.hack//DIVERGENCE Main

Hijinx · Post by **Hijinx** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 2:02 am

OOC: I hope I portray your pet adequately gingitsune, smart aleck feathered foods aren't my strong point.

Hijinx smirked in bemusement. "Wow, gingi's got a stupid animal for a pet. I glad mine isn't that dumb. What's your name anyway, critter?" Looking back with an equally cheerful grin, it spoke out loud, clearly and sarcasticly.

"Well, critter, I'm a pretty little fairy, and I'm here to grant your every little whim and desire."

Rolling her eyes, hijinx responded in her own sarcastic tone. "Than that must make me a pretty little princess, with a golden tower and hundreds of ponies and sprites to do my bidding."

Smirking and mirroring hijinx again, it makes another retort. "Only if you're jocasta, the spoiled egyptian..."

The sentence is quickly cut off by a furry hand holding the creatures muzzle shut. "Hey now, no cursing, kapese? What should I call you, oh clever creature of many not so good words?" Shaking the paw off, it closes it's eyes and smiles brightly.

"I'm an Urbosh, pleased to meet you. So, do we smash the stupid human birdy over the head now, or do you want to play with it?"

Tilting her head and placing her hand on her cheek, she thinks for a couple of seconds." Would you rather work or play Urbosh?"

Laughing to itself and speaking even more audibly, the wyvern places one of it's two clawed feet on it's chin. "How about play. I think that I can bite the tail if you glue it to the floor."

Shaking her head, she frowns slightly and takes on a serious tone, comtemplating her course of action. "No can do, special occasions only you know. Maybe I'll just do this for now, eh?"

Jocasta, whose attention was more focused on her "mistress" than the two tricksters, paid the threats no heed. She was positive they wouldn't dare try anything. Suddenly, a sharp pain ran up along her rear, as hijinx jerked back, hard, on her poor tail. Swiveling around , she lashed out at the two, missing as they swiftly bounced back up to the hammock, rolling around and laughing in the cozy nest in the middle of the ceiling. Taking a step forward, she glared and snapped at the pair verbally "HOW DARE YOU!".

Although the glare should have sent shivers down anyones spine, it only increased the pitch of the wyvern and rabbits laughter. Breathing in between the explosive laughing bust, the two only laughed harder after the wyvern paused to take the time the spit out the simple phrase "Did you she the look on her face!".

Asura · Post by **Asura** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 3:50 am

Asura leaned against one of the walls of the hideout, contemplating the cornucopia of events that had just taken place today. First came the meeting with the group of hacked players that were in a state much like those that the Avantgarden der Dammerung were in. The next event was the fight between Eye and Gem, two high level Twin Blades. It took a while, but eventually the first was defeated and the second had been run off. The last challenge of the day appeared in the forms of Tritoch and Kamui, backed up with a brigade of Wavemasters devoted to making sure none of them left that area alive. Of course, they had escaped, or they wouldn’t be in the hideout at the moment.

The Blademaster polishes the blade of his Seal Sword as the others converse with their newly discovered pets. A smile creeps on his face as he sees Gingitsune get scratched multiple times by the sphinx that had made itself her guardian, leaving bloody wounds on her legs. Obviously, the riddle obsessive sphinx had a personality as strong as the high level Wavemistress, causing some seriously argument between the two. Most of the other pets had less conflicting personalities for the most part, though the match between Hijinx and her wyvern would end up interesting. Of course, Asura considered his own guardian the best. After all, what could be better than something as rare as it combined with the power to, if only as a group, defeat Tritoch and Kamui’s army.

The green dragonet lies curled around Asura’s neck. The personality between him and his pet was what made the two a good pair obviously. While Gingitsune and her sphinx both had similar strong personalities, Asura and the dragonet had near opposites. While Asura was primarily hasty, rare item obsessed, and excessive, the dragonet was calm, calculating, and certainly in no way obsessed about rare items. After all, Asura was game player at heart while his comrade was simply another monster. As such, his AI was designed to be calculating and calm, not hasty as that would make him too easy to defeat in the long run.

The Blademaster had decided to name the pet Kyouchou, a word he had learned a long while ago through bits of learning the Japanese language. The word means “bad omen,” something that he felt was certainly correct for something like these pets. As Murphy’s Law stated, everything that could go wrong, would go wrong. Following this philosophy, it only made sense that the pets would inevitably lead up to something far worst. Asura’s mind goes deep into thought, trying to shove momentary thoughts of how to get more rare items with his new pet aside for something more serious.

“Hmm… these pets supposedly broke free from the original coding that made up monsters. However, if the pets themselves could break free from the coding, it stands to reason that others could as well. Also, somehow these monsters were hacked in order to escape. That means some outside source is manipulating the code… so therefore…” The Blademaster’s train of thought is temporarily distracted by the talk about Kurai. Supposedly, the player had a rare item known as the Treeweaver. It was a spear that could allow him to control the element of wood; much like the Long Arm Tokki could control water. If their powers were in any way similar in terms of strength, any fight against the maddened player would be hard. After all, Tokki had won the last major tournament in Mac Anu with ease, much to Asura’s dismay. He had lost the battle to the Wavemistress called Vera… unfortunately he hadn’t had a chance for revenge just yet.

Asura brings himself back to his original thoughts, deciding to speak about them to the rest of the party for a bit, considering that it might be needed. “Hey guys. Quick question to think about: if these monsters escaped their basic coding by being hacked… who is the hacker? And for that matter, if they broke out on their own, doesn’t that raise the possibility to run into BAD monsters of this caliber? Just a thought.”

Gingitsune · Post by **Gingitsune** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 5:37 pm

Jocasta was stalking Urbosh, Hijinx's Wyvern in a very feline way, her long tail swishing and her eyes closed lazily as she followed every movement of the small creature. With her long, sensitive ears she heard each players' comments about her demeanor.

It was true that some guardians thought it taboo to attack their masters, even in joke, but Jocasta was not a subservient creature, her race in the real world was born of gods, and had had been thought powerful and fearsome in Greece, and worshipped in Egypt. She was not about to bow before a girl who she hardly knew.

Jocasta did have a strong personality, it was one of her strengths as well as flaws.

Gingitsune smirked as she watched her pet stalking the wyvern, she closed her mind off to Jocasta, created a barrier only possible between guardian and master in times of need.

Despite it all she was proud of Jocasta...

Rubbing her legs she thought of her own personality, the conflict between guardian and master was borne of the fact that they were too similiar. Volatile, compulsive, coy... Gingitsune and Jocasta seemed one and the same in many ways, haughty to a fault at times- but loyal and intelligent.

Still... she thought, I would rather like to have her declawed...

With a tiger-like pounce Jocasta pinned Urbosh, the Wyvern, to the ground and laughed as the surprised little creature struggled to get free of her massive paws. "Let that be a warning to you, don't mess with me or you'll be eaten, I haven't eaten in so long..." Jocasta unnervingly ran her pink tongue over her demonic teeth and absently grazed her long claws on the stone floor, making a horrible sound.

With one dissident out of her way she next sauntered off toward Nighthand's Cerberus as Gingitsune rolled her eyes, Jocasta was very cattish indeed.

Gingitsune sighed and turned toward Asura, who was asking a rather important question to no one in particular. Sunconsciously imitating the Sphinx, Gingitsune sauntered off to the other side of the room, her long purple eyes half closed against the bright pixel light.

Asura wrote:“Hey guys. Quick question to think about: if these monsters escaped their basic coding by being hacked… who is the hacker? And for that matter, if they broke out on their own, doesn’t that raise the possibility to run into BAD monsters of this caliber? Just a thought.”

She smiled, "It's both possible and probable, some outside force, most likely a hacker has been altering aspects of the World, we must be thankful for our own guardians, but what is to say that this hacker did not make himself a guardian, or any number of people one... Perhaps this hacker is on our side, or maybe these guardians simply had a mind of their own and decided to join La Resistance, the guardians must know something about this, but Jocasta says that they are not allowed to say yet... Which worries me ever so slightly..."

Argilus · Post by **Argilus** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 2:21 am

Argilus, still resting was fading in and out of sleep. He'd been through the fight of his life only minutes ago, which lasted such a long time, that he figured he'd never gain any advantages. Gingisune was talking among new and old allies.

It came to him now, everyone had pets now, just as he. Why or how was this possible? Was it because the missing links to the real world lost that hacked monsters moved over to fill that gap? Argilus hadn't thought of it before but since he and Kurai was the only ones he knew of that had pets. Kurai, how could you...how could you do something like that.

Argilus was drifting off to another thought which deeply disturbed him, grasping for comfort, he looked over to Ziire, his Fire Raven. Reaching over he gave it a pat on the head, and sat up. Gingisune instantly grabbed Argilus shoulder and told him to lay back down.

"Gingi, listen. I have come here to ask of your help. You and your group, this could be an answer to the riddle that you've and the rest of you have been searching for." Argilus stated, his eyes were locked on the door.

"I know where the last place I saw Kurai, it is a forbidden place that only I can get to. The admins have tried to keep everyone from going there. I don't know if you've heard but Admins have been missing from "The World". It's that bad Gingisune, you must know this. I will be at the field gate waiting, gather who you can if you wish to continue. They if some are lost or unable to get a hold of, leave a message here in this hidden place that their will be a 15 min window to "Closed Solitary Nothingness
". That's where he's at. I will be waiting Gingisune, please do what you can." Argilus pleaded.

It wasn't like Argilus to plea, in fact his character was completely different. This all did seem to much bazaar.

Kain · Post by **Kain** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 2:23 am

Kain pushed his head back and his neck was resting on the back of the chair. He would’ve been looking at the ceiling, but his eyes were closed. So much had just happened. A lot of stuff had happened in the past day. It left the Heavy Blade a little tired. Now was the only time to rest. The meeting of Gem and Eye, defeating both of them after a hard fought battle. The arrival of a Long Arm administrator named Kamui. Then the weirdest thing happened, the appearance of some creatures. These weren’t the average animals found in the world, Grunties, or regular monsters. They weren’t even like regular pets in the real word. These animals were creatures out of all different kinds of mythology. The appearance of these creatures is what really took Kain by surprise. In the guild house, Kain was still resting with his eyes closed, and wasn’t shocked to hear the sound of the animals. Kain moved his head forward and began to open his eyes.

Due to the familiar sounds in the room Kain was expecting to hear birds, snakes, dogs, lions, tigers, and bears. “Oh my,” Kain said as he saw the creature that was sitting in front of him. He glanced around the room and saw other odd creatures. They were making sounds that were familiar to animals that would be seen in the real world. “What are you?” Kain asked the monster that was sitting in front of him. He tried thinking about all of the Greek myths he read to see if this monster resembled anything. It didn’t. The creature was a mix between a lion, human, bat, and scorpion. His body and mane were that of a lion. His fur was a rusty color. His mane was a darker red then his fur and had a white stripe that went from his face to the top of his mane. His face matched the stripe, white, and he had crimson eyes. He had black bat-like wings that were arched. Moving swiftly behind him was a scorpion’s tail. He was only 1’10” sitting straight up. “Are you supposed to be my pet? What’s your name? You know, I always wanted a hippo as a pet,” Kain said to the creature as he began to pet it. The monster snapped at Kain’s fingers and began to click his tongue against his pearly white fangs.

“A hippo?” The monster asked in a British accent. “Are you kidding, you’d rather have a hippo then a manticore?” The manticore asked Kain. Due to the tone of his voice, he sounded offended. After his last comment the critter spread out his wings, flashed his teeth and claws and raised his tail. He was obviously trying to show off his good talents. “That’s okay if you don’t want me. I’m sure there are other people in The World that can’t log out and may need my help,” the monster said as it laid down. He began to gnaw at the chair Kain was sitting in. The Heavy Blade used all of his strength to push the monster away from the chair. The manticore cocked his scarlet eyebrow and began to make the annoying clicking sound again. “By the way, my name is Marvin.”

“So,” Kain began as he leaned forward looking into Marvin’s eyes. He put his elbows on his knees and held his chin in his palms. “Marvin, you’re supposed to be my guardian. I guess you’re better than a hippo.” Marvin raised his head and started to show some pearly white teeth. “You seem very powerful. I know you’ll help me a lot,” Kain continued. “I have a plethora of questions for you. How’d you manage to find us in Mac Anu? How are you even in The World? Are there more creatures than this roaming around?” Kain asked as he looked at all of the other players and their respective pets. Everyone seemed to be happy with their respective pet. Even Gingitsune, who was being scratched by a sphinx-like creature, was happy. Kain let out a little laugh, and then brought his attention back to Marvin. The Manticore began to make the clicking sound once more. He did this whenever he wanted to speak.

“I’m glad you finally saw the light. I’m a much better guardian than a hippo. I can fly, bite, and do other great things. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed,” Marvin said as he sat up. He was sitting straight up, trying to look the best that he could. Kain stuck his hand out and began to stroke the critter’s mane. This time Marvin didn’t back away, he moved closer. He made a light purring sound and rolled over so Kain could pet his stomach. In the back of his mind, Kain knew they would make an awesome team. With Kain’s laid back, ‘think before you act’ attitude and Marvin’s rowdy, and rebellious attitude, they’d work together fine. There were bound to be some disagreements, but nothing to major. Marvin looked back up at Kain and smiled. He was pretty content with Kain petting him. Some of the other players were talking about a Long Arm known as Kurai. Kain had never heard about him before, so he decided not to listen to the conversation. His thoughts were interrupted by Asura.

“Hey guys. Quick question to think about: if these monsters escaped their basic coding by being hacked… who is the hacker? And for that matter, if they broke out on their own, doesn’t that raise the possibility to run into BAD monsters of this caliber? Just a thought.” The Blade Master said. Kain turned his attention towards Asura. He never thought about where the monsters came from. There were probably bad monsters with the intelligence of Marvin and the others. This could lead to problems, Kain thought. Gingitsune gave Asura an answer. She explained that the hacker may have made guardians for himself and others. This was definitely possible, and more than likely. Kain had to agree. She said that the hacker might be on their side. Kain didn’t know what to think. The hacker could’ve made a mistake and gave the animals to the players who were stuck in The World. On the other hand the hacker might’ve done this on purpose. Only time will tell.

“Kain,” Marvin said. Kain looked back down at the manticore. He nodded to acknowledge the critter. “I guess I have some explaining to do.” Kain figured that he was talking about where he came from and the like. The Heavy Blade nodded once more. “Allow me to start from the beginning.”

Phoenix512 · Post by **Phoenix512** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 10:53 pm

Phoenix was interested in Argilus's story. A few things came to his mind and heard Suzaku's voice come into his head.
"I know what you thinking right now and I suggest that you don't say it."

Phoenix was quite stunned by what his pet said to him. Her voice had some concern to it when she spoke. Phoenix want to know why he shouldn't voice out his concern. So, he asked her why in his mind.

The mere statement would cause distrust between the rest of the guardians and their masters. You could be a target by the other guardians for not believing them. I may not even protect you even if it comes to that sitution.

Phoenix knew that his guardian felt concern of his well being but he couldn't keep it to himself. He spoke to Suzaku again in his mind.

"I'm sorry, Suzaku. I know that you are concern with me but it wouldn't be fair to the others. It may cause distrust but it's a possibility that shouldn't be ignored. It could be the key to Kurai's survival. If you felt it earlier, you will know that I have no hesitation for killing Kurai. But if he could be save from his fate, then I have to take it."

Suzaku bow her head down and said to him.

"I may not agreed with your decision but I will support you.

"Thank you, Suzaku." Phoenix said happily to her.

Phoenix refocused his attention to Argilus. He looked at Argilus and said, "Argilus, I'm willing to go to Closed Solitary Nothingness but there's something that I need to know. Do you know if Kurai began his killing spree before or after receiving his guardian?"

Phoenix waited for Argilus to respond to his question.

Hijinx · Post by **Hijinx** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 11:42 pm

"FIELD TRIP! We're goin' on a field trip, we're goin' on a field trip! Urbosh, stop feigning fear and bite the stupid critter already. You know you're faster than that thing, right? Come on, lets go play in Closed Solitary Nothingness!" Grabbing the wyvern by the neck, she scoops him up and bolts for the door. Giving jocasta another sharp yank on the fly, she skids around the corner and out the door, urbosh waving in the wind behind her as he hangs on for his life, laughing joyishessly. Skirting the edge of the cliff, she slides around and jumps high into the air, landing crouched on top of wren. "Come on, come on! Party in Closed Solitary Nothingness! Lets go, lets go!" Grabbing him by the wrist, she drags him along behind her, making tracks for the warp gate.

Argilus · Post by **Argilus** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 1:35 am

Phoenix512 wrote:Phoenix refocused his attention to Argilus. He looked at Argilus and said, "Argilus, I'm willing to go to Closed Solitary Nothingness but there's something that I need to know. Do you know if Kurai began his killing spree before or after receiving his guardian?"

Phoenix waited for Argilus to respond to his question.

Walking towards the door a voice stopped him, it was Phoenix. He was standing across the other side of the room, his pet perched next to him. It's eyes laid stern at Argilus awaiting for his response as well.

"To you, I have nothing to say. If you wish to know the answer to your question, join Gingisune, if she wishes to come, and ask Kurai himself. He will give you the exact answer your looking for."

Argilus eyes were squinted, this was the character the rest all remembered. Ignorant, full of pride, and selfish, this all combind was Argilus. His Raven pet, flew into the air, and landed on his shoulder, it moved to his ear and whispered. He looked at the Raven and nodded, "You all will know where I'll be." he answered, and walked out the door.

The door had shut quickly and Argilus waited outside the door for sometime. He hadn't known all the troubles the rest of the group had been in, but he needed them to come with them. It would be perfect. Argilus moved on and walked to the Gate, he stood there, his eyes on everyone buying and selling and talking.

Gingitsune · Post by **Gingitsune** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 3:19 am

(ooc: I just came home and am really tired, so I'll post tomorrow :D)

Gingitsune · Post by **Gingitsune** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 12:01 am

Gingitsune watched Argilus leave with a pensive look on her face. There were so many questions and queries around her that her head was starting to spin from the confusion of it all.

Argilus had given them the field name, it was obvious that they had to go, they couldn't simply ignore the problem yet... had they even defined the problem?

Kurai was killing people.
Argilus believed that it was from the influence of Treeweaver.

Yet what would they do once they found Kurai?

They couldn't simply rush into this and expect to come out alive, if Kurai was killing people there was no doubt that he wouldn't hesitate to kill them too, and there was also no doubt of his power to do it.

They had to have a plan, would they attack Kurai? If yes how would they attack him? They needed a plan, quickly. Gingitsune knew only one thing, and this came not from her mind but deep from her heart, they simply could not kill Kurai.

If he was under the influence of something then killing him would be entirely meaningless...

Cybele glowed now, a wild passionate blue emanating from the depths of the jewel in its centre. Jocasta's fur was bristling along her back, and her teeth were bare, a growl escaping from her throat.The glow encompassed Gingitsune, her eyes wide with apprehension and confusion.

Within a moment everything was black. Gingitsune opened her eyes, rubbed them with one hand as she tried to see, but there was nothing to see... either all was black or she was blind. Neither solution sounded particularly pleasant to Gingitsune. Next to her she heard Jocasta, growling now like a cornered Tiger.
What's happening? though Gingitsune, sending the message on to Jocasta.
I do not know, this is a place where I have never been, and don't care to come again... replied the Sphinx frostily.
In the back of this black 'world' came a faint blue light, fluctuating and beautiful against the stark black, as it hit its peak of light the place was illuminated and for a brief moment Gingitsune could see Jocasta.
Then all was dark again.
Gingitsune started running, the spark of light was like a spark of hope to her, the path to an answer lay straight before her.
With each step she came closer and closer to it, until suddenly she found herself in the centre of the light, in the source.
It was a spring.
A small, round, beautiful spring not unlike the ones found in fields... For a split second she considered dropping in a piece of unwanted armour but knew that the spring was there for a reason, there was no Monsieur or Grandpa there.

She approached the spring, Jocasta at her heels, and looking in she saw nothing but swirling turquiose water. She stooped over it, straining her eyes to see what was not there, then knelt, then finally lay flat on her stomach gazing into it. Reaching down with one long-nailed finger she touched the water.
Everything exploded with light.
Gingitsune closed her eyes against the powerful golden aura surging from the spring, encompassing everything in impossible brightness until Gingitsune believed she could not stand it a moment longer.

So you have come? Yes, I have expected you, here in your time of need you have come to me, and I will aid you.

"Yes... but... who are you?" Gingitsune said, blinking away the spots of light from her eyes as the luminescence calmed and died down.
Within a few seconds she could see again. In the middle of the spring there was what Gingitsune, who had read much about mythology, would describe as a Naiad perhaps...
It was definately not a player, no taller than three feet and yet as perfectly formed as a fairy, but wingless. Blue hair with waves like that of an ocean surrounded a face of pale blue skin and dark blue eyes. The thin, petite body wrapped in blue silk patterned with Pisces. Shoeless, with no ornaments- floating in the centre of a pool in the midst of a calming blue light.

Gingitsune repeated her question, "Who are you?"

Nen, but that is not important Gingitsune. I know about you, and your group. I am a friend, and I have information that may prove useful to you.

"But... you... are you a player?"

Hacker. Yes. A much pursued hacker, not only by the admins but by the other hackers as well. I'm powerful you see, but I keep no alliances with either group, I help whom I see fit to help...

"And why us?"

You intrigue me, many interesting things happen to you, and yet you do not buckle under the weight of it all. Today, I tune into your 'frequency' and see that you have all acquired guardians, see? Who else in the World does that happen to? You story has interested me, and so I help... But that is neither here nor there, I have brought you here to tell you this- Go to Kurai, make no delay, seek him where Argilus sends you, seek him beneath the... tree. The shade of the tree encompasses much, it can prove helpful on a warm summer day, but in the winter it becomes too cool... and so one moves out of it. In the rain one is stuck under the shade of the tree, even in the winter- and so the tree encompasses... much.

The last seemed bizarre to Gingitsune, and it was accompanied by a quick smirk from Nen.

"What do you..." before Gingitsune could ask she was back in the darkness, and seconds later back in the hideout...

The shade of the tree? The shade of... Treeweaver?

"We're going to find Kurai," Gingitsune said, surprised at the serious tone of her own voice.

Phoenix512 · Post by **Phoenix512** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 3:44 am

Phoenix was amazed by the answer Argilus gave him. Even Argilus wouldn't give Gingitsune an answer to my question. He looked at his pet and spoke into her mind. "What do you think?"

His answer suprised me as well. I would think that he would like to save his friend. I guess we won't find any answers here.

"I understand. Let's head towards the Gate then and wait for the window open up." Phoenix said to Suzaku. Phoenix began to head towards the door of the hideout when suddenly a blue glow appeared. He quickly looked for the source of the blue glow and found the source of the glow. It came from the Gingitsune's wand, the Cybele. Phoenix knew little of the wand except for seeing some of its power and hearing others talked about it. He knew that it could temporalily disabled a Chaos Gate and could make a barrier but that was the extent of his knowledge. It seem that Gingistune was stoned out. She stood there with no response to anything until she said, "We're going to find Kurai."

At that point, Phoenix resumed towards the exit of the hideout. He began to walk around Dun Loireag but without Suzaku on his shoulder. Both of them agree that Suzaku shouldn't be seen in public especially with their recent troubles from Kamui and the others. Right now, Suzaku is flying over the rooftops and heading towards the roof which is closest to the Chaos Gate. Phoenix continued to think about the sitution. Right now, there are too many questions and not enough answers. It seems that a trial of misery follows me which I turned out ok but the people I cared about end up getting hurt. Two people had already gotten hurt already with Asgard being the most recent. Will Kurai be the fourth victim in my trial of misery? Will the cycle end with the salvation of Kurai?

He heard Suzaku's voice in his head again. You shouldn't give up yourself now. If there's any chance to save Kurai, you need to believe in yourself. Otherwise, you will die and never see the people that you cared about. Phoenix knew that she was right and managed to get to the Chaos Gate. He noticed Argilus was already there and stood a few feet next to him. He decided to something to Argilus.

"Argilus, I know that you may not trust me but hear what I have to say. You don't have to reply to this if you want. If Kurai is your friend, then you should tried to save him. You need to tell us anything that could help us save him. If the truth will hurt the feelings of someone, wouldn't it be better if the person knows now than later. One more thing if we can't save Kurai, I will kill Kurai in order to save the innocent people of the World."

Phoenix stood next to the Chaos Gate. He didn't said anything afterwards and began to wait for the others to arrive.

Argilus · Post by **Argilus** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 4:21 am

Argilus had been standing there all to shortly will Phoenix joined him in company. His reasoning wasn't exactly blinded, in fact he was close the what Argilus had shared. Argilus hadn't been exactly truthful about Kurai. His details where as close and most of what he could give. They couldn't believe what he'd been through, or would they? It was certainly two chances from a long shot. He glanced over at Phoenix, Argilus look was serious.

"Kurai has gone insane, if you knew him from before, you would certainly think he is of another person."

Phoenix nodded and it would seem his pet began to talk with him. Argilus took no notion from it. His Raven had hopped on to his shoulder and twitched his head a few times.

OOC: ( sorry, short post due to short response.)

Post by **Nighthand** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 4:56 am

Nighthand looked around the hideout, looking for the reactions of the others. Seeing nothing he didn't expect, he stood.

"For one, most of you should know my answer. I will follow Argilus. Any help we can get to battle the Admin's and Hacker's I will work for, and and threat we can eliminate I will eliminate. We must stop Kurai."

Quite the speech, Nighthand.

-Was it the right thing to do?-

Yes. We too shall follow you.

-How? I mean, you are a little bit obvious you know.-

We have ways to hide. Here.

The Cerberus suddenly dissolved into a cloud of smoke, looking like ink floating in the air. It hovered there for a moment, then swirled in a tornado around Nighthand. Then, abruptly, it was gone.

Nighthand could feel a presence in his head, and identified it as Shard. He spoke to it.

-Where'd you go?-

Look at your arms.

Nighthand peeled back parts of his shirt, revealing a large tatoo. It was the cerberus, but very stylized. The legs and body were drawn across his abdomen. The center head rose almost to his throat, while the side heads stretched on long snake-like necks so that the heads were on his palms. As he studied his hands, he saw the head blink.

-You're still there, flat against me?-

In you skin, yes, we reside.

Nodding to himself, Nighthand walked out of the hideout, joining Phoenix and Argilus at the gate. He caught Arg's eye and nodded to him.

"Do we really have a chance, I wonder... I mean, I hope we can make him remember us, and stop killing, but what if we can't?" He said to himself. He sighed, lowering his head in a silent prayer for Kurai's soul.

Gingitsune · Post by **Gingitsune** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 2:13 pm

Gingitsune watched as first Phoenix, then Nighthand exited the hideout, taking with them their guardians in a less conspicuous way.
Gingitsune looked at Jocasta, there was little hope that the brash, queenly Sphinx would ever want to be anything but conspicuous, however, as soon as she had formed this thought Jocasta padded over.

"So you think that I cannot be conspicuous, eh? Of course I can, do not doubt my powers, if I want to hide I can!"
Within seconds the small Sphinx had dissolved, starting from the tail, into a veritable thundercloud of haze, and then, as the smoke cleared, she found a graceful golden tiara that practically screamed Jocasta. It was inlaid with sapphires and amethysts and Gingitsune sighed as she put it on her head.

It wasn't the most modest thing, but it was less conspicuous that Jocasta trotting at her heels.

Smiling she told the others she would be waiting for them at the gate if they should choose to join her, and taking a quick look at herself in the mirror, for it was the first time in her life she had worn a tiara, she too left the hideout.

Within a minute she was at the gate, reclining against a piece of fencing along with the others.

Kain · Post by **Kain** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 8:32 pm

Marvin sat up straight, trying his best to look into Kain’s eyes. The Heavy Blade was resting in the chair with his hands on his knees waiting for the monster to tell his story from ‘the beginning.’ Kain glanced around the room before the critter started to talk. He heard the name Kurai getting thrown around. The player known as Argilus said something about a field: Closed Solitary Nothingness. The clever trickster, Hijinx, seemed to get very excited with the mention of a field. She grabbed her pet and sprinted out of the hideout. Kain smiled a bit as he watched the other players. Soon Argilus, Phoenix, Nighthand, and Gingitsune all left for the Chaos Gate. “I’d love to hear your story, but I think we should go to Closed Solitary Nothingness,” Kain told Marvin. The manticore nodded, showing he agreed with Kain’s idea.

On his way out of the hideout Kain stopped and stood next to Asura. The player was leaning against a wall with his pet curled around his neck. “Nice pet,” Kain began. He figured it was best to start the conversation this way. “What do you know about Kurai? I no nothing about him and trying to get info from Marvin is like talking to a wall.” With this the manticore made a hissing sound and snapped at Kain’s ankle. “I think the best thing is to go to the Chaos Gate,” Kain said. He tried to wait for Asura’s response, but Marvin made this impossible. The manticore wrapped his whip-like tail around Kain’s leg and began to pull. Kain was surprised by the strength that the miniature monster possessed. His tugging brought Kain to his back and pulled him closer to the hideout’s exit. Marvin released his grip on Kain’s ankle and allowed the Heavy Blade to stand back up. Kain dusted himself off and glared at Marvin. The manticore smiled and jumped onto Kain’s shoulder. The duo then walked out of the hideout.

The pair of Kain and Marvin walked through Dun Loireag proudly. The other players who left hid their pets nicely. Kain on the other hand could care less if people saw Marvin. It’d only make them jealous. The regular players stopped what they were doing and stared at Kain. Actually, they were staring at the manticore on his shoulder. Kain smiled as he could hear the occasional ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah.’ A group of players put down their items on the counter of the item shop and walked over to Kain. There was an assortment of Long Arms, Twin Blades, and Wave Masters. They all had big smiles on their face. It wasn’t every day that they could see a monster such as Marvin. The group of players circled around Kain and stared at the monster. “Oooooooooooooh, what is it? Can we touch it? Does it talk?” Questions flew from the group of players.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t touch me,” Marvin said as he stood up on Kain’s shoulder. After saying this gloved hands of white, black, yellow, and purple reached out to touch the monster. Marvin made some odd hissing noises and the like. This didn’t stop the players; they continued to touch his wings, face, mane, and tail. Marvin spread his wings and shot up into the sky. The group of players watched as the manticore flew higher and higher. They made sounds and chased after Marvin. Kain frowned and decided to run after the monster as well. How long will his wings carry him? I hope he doesn’t land anywhere close to those players. I hope I won’t have to use this, Kain thought as he looked down at his Stun Sword. Sometimes he ended up using that in root towns. Those outcomes were never very good.

“Hey bird, come back here! We just want to talk! We’re not going to hurt you!” The group of players shouted as they ran after Marvin. Kain took a deep breath as he tried to control his anger. He was too far away to attack, and didn’t want to hurt any other players by using spells. He glanced up at the airborne manticore and noticed that it was beginning to descend. Kain knew that the animal’s descent would lead to a lot of trouble. Stay up a little longer Marvin, Kain thought to himself as he ran at top speed. His Stun Sword was in a position where he could make one quick swipe to take off a player’s limb or appendage. Kain smiled at the thought of a player running around without an arm. After seeing those fools torment poor Marvin he wanted some kind of revenge. Glancing up at the manticore, Kain noticed that it was only a few feet above the ground. The other players seemed to notice this as they picked up their speed as well. They had Marvin surrounded when he finally landed.

The group of Twin Blades, Long Arms, and Wave Masters were in a complete circle around the helpless animal. Kain could barely see his face. Yet, he did manage to make out a sad expression from his pet. The Heavy Blade knew he had to push it if he wanted Marvin back in one piece. The circle of players all had their weapons unsheathed and pointing at Marvin. The manticore’s tail was sticking between his legs; this was a sign of him being scared. One of the Twin Blades attempted to pierce Marvin with her blade. The animal showed off how nimble he was by dodging the blow. Kain thought that he saw Marvin trying to cast a spell. This obviously didn’t work, because Kain could hear the other players laughing. They moved in closer and attempted to attack Marvin some more. The little animal made an odd ‘squawking’ sound and tried to dodge the attack. This time he wasn’t successful. The tip of a spear landed right on Marvin’s back.

“I thought Marvin told you to keep your hands away,” Kain said as he made a downward vertical slash with his blade. His Stun Sword, coming down like a silver blur, made contact with the Long Arm’s wrist. The player made a high pitched shriek and watched his hand fall to the ground. When it made contact with the Highland City’s grass it turned into data. Blood began to squirt out of the players’ hand like a fountain and he logged off. Kain spun around quickly, his robes moving swiftly behind him. Now he was facing the other players. At first they stepped back, but then they realized that Kain was greatly outnumbered. One of the Wave Masters asked if he thought that he could beat all of them. Kain smiled and nodded as he charged at the group. His speed was obviously greater than they expected. He noticed this because their jaws dropped. The Heavy Blade drove his shoulder into the outspoken Wave Master’s chest and managed to push him off one of the bridges. Kain slashed at the other players and turned around to look at Marvin. He was holding his own with a head butt here and there and the occasional bite. “Let’s go,” Kain said as he ran past Marvin and swung him around his shoulder.

Finally, the pet and his ‘master’ were united again. “Wow Kain, I thought you were the calm, cool, and collective type,” Marvin said. The Heavy Blade looked up and smiled. Marvin let out a little chuckle and the wrapped his tail around Kain’s other shoulder. Kain was muttering something about anger management classes when he reached the Chaos Gate. He noticed that Argilus, Phoenix, Nighthand, and Gingitsune were already there. He planted his Stun Sword into the ground and leaned against it. Kain smiled at them, hoping they didn’t see his little outburst back there.