Scout

Far From Home

We're working on it today :D Yay!~

The Last Embers

I'm here, Zeph... ;n; But I can't get in touch with anybody really... I've heard nothing from Avery... A lot of originals dropped out... I"m extremely disappointed and I don't think this is going to survive.

Until the End (Scout and Vena Sera)

Komada was at ease until Hanta finished his statement... She hadn't been talking about their training, but she also didn't want to pursue the subject further, so she let it go. The rest of the day was fairly quiet.

When the field boss was defeated, the entire group of clearers, which Komada actually found she had managed to keep up with, entered the labyrinth. The group moved quickly, but often split apart and came back together and it took a few days to reach the twentieth floor, where they were finally able to hunt out the doors. The entire group stood before the doors and Komada looked around the corridor in awe at its sheer size and elegance. She sheathed her Rapier and ran her hand over one of the fine pillars... Sure, she missed home, but there were moments like this that this world seemed almost better. She and Hanta hadn't been together for most of the clearing and she didn't want to distract him now, so most of her time had been spent with Hana and Lily - as they were both in her squad. It seemed like only seconds before the doors were opened, despite the break having been several minutes.

Komada felt her heart racing, but she drew her rapier and entered with the twins and the other members of her wave. She was rather surprised how easy the minions were - in fact, it was comforting that perhaps they had all over-trained. She could even kill a few of them one-on-one, but the call then came for their group to hold onto the boss while the previous one healed and the others fought the minions. Of course, Komada was to come in after the switch, so she was amongst the safest facing off the boss and she watched as Hana and Lily joined the group which block or counter-attacked the massive beast's weapon.

Now was her chance... She had to go, it was time to move with everybody else and take down as much of the boss' health as she could while it was open. Before she knew it, everybody had blasted forth from the ground with glowing blades and knives. Komada blinked and shook her head, taking off seconds after them. She heard her name called and a command of "wait!" but it was too late. Everybody had cleared as her rapier flashed and struck thrice. After using the skill, she needed a moment to cool down and her eyes flashed with fear as she saw the beast cry out and ready its weapon. Nobody was ready - she had accidentally broken the cycle and there was another cry for her - she thought it was Hana. However, as the huge blade struck and threw her off her feet, she seemed to ragdoll as she slid across the floor, her vision growing hazy in the confusion of the moment; she had never tumbled so much... There was a noise sounding, like water being poured out of a cup into some kind of open container, like it was draining.

When she finally stopped moving, she heard a pinging sound and noticed that her health bar. It was flashing bright red and was but a sliver. Should she have had a potion before the wave shifted? The moment set in a moment later and she snapped to, crying out as she opened her menu and sifted through it to materialize a red vial of liquid. However, in her panic, she bobbled it and dropped it the short distance t the floor, causing it to deteriorate instantly and shatter into pieces. "No!!" She couldn't die now... She saw a minion close in toward her, running over the floor with its weapon drawn.

There was a flash as the minion froze in its tracks and exploded. Emerging from the shimmering pieces was Lily, not missing a beat as she skidded to a halt, taking a knee beside Komada and expertly pulling out a potion for her. "Idiot, why would you charge?"

Komada's eyes widened, "You..." She muttered hazily in confusion. It was just slightly different from Hana - had Lily been the one to call her before?

"Shut up and drink this," She commanded coldly as Komada took to the potion. Lily, however, bolted off and back to the war effort.

If not for Lily, Komada would certainly be dead now, and she felt her throat starting to close. Was she really that useless? She wanted to just say it was a mistake, but it was the pressure... She had completely broken, then made the wrong decision... She wasn't cut out for this - not for this world, for fighting, for helping all of these people so much stronger than her. She began to push herself away from the fighting and hte minions were distracted by those who were actually doing damage as she pulled in her knees and tucked herself away, her eyes clenched tight. Let me out of here... Let me out... It's all a dream - I just want to go home... This isn't my world... She repeated to herself silently, trembling as she cried into her knees, trying to keep her sobs quiet. She couldn't do this... Any of it... What kind of life would it be?

Digital or Real?

"Thanks!" James said gratefully, taking the small plate and diving in as the discussion about the two children continued... oddly enough, they weren't quite so involved with it. As it turned out, Sasha seemed to be absolutely in love with stories - not simply reading, but creating them both visually and linguistically. James enjoyed reading as well, but not nearly to the extent that Sasha seemed to. He was always absorbed in his games or doing his homework; in all honesty, he was fairly average in most subjects except for math. His mathematical ability, however, was rather stunning, and consequently so were his strengths in their early level language classes. The two subjects were often in correlation as far as one's aptitude for learning them was concerned.

"That's really cool," The boy replied enthusiastically. Amongst his small number of friends, none of them were very artistic. The topic turned to video games and James seemed slightly more excitable, "Yeah! I was actually playing it before we took up the football," He pointed out. "I love that game. It's so different from the old ones, my dad lets me play his on his old handhelds and it's so primitive," He spoke before being cut off.

"Hey! I'm right here... They weren't primitive - we all loved them when I was a kid," Peter butted in to defend himself.

James rolled his eyes and subtly shook his head to Sasha, "But my favourite is Soulsilver out of the old ones. The new games are great, but my dad does have a point - the old generations of Pokemon have the more creative and original ideas for monsters, the new ones seem really weird in comparison, if you ever get a chance to play the older ones." It truly was amazing, though, how interactive the games had become since their beginnings. "I really like the end-of-the-world games that they've been selling too... Not Nintendo - I just mean that type of game..."

The conversation took another shift and he shrugged, "I dunno. With school starting soon, I'd say in the next few days some time would be good."

Hannah finally cut in cheerfully, "Well, we're not doing anything tomorrow. If you'd like, and Sasha wants to, she can help us clean up and we'll take her home with us, then give you a call tomorrow and take her back to your house. If another day works better, though, we can always just call later and talk about it," She suggested, leaning against her husband. "Of course, we've still got some time left in the potluck - it's supposed to go until early evening, anyway."

James looked to the small girl brightly, "Yeah, tonight would be cool. I can show you my dad's old games and stuff; you've got your books with you too, so we have plenty to do," He chipped in, causing Matt to snicker more. However, the older brother didn't actually say anything much more embarrassing, making a comment about how cute they were.

Digital or Real?

Peter nodded to the kids, "That would be great, thanks kids," He said before looking to Robert and Janet with a smile, crouching down to help with the mess, apologizing once more. Hannah, his wife, joined them with Matt once more a short while later as James and Sasha headed for the food table.

He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Erm... Yeah, I guess I'm not too athletic," He admitted, embarrassed. He caught her glance to the cake and he could see why; it looked absolutely delicious and he had to wonder why it was untouched. He shook his head, "Football, basketball, rugby... My brother is really good at all f them, but I guess I'm just not cut out for it. My mom says I'm a lot like her, but I don't really know what she means," The boy explained with a shrug as they started loading plates. He really wasn't too hungry, but he really enjoyed the chicken and dumblings that somebody had brought with rolls, so he had a rather scarce plate. He had never really spoken to Sasha, but it was good to see she was friendly and at conversational, though he wasn't sure how to answer the question of what he played. A better question would be what didn't he play? He almost said so too, but thought better of it before he made himself appear entirely pathetic.

"Yeah, not football... I play a lot of games, really..." As she joked, he blushed and shrugged, "If you wanted to, you could come over and play some time. I mean, me and my mates do it all the time," The boy suggested without thinking.

From behind, Matt had decided to join them and was already on it, "Ooh, little Jimmy's going to have his girlfriend over," He teased playfully.

"Shut up, Matt; I barely even know her," James retorted with irritation, sitting on the blanket with the girl as she made her offer. He had moved for his own small plate, but at her suggestion, he looked up and nodded, "I'd love some," He accepted.

Naturally, his mother, Hannah, had heard Matt's teasing and spoke up, "I think it's a fantastic idea to have James and Sasha get together," She said. Peter nodded in agreement and Matt, naturally, made a sarcastic, teasing remark under his breath, which only elicited a light, warning smack to the back of the head from his father.

James finally dug back into his piping hot dumblings, a look of clear satisfaction on his face. The soft breeze swept over them and carried with it the smell of flowers and the delicious food brought by the community. He looked to Sasha, "So, I saw you reading... what do you like to read?"

The Last Embers

I think that could be a good compromise.

Resounding Provocation: The Council of Shadows

Oh O_o I don't think she said anythin gto me... Okay then.

Resounding Provocation: The Council of Shadows

I dunno ;n; I've been trying to get a hold of Kate... >_<

Digital or Real?

Oh yeah ^^ I know the feeling.

Digital or Real?

Yay Genkai! ^^ Good luck with the final! :3