwip~, a blue flame covered her palm, and Izuna's body emitted the dull blue haze that accompanied lightning. A single gold fox tail appeared where her palm had been, and her ears folded out from her hair as she clenched her fingers, shifting the flame into a tight ball before casting it at Aidas' newly summoned electric spectre.

The two exploded in a shower of energy as they connected. Meanwhile, she stepped between Kurama and the other demon, mentally calling Aidas' own shield between them. Surely, his own defenses were proof against whatever attacks he had.

[Overcast]

All of Aidas's magics immediately began to reverse, as if time had been forced backward toward Aidas as Izuna began to intervene. "Hasn't anyone told you it is rude to interrupt a duel?" He had the droopiest frown that could possibly be conveyed on any face as he stared at her, and turned his disdainful look to Lord Kurama. If she was going to dull the brunt of his power then he wouldn't be able to test the man to his desires,

"I shall observe from afar Lord Kurama. Find me if you wish to test your mettle, earn my respect and I will grant you my power with absolute loyalty. Till we meet again."

Aidas began to shuffle away slowly, one had to wonder how well he'd keep up.

[Inbred Chocobo]

Masumi's question was mixed with her traditional poetic bullshit again. Kagi figured this woman was going to give him a rather nasty headache before the end of this journey with this. Still, he had to admit when she turned to face him fully forward, she was at least nice to look at. In fact, thinking on it, Kagi realized he was the only guy here, besides the dead guy. Kagi's thoughts did wonder to bad parts unknown for a moment, as he had to wonder what cheap booze would do to these women's libido. Though instead of letting his thoughts wonder on this subject, he decided to reply to her words instead. "I don't take what I see at face value at all, and actions speak much louder than words. I am in my own way testing her to prove she is capable of leading, rather than just blindly accepting like the rest of you had. Seriously if this is what you people do when being organized how in the world are you still alive." Kagi replied. Then the unexpected happened.

Zelehna wanted to test his ability in combat. That spoke far more detail to Kagi than any words that could have fallen from her mouth. She understood how action would speak, and was giving Kagi the chance to judge how she would react in combat. "I agree, let us head to the courtyard." Kagi stopped leaning on the ancient pillar, much to the relief of said pillar, and extended his arm through the passageway, as if he was holding a door open. "Ladies first."

After a moment of walking, Kagi and Zelenha found themselves in the open courtyard. The two stared each other down, judging each other. Kagi was pacing around her, judging her actions and her composure, and a hand resting on his blade. He was watching her, waiting for her to make the first move.

[Astral Harmony]

Shizuka sheathed her Kusabi as Zelenha and then Kagi exited the castle and... it looked like they were going to have a little fight right out in the courtyard.

She sighed inwardly. No doubt that this was Kagi's idea. Apparently the oaf believed that strength was the defining factor in one's right to lead. Granted, in the Makai Realm, one did have to be far superior than most in battle to command even a modicum of respect from others, but the Mizuno Clan didn't get to be as powerful as they currently were by simply having the upper hand in individual strength or even in troop numbers.

Still, this was a good opportunity to see if Lord Talkatz's judgment in assembling a demonic dream team was well-founded. "Don't hurt him too badly, Lady Zelenha," Shizuka cheered. "If nothing else, he'll make a decent pack mule but he needs to keep all of his organs inside his body for that."

[Dracorion]

Failing in her search for alcohol while the rest of the crew argued about Kurama's competence, Imara only sighed wistfully and rose up from the cupboard she had been inspecting to look at the group. "Guuyyyysssss, there'sh nuthin' to dri- 'eeeeeyyy, where'd everbuddy go?" She looked around the empty common room, having failed to notice everyone stepping outside.

Stumbling out of Kurama's house, Imara witnessed the ongoing fight, slumping back against the wall and attempting to take a swig from her bottle only to once again discover that it was empty. "Aw." Filled the determination, the wolfgirl stumbled forward, toward Kurama and his twin brother, just as the fight finished. "'Ey, you! Wid the face!" She poked the samurai's shoulder forcefully and looked at him expectantly. "Y'got any booze? 'm out."

[Steel Shadow]

Zel peered into the sky as she stepped out into the courtyard, Kagi not far behind her. The rolling clouds overhead had yet to part, bitter rays of feeble sunlight only occasionally passing through the barrier to shine down upon the barren landscape. She could feel the charge on the breeze. It filled the air. Suffocating.

It added a little something to the tension as the two settled their positions, and the duel began. Kagi began to circle. She reached up to her left shoulder, and drew the blade sheathed there. Plain and steel, but sharp and strong. This was not a foe that merrited the sword at her hip.

"I shall keep that in mind, Shizuka-hime," the Sorceress replied to the cheer, even as her eyes remained fixed on her opponent. He was playing this carefully, maintaining a defensive stance, and doing it well. His movements were well placed, deliberate. Not what she had expected given his personality, but that didn't mean much. If she waited long enough, she was quite sure he would show her the strength she expected.

But that would hardly be the point. This was to be a two-way test. Just as she wanted to see what he was truly capable of, he wanted to see that she was strong enough to lead him forward. No matter the premise of this fight, her objective was simple.

She had to win.

Slowly, she drifted around, circling her opponent much as he did her. Kagi held his blade in one hand - something to counter her longer reach, or did he think that would be all that was necessary? - and he was allowing her to make the first move. So be it. Her style worked best as the aggressor anyway.

The sky cracked - a roll of thunder, a lightning storm descending down somewhere in the mountains - and she surged forward, closing the distance in an instant and kicking up dust as she halted just beyond his reach. She held the advantage here. The air whistled before she'd even completed the movement, signalling her first attack, a simple side-thrust, one that would bring her blade around towards his upper arm. Very few swordsmen could fight without their dominant hand, after all.

[Sithdarth]

It seemed for now the fighting had ended and Akira was glad for it. Fighting for the sake of fighting never really made that much sense to him. Some people though just had to do it and it was useless to try and stop them. He'd been down that road it never worked and usually just made things worse. While Izuna was supremely controlled Aidas seemed to be barely aware that the concept of control existed. As Aidas shuffled away Akira had to admit to himself that things might be a lot easier and safer for everyone without someone that apparently unstable around. However, there weren't really that many people in the world capable of doing what needed to be done. Worse yet very few of them cared to do anything at all and some of them would be actively working against them. The forces of light needed every single ally.

Ignoring the obviously drunken wolf demon Akira approached the shuffling Aidas and gave him a gentle yet firm whack on the back of the head with is walking stick. "Is the grumpy old demon going to go pout" he asked mockingly figuring his target would respond to emotional prodding better than a reasoned argument. If nothing else Akira had to get him to stick around long enough to actually resolve things. "I'm fairly sure you'll have ample opportunity to test him or see him tested in the very near future," he consoled. "That is as long as you stick around."

[Krylo]

The fight started in earnest and Leer found himself completely ignored, not so much as a twitch of the leg as Nanako watched, completely enraptured by the display of skill.

Izuna's entire fighting style seemed to be psychological. Feint within a feint, baiting her opponent. This seemed almost more a test of Kurama's judgment than his martial ability--more about seeing through lies, deception, and trickery, than actual battle.

Kurama failed. Nanako wasn't sure she would do much better, but none-the-less, the savior of humanity allowed his opponent to take initiative into a strike once more. . . however, he didn't move like. . .

That wasn't a swordsman's method of movement. No, that was. . . drunken boxing! With a sword!

Nanako's eyes widened as she put together his relaxed stance and method of movement at last, after the rolling counter to Izuna's earlier strikes. She watched as his muscles all tensed in an instant, the way the drunken style gained its power, but this wasn't in a strike, but rather in a block.

Interesting. . . proper drunken boxing utilized swaying movements in the blocks, redirecting, rather than absorbing, strikes. However, the young girl reasoned, it made sense in a sword fighting style, that blocks might need to be performed in such a way, and she, indeed, saw no other way the man, trapped as he was by Izuna's trickery, could avoid the blow.

Kurama's body relaxed again in mid air, as he sailed over Izuna and landed easily, offering to end the duel, claiming it was enough of a test.

Nanako frowned. It was just getting good! And as far as she could tell, Izuna was at the advantage--he had nearly been gored by her last strike, and she hadn't even used Aidas's sh--

Thunder, lightning, crackling and flowing, the clearing lit up in sudden fireworks as lightning streaked from the cackling form of Aidas.

Now this. . . THIS was more like it! Nanako leaned forward, excited to see how Kurama would defend against THIS with a sword. Would Raigaki's blessings allow it to counter the energy of the lightning directly, or would he be forced to dodge, COULD he?

. . . However her answers would remain unrevealed as Izuna stepped before the attack, revealing herself as a Kitsune, and moving Aidas's own shield to intercept. The man withdrew, and for a moment Nanako was disappointed but. . .

"Does this mean we're having fried tofu for dinner?!" She asked excitedly at almost the same instant as the drunk dog girl's question.

[Raiden]

Kurama watched as the lightning demon shambled off with the blind swordsman in tow. These were the ones chosen to fight by his side? One could not be picky when the world was about to end, but having to fight two on one just so they would believe him worthy seemed excessive.

The Raigaki slid back into its sheath and hung back onto his hip. His body was back in the usual form as he smiled down to Nanako. "I am sure we can scrounge some tofu up somewhere. We still have much left to discuss, after all."

[Overcast]

Aidas leaned forward slightly from the smack, a few minor arcs leapt from his body as he turned very, very slowly toward the man. The monk could not see in the conventional sense, but from the demon a great growing storm was coming from the staff, Aidas was much larger and destructive in spirit. There was no doubt he desired to smite him where he stood, and yet once more it all collapsed back into the form of the small man, "Take your manipulations elsewhere cripple. I will not be so easily swayed by rude statements and blatant actions."

He moved his face very close to the old man till the ozone scent of the demon was palpable, "I will be closer than you think."

BOOM. Aidas exploded in a wealth of harmless static that had everyone nearby's hair on end. The staff falling harmlessly at his feet.

[PhoenixFlame]

"Does this mean we're having fried tofu for dinner?!" Nanako asked. Izuna's ears perked at the mention of her favorite dish.

"I am sure we can scrounge some tofu up somewhere. We still have much left to discuss, after all." Kurama replied. She inwardly wondered why he hadn't scrounged earlier in preparation for her arrival. This entire mess could have been avoided if he had.

"We were going to have it for lunch, weren't we?" Izuna moved behind Kurama with the silence and speed of wind and lightning, invading his personal space to rest her chin on his shoulder. Her tail swished around to brush his leg, the supremely well-cared-for fluffy mass feeling like a mix of a pillow and a cloud.

"I'd be so much more interested in what you had to say with something to eat." She whispered softly into Kurama's ear with a tone that suggested she'd been expecting this all along.

[Inbred Chocobo]

The sound of swords striking was a familiar noise to Kagi. He remembered its sound throughout the years, each time signifying a new battle, and new adversary to take down. This time it was different. He was not set out to kill, but to test. He needed to see Zel's strength for himself before he would let her lead. She started off well, making a fast charge and coming in strong. Of course, Kagi didn't have to move far to block the attack. Simply raise his arm and extend the sword out, and the blades had collided. Kagi pushed forward with a horizontal arc, a simple counterattack, and one Zel back hopped away from him.

"Not bad, that was pretty fast, but predictable." Kagi taunted her after shoving her back. Zel though would have none of it, bouncing back and coming in this time with a flurry of blows, fast and higher up. She was focusing on upper body strikes, trying to take his head or his shoulders. Kagi noted how she was light on her feet, and her blows were coming in hard and fast. These blows would push any capable warrior on the defensive, and a strong blow to the head or shoulders would quick end a fight. She was playing smart, he would give her that, and if Kagi was an ordinary warrior, this fight would just about be over.

Too bad Kagi wasn't a normal warrior.

It took half a second of rapids blows and blocks, but as Kagi's sword spun in his hand he was getting the rhythm of her strikes. Quick in, hard chop, second it was dead end pull back and swing again. Kagi started putting strength into the blocks, each one a little harder, throwing Zel's rhythm off, and he pressed the advantage, stepping forward. Zel was forced to give ground while keeping the strikes going, making her offensive strike far more difficult to give, since it was obvious such a manuever was designed to go forward, not backwards. He picked up the pace after a couple steps, and found the opening he was looking for in one of Zel's strikes, weak due to positioning, he stepped in quickly, letting the the strike go wide, and lunged forward blade first, aiming to pierce her chest.

With blade not an option, Zel started pulling out her other options. A shield of strange mystical energy formed, his blade biting into it. It seemed almost composed of lightning, yet black as the night. The shield was unexpected for certain, and instead of Kagi's blade striking at his target, it skidded across the shield. The energy that composed fought against the blade, as if it were another living being fighting against him. His sword cut into the shield, sending sparks of magic out from the strike, scarring the ground around them and sparks into the air, the light from such a strike shining much like the strikes of lightning in the distance.

Zel took advantage of the surprise shield, and swung her sword in a strong arch, the blade finding its target open and striking Kagi's neck. For a normal person, this would have been the end of it, and the head would be off and the battle won. For Zel though, the blade bounced off of Kagi's neck, vibrating in her hand as if she tried to cut through a steel pillar. Kagi pressed the advantage again, making a quick swing, but this time Zel fell back, putting ample space between the two.

The two warriors found themselves facing each other again, circling each other. "Not too bad, holding back on your magic though. I doubt you would last round two." Kagi taunted again, motioning with his free hand to come back for more.

[Steel Shadow]

There were some poets, Zel had heard, that said the language of combat was the purest, and most beautiful, form of communication that two souls could have. None had ever said as such to her face, which was wise of them, as it would have resulted either in an eye-roll or a crash course in linguistics. To her, fights were not pretty spectacles or poems without paper. They were brutality given form, fed by the desire to see your opponent fail, led by the promise of sweetest victory. There was nothing pure about them.

But that did not mean it was not a language in its own way. It was a simple one, but most informative if one knew the words. 'Can you defend against this?' Zel had asked with the first blow, an easy strike to deal with. 'Yes,' was the response, 'and this is how much strength I shall use'. And thus, she knew a little more about her opponent.

So she couldn't help but chuckle at Kagi's baiting. Predictable? "Oh, but that was half the point," she replied, before sweeping back in and launching into a proper flurry. Each attack swift, strong and sure. Each one deflected, and telling her a little more about her opponent. He had a hidden ace, she was sure of it now. Something more than just his (quite frankly obscene) strength. Something she would have to draw out of him by force.

Well, she didn't mind that one bit. Her attacks grew in power, stronger, faster, forcing his guard up higher, driving him to give his all to the defense, until he slipped. Just one opening...

But the impossible happened. Not only did he match each attack, he began to take back ground. Walking directly into her kill-zone was suicidal, but he did it without a flinch. His hidden ace? Or was he just crazy?

Her assault would have to end, maintaining it while he ignored it and closed the distance was madness, and she knew it. And she knew he knew it too. So instead she laid a trap.

She stepped back, her attention wavering from her offensive ever so slightly - and it was enough, the Dark Samurai stepping forward in a sudden burst of speed to take advantage of the opening. He was past her blade, past any form of parry she could have mustered, and struck forward knowing it. His sword would pierce her chest, a mortal wound.

But she had an ace of her own. As Kagi crossed the distance between them and thrust, a wall of black lightning crackled up between them, deflecting his shot and sending it to the ground in a shower of sparks. With a smooth motion that could only have been planned, Zel reversed her retreat, her blade swinging for Kagi's exposed neck. It was time to see if his hidden abilities were worth the faith he put in them.

It was like hitting a brick wall. Worse, even. The jolt shuddered up her arm as her sword bounced off his flesh harmlessly, nearly jumped out of her hand, and she hissed with pain and surprise. Granted, she'd expected something. It hadn't been that.

The two separated, taking a moment to consider what they had learned, and how to proceed. Then Kagi, as before, opened with a taunt.

"It would hardly serve my purpose if you were to die as I gained measure of your strength," Zel replied easily, shaking her head. Still, he had a point. "Perhaps you have earned a little more credit now, however."

She brushed her free hand along the edge of her blade, glowing red runes trailing in her finger's wake. As she reached the tip, the Sorceress muttered a short word in some archaic language, and the blade... caught alight. White flames surged up from the hilt, covering it from base to point, and it shone brightly in the dreary scenery.

"I would advise..." she began, watching Kagi's movements, "that you take this blade -" Suddenly the flames flared, searing light bursting forth to blind anyone looking directly at it, and once again the Battle-Mage charged, closing the distance between the two duelists "- much more seriously!"

It was different this time - she wasn't the only one who had changed strategies. This time Kagi responded to her attacks with powerful counters, each one strong enough to remove a limb if they connected. She didn't allow them to. Instead she wove around the field, never ceasing to move, never letting up on her attack even as she dodged and parried, or in some cases deflected in a shower of dark sparks, his responses. This was more like it!

And as she blocked again, Zel realized their situation had started to reverse. Now he was trying to put her on the defensive - a place where she would not last long, given the power of his attacks - and she was refusing to play ball. Amusing... But he'd have to try harder than this. Perhaps he needed encouragement?

She found her chance to give him some a moment later, as she responded with a dodge when he expected a block, and found herself behind him. He couldn't turn fast enough to defend against her attack to his blind-spot - it was all he could do to move away from her and avoid the worst of the damage.

The searing blade caught the back of his Kimono, and tore right through the cloth - no, was it cloth? It crumpled and tore more like Iron... Ah, but that did explain some things - and the garment split apart from neck to waist, leaving it hanging from his arms while leaving a large swath of his back exposed clearly.

Zel quirked an eyebrow as Kagi turned to face her once more. He looked more serious now, and held his blade in two hands. Oh. Had she made him mad?

Yes, yes she had, she decided moments later as he charged, bringing his sword down upon hers so hard the air cracked around him - and her sword cracked under his. The sound it made was hellish, the unpleasant screech of metal upon metal combined with the groan of solid craft-work beginning to be undone. It drove a gasp from the Sorceress's lungs as she realized what was happening, but the second strike was already on its way.

In two blows, Kagi's renewed assault shattered her sword.

She drew back, shocked, as the spell that had encased the blade in flames lost form and exploded out, before guttering harmlessly, and Kagi closed in yet further, sword raised to bring down upon her shield, or the body it protected when it would hold no longer...

Was this his true strength unleashed?

[Red Mage Black]

Fighting. Being ignored. Lightning. More annoying static. Dinner. Fried Tofu. Lunch.

This was not your ordinary household, where people cared if there was a two-tailed cat roaming around. Izuna should have bartered for his meal as well, fried tofu was her thing. Oh right, he was still a cat.

*BAMF*

It was unfortunate for Kurama that the kitsune wasn't the only yokai wondering about food. Leer had leaped over the red headed girl to get to him. "Fish? Can we get some fish, too? No fair if only Izuna-chan gets what she wants." Leer was already pretty small to begin with. Not even coming up to five feet in height, he looked up at the warrior with pleading kitty eyes, his signature cute fanged smile and tails waving.

[Inbred Chocobo]

Kagi watched Zel charge in, noting she was planning to dance a second time, and watching the sword glow a fierce bright fire. She came in hard, and this time she had charged her sword. When blades clashed then, he could feel the heat of her sword flicker, and he knew his trick wouldn't work again. They danced this time, Kagi using his strength in his sword while he held it in his hand, forcing her to dance around him. She was playing smart, as she knew if she held still Kagi's strength would push through her defenses easily, though he had to admit those shields she could generate kept Kagi from taking a good advantage during their exchange.

Then she got behind him. She had taken advantage of the fact he was holding the sword one-handed, particularly his right, and feigned through his left side. He couldn't spin fast enough and without the option to block, he hurried pushed himself forward. It caught his kimono instead, cutting through the iron clothing. He could feel the heat of the blade almost nick him against his back as he managed to get the distance, and he turned to face her again.

Zel took a moment to look at Kagi as he was facing her now. It was that curious high and mighty look. "Fine, you want me to take this seriously, I'll take this seriously." Kagi stated, in a tone that suggested the fire of angers had light. In truth, they were, as the fact that she tore is clothing upset him. It was a bitch and a half to fix this thing. Kagi took a firm two handed grip of the sword and charged.

There is something to understand what the purpose of the two-handed grip, and what each one means. Both have their advantage and disadvantage. A one-handed grip allows farther reach with a sword, along with a much more flexible maneuvers. Side arches and overhead swing gain momentum.

However a two-handed grip had its own advantages. Control over where the blade was at all time was now possible. Redirection and precision were now much more optimal here. The range is decreased, this is true, but there was one thing that was gained, a lot more strength in the swings.

And luckily, Kagi had strength to spare.

He came in hard this time, though his target wasn't her, it was that blade of hers. He said to take it seriously, so he did. The first swing was incredibly fast, his blade cutting the very air between him and his target, and her blade barely held against the strike. The steel in groaned against the strike, her blade cracking. Then he spun his own blade around in a quick half circle, slamming into the sword on the other side, fast enough she didn't have time to react more than instinct, shattering the blade and the spell that held it together.

Then his third strike scrapped across her shield. This time though, his sword bit deep into it, the horizontal strike sliding across and throwing part of its destructive magic into the side wall of the courtyard, tearing into the stone walls and leaving its own mark. Another strike, this one coming down, and the ground to Kagi's right tore open as part of the essence of the shield ate into the ground below. This time Kagi followed with a thrust, in an attempt to pierce the shield. Sparks flew, and the tip of Kagi's sword did nothing but spark against the shield, then finally was shoved down. Kagi's blows might be strong, but whatever reason, whether its the area in, or a testament to Zel, the shield not only held, but seemed to grow stronger rather than weaker.

That last blow gave Kagi an interesting read on the shield. Its energy was destructive. It wasn't striking a wall, it was striking a form, a very tough one at that. His attempt to stab through it was first blocked and then he felt its very energy push against his blade, forcing it a different direction. It was as if the energy was smart, knowing where best to go to block things. A defense like that was a good one, being able to go where needed. However there is on weakness to a defense like that.

Hit it everywhere at once.

Kagi pulled back after that pierce attempt, then drawing the blade to the side, charged, shoulder first. He planned to barrel through the shield, and cut her down once through.

[Steel Shadow]

Zel grit her teeth and brought her hands together, discarding the broken hilt of her former sword. Now he was attacking her shield directly, and she needed to make sure he didn't break through. He'd cleave her in half with one swing at this point. Magic crackled down her arms and through her palms, strengthening and renewing the barrier, calling on old pacts she had made what felt like a lifetime ago.

Mana poured into her spell, and Kagi's strikes were repelled. She let out a breath of relief. Now she needed to turn this around. He'd deprived her of her blade, but that was recoverable. She'd drawn her weakest one for a reason, albeit this wasn't quite it. But perhaps drawing another would be unnecessary. Maybe it was time to see how he dealt with a rang- what was he doing?

Oh that was just insane.

Kagi charged into the shield shoulder first, utilizing all of his monstrous strength and inhuman durability to push himself through the destruction field itself, instead of shattering it on his blade. It was a ridiculous idea. Pure destruction magic lanced at - through - him, crackling around the new mass that had crossed its boundary. It ate away at his form, stripping the skin from his flesh and absorbing the blood that spilled before it even hit the ground. Even his iron body was taxed relentlessly. And yet...

And yet...

Zel's eyes widened as he kept coming roaring like some sort of primal beast as he forced his way through her shield. He was going to make it through. He was going to make it through. What the hell? That was ridiculous! What sort of insanity invited-

He burst through the other side of the field as though he were undead breaking free of the tomb, and his sword was already swinging. Time slowed down.

Despite what the Madman had done to himself, his attack would be as powerful as ever. She could see it from the way his muscles moved, the way the blade shuddered in his hand. She could not be hit by this, or she would die. Unacceptable.

Her first step was to scramble for time. He was too close - she couldn't dodge. His stunt of powering through her shield had taken her entirely by surprise, and left her exposed. She couldn't fix that entirely, but she could widen the gap somewhat. It would be enough to take care of the rest.

She began to fall backwards - and it was quite a long way down.

Her second step was more defensive. She needed to stop that sword from hitting her. Kagi had committed to an overhead strike, using his leading shoulder as a basis to throw all of his weight and strength into the attack. It was a confident move - sacrificing some control for extra momentum - but it was fast from his position as well, likely why he had chosen it.

The question was how to stop it. Her shift in stance had altered the area he had to hit, but not by enough. She'd need to deflect the blade somehow. For a moment, she considered - but no, she wasn't going to involve them in this fight, not if she had other options. And she did.

Her hand darted to her belt and began to draw another sword. Not the one in the fancy sheath - not Sever, no, this was not the place for that blade - but another, a second blade. This one seemed to ripple as she pulled it free, like it were a liquid only held in place by an unseen force. Which was almost the case, in fact.

Her right hand tightened around the hilt. Her left sized the tip, supporting the flat of the blade with her palm. This was going to take all of her strength, and a bit more besides. By now her back had met the ground, and that gave her shoulders the support they needed. She felt her muscles tense, prepare...

Then as Kagi's sword came down, her own blade came up to meet it, horizontal to vertical, and twisted, taking advantage of the swing's momentum to throw it further, past her body and into the ground beside her.

She felt the ground tremble as all that force struck it dead on. Ha, she'd done it - survived one more attack. But she wasn't done yet.

Step three was more offensive. She had a limited window of time before Kagi could recover and capitalize on his new advantage - there wasn't much she could do to defend herself from him while prone. To amend this, she'd need to get her feet back.

To do this, she drew her legs up to her chest and kicked down as hard as she could, slamming her heels dead into Kagi's bleeding stomach. It didn't really shake him, but she hadn't expected it to. The man was made of iron, winding him a little would be lucky without magical aid. Instead, the aim of the attack was to move herself, using her attacker's own body as a brace to launch herself further back from him, rolling to her feet once more.

She stood up, breathing heavy, her cloak now quite coated with dust and... Hm, she could taste blood. When had that happened? Oh well, no matter.

For an instant, if Kagi was in a mood to look, he would see the Sorceress's eyes flash with glee. This was a good fight. This was where she belonged.

Then she frowned, and waved a hand. More black lightning appeared, converging into a small ball before her extended palm. With a flick of her fingers, it shot forward, blasting towards the Iron Samurai like a bullet from a gun. She watched his reaction curiously, then her frown grew deeper at his lack of counter response.

"I suddenly have the hideous suspicion that you lack a proper ranged technique to respond with. Would I be right, Kagi?"

[Inbred Chocobo]

The ball was cut, slamming into the wall behind him. Kagi found himself with a question from Zel, and he had to smile.

He turned and spit, a streak of silver blood that the destructive magic didn't eat flying to the side. In fact the warrior had a dozen cuts across him, his blood easily betraying his nature of being metallic in nature. "I was wondering when you would figure out why I kept taunting you." Kagi smiled, then sheathed his blade with a simple clack.

"You did well though Zel, your little fairy companions made me think you would have issues with making quick decisions when your plans fail. It was obvious you weren't expecting me to break that shield, and if you didn't think fast on your feet you would've been dead." Kagi stated openly, echoing his thoughts out loud. "As much fun as it is fighting you, I believe we do have a mission now, and I've seen enough of your fighting to know you will be capable of leading." This was probably the best Zel was going to get, and she probably thought it odd Kagi was ending it, or even disappointed depending on how much she was enjoying the fight.

Truth be told, now that she knew she had a ranged advantage against Kagi, this fight would take a much longer time. He was certain of his abilities to last, but he wasn't sure how much magic Zel had in her reserves, this could go on for hours if they kept going, and truth be told Kagi still wanted this mission to be over with. "Besides, I have to fix the damage you've done." Kagi stated, showing his damaged kimono that hung from his arm.

[Steel Shadow]

Zel just sighed. "I engaged you in melee to see your abilities there, not because of any baiting. And you were impressive. An unusual fighter, to be sure. Still, I had hoped I was wrong about your ability to respond to ranged threats." She sounded disappointed.

Her sword returned to its sheath. "There's no point in continuing further." After all, if he couldn't engage her properly at range, the fight was hers. There was nothing valuable to gain playing about when the truth was obvious. "I suppose I'd best start looking for a replacement steel sword," she muttered, glancing again at the fragments strewn about the courtyard.

"Did anyone else want to demonstrate? Has Haran found anything new to tell us? If not, we'd best get moving. Keeping the Dark Lord waiting would be in poor taste."

[Astral Harmony]

Shizuka turned to gaze off into the horizon. She was facing the general direction of Mizuno Castle, although the castle couldn't be seen from this distance. "I was hoping for a friend of mine to get here while you two were seeing how each other stacked up, but I guess we should go now. She's good at finding her fellow kunoichi so she can eventually catch up to me. I didn't think of it at first, but I asked my friends to send her my way because we could probably use a good cook. And, if Kagi-san isn't choosey about who works on his clothes, she can wash and sew them perfectly. She's really housewifey like that. And she also practices medicine. And has a knack for finding good bathing areas."

She suddenly looked very defeated, and Kagi hadn't even kicked her ass yet. "Honestly, sometimes it pisses me off when I compare my level of womanly charm, or lack thereof, to her. And then I get depressed about that because she admires how the rest of us are such excellent fighters with our own talents. I gotta get a grip on myself when all of this is over."

[Inbred Chocobo]

Kagi walked up and placed an arm on Shizuka. "Don't stress yourself out about womanly charm. Take it from me, you have plenty of it." Kagi stated, though coming from him, who knows what exactly he was talking about when he mentioned womanly charm. "Besides, the fighting type girls are always better in bed." He finished off, completely erasing any doubt what he meant by womanly charm.

Kagi pulled the top part of the damaged kimono off. This gave a view of his upper torso. The man obviously fought for a living, and quite a few marks from charging through Zel's shield shown across his chest, cuts that were seared shut from the destructive magic. A few scars though showed where he had fought battles in the past in which people could hurt him sat all across his otherwise surprisingly stout chest. As thunder struck in the background, and light up the courtyard, his chest shined and reflected like much like a shield would, just another reminder of what Kagi was.

"For this... um friend of yours you are bringing by to cook and such..." Kagi started to say as he bundled the mess of his torn garment. "She isn't going to poison my food or anything is she?" Kagi asked. He did have a history with the clan, and well being poisoned is a shitty way to go.

[Astral Harmony]

"And now I'm being comforted by the man who murdered my father while he was on the toilet with explosive diarrhea during demon spring break," Shizuka groaned. "Now all I want to do is sleep the rest of this day away."

"Mizunoooooooooooo-samaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"That didn't take long," Shizuka said, finding new energy within herself. "As for the poison, you can relax. We stopped with tricks like that when we distanced ourselves from our old spider heritage, going from large webbed caverns to japanese castles and from mandibles dripping with venom to refined folded steel and war tactics. Besides, Chizuru doesn't even know you. At least I don't think she does."

"Mizuno-sama, I made it!" Shizuka's friend shouted just as she started slowing down, a process that involved hopping on one leg while pinwheeling her arms backwards and almost falling over regardless.
"Behold Suzuki Chizuru," Shizuka gestured to the new arrival. "The living embodiment of moe."

If there was one word that could describe Chizuru, it would most definitely be 'bouncy'. One had to wonder how she could be a ninja at all since there was no way breasts like that would allow emergency acrobatics or the ability to slip through very small spaces. She would have to rely on seduction techniques to get past guards the whole damn way through.
Her mini-yukata was black and so was her knee-length luxurious hair that shined even in this darkness. Her face had clearly been sculpted by the best gods one can afford, her skin was flawless, her teeth were perfect, her smile was-

No doubt, this woman would make any other lady feel like she got cheated. "I hurried as fast as Hirasaka-sama told me you needed me," Chizuru apologized, removing the large wooden backpack she was carrying and opening it up. "So I'm afraid all I got are livened-up leftover riceballs and herbal green tea. Here are the plain ones, these over here have salmon in them, and these are pickled plum. Shall I pour you and the others some mugs or are we leaving immediately?"
"It's fine, Chizuru," Shizuka told her. "Riceballs are perfect for traveling."

Shizuka turned to the others. "Don't worry about them being leftovers. Anything made by Chizuru can rank among the finest cuisine you'll find anywhere."
"I-it wasn't anything special," Chizuru lowered her flushed face while poking her index fingers together.

Dammit, how can someone be so ridiculously cute, huh?!

[Raiden]

Kurama gave an amicable look, though the sheath of the Raigaki slid slowly along his leg to peel off the tail without damaging it.

"Our cultures may vary, Izuna, but I favor my personal space. I thank you for understanding." He gives a look down at Leer as the catboy stares up at him.

"We have some preserved fish for the trip. You may certainly partake of that now, though it would mean giving up your share for tomorrow's journey. As I said, most of the reserves had been handed out amongst the common folk to keep the peace. I have enough reserved for lunch and then our travel tomorrow until we can stop to stock up at one of the larger cities along the way. We will first be heading westward, toward the Purified Temple. The residents there are monks devoted to the cause, so I believe we will have our easiest attempt of reclaiming the first bodypart of Talkatz there."

[Arhra]

Zel decided to handle Kagi herself, showing a touch more steel than Masumi had expected by offering the samurai an impromptu duel outside.

The foreign mage used a blend of an unfamiliar sword style and a strange, destructive energy that fed off the ruinous state of Talkatz' one-time castle. She formed it into shields and missiles but what other uses of it might there be? Zel could lay enchantments upon her blades and some of them appeared magical. Toward the end, as Kagi forced her to improvise, she obviously began to enjoy herself in the heat of battle.

Kagi in turn had shown a brutal strength that was quickly proving to be typical of the man. He broke For all his flaws, he was a more than competent swordsman and possessed an immense vitality that could see him through when that wasn't enough.

Zelenha favoured a diplomatic approach afterwards, showing a hint of disappointment that Kagi didn't have any further tricks to pull when she opened up the range between them. Masumi was pleased to find her confidence in the woman validated and grudgingly that decided she agreed that Kagi would prove to be enough of an asset to tolerate his eccentricities.

Eccentricities such as comforting Shizuka, telling her that her 'womanly charm' was abundant as the kunoichi lamented her limitations compared to a companion she was to meet up with. The shirtless samurai added that he preferred warrior women in the bedroom.

Masumi maintained a mask of polite incomprehension. Where had Lord Talkatz found these two?

Shizuka's long awaited companion arrived in a rush of pinwheeling arms and clattering wooden backpack, calling out to Shizuka as she did. "Behold Suzuki Chizuru," Shizuka said. "The living embodiment of moe."

Masumi inspected the new arrival as she apologised for her lateness and pulled out a sampling of food she'd brought. Clumsy, cutesy and chatty. Masumi immediately decided she disliked her. The busty ninja bobbed her head and bounced on the balls of her feet, looking abashed at Shizuka's praise of her cooking. Masumi looked away, rubbing the bridge of her nose. The motion was making her feel queasy.

Fortunately, Chizuru's salmon rice balls were almost as good as promised and so Masumi decided not to kill her.

With that taken care of, she sought out Zel. "On the subject of transportation," she said to the tall woman, inclining her head respectfully. "I believe I have a temporary solution." She put a subtle but emphatic stress on temporary. "Please allow me to demonstrate."

The priestess turned and paced away. Her black cat ears flicked out from under her dark hair and her tails snaked out from under the back of her dress. Twisting her arms behind her body, she unknotted the bow at the small of her back with careful, precise movements to loosen the sash. She turned, her kimono slithering open as she raised one dainty looking hand to her lips.

She bit down on the tip of her finger.

Tasting blood, Masumi hunched, crouched and loomed all at once. Her body went taut, her shadow swayed crazily and expanded. Her eyes widened, her hair bristled and her lips drew back into a snarl. They kept drawing back, revealing an expanse of teeth that could snap off a whole arm. The kimono fell away like a shed skin, no longer able to contain her. Her pale hands twisted, thickened and grew, claws sprouting, as she fell onto them. A black, white and orange feline shape emerged, eyes shining like lamps.

The monstrous cat arched her spine and stretched, raising her hips and then rolling forward. Her tails wove sinuously behind her as she approached Zel. For all her size, she was light on her feet. Then she dropped onto her forelegs, bringing her head down to eye level with her leader.

"I should be able to carry everyone." she purred, bowing her head to the mage. Her voice was deeper, a little rougher, but her mannerisms were unmistakable. She made a sound deep in her throat. A chuckle. "But not to the ends of the earth."

She glanced toward Shizuka. "I must apologise for the inconvenience," she said, catching the kunoichi's eye then looking away in apparent embarrassment, "but would you oblige me by gathering up my kimono?"

[Inbred Chocobo]

Oh ho ho what is this? Kagi thought to himself as Chizuru showed up. A bubbly happy girl, a little care free, eager to please. Bashful, and beautiful. This was the kind of girl that was right up Kagi's alleyway. Suddenly this journey was starting to look better, a lot better. Perhaps rushing through it to get it done wasn't quite as needed. The food she had brought out also looked quite appetizing, as fighting earlier did give him an appetite.

As the Priestess began her hunched transformation, Kagi used the opportunity of distraction to get Chizuru's attention while hopefully keeping away from Shizuka. "Chizuru, if I may." Introducing himself suddenly with manners, Kagi revealed he actually knew them to anyone that had seen his earlier behavior. "Shizuka was complimenting you earlier and said that you could help me with this." Kagi lifted up his damaged clothing, showing where it was torn. "The damage on the iron cloth looks difficult to fix, and she mentioned that your talents would be very help, would you mind helping me fix this?" Kagi said with a smile. He was also making no moves to hide his shirtlessness or his wounds he had either. His plan was simple, be the tough looking guy needing help from Chizuru, you know those bad types of guys girls always like.

He had to wonder to himself just how bad an idea this was. He killed her father, but she doesn't know about it. Her sister is right here, but what was she going to do? Kill him? That really didn't worry Kagi all that much, it would take a lot to take him down. Besides, the group needed him, and it wasn't like he was going to force Chizuru to do anything. Kagi was a man of fighting and money, not rape and evil. Surprisingly, for a Samurai that sold his sword to the highest bidder, even he had standards, and violating a woman against her wishes was well beneath him.

Now if she were to give it willingly though... "I think I need a delicate touch to fix these up Chizuru." He said a little lower and a little more sheepishly.

[Astral Harmony]

"I understand completely," Chizuru said with gusto as she carefully scrutinized Kagi's clothing.

Shizuka had just turned around from checking out Masumi's large cat form when she saw Kagi requesting help from-no wait. Yep, he was definitely hitting on her.

Her right arm immediately flashed to her sword hilt, but then she managed to get her raging emotions under control. "Heh. That isn't going to work, Kagi-san."

True to what Shizuka told him, Kagi found another facet of Chizuru's all-encompassing 'moe-ism'; she was extremely naive. Chizuru wasn't even looking at Kagi's body and his torn clothes became her top priority. "I can make a temporary fix with what I have now," Chizuru confessed, both eyes and tone serious as she scrutinized Kagi's kimono. "We would have to wait until we get to a decent human settlement which would sell the proper material I need. Well, unless this was ensorcelled. I don't have any magic ability so you'd be on your own there. But I can at least make it look like it wasn't inflicted for a time."

With Shizuka's mind at ease, she walked over and knelt down, picking up Masumi's discarded kimono. "Chizuru, do what you can for Kagi's kimono and then hop onboard. As for me, I feel like running... unless you can fly in that form, Masumi-san."

[Steel Shadow]

While Kagi wandered off to flirt with (and get shot down by) the group's various Maidens, Zel took a seat on a collapsed wall (had it been collapsed before the duel? Oh well, no matter) and examined her injuries. All in all, she hadn't come out too badly. She'd taken a few bruises - the backlash from trying to knock Kagi's head off had been pretty nasty, and her short stint on the ground had left its mark - and a couple of scrapes, but nothing too serious. The worst wound she had was a simple bitten lip - probably done when Kagi's overhead swing had hit the ground next to her - so overall, considering the Iron Samurai's state, she felt she'd come off the better for that little scrap. Save the lost sword, anyway.

"Zel, hold still!" A small voice piped up from next to her wrist. She glanced down, smiling slightly as she saw Asha holding her tiny hands up over the developing bruise there. The Essence Fairy's uses in combat were rather limited, but healing, she could do. The ugly black mark was fading right before her eyes - in no time at all, her wrist was as good as new. The green haired fairy smiled, then looked up at her face.

"Ah! You're bleeding!" Quicker than a wink, the Fairy was in Zel's face, frowning with concentration. The Sorceress couldn't help but flinch back slightly - "I said hold still!" was the reprimand she got in turn. Moments later, the cut was gone as well.

"Thank you Asha," Zel chuckled, wiping away the small amount of leftover blood. "It was only a small fight. I'm fine, you needn't trouble yourself."

The small Fairy folded her arms and glared. "Looking after you is my job!" she huffed. "Especially since you- Eep!" Suddenly spooked, she vanished in a flash of green sparkles, disappearing under her Master's cloak once again.

Ah, Masumi had arrived. And with her, she brought a solution to their transportation problem. Zel tried to hide her wince when she imagined what it would be like to carry someone as heavy as Kagi - yes, this would definitely have to be a temporary thing.

"Very well," she said, sliding to her feet. "My thanks, Masumi. This will speed things up greatly. There's a City not too far to the east. It might have taken a few days to reach by foot, but I imagine that won't be an issue now. We should be able to sort out more comfortable travel arrangements there."

[Inbred Chocobo]

Kagi sighed from disappointment. So much for that approach. Kagi thought to himself. Of course the woman had to be completely oblivious to things, though Shizuka's reaction made him realize that if he was to stand any chance he would have to seperate those two. Then Zel spoke of a nearby city not too far east. Kagi thought he knew the place they were talking about, though he couldn't remember if any of the locals remembered him. Guess he would find out when he got there.

Still with Chizuru in front of him. "Be careful now, its a bit heavy." He stated as he handed off the iron kimono to her. He turned to the giant cat form that Masumi had taken. "Well, Masumi, I will give you that you are attractive, and while it is nice you want me to climb ontop of you, I first imagined that you would still be a woman when it happened." Kagi stated, before being the first to climb up and get seated on Masumi. Once seated, to get other people up he just reached over and plucked them up, sitting them on top of the cat form.

[Red Mage Black]

"We have some preserved fish for the trip. You may certainly partake of that now, though it would mean giving up your share for tomorrow's journey. As I said, most of the reserves had been handed out amongst the common folk to keep the peace. I have enough reserved for lunch and then our travel tomorrow until we can stop to stock up at one of the larger cities along the way.

That was the only part of it Leer needed to know. His eyes lit up like two beacons of pure happiness. He had run a long way to find Izuna and this Kurama guy was starting to become one of his favorite people. "I can hunt! Birds, mice, rabbits and fish. All so delicious. Izuna-chan ran off without me so I didn't have time before I got here. Thank you Kurama-san!" Apparently he had head the name at least.

He turned around to find his bounty of fish until he spotted the tall werewolf looking woman. There was a very tense air as he paused and his hair stood on end. There was a big difference between a fox-spirit like Izuna and this... large wolf woman. Leer let out a low growl and hissed at her. Which is easy enough in human form, if a little unnatural sounding.

[Sithdarth]

BOOM. Aidas exploded in a wealth of harmless static that had everyone nearby's hair on end. The staff falling harmlessly at his feet.

Huh. I guess he really is going to go pout. Akira thought to himself. I really didn't expect that. Having clearly overhearing conversations pertaining to food Akira suddenly remembered that he was pretty hungry. He quickly headed for the house leaving the staff were it had fallen. "Someone might want to pick that thing up," he called to no one in particular. "It might come in handy at some point. I'd carry it but I've already got my own."

Around about this time the demon cat finally noticed the demon wolf which went about as well as one might expect such a meeting to go. That was probably going to be a problem in the future. It seemed like every passing moment this particular gathering of the light became more fractured. Basically the opposite of the intention of this gathering. If things didn't get underway soon the whole thing might fall apart before even starting. The forces of evil probably wouldn't be wasting any time in their bid to resurrect Talkatz.

"I suggest we eat quickly and sleep soon," Akira continued as he neared the house. "We'll want to set out as early as possible." He was really starting to get anxious to get their journey underway.

[Raiden]

Leer was lightly bopped on the head with the sheath of the Raigaki.

"No more fighting. We have tested each other and we will tolerate each other. We have a quest to perform after all. If nothing else, that is reason enough for us to get along."

Kurama nodded to Akira. "Indeed. Tomorrow we search for the pieces of Talkatz in the hopes to reunite and finally destroy them." the samurai noticed the staff left on the ground. He quietly picked it up. "he may want this staff returned if he should ever come back. Better to take it with us than to leave it here." He also did not want to leave any demon artifacts remaining near his home while he was away, but that was personal reasons.

[Arhra]

Shizuka kindly gathered up Masumi's shed clothes and declared she felt like running, unless Masumi could fly in her current state?

"Oh no, no." Masumi said. "Jump as I might, I am no kasha." A cat - or possibly a flaming cart - that rushed out of the sky in a crack of thunder and carried corpses away. "You won't have any trouble keeping pace, I should hope."

Another fairy had been attending to Zel. She vanished under the woman's cloak in a startled cloud of sparkles when she noticed the cat's silent arrival. Masumi delicately throttled her predatory instincts, eyes and ears wanting to lock on to the sudden motion. How many of the little creatures did Zel have?

"My thanks, Masumi." Zel said, hearing Masumi's offer of transportation. "This will speed things up greatly. There's a city not too far to the east. It might have taken a few days to reach by foot, but I imagine that won't be an issue now. We should be able to sort out more comfortable travel arrangements there."

"Pleased to be of service." the cat said. The words were incongruous with the fanged mouth they came from. "That sounds ideal. I shouldn't need too long to recover." Cats, no matter their pedigree, are not natural beasts of burden. "There is one little detail I should warn you about." she added. "I will need to eat before I can change back."

Rising up slightly on her haunches, she craned her head forward to inspect Zel more closely. "Are you hurt?" Masumi said, voice tinged with concern. Her eyes flicked to where Asha had hidden and then she looked down. "I should have asked earlier." Her tails twitched, betraying a hint of agitation.

Kagi had given his torn shirt to Chizuru and then come over. "Well, Masumi, I will give you that you are attractive," he said as he mounted, "and while it is nice you want me to climb on top of you, I first imagined that you would still be a woman when it happened."

Masumi's ears laid back for a moment at the unaccustomed weight and then flicked up again. "My, my," she said, making that strange feline chuckle again, "would dreams be as sweet if reality more often matched them?" Something light and pillowy soft brushed on his bare shoulder. One of her tails. "Appreciate instead my clever ears and tails. I am very proud of them. Their wisdom has seen me through many a strange journey." She paused for a moment. "You may scratch behind my ears." she added in a moment of extreme generosity.

Kagi had been more concerned about his shirt than his injuries but Masumi supposed Zel hadn't shown any signs either. "Your wounds, they are not causing you any trouble?" she asked the iron samurai solicitously.

[Steel Shadow]

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm fine. No, if he had managed to inflict an injury, there would be a lot more blood about the place," Zel replied as she dusted herself off. "Asha is simply over-protective, nothing more."

There was a muffled "Am not!" from beneath Zel's cloak, but the Sorceress ignored it.

"Well, if Kagi is ready to travel, and Shizuka is planning to run herself-" which was a notable thing. Not only must the Demon noble's speed be rather high, but her stamina would have to be most impressive as well, if she could keep up the pace. All important things to know. "-Then we'd best get started."

She accepted Kagi's hand to help her up, not that she really needed it, and seated herself at the front of... well, of Masumi, just behind the base of her neck. "Flight may be a possibility... I'll investigate some air-aligned Kami when we arrive. I may be able to organize something. Anyway, let's be off. No doubt our opponents are already well under way."

And with that, Team Evil headed out for city-based shenanigans!

[Astral Harmony]

Shizuka had removed her getas and stockings for the journey. Her explanation was that she was just a lot faster and able to make sharper turns when sprinting while barefoot. Her legs were a blur of motion and she often left the ground to leap from tree to tree or bound from boulder to boulder. This was something Kagi could be thankful for as Shizuka didn't seem to care about what she was exposing while in the air.

"How do we want to go about this, anyways?" Chizuru asked during the trip while reviewing the map Shizuka had passed onto her. "If we're going to attack the city to lure Kurama into a trap, that's one thing and we can just cruise in like this. But if we're going to try and blend in and assess Kurama and any entourage he might have while we still have an element of surprise, then we'll want to avoid the main roads and stop some distance from the city so that Miss Masumi can transform back."

Chizuru drew two imaginary lines on the map with her right index finger, then rolled it up and put it away. She had a very good memory. "Well, whether we attack the city or infiltrate it, we're good for now. I guess we'll think about it later."

[PhoenixFlame]

Izuna frowned as Kurama peeled her away. Apparrently she wouldn't have her hooks in him that easily, fair enough she thought, although she'd preferred he stopped waffling between the possibility of tofu and the fact that 'there wasn't time' and that he gave it to everyone else days ago despite knowingly summoning her here. At least what he lacked in sense he well made up for in martial skill.

She stepped away without a word, the hair of her tail standing on end from proximity to the Raigaki as two separate and powerful energy fields invaded one another's domains. Interesting, perhaps the Raigaki was already feeding on Kurama's aura.

"Leer can have my fish, I'm not interested." Izuna yawned, casually brushing her fur back to an immaculate smoothness.