The North Route Arc

[Ryuzaki]

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n53/Will888tennis/94b61.jpg


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North Route Arc
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Eastern Border of Germany

It's the one of the mountainess areas in asia, and many valleys that can make any traveler lost. A group of people still travel this dangerous route though, in order to make it to their next destination. But nature isn't the only thing that these travelers should be worried about...

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"Komui... Komui... can you hear me Komui? We're now leaving and are trying to meet up with the other Exorcists..."

"Ye- I- ear- Yo-...." The signal from the radio golem broke up and Komui couldn't reach the Exorcists right now.

"Damn, the signal is lost again..." A gust of wind suddenly picked up, blowing debris at the small group of Exorcists.

"We're going to have to meet the others when they catch up to us, hopefully... It's going to be a long journey to the Asian HQ so prepare yourselves for a long, long trip..."

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http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3996/asiamapcopyny8.png

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Rules:

- This is an actual Arc

- Canon DGM characters will appear later

- The Noah/Akuma must defeat ALL of the Exorcists before they reach the Asian HQ, which is everyone's destination

- The Noah MUST defeat the Exorcists in both North and South to be successful

- This Arc will decide who has the advantage in the next Arc, which will take place at the Asian HQ. The circumstances will change also depending on who makes it to HQ first

- There will be many mazes and traps for the Exorcists/Noah/Akuma. And sudden heavy rainstorms will occur daily causing trouble for everyone because of the flash floods, lightening storms, hail storms and some blizzards. If you are stuck in natural occurrences, then you will take 5 HP Damage each turn, unless you have proper cover. This applies for the Noah and Akuma as well

- Maximum HP Regen Outside Camp (Checkpoint): 2 HP. Inside Camp: 5 HP. This does not apply to Noah or special abilities.

_____________________

Current Participants:

Exorcists
- Hei
- Annabell
- Rexus
- Crescent
- Takeshi
- Enishi
- Rave
- Hei
- Hiro
- Sicarii
- Serenade
- Shinju
- Keisuke
- Kimiko

Noah
- Nicholas
- Dies
- Xavier

Akuma
- Jarlaxle
- Yase
- Kujaku
- Phantom
- Muerte
- Alice
- Styx

[Tyekanik]

In the mountains, the group of Hei, Crescent, Rexus Annabelle and Takeshi were making their way along what was basically an animal trail.

"Takeshi? You awake yet?" Hei is still carrying the unconscious exorcist, and getting tired of it.

No answer from the exorcist. The three others are getting a chuckle out of this, however whenever the group would pause to paper-rock-scissors who carried him, Hei continuously lost.

"Thats it, we make camp until the other exorcists get here!" Dropping Takeshi onto the grass, one of the others pulls out the portable shelter, which was a fairly large sized tent, able to hold the five of them.

After setting up a campsite, the two brothers retrieved some local game, courtesy of their Innocence, and a campfire is made courtesy of Hei's.

"Least we'll have a meal ready when the others arrive, who here is a good cook?" Crescent poses the question. Nobody chimes in.

After another game of paper-rock-scissor, which Hei loses again, he is forced to make rabbit stew. Not that Hei is a bad cook, but he was tired after lugging a body for quite some way.

As the smell of the stew filled the area, the other exorcists took out their mess kits and served themselves a generous helping. As luck would have it, Takeshi awoke at this point, looking thankfully at the stew, it must have been nice to pass out, be carried and awake to a meal.

Hei gives him a glare of imminent demise.

((Just getting us in the area, and waiting for the other team, and messing with Takeshi for passing out on us :p))

[Ryuzaki]

Outskirts of the German Border


"So, that Cain guys that I supposedly killed survived huh... tch, and an Exorcist was actually in the same damn city as I was just now!?!" Enishi shouted at the Finder who happened to pass by Enishi at the wrong time.

"Y-es... that's what we've gotten so far, sir..." Enishi threw the Finder on the ground and pointed his sword at his throat.

"You listen and you listen good! When you find those disgusting Exorcists, tell them that they better be prepared to die when they go through these mountains! Do you understand me!!" He stomped on the Finder's chest and pressed on him, cracking a few ribs. "Be grateful that I'm not in a foul mood and slit your throat!" Enishi kicked the Finder in the kidney, making him stand on his feet. Enishi glared at the Finder menacingly and the Finder ran off, his life being spared.

"Tch, I can't believe I missed them...! They will not escape my sight next time, that I can guarantee!" Enishi pushed up his glasses, sheathed Jinchu and walked off to the into the distance where many dangerous roads laid ahead.

[Kenken]

((I finished off Cain for you guys Dx ))

Takeshi

When Takeshi woke up, everyone else were already eating, so naturally he also got himeself some food. While eating he found out he fainted after the fight with Cain, and was carried all the way from there to here by Hei. Takeshi tahnked him for carrying him, but Hei looked a bit angry.

Takeshi was also told that they were going to the Asian Branch, and they would be taking the North Route. It seemed that there was something important happening over there, and it was shown when Komui told them they would be going to the Asian Branch, he did so more serious than usual and that worried some exorcists. The group was waiting for more exorcists.

After eating, Takeshi sat outside and took the first guard.

[HolyMoon]

((actually, Crescent is an excellent cook. ;p So next time, if there is cooking porblem, he will do it. He loves cooking... especially cooking experiment.. :D ))

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As the sun started to set up, Rexus lit many fires and placed them around their camp site to light the place. While placing his fire on the trees (his fire won't burn them), he also did some patrolling in the area, while Crescent did the other side together with Venus.

They found some level 1 akuma lurring around and exterminate them in a second. After they sure that the area was safe enough, they came back to the camp and sat there waiting for the night to come.

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((I'm a bit tired.. so let's do some light RP for now...))

[Seff vi Britannia]

Dies watched Roberts ride away, and gave the map to Kujaku with instructions to give it to the Earl.

This should earn me some brownie points.

"Yoooo....Dies ~ <3!"

Dies began to walk in the opposite direction that Roberts had left from, stomping his boots into the hooveprints left by Robert's horse. He would be impossible to track.

"Earl-sama."

"Oooo, you're not calling me "fatman" anymore?"

"No, this is how i adress you when i want something, fatman."

Dies heard the Earl's chuckles and laughed slightly himself. He leapt from the beaten dirt track, running down the pine-covered hill and joining the main road. He decided to intercept the Earl's question with his own.

"Where do you want me to go now?"

"Well, it's funny you should ask. If you could; i'd like you to head to the Asian Branch of the Black Order. It's in Asia, by the way."

"Oh, i thought it was in the Artic Circle."

"Well, don't worry about it, you know the real location now. OW!"

There was pronounced yelp in Dies' head, and he laughed cynically, it was good to see the Earl scream.

"I was being sarcastic. I take it you want me to call off Kujaku?"

"OW! Yes, and i've given your little runt a - OW! map that will show you the way, i'm sending the others too but a few are - OW! going the south route. NO, THAT'S TOO FAR DOWN, GET AWAY FROM THERE YOU LITTLE PES- ARRRRGH MY BOLLO-"

Dies cut off the telepathic link, calling Kujaku back. He was relieved to see that the akuma did not, in fact, have the Earl's reproductive organs in his mouth. Kujaku produced a saliva-covered map, and Dies snatched it up. It showed a clear image of Europe and Asia, with a thin pencil line that Dies assumed would be the path he was following.

“Well, we’re at the edge of this wretched country. Unfortunately, it’s the edge that leads to the sea. I hate Sweeden.”
Dies paused briefly. Getting slightly wet would be preferable to spending days going the long way round – and he didn’t fancy a hike through Russia.

“Kujaku, hold on.”

Dies kept running, reaching the sea in a few minutes. The beaches glistened with a sparkling golden sand, and he padded through this, running onto the water. He ran across the smooth surface of the ocean, and Kujaku gasped, smiling.

“By creating small dimensional pockets beneath my feet, I can effectively create something to stand on. I’m sorry if you get splashed buddy, but it’s a hell of a lot quicker this way.”

[Undying]

A mountain road, quite far from the others

Sword Dancer and Miranda

Bumbleblee (http://www.supload.com/listen?s=6DSMTVJAF68D)

He urged his horse forward at slow walk, testing the area. Miranda was a short distance behind him, her brown hair waving in the wind. He noticed a passage slightly above them, an easy pass for a human, but the horses would never pass there. With a sigh, he waved her to come closer.

"We'll never pass through there with the horses, Miranda." He said looking around slowly, aware that this was a perfect place for an ambush.

"Then we'll have to abandon them," she replied stoically. Sword Dancer nodded and dismounted, freeing his horse and sending it running. The sun just rose above the mountain, bathing everything in a pale glow.

Miranda followed his cute and dismounted, removing her saddle. After that, though, she seemed lost as to what to do. Sword Dancer took the saddle away from her and strapped it on his back, adding to his own.

"Come," he said quietly, and began walking. It was a simple was to find the easier routes here, the mountains weren't very steep just yet. But he knew he'd have trouble later. They walked in silence for around twenty minutes, looking around when Sword Dancer's enhanced senses detected a slight sound. It was no more than a slightest scraping of a carapace on a high cliff, but Sword Dancer was so alert he knew there was something there. Quietly he lifted his eyes, spotting at once the dark shadow of a cliff to their left. The Akuma was no fool, it hid its shadow inside the cliff's, but the morning sun shifted quickly quickly and very soon the angle and length of the shadow became larger than the cliff itself.

Of course, he displayed none of his worries and continued walking casually by Miranda, helping her if she lost her footing here and there. The new Exorcist was not yet used to such travels, as she was sent to cities and the like, so she was still rather unsure of herself. Still, Sword Dancer's cool presence made her reassured.

As for Sword Dancer himself, Rave has hid deep inside the recesses of his mind. His sins weighted heavily on his heart, memories of murders done in cold blood. Hurting people, hurting Lenalee, Kanda, those two Finders. All of them, their faces floating in his mind. He killed and harmed.

And what's more, he was saved by a Noah. And then those changes... nightmares of sitting in a massive plain, looking at the skies and waiting... for something... for someone... to give him wings.

Now Sword Dancer, an instinctive and cold-blooded being, dominated his personality. He felt the thoughts and fears of Raven, but their scrapped at the edges of the bubble that was his mind, not interfering. He glanced up again and noted that the Akuma moved, sliding down the rocky drop that formed the cliff on their left. A dark serpentine form glided down slowly. No human, no matter how alert, would notice it. Of course, Sword Dancer was a primal being, one so linked to the nature around him, that this snake stood out like a giant blob of pus on the cliff-side. Cold rage bubbled in him, but he kept his hands at ease. The ambush was about to turn on its perpetrator and he didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Miranda walked in silence, glancing at Rave from time to time. Her soft heart and compassionate personality couldn't help but detect a streak of sadness in Rave. Despite his calm facade, she sensed he was deeply troubled. Although she was too shy to inquire, she believed that there was hope for him, as he saved his friends.

She had no way of knowing that the true purpose behind the rescue was a guilt trip, simple as that. He didn't wish to be remembered as a cruel murderer. Of course, this wasn't Rave, not the true Rave that felt that way, but Sword Dancer.

The Akuma attacked. Like a sudden avalanche, it reared form the cliff and stroke, intending to bite the man's head clean off. A mistake. The Sword flickered and flashed, it's blade glittering in the morning light, and the snake found itself missing its head, which lay a short distance away.

Miranda shouted in surprise. "What... what was that?"

"An Akuma," replied Sword Dancer, sheathing his sword calmly. "It's dead now, and there are no more of its kind to trouble us today. However, we need to get off this path. I suspect that there will be more before midday."

"Then... then what do we do?" Miranda pressed her hands to her mouth. She didn't fear for herself as much as for her friend, despite knowing that he would outlast her in a fight, she worried for her friends, always.

"There is a cave further ahead," he replied, ignorant of her worries. "If my guess is correct, it will link to some other caves around here. We should be able to move through them more quickly than through the mountainside."

Miranda nodded and followed him. The sun rose entirely above the mountain, its rays bathing the two Exorcists in a radiant glow.

[/Bumblebee]

In the Southern part of the mountains

Jarlaxle and Yase

Deciphering the Signal (http://www.supload.com/listen?s=LWHXRGLWPNTO)

"An interesting group we have here," Jarlaxle looked over a sheet sent to him by one of his scouts, clearly naming and describing each of the Exorcists and Noah that have appeared anywhere northward enough to travel through this route. "They are diverse in abilities and rather powerful, not to mention creative and interesting to study."

"Study? I would have thought we are to fight them," Yase leaned back against a tree, sipping his drink. A purely human sentiment; neither of them needed food or drink - unless they were eating humans.

"True, my friend," replied Jarlaxle, knowing full well that his new partner knew what they were speaking of. "However, I'd like to play a little game with them first. And once I and my friend Dinnin meet, our little secret can be used." Yase's ears perked at that, for Jarlaxle was completely closed mouthed about that "secret".

"Well," he replied, "at least we should be able to cause some havoc there. Unless..." he glanced at Jarlaxle, "there is something you are not telling me."

"All too true," replied Jarlaxle with a slight grin, "what I am hiding of you is that one Doctor Sander Roberts have recently joined the Earl, and he has created some very interesting new life-forms. His creations can be used to quite severely slow down these Exorcists, and let us watch and laugh. We'll probably get a nice show from the Noah, as well."

He turned and went to the horses, and fished out a small object. It was a sphere with a single dot inside its swirling internals. Pressing it between his forefinger and thumb, he flattened it, which caused it to slowly evaporate.

Smirking, he called to Yase to move.

The play has begun.

[/Deciphering the Signal]

Background music (http://www.esnips.com/doc/1f2a2f56-7326-4582-a9ed-f83915ba143a/135-Stage-Music-4-(Within-Leviathan))

They traveled a few miles, entering a town on their way. As soon as they entered, several man waved for them to stop. Halting, they eyed the gathering - a few farmers, and some fatter man that could only be merchants.

"Good sir! Are the two of you, perhaps, travelers?" The fattest man asked Jarlaxle, who exchanged amused glances with Yase, and then nodded. "Good!" Continued the man - he had a rather fast way of speaking - "then perhaps you can help us! There is a beast here, who devours our men and other travelers."

Jarlaxle raised an eyebrow. "And that's our problem because?"

"We offer you gold and anything else you'd like if you would just dispose of this fearsome beast!"

At first Jarlaxle wanted to laugh the fool's offer off, but then he had a better idea. Glancing back at Yase, he saw his eyes lit with the same evil scheme as he just thought of.

"Very well then, my good man. But first I'd like you to send a message I will write to the town to the north, where some of my companions must pass soon."

"Yes, but why?" The fat man said, suspicious.

At this point Yase intervened, playing the game perfectly. "We are of the Black Order, but we hide ourselves now. We shall dispose of your beast, if you would do us this service, as we must inform them of important matters."

"O-Of course!" The fat man was seating, and the crowd made a few sounds, mainly variations of "ooh" and "ah".

Jarlaxle turned to Yase, smiling miscellaneously as soon as the crowd dispersed and they were led ceremoniously to the telegraph station. "The beast will head north?"

"After attacking this town, yes." Yase grinned evilly.

In the telegraph station, Jarlaxle pretended to write a long letter, while in truth he only wrote three words, and then sent it by dove-mail. To the telegraph-operator he gave a short message explaining that the letter contained a code, which the Exorcists will be able to decipher and read.

[/Background music]

Gigapede Battle (http://www.esnips.com/doc/16f934c4-ac41-4358-bdda-4caec6a445a8/121-Gigapede-Battle)

Meanwhile Yase had no problem locating this supposed beast, which turned out to be one of Dr. Roberts' many experiments. A giant insectoid monster, floating around a small hill. He blasted it several times with his attacks, enraging it. As it chased him, he escaped to the town, all the while drawing it to him.

After it reached the town, the carnage began. Humans ran in the streets, screaming, as the beast fired balls of electricity at them. Jarlaxle watched the carnage with a wide grin. He enjoyed it throughly.

The beast, naturally, moved northward, and before it the few survivors who carried the tale of the treacherous Black Order. Soon, there will be trouble. Soon.

They rode off, both smiling, enjoying the bloodlust.

And he would love to see the Exorcists' expressions when they got his message.

The letter would read, "**** you, Exorcists."

Jarlaxle nearly laughed.

[/Gigapede battle]

[Kabane]

"Nicholas! Nicholas!" A familiar voice called out.

Nicholas turned around to see Road riding the insufferable umbrella, zipping through the air. Nicholas had just met up with Styx and was stepping off at an Italian train station just outside of Rome.

"Nicholas-tama!" Lero yelled also.

Sigh... what could it be this time?

Road touched the ground in front of Nicholas. She stood in front of him and smiled. Unexpectedly she jumped and grabbed Nicholas at the waist.


"I got him! I got him!" She screamed

Nicholas a little startled swung his waist side to side attempting to shake her off. She held a tight grip, her feet swinging in the air.

"What are you doing?!" Nicholas shouted.

"Millennium Duke told me to catch you!~~~~~~~~~~~"

"Catch me? I need to be caught?"

"He said to bring you back to him <3."

Road tore open a portal behind Nicholas.

"Hey! wait-a-s------"

Road did not wait for a comment. She pushed him through.

-------------------

Nicholas fell flat on his butt. Nicholas rubbed his head. He never liked Road's portals, gave him a headache and he thinks she would beat him up while in her dimension. While on the floor, he heard a maniacal laugh followed by Lero speaking again. Nicholas jumped.

"Here he is-lero!"

"Good Job Lero, and to you as well Road."

"Yo."

Road sat on a chair at the dining room table, her feet propped up and homework resting on her thighs. She continued to complete her homework, though a careful look closer reveals her pages are filled with doodles of the other Noah.

Attention returned to The Earl.

"Nicholas." He said in a deep voice. "You've been a little troublesome lately."

"I've been troublesome?" Nicholas replied. "What about Dies? His pet has been a pain lately, and Xavier! Styx told me he got lost." Styx had apparently been brought back by Road too. He was standing in the corner of the room. Road and Styx looked near the same age. Styx seemed a little shy in front of Road.

The Earl seemed to have ignored Nicholas comments. He is seen standing holding a portrait of Nicholas when he was younger. Nicholas' human father commissioned a painter to paint it, The Earl took it sometime after Nicholas first met him. The Earl's eyes were tearing.

"What's wrong Earl-tama!?" Lero asked.

"Nicholas used to be so good and devout, accomplishing any mission." He continued to sob. "Now he doesn't even want to leave his home."

Nicholas turned to the right. He could never stand watching the Earl cry.

"I try to do my missions. Things get in the way."

"That's alright Nicholas." The Earl smiled. "There is a way to be good again."

His smile became bigger.

"I'll need you to show me you're still in it." He reached into his coat pocket and revealed a deck of cards. "Choose a card." His smile was as wide as the spread 31 cards.

Nicholas was confused. He carefully selected a card. It was the eighth from the left.

"Bring me three things: His head, his heart, and his innocence. Or her, if it's a girl." The Earl's smile became even wider. Nicholas read the name on the card. He was intrigued.

Nicholas immediately walked up to Road who was entertained by Nicholas' scolding.

"Open a portal to Germany."

"What? No please?"

"I said.. Open a portal to Germany" This time Nicholas said the phrase with much emphasis and fervor. Nicholas gave her a stern look. She decided not to fight and opened it.

"Styx. We're leaving."

Styx ran to Nicholas' side and they stepped through the portal.

[Ryuzaki]

Near the Second Check Point


The strong winds whistled through the air passed Enishi as he traveled higher up into the mountains. The temperature started to fall at a fast rate as the sun slowly set behind the snowy mountains. Enishi put his vest below his glasses to stop from breathing in the icy air. You can see each breath Enishi exhaled as he was walking as the climate got even colder.

It's getting late, I should find a place to sleep for the night while I travel these cold mountains... there should be a good spot further up, maybe a cave even...

As Enishi continued to walk down a rigged trail up the mountain, a strange cold presence looked upon Enishi from a distance, waiting for him to set up camp and fall asleep to attack. The Level 3 Akuma staggered down the hill to prepare for an assault tonight...

Several more minutes passed, and Enishi still hadn't found a good place to stay. Out in the distance, three strange travelers came walking towards Enishi from the opposite direction. Enishi frowned upon them, becoming very suspicious of who, or what they are. As they passed each other on the same trailone of the men looked back at Enishi, who didn't even bother looking back at the three people, suddenly started to transform into their level 2 forms behind Enishi. In a blink of an eye, Enishi cut them all in half with three swift movements before they were able to fully transform.

"I don't have time to waste with you pathetic scum..." Enishi quickly sheathed back Jinchu as all three Akuma exploded one after another.

[Yamamoto]

Another mountain.

One would think that a mountain range would be filled with identical copies of these mountains, but perhaps its the fatigue or the fact Jean was with the same people for over a week now, but strange as it is, Jean could tell one mountain from another and work out where they were exactly in the dusty old map.

"Okay, the map the finder gave us is really cruddy, the names are too rubbed off to tell," Sicarii groaned as he hit his foot on another damn rock.

"Just a few more steps, and its all downhill from now," Jean smiled optimistically, as he chose to withhold information of climbing an even higher mountain after their next stop.

The wind blew across their faces as they finally reached the apex of the current trek. Kaze and Hiro dropped immediately to the ground as they rummaged through their bags for some needed water. The air was cold and fresh, and if it wasn't for the thin line of smoke in the valley below, it would have been an unforgettable experience.

Wait. Smoke?

Jean reached for a pair of binoculars in his bag as he directed his eyes towards the smoke. His face couldn't his happiness as he saw some familiar exorcists in the area. He immediately reached for his golem and started contacting the group.

"Hei, is that you down there?"

[Tyekanik]

Hei's golem brought word from Jean, someone he hadn't seen in awhile.

"Jean, yeah this is Hei. Get down here when you can, we'll save you some stew, I think." replacing the golem, Hei goes back to his meal as Jean and his companion descend to their location.

As the new arrivals show up and help themselves to the remainder of the meal, and catch up on what has been going on during the different missions.

Preparing a watch so that the remaining exorcists can sleep in relative peace, Hei clambers into the tent, rather exhausted from the day's activities. Further conversations could wait until the morning, carrying a person along mountain trails was strenuous.

Sleep falls over the exorcist, and he sleeps like the dead.

((blah, short due to net issues and need of sleep myself, whoever goes next can have it be morning or whatever))

[Seff vi Britannia]

The Baltic Sea

Dies skipped across the water like a skimming stone, sliding through the waves like a hot knife through butter. On his back, Kujaku smiled, gripping onto his hair tightly.

"If i can move fast enough and use my powers to keep myself supported, i can theoratically cross almost any stats of matter."

Dies stated his theories out loud. This was the first time he'd tried running on water - and he was surprised it worked.

As night began to fall and the moon lit the heavens, Dies sped up, the coastline of Poland becoming visisble. Using his feet to surf on the waves, Dies reached the shore in a matter of minutes, landing - slightly wet, on another sandy beach. The fires and lights of small seaside towns could be seen in the distance, and Dies gestured to Kujaku, who pulled out the map.

"We have to head across Europe, and then move down into China. And kill every damn exorcist we meet along the way."

Dies paused, staring at the seaside towns.

"Alright. Let's go."


((Anyone who wants to interact/see/even fight Dies, can.))

[HolyMoon]

At the campsite...

----------------------------

When the midnight came, Rexus woke up and went to the outside of the tent. He walked to Takeshi who was still fully awake, while carrying a cup of hot chocolate and a mug of coffee.

"A clear night isn't it?" asked Rexus as he sat beside Takeshi while handing him a mug of coffee.

"Yeah," answered Takeshi, who took the coffee mug thankfully "But we can't predict what natural occurrences would occur tomorrow."

Rexus eyed the stars which were clearly seen on the sky and said, "Then we need Crescent to read the changes of the wind. I think he know when a storm would occur."

Their conversation fell silence for a while, then Rexus broke the quietness.

"Oh yeah, please go to sleep, Takeshi-san," said Rexus, smiling "I would take the shift."

After saying good night to Rexus, Takeshi went to the tent to catch a sleep. Woken up by the movement, Crescent quietly opened his eyes.

"Sorry to wake you up," wishpered Takeshi "And if you seek for Rexus, he is outside. Good night."

Crescent nodded and get out of his blanket and walked to outside of the tent with Venus. Not far from it, he saw Rexus was sitting beside the fire made of his Innocence ability.

"It's rare to see you up in middle of the night," said Rexus as Crescent approach him, his eyes closed, enjoying the breeze that moves passed him.

"Shut up. I'm still sleepy," muttered Crescent. He leaned to the tree trunk beside Rexus and looked up to the sky. Venus laid between him and Rexus and fell asleep.

"Oh yeah, Takeshi and I were speaking about predicting the weather tomorrow. Could you do it?" asked Rexus.

Crescent closed his eyes and listened to the wind. After several minutes, he spoke.

"I think, we should start moving early tomorrow. Even though tonight is clear, the wind that carries rain clouds, and maybe blizzard too, are heading this way," said Crescent as he opened his eyes once again. A hint of worries was shown in his eyes, but he didn't spoke anything afterwards.

"Wake me up if something happens," said Crescent as he laid on the thick grass beneath him and fell asleep like a cat.

"Pet and owner are the same...," smiled Rexus. He continued watching the stars. 'How nice if this peaceful moment last forever...' he thought.

-------------------

[Crescent HP : max]
[Rexus HP : max]

[Yamamoto]

Sicarii:

"Oh for the love of- these boots are killing me!" a frustrated Sicarii cursed as he sat down momentarily on a rock to find his boots filled with tiny pebbles. The rest of the group only stared as his swears echoed across the mountain walls.

"So, how far down are we?"

Jean pointed to the line of smoke just across a large boulder. "We just follow that."

A bird of prey shrieks from the skies, as the sun had finally hidden under the covers of the rugged mountains. Sicarii stood up as he led the way, eager to find shelter and most importantly- food.

"I don't want to be food to some creature of the night..."

[Seff vi Britannia]

Dies and Kujaku padded along the beach, before entering a small town. They went through this without notice again.

"Is anyone else around?"


He sent a brief telepathic note out to all akuma and Noah who could hear him.

[Yamamoto]

The Campsite

Jean:

The early morning brought fresh air and a scrumptious breakfast as Jean handed out bowls of his own version of the stew.

"Surprised I can cook Hei?" he smiled, as he poured a spoonful of the stew in his bowl.

The last of the tents were being packed up as the group started to finally head off, after a good long rest. It was nice to hear no complaining for once, and Jean was grateful - while it lasted.

"So," he turned to his good friend Hei, "how was your last mission?"

[Tyekanik]

At the Campsite

"So," he turned to his good friend Hei, "how was your last mission?"

"Vampires. Full of vampires. Werewolves too. Its nice to see you can cook, we'll put Crescent on cooking duty next, I hear he's good at it too." Soon finishing the meal, the group packs the belongings away and begins the trek for Asia HQ.

"Your mission any more interesting than mine? I at least got to see Takeshi kill a big one though." Hei poses the question as the group begins the climb towards some sparse but darkening clouds.

The other exorcists similarly chattering, spread out and on the move.

((we are finally rolling))

[Yamamoto]

"Not really," Jean's eye darted towards the ground. "There were some strange humanoid creatures in Stockholm, and the doctor responsible seems to have gotten away. I was lucky I was even alive."

"Well, at least you're alive," Hei smiled, as they stopped to see the magnificent view from the top of the mountain cliff.

Green pastures and blue mountains, showered by the golden sunlight. A small lake glistened under the sun as soft waves crashed along the banks.

"It's amazing," Jean smiled as the soft mountain breeze blew across his face. "Why would the Earl want to destroy something like this?"

To be an exorcist, means to be a servant of God. Prepare your life to be slain, prepare for the death in order to save others. But, you are prepared to see the smiles of those you saved, and the beauty of the human race you are saving.

[Kabane]

Nicholas saw a column of smoke off in the distance. Styx offered to jump there to see what it is, but Nicholas already knew. He grinned as his blood boiled over the excitement.

"Styx! It's time"

Styx transformed into his Akuma form. He was a suit of armor, that was slightly bigger than Nicholas. If you look straight into the helmet you could see nothing. It was void of a presence, empty. Nicholas knew what that meant. He took Styx's arm and put it over his own. Styx showed no pain, and there was a strange connection between them as Nicholas placed the piece of armor on himself.

The connection only grew as each and every piece was placed on Nicholas' body. When finally assembled, something strange happened. Styx seemed to have shrunk to fit to Nicholas' body form. Nicholas attempted to walk in Styx once before, though without the chest plate or helmet on. He felt Styx was clunky and hard to maneuver. He should have continued placing Styx on himself. Nicholas' mobility had greatly been increased from that time before. He could walk, run, and bend just as if he were in his own body. The armor also did not feel cold, like the last time. This time it was warm. Styx was not something that wore armor, he WAS the armor.

Nicholas snapped his fingers. A level 2 Akuma appeared.

"Cloud this happy sky. God does not need to see his 'apostles' die." Nicholas commanded.

"Yes... sir?" The Akuma seemed confused. He heard Nicholas but could not see Nicholas. All he could see was a downsized Akuma. He did not think much of it though. He leaped into the sky.

Nicholas snapped his fingers again. A myriad of Level 1 akuma's appeared. Nicholas pointed at the column of smoke. The sun that pierced the sky around it, started to shrink. It's clarity at the mercy of encroaching clouds.

They are fools. They are not God's apostles. God wants to reshape this world. For this he enlisted the Noah, a clan as old as humanity. With the Earl, we will usher in a new generation.

[HolyMoon]

On the way to Asian HQ

-------------------------
After they stopped for a while to enjoy the view, the group of exorcist started walking again. In a short time, they had reached the valley and going up to the next mountain again.

"It would be very good if we have bicycle or horses now," said Rexus as he strecthed his body.

"Don't be a lazy bum, big-baby," muttered Crescent.

"Huh??!! What did you say, Crescent?" asked Rexus smiling. An anime vein had popped on his face.

"Too late. My words had been taken by the wind already...," smirked the younger boy as he walked faster ahead.

When they were half way climbing the mountain, they all felt the presence of their enemies. Akuma.

They stopped at once and looked at the sky. The sun was being clouded and a large number of akuma were heading their place. In a brink of an eye, they all vanished from where they were standing before, each of them were hiding in their favourite places.

Crescent was standing on a high and bushy tree. He monitored the sky in one quick glance and activated his Innocence level 1. As the akuma were in his shooting range, he quickly pulled his triggers and released his Unicorn Blast. The tornados zoomed through the akumas and killed quiet number of it.

He was ready to shoot another bullet when a rain of akuma bullets came through the leaves and made him jumped around to avoid being hit. As he turned his head to the sky once again, he saw other groups of akuma were coming from behind.


Rexus’s hiding place…

Rexus was on the branch of a tree when many akuma’s bullets were shooting through the place where he stands. As he jumped to the ground below, he saw Crescent jumped to a tree on his left and gazed to the sky with an annoyed expression. When he followed his gaze, he understood why his partner was pissed off. A large number of akuma were coming from the backside. From the place he stand, he could saw some of his friends were killing many akumas at one move.

“Well, I don’t like roasted akuma for a lunch.” He smirked while pulling his trigger and released Fireworks. Almost immediately, a large number of akuma exploded and turned to ashes “And speaking of food, I think roast deers were delicious…”

A slipper appeared out of nowhere and hit Rexus clean on his head.

“This is no time for thinking your lunch…,” Crescent glared dagger to the brown haired teen and proceed to shoot as much akuma level 1 as he can.

Among the myriad of the level 1, there was a figure of a level 2 akuma which flying through the air above them.

“Time for fun…,” said the level 2 as it zoomed to the exorcist place, together with all the level 1 akuma.

[Seff vi Britannia]

Near the Storm Cloud


Dies laughed. It was a dry, mirthless laugh. His telepathic message hadn't been answered, but the giant, swirling cloud of akuma overhead was even better. As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words.

Frowning slightly, Dies realized that Kujaku couldn't teleport to Nicholas. The Noah began to walk up a steep hill, sending out another telepathic message.

"Nicholas, i'm in close proximity. What's your location?"

[Lethe]

Going the Long Way Around…


“Wahoooo!”

Serenade kneeled down on the front half while Shinju stood up on the back half of her shield-shaped Innocence, riding it like a surfboard with a motor strapped to it. The shield itself was tilted at a thirty-degree angle, and by using her powers to repel—or in this case, propel—they skidded across the water with ease. It was also an efficient way to charge up her attack should she need it.

“Just like old times, eh?” Shinju shouted over the waves. “It’s kinda cold, but you gotta admit: this is much easier than traveling across the Pacific.”

Her companion rolled his eyes and looked onward and over the horizon, just thinking about the feeling that he had just before they left the headquarters.

Just be careful, okay? That was what Sapphire, Shinju’s psychic sister, told him over the phone while Shinju was in the infirmary. And seeing how her predictions were usually eerily correct, it could do naught but make him wonder: will what she told him happen now, or sometime in the distant future?

It made his stomach churn.

“Serenade?” she called out again. “Is there something wrong?”

He broke away from his train of thoughts and debated upon lying right then and there. But, then again, the girl had very sharp eyes and ears so there was no doubt in his mind that she would catch on the moment he uttered it.

“It’s nothing,” he replied, but the path of his gaze did not change.

Shinju cocked her head to the side.

The silence endured for a while and it was not until a full twenty minutes later that she spoke up again.

“Well, from what that gull up there is saying, we should be able to see the main lands soon.”

Serenade nodded and began flexing his hand, rubbing each silver claw against one another.

It’s our turn to play.

[Undying]

Inside a system of caverns, somewhere near checkpoint two

Sword Dancer

The cave twisted on and on, but Rave discovered that he could see inside it. Strange though it was, he had infrared vision - probably an addition from his new arm (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c39/SankonGanSou/witchblade_cover_by_nebezial.jpg). Miranda was completely, utterly blind, but she followed, clutching his other hand. His eyes clearly noted the difference between the heat of the walls and ceiling, but he still stumbled more than once, as it was extremely difficult figure out the entirely different vision where everything based on the glow rather than on reflected light.

However, he noted a definite brightening to their left, which indicated a greater amount of heat. Miranda's quiet "I can see a little" and the slight breeze made him realize they were close to a cave that's linked to the surface. Following the slightly less blueish tint of the walls, they quickly reached a more open cavern over looking a deep valley. Aside from a narrow ledge, the wall of the cave was a sheer thousand-foot drop to a rocky ground.

"We should be safe here, for a while," he said, looking around. There was enough dry moss to set up a small fire, and as they were smart enough to carry wood with them, soon the cave was lit with a warm fire. They ate - not much, just bread and meat, washed down with water - and Sword Dancer leaned back against the wall, contemplating his new discoveries about himself. His abilities were growing, no doubt.

But his mentality seemed to be degrading. He glanced around, noting that Miranda, tired though uncomplaining, was already deeply asleep. He looked outside to the skies. He will decide what to do later.

Near checkpoint two, on a small cliff

Jarlaxle, Yase

The beast was headed in a satisfactory speed towards the town that the Exorcists will have to pass on their way to the Asian HQ, so Jarlaxle and Yase turned into the mountains, heading for the Exorcists themselves. And sure enough, soon they were in sight of the group.

"Interesting. Our friends seem to be rather busy nurturing themselves," commented Jarlaxle, smoking a pipe.

"Well, we could just swipe the place and kill them now, eh?" Yase looked over the ridge, scrutinizing the Exorcists. "But it won't be any fun," he added.

"True. So let us begin..."

Turning to the mountain, he rained a small amount of antidote to wake the sleeping creature up. purl=http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c39/SankonGanSou/werewolf6.jpg]It[/url] rose and sped towards the Exorcists, smelling blood. Jarlaxle grinned evilly.

"This feels rather like a deja vu," he said, then pointed to a rising mountaintop a short distance away. "Shall we make this more fun and call in the trolls?"

In response, Yase transformed into his Akuma form. Jarlaxle tossed him his energy ball and then the giant hurricane exploded on the mountaintop, causing an avalanche, but more importantly waking up some rather nice creatures.


Health 100
Speed:
Movement: 35
Attack: 12
Reaction: 16
Tactics: 4
Attack: 20
Ability: lycanthropy: don't get bitten, or you will become a werewolf as well!

[Tyekanik]

Crisis (http://www.esnips.com/doc/dfeee96f-9938-4d89-a5f3-f4aa8d5e5687/13---crisis) - cause it is

The exorcists continued the winding path upwards into the mountain, talking and joking as if nothing could go wrong. Such moments were a blissful reprieve from the life and death struggles entailed in their duties.

And none too soon, a rumbling sound in the distance - squinting against the glare of the snow, Hei and the others can see an impending disaster. An avalanche has begun.

Tch, I have no clue if anyone is able to do anything about this.

Do it yourself then, it is within your capabilities, and a wrong decision is better than no decision.

My God, you are comforting.

"Get to the cliff face!" Bellows Hei, as he activates his innocence to the full limits of his capability, forms Ryuujin Senka and pours all of the energy he can into it.

Turning to the cliff face, he plunges the lance deep into the rock wall, and releases the energy used for Ignis Tempestus, directly into the fissure.

Gouts of flame pour from all around him, as he is temporarily engulfed in flames. The fissure deepens, and widens. Soon a makeshift cave is scoured into the cliff face. What ended up being the saving grace if not known at the time was that he had scorched through into a naturally existing network of caverns, so there would be space inside for the Exorcists.

Not needing to be told the next step, the group rushes inside to avoid the oncoming avalanche.

You bastard, you knew about that.

I could sense the difference in air temperature as opposed to that of the rock directly in front yes, but if I had explained this you'd be buried would you not?

I really doubt all innocence's are this cocky.

Who knows, each is unique with their own attributes, some are silent, some must be worse than I. We'll overlook how you should be thankful, by the way.

Inside the cavern, the snow seals the entrance. Getting out won't be difficult, but not entirely possible right now.

"Seriously, this is a bad joke. More werewolves." Hei mutters to nobody in paticular.

"Oh, didn't you just say you were playing with some of these earlier? However we can't really see them so we'll take your word for it." Jean attempts to lighten the mood, as the group faces the latest threat.

"Get the lanterns lit while we keep these busy." Hei forms the three wisps of his First Ethereal Phantasm, and the cavern is for the most part illuminated as they dart around, though this won't last long, as they are currently a bit fragile due to just expending a decent amount of energy.

[Ryuzaki]

Near Caverns in the Second Check Point


Snow flakes came falling down on Enishi's shoulders and hair, seeming to disappear with his already white hair. The wind chill made the cold weather seem even colder than it actually was while the mist from Enishi's breath could be seen going through went through his coat.

Up ahead, Enishi aw two different types of footprint, one much larger than the other. One looks to be like a smaller lady while the other is a man... could be travelers... or maybe something more... Enishi continued to follow the trail before the snow falling from the sky covered it up and make it untraceable.

"But besides these footprints... I sense something foul in the air... I don't like it one bit." Enishi peered behind him, feeling the presence as if he was being followed by a dark creature, or creatures...

Enishi put aside the feelings that he got and traced the remaining footprints. As the air got colder, and the evening became darker as the sun slowly set behind the snowy mountains, the footprints finally came to an end at an enormous cavern in the mountain around the corner. The height was atleast two-hundred feet tall, and large sharp ice crystals shined at the top, adding some decoration to the whole scenery.

"I'll wait just inside of this cave, it's good enough protection from the snow outside for me..." He sat against the rocky wall and laid Jinchu next to him and waited.

[Lethe]

Approximately 600 miles away from Ural Mountains
and the Second Checkpoint

After making a few minor stops in Norway (Shinju has high stamina despite the parasitic nature of her Innocence, but even she needs to rest once in a while) and going through the White Sea, the pair had finally arrived at the mouth of the Mezen River—already in Russian territory.

During one of their stops, both had taken the chance to change out of their Exorcist uniforms and into something more casual: Shinju in her black and white kosode, kimono, and hakama with a blue sash and Serenade in his black pleated pants, loafers, turtleneck, and long black cashmere coat.

Well… okay, it was a tad anomalous considering where they currently were, but truth be told they were very comfortable in it - even if one person looked like she had just come out of a completely different era and the other appeared to be some sort of opulent attorney.

Getting off the shield, it took Serenade a minute or two to get his land legs back.
Shinju, on the other hand, was able to shrug it off like it was nothing and was already getting their backpacks.

“There will probably be a few Exorcists who are not yet used to the wilderness in these areas like we are, so there’s not really a reason to go unprepared,” she explained to him earlier when he questioned the size of the luggage, and Serenade had grinned at the amount of concern that she was showing.

Handing him his backpack, Shinju’s attention was held by the sky and the ever-changing winds.
Swirling back and forth, the winds showed traces of agitation, very much unlike an hour ago.

Something was clearly wrong today…

“We’d better hurry and scout ahead before the others get here,” she said as she took out her Dragon Caesar from her backpack to strap it onto her leg beneath the clothing. “The weather’s going to be a tad abnormal today – all the wildlife in the surrounding area can sense it. The tension in the air is also strange as well…”

“Any idea what’s causing it?” he inquired.

Shinju shook her head.

After taking off the effects of her Innocence on the shield and securing the charm to her choker, the two began following the river, making their way towards the Ural Mountains where (hopefully) they would run into the other Exorcists.

-----------------------------

(By the way, me am sorry if me got the geography all wrong.
If you’d like, feel free to edit it out to keep things more broad (i.e. take out "Ural" and put in "the"). ^_^; )

[Yamamoto]

The Caverns

"Watch Out!!"

Jean barely dodged the creature as its roar echoed among the tunnels. With glowing eyes and gruesome fangs, its growl shook their hearts in fear. Their mouths drooling, it seemed these lycanthropes longed for meat.

Sicarii's hand shook as he reached for his weapon, but jumped out of shock after two more of these beasts howled behind him. They were cornered.

The first of the werewolves leaped again towards Jean as he defended with his dagger, but their long claws only slashed across Jean's arm, sending the dagger flying across the cavern.

Hei and Sicarii were busy fighting off the other two creatures as their snarls echoed deafeningly. Jean stood up, clutching his wounded arm as he put his hand over his necklace.

"Innoence- Storm Gauntlet....activate!"

Using the light from the invocation to surprise the cavern dwellers, Jean shot a straight Blue Bolt towards the beasts, causing one to hit the wall, as fragments of rocks fell down.

"We can't fight here for too long!" he shouted towards the rest of the group, "The cavern's going to collapse."

Hei drove off another werewolf to the cavern depths with his second wisp. Turning around to hear Jean's warning, he immediately screamed his friend's name as ravenous eyes approached Jean's back.

"Jean, BEHIND YOU!!"

Jean felt a sharp pain from his left shoulder, as he desperately flailed to get the beast's sinking fangs off. His wound bleeding heavily, Jean dropped to his knees as tiny pieces of his flesh dropped to the cold, cavern floor.

Something was happening...

[Damage to Jean: 15
Jean's HP- 35/50

Damage to Werewolves from Blue Bolt-

Werewolf 1- 13
Werewolf 2- 10
Werewolf 3- 11]

[HolyMoon]

((EDITED... XD ))

---------------------------
In the cavern...........

"Watch Out!!"

Crescent, along with Rexus and the others, immediately jumped to avoid being slashed by the werewolves which came through the tunnel. When they landed on their feet, they were being cornered by the creatures.

"Werewolves... and it were vampires last time..," muttered Crescent as he activated his Level 2 Innocence. On his side, he saw his partner did the same thing.

As the light from Jean's activation blinded the werewolves, Crescent quickly took the opportunity to blast one of the werewolves away. His opponent hit the wall across the cavern, following the werewolf that was earlier sent by Jean's attack. And not long, the third came crashing the werewolves stucked in the wall, sent by Rexus.

"We can't fight here for too long!" Jean shouted towards the rest of the group, "The cavern's going to collapse."

Hei drove off another werewolf to the cavern depths with his second wisp. Turning around to hear Jean's warning, he immediately screamed his friend's name as ravenous eyes approached Jean's back.

"Jean, BEHIND YOU!!"

Jean felt a sharp pain from his left shoulder, as he desperately flailed to get the beast's sinking fangs off. His wound bleeding heavily, Jean dropped to his knees as tiny pieces of his flesh dropped to the cold, cavern floor.

Something was happening...

Seing Jean was being bitten, Rexus shot his most powerful Bomb to the werewolf behind Jean and successfully made it flew across the cave.

-------------------------------------
[Damage to werewolf 2 : 19] -> (done by Rexus)
[Damage to werewolf 1 : 16] -> (done by Crescent)
[Damage to werewolf 3 : 21] -> (done by Rexus's Bomb)

[Yamamoto]

Inside the Cavern

Music- A True Last Boss (http://www.esnips.com/doc/f9331209-e03d-4fbb-80d3-979f36ef83af/A-True-Last-boss)

Tear...

No...

Shred..

Never...

KILL!!!

His bleeding wounds did not faze him. His vision was blurred by a smoky, red haze. His mouth was foaming, thirsting- for blood.

Stop!!!!

Jean had glimpses of control, as he held on to his right arm, his body flailing about in the dark caverns. In these small glimpses of sanity, he desperately tried to ask for help from his innocence, only resulting in a wild rage of electricity.

The others had no choice but to stand back, as the uncontrolled bolts of lightning danced about, hitting and damaging the cavern walls. The room was shaking, as more fragments of solid rock came crashing down.

Hei kept shouting for Jean to take control. The other werewolves snarled, but stepped back as the large shards of stone blocked their paths, growling at the unreachable prey.

"We have to run away, now!" screamed Sicarii, as he barely managed to avoid a giant boulder aiming to crush him. Hei resisted, as he knew he could save Jean- who was now an uncontrollable being trashing about in the wild flurry of electricity.

There was no choice. The cavern would collapse in seconds. The group ran as they tried to avoid the rain of falling rocks. Quickly, they run uphill, finding their way out. Hei turned back worried, but luckily for him, Jean was following them.

Or was that unlucky. A sudden urge of instinct drove Jean to chase at the fleeing prey. The blurred sight of a group of humans, running, drove Jean to chase for the hunt.

Sicarii's face brightened, as he could see them approaching the light. Yet it was a bittersweet predicament, as the hole was too small for anyone to fit through. Sicarii's face turned pale as he thought of the notion of them being trapped, no- buried alive in a rock tomb.

Crescent shouted something amongst the rhythmic pounding of rocks. She had an idea.

Jean easily dodged the falling rocks as he set his eyes on the hunt. The symphony of panicked hearts. Beating, pounding- that was the rhythm of the hunt.

Hunt...Chase...KILL!!!

[HolyMoon]

Inside the Cavern...

As the cavern started to collapse, Crescent gave them a warn about moving all of them to the outside,"Be prepared! I would use my Teleportation!"

Outside the Cavern... the place where Enishi waited...

And in a blink of an eye, they had been moved from the cave to the open. As they appeared in front of a white haired man, he stood up at once while holding his weapon. Crescent recognized him as the exorcist who saved him from Cain Nightroad attacks.

But they all ignored the exorcist and focused on Jean whose condition was strange after got bitten by the werewolf. Jean shook his head as if to clear his dazed mind for the sudden teleportation and roared like a wolf. The roar was so loud that it echoed through the mountain, and made the birds flew away.

"Oh no... I think he become a werewolf...," said Rexus in serious tone.

[Undying]

The Cave

Frenzy (http://www.supload.com/listen?s=2V1ITKCDVBWM)

Sword Dancer's eyes popped open suddenly, immediately feeling the darkness flowing from the other side of valley. He moved so fast it looked as though he teleported from his sitting position near the wall to the cave's entrance, and he moved so silently that Miranda never even stirred.

Switching his eyes to infrared vision, he was faced with cold death throughout the valley, except 1 red form, a human, standing on the other side within a small cavern. Just as he moved to exit the warm cave, another two forms appeared, apparently by teleportation, but almost immediately melted through the snow and rock into an opening with no heat. Acid, probably.

Once again faced with only one form, Sword Dancer moved to the ledge. He had no way to move to the other side, except... releasing his Innocence, he formed a glittering bridge and ran to the other side, landing on the other side, facing the cavern.

[/Frenzy]

He jumped straight up, landing in from of the the form. A strange and tall man with white hair, and a strange sword, extremely long. Whoever this was, Sword Dancer wondered why he sensed such darkness emanating from him.

"Who are you?'

Beneath Enishi and Sword Dancer

Jarlaxle and Yase

"A wonderful place for an ambush," said Yase with sincere admiration, noticing the two new Exorcists popping into the playing field. "Should we take them all?"

"No, what fun would that be?" Jarlaxle was placing his hand on the stone, preparing to use his acid to melt it. "We will take the two newcomers and torture them slightly, before killing them."

Yase only grinned.


You're a Soldier Now (http://www.supload.com/listen?s=G8M2E4KZZ7T)

As Rexus and Crescent reoriented themselves, the ground beneath them melted and then fell through a rocky slide into a larger cavern, lit by torches lined at the walls. The dropped perhaps 200-300 feet, but the slide was bent so that they didn't fall out toohard. Jarlaxle smiled at them calmly from the entrance to the cavern, and Yase was halfway transforming into his Akuma form.

"Greetings, Exorcists. Shall we... play?"

Jarlaxle tossed a needle at their feet, causing it to explode in a cloud, healing them. Akuma poison could be used as a stimulating drug to allow them full power. After all, the fun would not start if they were tired and sick.

Producing his giant weapon, he twirled it and looked at them.

Time to play.

[Shiku]

Hiro and Keisuke walked down the mountain hoping to reach the group who headed out first, a vein popped on Hiro's annoyed face as a voice whined and moaned.

"How much loooooonnger do we have to walk!! We've been travelling on foot for hours!!" Moaned Keisuke.

Hiro decided to give him the "silent treatment" and ignored him.

If he whines any longer I'm going to freeze his tongue....


“Come oooooonn!!! Taaaaalllkk to meeeee!!!”

Hiro ignored him again and continued walking.

-----------------------
(A little further than checkpoint 2)

“HIROOOOOO!!!! Can we take a break yet??????”

“Fine we can…”

“YAAAY!!!!”

Hiro and Keisuke sat down on a massive flat boulder that would be about 10 times the size of them. Keisuke took this chance to take out a lunchbox which he asked Jerry to make for him before they set out from the HQ, he sat down and munched happily on a sandwich.
Hiro however had no intention to eat at the moment, instead he had thought of changing out of his troublesome uniform into some more casual clothes instead.He opened his backpack and puts on some clothes.


http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb136/hitsu12020/BBT/054_654_Ad-1.jpg

[Ryuzaki]

The Cave


"And what the hell makes you think you can ask me that, huh!?" Enishi looked at the young man, menacingly. The dark aura from Enishi was felt by the young Exorcist, as he wondered who was this man with an overwhelming amount of anger and insanity. "I can feel you from a mile away, you Exorcist scum... how dare... how dare you even think about coming near me!"

"So... who are you...?" Rave said again calmly to the infuriated Enishi.

Enishi glared at Rave with calmer eyes this time. "You... you are not like the other damn Exorcist scum that I've met many times... I can also feel that deep within you..."

"Feel what...?" Rave's narrow his eyes scrutinized Enishi as he said that to him.

"Tch... you're pathetic... you don't even know your true self." Rave looked confused this time at Enishi, who was grinning as he pushing up his glasses. "I was right... you are nothing like those other Exorcists... yet you don't even realize it yourself..."

"You act as though you know me... but what do you know of anything but your own blackened soul?"

"Heheh... you don't think... that I already know my own damn self, huh!?" Enishi began to laugh at Rave's comment as he put his fist to his forehead and shook his head. "I know myself... and I know just how black hearted I am... but you... I can sense just how confused your soul is...!"

Gritting his teeth, Rave looked at Enishi, irritated. "The only person confused here is you... I know what I must do!" Rave then charged at Enishi, slashing vertically at him only to find his sword stopped in it's track.

"...Weak..." Countering Rave's attack, he swung at his sword causing Rave to slide back, leaving a trail in the white snow. Getting ready in his battle position, Enishi crouched down, staring at Rave. "I'm looking for an Exorcist... a powerful Exorcist that goes by an alias name..." Enishi started to grin, "It's said that he has traveled on this exact trail... so I'm wondering if you are that Exorcist whome I seek... but I will see if you really are that swordsman for myself!" Enishi charged at Rave, trying to stab him in the chest. Easily able to dodge the attack to the left, Enishi turned Jinchu making a side sweep attack; Rave, barely able to block the two step attack was pushed back again, sliding on snow and getting cut on his side by Enishi.

"This sword which has kept me safe from harm numerous times for years has allowed me to fight and slay many powerful Akuma and other ruthless demons." He swiped away some of the blood on Jinchu. "You're heart is confused and weak... I will drag out your true self by force and slay you at your best..." Enishi crouched down into his fighting stance once again. "Now, have at you..."

[Undying]

Ultra Violet (http://www.esnips.com/doc/84f43dd0-4558-45a2-b0ac-958dfbe53dc9/116-Ultra-Violet-(Nelo-Angelo-Battle))

Sword Dancer narrowed his eyes and pressed, evening out the match between them. Enishi was a strong swordsman, but Sword Dancer was not weak himself. He pushed and pushed, until he suddenly let it go and side stepped, making Enishi lose his balance and stumble forward, which Sword Dancer used at once to attack. Enishi still managed to block the attack, impossibly twisting around and slashing his long sword to block.

The reaction was immediate as Sword Dancer retreated, allowing Enishi to turn, and attacked just in the instant that the other swordsman had his back turned to him. Enishi still managed to dodge, throwing himself forward in mid-step, then turned and jumped forward, slashing at Rave. Sword Dancer reacted at once, bringing his sword up, slapping against the other sword four times in quick succession.

Both fighters looked at each other with different eyes, scrutinizing and measuring, and then charged forward, slashing twice as fast as before. The swords clanged together so quickly that it seemed one long sound, a drawn out metal screech. Enishi slashed from below, altering the move in the middle to slash across, but Rave's sword was there, blocking and twisting around Enishi's Jinchu to pry it from Enishi's grasp.

Enishi was fast enough to keep his grip in the sword, jumped up and somersaulted over Rave, slashing at his shoulders. Rave was impossibly fast, turning on one foot so that his sword created a whirlwind of glinting metal, scrapping Jinchu and deflecting the blow. Enishi landed and stabbed backwards through the gap between his elbow and the chest, guessing correctly that Sword Dancer would stab him. The blades scraped again, a loud, screeching noise.

If anyone would look at the two swordsmen they would notice the way they moved. Sword Dancer seemed as though he was dancing, with unbelievably fast yet smooth and gliding motions, compared to Enishi's faster and more jerky moves, which seemed as though he was kicking and punching with one arm having an added blade.

That is, if the watcher could distinguish who was where in the storm of their movements. They seemed to be surrounded by a whirlwind of glinting metal, and a long, screeching metal noise echoed from them as though they were grinding metal plates against each other.

Enishi slammed the hilt of Jinchu up, but Rave intercepted by punching Enishi's hand with his sword hand, bringing his sword between them. Enishi let go of Jinchu and grabbed with with his other hand, slashing wide and swinging Rave's sword away from his body. Rave was ready and eased his momentum and just as Enishi was returning his movement with a backhanded slash Rave snapped his blade before him, stopping Jinchu and then kicking Enishi in his chest, sending him rolling through the snow back. Enishi was back in a flash, his sword stabbing, which Rave intercepted by placing his sword vertically in Jinchu's path, then let go of it so it rotated through the air, grabbing it as the hilt was in line with Enishi's chest and smashing him with it.

Enishi rolled to the side, reducing most of the blow and slashed Jinchu around, trying to slash Rave's side. Rave simply rolled with it, accepting the slash of his cloak and avoiding the blow by jumping forward and then turning to face Enishi.

He placed his sword perpendicular to his cheek and grasped it with both hands, pointing it at Enishi, who now held his sword with the point up towards the sky, the blade angling behind his elbow.

[Tyekanik]

Near CP 2, in the open

Rexus and Crescent had fallen back into the cavern, Takeshi was unsure of what to do, Sicarii seemed the same with Jean's predicament. Things were as usual - complicated and quite abnormal. ((I think annabelle is still here?))

Jean was spasming as the lycan's 'curse' flowed throughout him, overpowering his body. Fortunately, Hei did have an answer for this, without the newest level of his Innocence and the real nature of it, it would have been impossible.

"Werewolves are impure beings, not unlike the undead. Takeshi, Sicarii, hold him down." The two exorcists pressed down on his arms and legs.

"You know there are akuma coming right?" Takeshi was referring to the next impending assault.

"Yes, but we could really use Jean for that, plus if this goes any farther the option will go from saving him to destroying him." In a distant manner, even though they are friends, Hei seems that he will do what is necessary. After all, a man like Jean, living as such a blood crazed beast would indeed be a fate worse than death.

Standing above the body, Hei puts his palms together, heads bowed as if in prayer. What he is doing is manipulating the flow of energy that courses through the earth beneath him, bringing it to the surface.

Always looking out for others, that seems to be your role. A familiar thing, my powers are suited to this form of work.

As long as we can purify his body you can gloat all you want, until the Akuma arrive.

Crimson tendrils of light seeped through the ground, slowly encircling Jean. The other two exorcists made as if to pull back, but Jeans continued thrashing brought their minds back to their duties.

This won't be pleasant for him, the energy from the world tree will need to invade his body and destroy the lycan's curse.

The light tendrils seemed to twist together, then slowly pierce into Jeans body.

The essence of life energy, raw and gifted via the world tree. Once inside it will destroy the curse, and repair parts of his body that have been damaged. This is a partial technique, compacting what would be a larger scale formation. However the power of lycanthropy is quite hideous. Don't expect to be taking part in the first encounter for the coming battle, you are yet too weak to continue on as you have been.

As Jean writhed in agony, the tenrdrils filled his body with the living flow of the world tree, and the curse of the werewolf was destroyed, as well as his body healed of some of the wounds he had received.

Jean stopped writhing, and slowly opened his eyes as the crimson tendrils receded back into the ground.

"Eh, what happened?" he asks.

"Rather than that, we're under attack now. I sincerely hope you feel up to it, Mr. would-be werewolf."

The akuma had gotten in range.

[Kabane]

"200 Meters south of the exorcists. I'm sure you know where they are. Maybe you should help them. They're under a pile of snow. You know how that feels like."

Nicholas was a little overly sarcastic today. He seemed extremely serious about this particular mission.

-----------------
Flashback: In Earl's Dinning Room
-----------------


Nicholas had stepped through the portal, but something had caught his arm and kept him from moving forward.

"Nicholas, one more thing." It was the Earl. Nicholas was unable to reply or move, due to strange properties in the portal, but the Earl knew that Nicholas hears him.

"If you don't complete this mission. I'll kill you." Nicholas could not see The Earl's face, but he assumed his mouth widened.

-----------------

Nicholas began to walk up the mountain, towards the exorcists, just behind the level 1 akumas. His body, clad in armor, clanked as it moved. He was intent on killing the exorcist on his card.


((If you RP seeing Nicholas, you don't know it's Nicholas. His whole body is in armor... unless you have a different way of identifying people. ))

[Kenken]

Near CP 2, in the open

"Innocence level 2, activate!" Takeshi said as Tenchu's previous form changed into a more elegant sword, just as the others, including Jean, activated their innocences.

"Jean is it okey to fight right after being bitten?" Takeshi asked Jean, who wasn't in a bad shape, but wasn't in his best either.

"Don't worry, the more people fight the faster we'll win and get less injuries." Jean replied, getting ready for the attack.

"That's our Jean. Alwats ready to fight." Sicarii added, also ready for the akuma attack.

"Get ready guys, they're almost here.." Hei said to the others as the akuma came within range...

((small post for now, still recovering, and need to post as kimiko too >_>))

[Seff vi Britannia]

Not that far away from checkpoint 2


Dies snarled, he had NO IDEA where the exorcists were, and Nicholas knew it.

"I'm gunna freaking kill you, you bastard! Just wait until i get my paws on you you littl-"

Kujaku growled too, distracting Dies momentarily. The small akuma was glancing up at a mountain range. What was that Nicholas had said about snow? And the akuma concentration there was very, very large...

Was Nicholas planning to assault the entire exorcist camp by himself?

Dies threw Kujaku onto his back, and began to use dimensional steps to make quick progress towards the base of the mountain.

[Ryuzaki]

Ultra Violet (http://www.esnips.com/doc/84f43dd0-4558-45a2-b0ac-958dfbe53dc9/116-Ultra-Violet-(Nelo-Angelo-Battle))


"Watōjutsu Style..." Enishi swung Jinchu around his right arm and charged to Rave. Crouching low to the ground beneath Rave, Rave slashed downward at Enishi only to be countered and blocked by Jinchu's hilt, sending Rave's momentum upward and open at the same time. "Kaishi Tosei!" Spinning around Rave, with the dull side of his sword he hit Rave in the back of the neck sending him flying at the rocky wall of the cave, the mountain peek rumbled as piles of snow fell upon the both of us.

Quickly getting up, Rave pushed away the snow by him and stepped out of the pile. "You're pathetic! I will end your meaningless life right here!" Again, Enishi charged towards Rave, this time with Jinchu leading Enishi in the rush. Attacking with his left handed Gatotsu, Enishi hit nothing but granite, creating a huge crater in the wall of the cave as Rave quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the fierce attack.

Enishi turned around after his attack only to see Rave's foot heading for his face. Moving his head just in time, he avoided getting kicked in the face, Rave missing by inches. Throwing a series of kicks at Enishi, he blocked each attack with his arms and was unable to counter Rave since his back was against the rocky wall. Sweeping his legs underneath Enishi, trying to trip him, Enishi saw his foot going through the soft snow and leaped up into the air and pushed off against the walls, jumping over Rave to get away from his attacks.

Rubbing his cut on his left cheek from Rave's kicks, Enishi bent his knees and went into another one of his attack positions. Rave dashed towards Enishi, gracefully dodging all of Enishi's attacks, and countering them all. The sounds of their swords clashing echoed throughout the caverns as the two swordsmen displayed a spectacular display of fighting skills. As the sun was setting, you could see the sparks of the swords clash on each blow, as multiple strikes were made every split second.

Their movements greatly increased as the battle went on, as you could not the motion of their blades, soon you couldn't even see the movements of their entire body, only the lightning flash of light could be seen throughout the whole cave. Not only did they battle on the ground, but their movements and speed were so great, the flashing light could be seen clashing on top of the walls and even the ceiling.

As the pace of their speed quickly halted, both Enishi and Rave stood their in the middle of the cave, ready to strike again at any moment...

[Undying]

Ultra Violet (http://www.esnips.com/doc/84f43dd0-4558-45a2-b0ac-958dfbe53dc9/116-Ultra-Violet-(Nelo-Angelo-Battle))

Rave and Enishi stared each other in the eye for what seemed like an eternity, but in truth but a single instant had passed. Suddenly they both rushed forward, simultaneously slashing their swords. Enishi scraped it against the ground, causing sparks to fly from the tip, while Rave held it close, saving the momentum to the precise moment when Enishi's sword whirred through the air, stopping his movement and snapping his blade forward, it's glittering whitish blade slamming with full power against Jinchu's blueish blade, stopping it dead in its tracks.

The blades scraped together, sparks flying from their edges as both fighters vied for supremacy in a close duel of strength. Enishi pressed and growled, but Rave managed to keep their blades perfectly aligned, not letting Enishi get enough leeway to allow him to maneuver around the blade and push it away. They pressed and pressed, staring each other in the eye, when suddenly Rave let go and sidestepped.

Enishi predicted this and tossed himself backwards, only to fall into cunning Rave's trap as Rave let go of his sword, causing it to spin through the air while sweeping his foot under Enishi to make him fall. Enishi jumped in the last possible second, rolling backwards to land painfully on his back. Rave's sword was there in a flash of bluish reflection, stabbing into the snow. Enihis rolled up and jumped up, slashing with his sword. Rave stepped back, dodging the sword, and Enishi pressed in, Jinchu slashing and stabbing.

Meanwhile, Rave, despite his calm outlook and perfect reactions, was trapped in a continuous swirl of confused emotion. Enishi's words rang true to him, confused and lost though he was, he felt he failed continuously. Every time he fought, he felt empty, devoid of the joy that once accompanied his fighting. He began to doubt himself, and in turn, his Innocence.

Luckily, it was not a parasite type, so he could still use it to its full capacity. Or could he? He often sense a displeased rattle from the Innocence, sensing it was not used to the level it wished to be used. Confusion rolled in on waves, slowly eating away at the frozen calm of Sword Dancer. He began to slow.

[Yamamoto]

Outside, Under a Swirling Black Cloud

"Innocence...ACTIVATE!!"

Clutching his injured shoulder, Jean flinched for a small moment as he ferociously eyed the marching army of Akuma from the skies. In whatever state he was, he felt nothing but a sudden burst of something berserk, like his wound did not exist at all. Yet here he was, kneeling as more blood gushed out of his injured shoulder.

Things just couldn't get any better, could it?

The volley of attacks came straight towards the exorcists. With two of the group fallen underground and Hei seeming unbelievably tired, things didn't look too good.

Taking cover behind different rock formations, the mountains were slowly being reshaped by the swarm of Akumas. There were too many of them to use his normal lightning attacks. Knowing the rock shields wouldn't last too long, something had to be done.

Giving a Manicure to the Fingernails of Darkness (http://www.esnips.com/doc/8155d3f5-34f9-45c6-b0ec-0ddeb9aa8fe9/125_giving_a_manicure_to_the_fingernails_of_darkne ss) ((strange title yeah))

Using the rocks to help himself up, he put his left hand over his right, as he glared towards the Akuma procession.

"Innocence, Level Two....ACTIVATE!!"

Pulling his left hand away as soon as his gauntlet transformed into a gold and blue armor extended up to his shoulder, a chain and sickle weapon materialised from between his hands. With a sudden burst he charged with his comrades towards the Akuma, as soon as they were near enough- hacking and slashing through the army.

His movements, despite his aching shoulder, seemed like he was performing a strong, acrobatic dance. His reach was incredible, as he used precise strikes and body moments to use the full potential of the weapon's form. Spinning while slashing to gain momentum, each slice generated a thin amount of electricity, which seemed to increase after each consecutive strike.

Retracting the weapon immediately Jean then began spinning the sickle with great speed. Crackles of lightning could be heard as he prepared his stance and launched the weapon again in a full assault.

"Volt Dragon!!"

A gargantuan lightning dragon shape surrounded the weapon as it broke through the centre of the dark Akuma cloud. Pulling the chain to the left, the dragon slashed more enemies in its path, as it tore through the swarm.

Jean's left arm was shaking as he tried to maintain control of the Volt Dragon. It seemed like he had done enough with the attack, as he could see big holes scattered in the once dark cloud. His eyes squinted hard as he saw a figure in some sort of armor, commanding the army. Alas, pain took control of him as the weapon dropped to the ground.

He stood back up, huffing, enduring the pain to help his other fighting comrades.

[HP loss= 8 from blood loss]

[HolyMoon]

Inside the cave...

Jarlaxle tossed a needle at their feet, causing it to explode in a cloud, healing them. Akuma poison could be used as a stimulating drug to allow them full power. After all, the fun would not start if they were tired and sick.

Producing his giant weapon, he twirled it and looked at them.

As Crescent and Rexus regained their composure, they quickly exchanged glances and jumped to seperated place while sending words through their telepathy bond.

'What is this? I think I feel stronger after receiving that akuma's attack..,' said Rexus as he stand before the long-black haired akuma (Yase). Rexus had activated his Level 2 Innocence back then and ready for a fight.

'I think they want to play with us as long as possible... That's why they made us feel better..,' growled Crescent. 'Let's seperate!'

After sending the last words, Crescent quickly jumped deeper to the cave in a high speed, passing the white haired akuma as he did so. Looking sideways, he stared to the zet black eyes and said, "Let move deeper, shall we?" that was heard only by Jarlaxle. In no time, he had disappear from the akuma's sight. But it wasn't long until he felt him followed.

Halting his movement, Crescent quickly summon his tornados using his Unicorn Blast and they started to circle around Crescent and his opponent, who managed to catch up easily with Crescent's speed. The pillars of air swept the place and made a big open space above them, showing the clouded sky outside.

"I'm Crescent Vell. Who is your name, akuma?" said Crescent as he moved the tornados toward the akuma.

The akuma in front of him smirked.

[There are 3 tornados. The damage power for 1 tornado is 8. The total damage for 3 tornados is 16. Min damage = 3, Max = 16]

-------------------------------------------
Rexus's place....

As Crescent and the other akuma moved to the depth of the cave, Rexus secretly pulled his triggers 5 times and releasing his Lost Soul around the black haired akuma. The bullets would explode when Rexus wants it.

"So, could you be so kind to tell me your name, akuma?" asked Rexus with a smile "Oh, I'm Rexus by the way."

[Undying]

Yase

Jarlaxle smiled, understanding the duo's plan well. They intended to keep them separated. Smirking at Yase, he moved after Crescent, carefully measuring the distance. Twenty meters. Yase, who realized Jarlaxle's plan, simply smiled cockily.

"I'm Yase Makato," he replied.

Jarlaxle

Just as the Exorcist activated his Innocence, Jarlaxle dropped an anti-Innocnece bomb, which instantly shut down the 3 tornado. Smiling quietly, Jarlaxle tossed another of his anti-Innocence bombs at Yase, who shot an eternity ball at it, causing it to spray anti-Innocence vapors throughout the cave. Both Exorcists had their Innocence completely turned off now, reducing them to the same level as regular humans. Had Jarlaxle not selected the battlefield properly before, the Exorcists would have been able to simply leave the area of effect.

However, due to their location at an enclosed hollow inside the cliff, with only one way - and even that concealed - so now they were in quite a predicament. Yase and Jarlaxle smiled simultaneously, despite standing over twenty meters away from each other.

They both dropped a small bottle on the ground, and it exploded into smoky substance which dissipated the earth beneath them, causing them to sink through the floor into a prepared system of tunnels, where they switched locations and rose up, changing opponents.

Yase blasted an Infinity Ball at Crescent just when Jarlaxle tossed a needle at Rexus.

[Damage: 3 to Rexus, 5 to Crescent||You may dodge or deflect, however, until I open the doorway outside, you have no Innocence]

[Seff vi Britannia]

Near the exorcists.

Dies stood on his perch, Kujaku by his feet. From the snow-tippled rock, the Noah could observe the huge cloud of akuma, and the exorcist's pitiful attempts to destroy it.


And...


Nicholas?

Yes, it had to be him, for the power signal was not that of an akuma. The black-amoured shape that strode amongst the akuma, standing in the eye of the storm. Why had Nicholas started attacking already?

Dies opened a dimension portal straight up, launching himself into the akuma cloud. On his command, two flying akuma grabbed a hold of him, so that he wouldn't fall.

Nicholas, this is rather strange behaviour...

Dies sighed. It seemed that the fight had already begun, and if that was the way it was to be, that was the way it had to be.

"You command the skies, brother. I shall cleanse the earth."

He pushed the akuma away from him, and dived out of the cloud, spinning as he dropped. He stretched out his right arm, and he immediately flipped to his right, angling his body so that he would land at his destination.

Yes, at this distance Dies could see the faces of the exorcists. Several of them, stood attempting to disperse the cloud.

Dies brought his body upright right before he hit the ground, slamming his hands together to rip apart the space around his landing zone. Rock and snow, ice and sleet washed over the exorcists, and Dies stood up from the smoking earth, smiling. With the exorcists distracted for a brief moment, Dies gestured with two fingers and a wave of level one Akuma rushed over the exorcists. Dies smiled, the prospect of bloodshed bringing a smile to his lips.

He leapt into the air, forming small, dimensional blades between each of his fingers and going into a tight spin, his cloak billowing around him as he hurled the pointed, near invisible daggers at the exorcists.

[Damage: 2 to all exorcists, and you each have at least one level one akuma on top of you. You can one shot that with no damage.]

[Ryuzaki]

Ultra Violet (http://www.esnips.com/doc/84f43dd0-4558-45a2-b0ac-958dfbe53dc9/116-Ultra-Violet-(Nelo-Angelo-Battle))


As Rave's movements began to slow down during the fight, Enishi started to take advantage of the slower Rave to get the upper hand in all of this. Rave and Enishi charged both at each other, clashing swords by both of their faces, grinning at each other, trying to prove their purpose in the world.

Swinging his sword and sheath that followed, Rave attack Enishi from the side, blocking the sword with Jinchu and kicking the sheath out of the way, breaking Rave's stance wide open as his body was falling back. In a moments notice, Enishi grabbed both of Rave's arms, grappling his own around Rave, and kneed him several times before Rave went to the ground on one knee. Letting go of Rave, who was then grabbed for him stomach in pain, Enishi grabbed his head with both hands and kneed him to the face, sending him flying back against the rocky wall, blood gushing out of Rave's nose. As Rave fell to the snowy floor, he coughed up some blood frm his throat and looked at Enishi's direction, only to find that he suddenly disappeared.

"I told you didn't I, that you're soul is confused!" Grabbing Jinchu from the bottom of the hilt Enishi punched Rave on his cheek with the butt of his sword, throwing him down the ground again. "I'll end your miserable life Exorcist!" With a mighty downward swing, Rave blocked the final blow with his sword, centimeters away from his head. As the two pressed as hard as they could, Enishi gritted his teeth and struck several blows to Raves chest with his foot.

Splitting Jinchu into duel swords, Enishi stabbed Rave in his left shoulder, you could hear the bones crack and break with the blow. Rave sreaming out in pain, quickly hit away Jinchu. Enishi quickly took up Jinch again into the air and stabbed Rave again, this time into his right shoulder.

"I'll make you suffer before you die a miserable death, Exorcist!!" With both of his swords in Rave, he picked up Rave with his swords stuck in his shoulders, and ran him against the rocky wall, pinning Rave in the air with both of Enishi's swords holding him up a couple feet above the floor. As Enishi pummeled Rave in his face, chest and shoulders, Rave coughed up even more blood, unable to breathe properly anymore.

"You... you are pathetic...! Not even able to tell that your own soul is so lost, and not even noticing it at all... you are no better than those other Exorcist scum who took away my sisters life from me!!" Enishi punched Rave again several times in the face. Rave's eye's started to glow a different color slowly as he was being beaten by Enishi, helpless.

"Your eyes tell me everything about you, I can see deep within your soul that there is more to you than this load of crap! If it means that you die right here, right now... then your whole life was pointless, without any meaning at all! In this pitiful current state of your's, you're not even worth wasting my time...!" Enishi grabbed Rave's throat, and whispered into his ear, "I've found the truth of my life... So why can't you even see yours...?"

[Yamamoto]

Sicarii:

Slashing the Akuma on top of him with his retractable blade, Sicarii stood up as he saw what seemed to be a Noah grinning at his sudden entrance.

A bit of a smug prick there..

The others have dealt with their own Akuma and were now adjusting their stances as the Akuma hovered over the group. The Noah smiled as he pointed towards the exorcists, beckoning them to fight.

Jean walked to where Sicarii was and whispered something to his ear. "Let's focus our attacks on that Noah first. Maybe he is in control of the assault." Sicarii grinned, as the group split up into different directions.

A full-on attack!!

"Aquila Soar!"

A single Innocence-energy blast taking form of an eagle was fired towards the Noah, accompanying by his comrades's own attacks.

"Let's see you handle this!"

[Kenken]

Kimiko, Near the battle under the Black Cloud

After walking for a long time in Russia, Kimiko seemed to have finally catch up with the group of exorcists, which she believed Takeshi was in. Thanks to the Psnergy spell Cloak, Kimiko was able to avoid many akumas on the way without being detected.

Kimiko was nearing an area where she could see a big, black cloud, and under a great number of akumas fighting a group of exorcists. She wasn't sure if Takeshi was there, but she belived she should help at least.

She starting running, still under the Cloak's effect, towards the battle as she killed a number of level one akumas on the way.

When she got closer to the group of exorcists fighting, she recognize Takeshi, who quickly dispatch an akuma above him with his sword.

Kimiko cried: "Takeshi!!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Takeshi, few minutes before Kimiko arrives.

Holding Tenchu with his left hand, Takeshi used the Ryushosen to kill a few akumas in front of him, and soon followed with a Ryutsuisen to kill a level two in the air.

Landing in the ground, he blocked a number of bullets from a nearby akuma with his sheath and Tenchu, and then quickly attacked it with Dragon's Breath, killing the akuma who just shot and the ones behind it. Not soon after he noticed an akuma right above him, preparing to shoot him. He jumped and sliced the akuma before it had time to do so.

"Takeshi!!"

Someone screamed his name. The voice was female, and he didn't know it, but it somehow sounded familiar, but why?

Takeshi turned around, and saw a young girl with long black hair and a naginata in her hands looking at him. At the same time he saw a noah attacking him and his friends, however he did not what. Then he noticed something flying through the air towards them. Takeshi quickly blocked the first dagger, but doing so left him open to the next dagger, with hit his stomach. Luckly it didn't hit a vital spot and he was able to keep moving.

The girl quickly catch up to him, but simply kept her eyes on the noah.

Seeing Jean and Sicarii getting ready to attack the noah, Takeshi decided to help them too and ran towards the noah as he absorbed energy around him. The girl ran after him, holding her naginata in her hands and mumbling something.

Sicarii used his Aquila soar, sending an Innocence energy blast towards the noah, just as Jean followed with his attack.

"Dragon's Breath!" Takeshi shouted as he sent an energy blast.

"Fume!!" The girl shot a fire blast which took the form of a sepertine beast, attacking the noah with fire.

[Kabane]

"kekekekekekekeke" Nicholas cackled.

He grinned inside his suit of armor as he paced up the side of the mountain. Several exorcists had lined up in front of Nicholas.

"kekekeke" He cackled again.

An array of attacks progressed towards Nicholas, but to the exorcist's surprise, and suspicion, he did not attempt to dodge. He walked into the attacks willingly. Each of them struck Nicholas, causing a mild explosion. They caused dust to shoot into the air. Nicholas' voice echoed around the mountain. It was an eerie sound, as if being descended upon by death itself.

Visibility was limited in the general vicinity. Nicholas continue to move, not known to the exorcists. His figure, a knight in welded armor, appeared from the dust.

"Kekekekekeke"

A rain drop fell upon the exorcists' faces.






Dies paid attention from a small distance.

What is he thinking? This is not Nicholas.

[Yamamoto]

Jean:

"What an annoying laugh," Jean's eyes narrowed, as the armored man cackled endlessly. Raindrops slowly fell upon the field, as Jean found a slight chance.

He put his hand to the ground as he signaled the others to back off, as he released a wave of electricity to the ground, forming into a large star-shaped pattern. He waited until the mad figure walked close enough, then immediately put all his force into the pattern.

"Rising Storm!!"

The armored figure was engulfed in a brilliant display of raging lightning, as it rose from the depths of the earth, surfacing up to ten-feet high. His annoying laugh only continued as he was surrounded by the massive storm, but Jean only ran back with the others, without any attempt to fight the figure one-on-one.

[Damage: 16
Damage to Jean: 3 from blood loss]

[Tyekanik]

The other exorcists had launched a few attacks, which seemed to do nothing to the armored figure. The showy one had thrown some knives as well which seemed to miss their targets completely. Perhaps it was the dust. ((Iunno how else to explain it, the invisible knives were too invisible for you guys to notice XD))

Then one of them flicked past Hei's ear, slicing his earlobe.

This is annoying. One thing after another.

The armored figured stood there laughing like a lunatic as the rain began to fall.

Armored, showy, armored, showy. The showy one has this furry thing on its back. However the armored one, that metal might prove a bit disadvantageous.

Slightly short on power at the moment due to the extensive energy usage, Hei sticks with forming his three wisps, which at least being a level one ability can be used at full power.

The armored figure still laughs, as the wisps plummet towards him, however they do not impact, rather they begin to circle in close proximity, heating the metallic armor to high degrees of temperature in moments.

As the rain began to increase, the drops sizzled off of the armor immediately upon impact, and it was clear the figure knew there was something that needed to be done about the situation. Hopefully at least the figure might lose the armor, at worst things would just get...worse.

[Lethe]

A Few Miles to the North of the Second Checkpoint,
Right at the Base of the Mountains


Shinju dropped her backpack to the ground and looked up to the sky again, her thoughts again distant.

Beside her was Serenade, arms crossed and waiting patiently.

“Has he returned yet?” Serenade gently inquired after her Innocence ceased to glow the light green that indicated the Ballad of Gales.

Shinju grinned and nodded. “He’s just broken through my domain, so he’ll be here in a matter of minutes.”

And sure enough, he soon came into view.

With the silent flutter of the wings and a sharp, shrill cry, the male Eurasian Sparrowhawk dove down and landed lightly onto Shinju’s shoulder without even leaving a mark with its talons. The sky raptor stood proudly, its feathers ruffling in the wind.

Shinju and the predators of the sky and earth in this area were all very good friends, and should she need their assistance, most would heed her call. It was rather a convenient bond to have around during their travels since the food that they got at the headquarters was often not enough.
She retrieved a piece of raw meat from her backpack and held it out to the sparrowhawk, which was immediately snatched and gobbled down.

“What have you to report today, my friend?” she lightly whispered to the bird, her Innocence a light green, and once again her thoughts were afar. The sparrowhawk flicked its head back and forth from time to time, but he was undoubtedly focused on the girl.

Serenade silently pondered to himself.

By using the Ballad of Gales or the Symphony of Rain, Shinju could tap into the massive information network that was the wind, and, in turn, tap into the network surrounding someone or something that was nearby.

Exorcist, Noah, Akuma, human… It didn’t matter – if she wanted to know something, the world was an open book to her, but seldom would she share that information.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, she would often say.
And she was probably right – there were some things that should not be known.

As the saying goes, ignorance is bliss.

But… what would it feel like to be able to communicate with animals like Shinju did?
What did an animal’s voice sound like? Was it a pleasant feeling or a disturbing one?

He would like to know one day.

Shinju’s Innocence’s light began fading away and back to its original color.
“Ah, so that’s what it was…” she frowned and took out their map of the region.

“Here—” she pointed to the spot next to the mountains, “—is where we are, but over here—” she moved her finger down by mere centimeters, “—is where everybody else is. From what our friend here said, there appears to be several fights going on. There were also several groups of Akuma...” Her voice grew fainter.

Just by a few miles?! Serenade pouted a little.

Shinju’s job here was a tracker’s job.
In other words, she was equivalent to a Finder.
One who did not like to fight at all.

He, on the other hand, did, but not so much anymore.
At the moment, he was mentally torn between rushing right into the battlefield and avoiding the troublesome fight entirely.

Was being around her changing him that much? Again, he pondered.

“What do you think we should do now?” he asked.

“…Let’s go stop by, maybe lend them a hand, go to the checkpoint and drop off the supplies, and then figure out our next course of action,” she suggested.

“After traveling so far, you’re probably tired, too.”

Just like a book…

Serenade sighed out loud and nodded.

Giving the sparrowhawk another piece of meat, she bid him good-bye, watching as he soared away, watching as he went back to his hunt.

The two mercenaries continued down their chosen path.

--------------------

(OoC: Post has been edited~)

[Ryuzaki]

((This is towards Shinju and Serenade; this is Komui btw.))

The golem radio from Shinju's pocket flew out as Komui's undeniable voice came talking through it.

"Hello? Hello? Shinju, is that you!? Because I think it is, aheheh..." Silence broke out between them as Komui cleared his throat to continue with his serious news.

"Umm, Shinju and Serenade, I need you two to go to a village outside the city known as Sylvania, it's not too far but I need you two to head there immediately to investigate. Some of the other Exorcists should meet you two there soon after they finish their tough battle with the Akuma..." Shinju and Serenade looked at each other and back to the radio golem. "There may be Noah attacking them from what we've heard from our sources, so please hurry up there... And if you want to know what you're going to do there, it's an Innocence retrieval mission, you must get it before the enemy does at all costs! I'll tell you more when you reach there, Komui out!"


((Pika, you can now travel to the Sub-Arc - North Route: Black Snow))

[Kabane]

Nicholas cackles again. He continues to move as the exorcists attempt another attack on him. A reserve of lightning is released from the sky and descended upon Nicholas. He laughs as it streams through the sky. The dense bolt of light strikes Nicholas' shoulder. It is simply deflected off him and fires off in a tangent. The bolt of lightning strikes a number of trees. The trees burst into flames. The flames don't last long as the rain starts to pick up. As the fire is extinguished it leaves behind a charred log.

From afar, Hei sends several attacks of his own. He formed a few wisps in his palm and sends them towards Nicholas. They fly at the Noah with amazing speed and weave through the exorcists in between. Nicholas has become very confident in Styx's protection and allows the wisps to hit him. But they don't hit him. Right before impacting with Nicholas they begin to swirl. The circle Nicholas and entrap him in a wall-less convection oven. Hei accomplished what the other exorcists could not. Nicholas halted from the discomfort and singeing pain of the heat.

The light drizzle that sizzled on the heating armor began to pick up. At the discretion of Nicholas, the level 2 akuma that could control weather had been told not to send wind or lightning. Nicholas wanted water, and the akuma delivered. The mist became a rain. The rain became a downpour. Though Hei's flames were not like regular flames in that a minor amount of water could extinguish them, they certainly did not thrive in water. The wisps slowed down and shrunk in size. Nicholas decided not to wait for the water to take care of this annoyance naturally and raised his arm.

Water clumped together to form a stream of liquid. This stream of liquid also began to pace around Nicholas. They closed themselves around the wisps which were suffocated and extinguished. The exorcists between Hei and Nicholas stood still as he grew closer. None of their attacks had been effective and Hei, arguably the strongest exorcists on the team, had hardly been able to slow this armored knight down. They held their breath as Nicholas was only a couple feet from their bodies. The coldness of the rain caused their fear to surface. They trembled, but Nicholas paid them no attention.

Nicholas passed them as if they weren't there, as if they didn't exist and continued to walk towards Hei. Hei stepped back and raised his lance. A Noah that could mold water? That only meant one thing.

"There can only be a single person in that suit of armor. Nicholas! Reveal yourself!" Hei shouted.

Nicholas dashed at the sound of his name. His breakneck speed surprised Hei whose Lance was slapped away. Nicholas grabbed Hei's neck and continued to dash, carrying him in the palm of his hand. Hei grabs Nicholas' palm and tries to shake himself loose. Hei is shoved against a large boulder, his feet several inches above the ground.

Hei grunts. He could barely make out the face of Nicholas through Styx's vertical helmet openings. Nicholas' trademark white eyes were fixated on Hei's chest. His piercing stare caused Hei's heart to drop. It sensed this danger for it's own vitality. Hei takes one of his hands, the other still on Nicholas' arm, and places it on Nicholas' chest. The armor begins to glow a bright red as Hei released a large amount of heat. Nicholas cackles again.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Sicarii yelled. He and the other exorcists were finally able to break through their paralyzation and ran towards Nicholas and Hei.

Nicholas takes Hei's hand and slams it against the boulder. He then moves his metal hand up and down Hei's arm as if looking for something. He rips Hei's sleeve off exposing his arm to the rain. Nicholas' metal glove recedes into the arm guard revealing Nicholas' fleshy hand. Nicholas' hand shows slight signs of burning, but the perks of being a Noah include spontaneous regeneration. The burns were most likely worse before, but have since then regenerated. The regeneration, even now, is clear.

Nicholas moves his hand up and down Hei's arm again. Hei grunts and squirms. He doesn't know what's about to happen but he doesn't want to stay to find out. Nicholas stops his hand over Hei's shoulder and begins to strain his own muscle. As Nicholas' vibrating hand begins, Hei bites his lip until he cannot take it anymore. He lets out a large yell which could be heard from a mile away. Nicholas moves his hand down Hei's arm and in it's wake, leaves a wrinkly and barren area of skin.

He was dehydrating Hei. He had only moved to just before Hei's elbow when, Sicarii and the others had reared their ugly heads.

"That's enough!" Sicarii declared. Nicholas had foolishly let his guard down, allowing a sharp blow to the side of his body send him flying towards the inner forest. Nicholas releases his hold on Hei who drops to the ground in front of Sicarii and is shooting into the forest, hitting several trees on the way.




((Run... or fight))

[Kenken]

Takeshi

"That's enough!" Sicarii declared. He quickly run towards Nicholas and sent a sharp blow to the side of his body, sending him flying towards the forest.

Takeshi and Jean took the opportunity to grab Hei as they fended off a group of akumas that came in to attack. Soon after Sicarii joined them, and started moving south-east.

"I'll catch up with you." The girl with the naginata said, facing the akuma army.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kimiko

The rain would make it difficult to use that, so Kimiko had to do something about it. Waving her naginata in the direction of the akumas and the rain, Kimiko slashed the air and used a Mercury spell.

"Cool!"

Kimiko sent a blast of freezing cold air, freezing the rain around hair and any nearby akumas. That took of the rain, and now she needed to take care of the incoming rain.

"Whirlwind!"

Kimiko created a small tornato in front of her reflecting any rain elsewhere, allowing Kimiko to concentrate on her next attack.

"Fire Psynergy, Volcano!!"

Extending her arms, Kimiko summoned the fire's energy in the Earth's core to create a volcanic eruption. Soon after, a blast of flames and lava erupted from the ground, big and powerful enough to create confusion within the akumas and delay them. Kimiko started running towards the direction the others left.

"Damn...I used ... too... much s...strength..."

Just as she fall to the ground, Kimiko felt someone grabbing her and carrying her away. It was Takeshi.

[Seff vi Britannia]

Laughing as one of the exorcists fired an energy blast at him, Kujaku leapt in front of Dies, swallowing the attack and blasting it back at Sicarii. The shot missed ~ plunging into a rock face instead.

Another energy blast; this time from one of the exorcists Dies had met on the beach. The Noah leapt into the air, leaping over the blast and cartwheeling as he hurled more daggers - all of which missed or were blocked.

He spun round to see flames whirling round him.

"Yada, yada.."

The fire slightly scorched his hand as he clicked his fingers; creating his own dimensional explosion and pushing back the fire. Grinning, Dies noticed that Nicholas too had attacked, seemingly incapacitating one of the exorcists already.

Then Dies saw a slight trickle of red in the corner of his eye. A volcanic eruption that blasted towards the akuma cloud, sending hundreds of the level ones crashing to the ground. Dies remained indifferent. They were only tools.

"So the exorcists have abandoned the fight. Go figure. Nicholas, what's with your new outfit?"

Dies strode towards his fellow Noah, grinning sheepishly. Kujaku ran around the ground collecting snow and eating it as though it were ice cream.

Dies hp: 56-5 = 51

[Undying]

Ultra Violet (http://www.esnips.com/doc/84f43dd0-4558-45a2-b0ac-958dfbe53dc9/116-Ultra-Violet-(Nelo-Angelo-Battle)

Rave's lips were split, and blood was slowly dripping from them to his chin. Several similar splits adored his face and his right eye bled. He barely felt any of it, though, instead listening to something inside him.

Pathetic... Confused... Lost...

Enishi hit him again on the nose, but luckily it didn't break, only bled,but again Rave felt nothing.

Fear... Confusion... Loss...

Rage began to boil in his stomach, obscuring his vision with a red haze. Where did he lose it all? Why did he suddenly turn into a sniveling, friendly brat? It was not him, not his personality. He could care less about others, what others thought, what others felt. Certainly he would not let his friends die, but not because of some pesky friendly care. It was because of his pride. It offended him to think that someone he knew would die, and he could not stop him.

But because he felt a need to? Never.

Had he feared it?

Fear...

Hew f