+- Hot Pursuit -+ (cont. from Caverns)

Post by **Windra** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 12:24 am

(Yus. This be's continued from the Underground Caverns. Anybody from that post is welcome to join, if they want. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"> 
 
Also, this may be somewhat rushed, depending on how fast the real big ginormous plot of the UV goes.) 
 
<img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/V ... ngPost.gif ALT=":longpost"> 
 
So Ashowan took off like a shot, determined to catch up with the odd glowing citrine stone - the stone that, somehow or another, had been embued with Windra's ghost. The stone that Ashowan had to reap, as strange as that sounded. 
 
She started off by running. The slope leading from the caverns to the Boundary Mountains may have been steep and rugged, filled to the rim with stones that grew larger and sharper along with the altitude, but she didn't pay any heed. She didn't notice when a jagged rock slipped and sliced into her foot. Not that it mattered - it healed in seconds, and the brief flutter of pain that accompanied it vanished. 
 
Every time she grew closer to the stone, it would accelerate in its accent. The wind would carry it higher, faster, swirling about it as an invisible twister of tiny proportions. Finally Ashowan switched from running, to hopping from boulder to boulder in order to keep up. She couldn't lose sight of this thing ... Retired reaper or not, she had a job to do. 
 
Leap. Land. Leap. Land. 
 
He said Mort had a few more jobs for me. Fine, but ... was this one of them? 
 
Nah. 
 
This wasn't really a normal job. 
 
For now, Ashowan was solo. 
 
Her right hand held the rowanwood staff out to her side. The coat flared out behind her like some massive cape. The post-its she held - the two Windra ones, and the blank note - had been shoved back into her pocket. Terry was nowhere in sight, but the reaper had no doubt in her mind that the graveling would soon follow. 
 
But for now ... 
 
Leap. Land. 
 
Green eyes narrowed, focused on that glowing yellow orb ahead. Leap. Land. "Why are you taking off?" she called up. And was amazed at how she didn't seem that much out of breath. 
 
Thank the gods for small favors. 
 
+I am not running,+ the telepathic voice called down. It boomed through her mind, and into the minds of anybody nearby. +I believe the Earthling name for the game is 'tag'.+ 
 
Leap. 
 
"Tag," Ashowan murmured ... and smiled a bit. Tag you're it. Tag you're dead. That's super morbid ...  Land. Leap. "Right. And you're doing this why?" 
 
+Ah .. no reason. No reason at all.+ 
 
The stone propelled faster than Ashowan could register, flying up and out of sight. Ashowan cursed under her breath, made ground contact with a huge boulder, and stared after it. Into the now empty sky. 
 
"Where did - ?" 
 
A look back ... Whoa. One mistep and it'd be a long, probably painful tumble back down. Even so, she was halfway between the Mountain peaks, and the dragon caverns. The altitude provoked some moderate air pressure and a chill. 
 
The Mountains. A wary glance around, and then the worry of being stalked by a big predator was shoved into the back of her mind. Gotta look for Windra. 
 
"Tag suddenly became hide-and-seek," she groaned. 
 
Windra called back, her disembodied voice floating in Ashowan's mental awareness even when the citrine stone wasn't visible. 
 
+All the more fun, don't you think?+ 
 
"I think you're more hyper than a sugared up kid." 
 
+Why thank you.+

<div style="text-align:center">_-This is Fred the Grunny-_ 
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/ ...  
_-He eats puppies named Fluffy-_</div> 
 
<div style="text-align:center">Out Of My Mind; Back In Five Minutes</div> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p082.ezboard.com/bunicornsvision ... >Windra</A> at: 3/4/06 5:36

Post by **JunoZXV** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 1:45 pm

Juno treid to catch up with Ashowan, darting here and there, she was leading after all, and he could catch up pretty quickly. Even with a keg of gunpowder in his arms. A small sharp tap hit him in the shoulder. Distracted for a moment he looked. A miniture version of the Grim Reaper was sitting there, sort of like a shoulder angel. 
 
YOU KNOW JUNO, YOU"RE REALLY HARD TO CATCH UP WITH. 
 
"I try, Mort. I try- Wait where the hell did you come from!?!" 
 
WELL YOU SEE JUNO, WHEN TWO PARENTS LOVE EACH OTHER VERY MUCH- 
 
"You know darn well what I ment." 
 
AH WELL YOU SEE, I HAVE ANOTHER MISSION FOR YOU. 
 
"You know I don't owe you any favors." 
 
YES BUT IT'S SOMETHING TO DO. 
 
"Alright what is it?" 
 
HELP ASHOWAN, YOU DO HAVE YOUR EYE. 
 
"...And get clouted over the head for being a pervert? I don't think so. " 
 
JUST CHANGE YOUR EYE, YOUR FULLY CAPABLE OF IT, DETECT ONLY THE SPIRITRUAL ENERGY. USE THE FORCE YOUNG... ER... SKYWA- JUNO. 
 
"Your doing this for your own entertainment arn't you?" 
 
NO. 
 
Juno shot Grim a piercing look that would have even made a golem seem insignifigant in his gaze. 
 
OKAY, JUST A LITTLE BIT.

____________________________________ 
 
This signature is under protcection of MegamanJuno. If this signature is plagerized, summerized, or paraphrased in any way for anothers personal gain, the guilty party will expierence the upmost severe punishment, involving several chicken feathers, cod liver oil and a very, very depaved walrus.

Post by **Windra** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 5:26 pm

If Ashowan was aware of being followed, she didn't show it at first. Her eyes were set in a narrowed hunting gaze as she stared into the open sky, to the Mountains, from side to side. For a moment she looked like an honest-to-god rebel without a cause, and the rambo-style headband only added to the effect. 
 
Of course she'd seen movement out of the corner of her eye. Saw a flash of pink and heard a feminine voice exchanging in dialogue with something else ... Eep? Whatever that something else was ... it sounded alien, and the presence prodded a weird feeling. The feeling that allowed one reaper to pinpoint another in an amassed crowd - they just knew. 
 
The hunter look broke and she peered over her shoulder, now on the lookout for Terry. The graveling was like Mary's little lamb. Wherever there was Ashowan (or Juno, pending), the graveling was sure to follow. 
 
Or wherever there was a death, of course. 
 
"She's not a ghost, really. Just -" 
 
Zoom! Ashowan keeled over forward as something yellow went whizzing past the back of her head. The draconic laugh was audible to all. 
 
"-a runaway gemstone." Waved her arms a couple of times to regain balance, not willing to faceplant a lot of sharp rocks. 'Show threw a glare at said gem. "That wasn't funny!" 
 
+Really? I thought it to be hilarious.+ 
 
"Eeeeveryone's a prankster," the reaper sighed, looking at Juno with an expression that crossed humor and 'shoot me now please'. She'd just noticed something perched on his shoulder (or maybe. Can she see that, or no?) When the orb blasted by again. "Aaay!" 
 
+The goal of tag is to find the person who is 'not it',+ the voice chided. +You can't do that if you are standing in one spot.+ And to Juno: +Nice steering with the ship, by the way. Though I doubt the Cavern residents were amused by the show.+ 
 
Ashowan sighed and took off after the stone, ascending stone by stone to keep up with it. "What's with tag? Real answer this time." Though the reaper thought she already knew the answer. 
 
+Just some fun. It's my last few moments to enjoy myself, is it not?+ 
 
"Last call, drink up while you still can." Though she grinned, a bit amused herself. 
 
Another run and jump. 
 
"How do you catch a rock that's flying faster than a frigging jet?"

<div style="text-align:center">_-This is Fred the Grunny-_ 
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/ ...  
_-He eats puppies named Fluffy-_</div> 
 
<div style="text-align:center">Out Of My Mind; Back In Five Minutes</div> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p082.ezboard.com/bunicornsvision ... >Windra</A> at: 3/4/06 7:29

Post by **JunoZXV** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 5:53 pm

"OHHHH THAT'S QUITE SIMPLE" 
 
Explained death on Juno's shoulder trying to posess him as he had done on previous ocasions. Juno didn't mind. Death was a pretty good guy, the only thing that he had really used Juno was to have a socal life and actually try eating. Of couse Juno had a huge stomachache after that. 
 
"USE TERRY. IF YOU CAN'T CATCH, THROW"

____________________________________ 
 
This signature is under protcection of MegamanJuno. If this signature is plagerized, summerized, or paraphrased in any way for anothers personal gain, the guilty party will expierence the upmost severe punishment, involving several chicken feathers, cod liver oil and a very, very depaved walrus.Edited by: <A HREF=http://p082.ezboard.com/bunicornsvision ... manJuno</A> at: 3/4/06 7:54

Post by **Windra** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 6:21 am

Ashowan found footing and cast a half-glance back at the one who'd decided to follow her. Alright ... something was off-kilter with him. And there was still that thing on his shoulder. 
 
Polly want a cracker? CAW! 
 
"Um .. " 
 
The sentence and the confusion over the oddity stopped. Pebbles fell from a boulder above. Terry stood there, holding a stick like a baseball bat and waiting for the gem, which went flying past Juno, then Ashow, and now to graveling. 
 
Windra noticed this odd creature. +What is it?+ 
 
"A headache and a half. Hope you've got airbags in that thing." 
 
The ghost thingy in an orb laughed and flew straight at Terry, who swung. Miss! The graveling lost its grip and the 'bat' became a projectile. Zipped past Ashowan and headed directly to the others. 
 
"Might wanna duck!" Ashowan called back, running past a disgruntled graveling and after the gem. 
 
Windra called back, too. To Terry. +Do not play in the World Series.+ 
 
It continued its rapid ascent into the dangerous territory ... but now it started to slow. Gradually, slowly, until it seemed to hover in mid-air above a granite slab that overshot the caverns by a good mile or so. Here it stayed, the glow pulsating from it flickering just so, dimmed a little. 
 
Ashowan landed on that slab a moment later, pulling from her pocket the three post-its. One old by a day. The other two brand new, in that different handwriting. 
 
Here she stopped. Half to wait out the sudden and brief dizzy spell courtesy of the plague (wobbling a bit here and there), which reaper immunity tried to fight off. Half to look back and see what was on the captain's shoulder.

<div style="text-align:center">_-This is Fred the Grunny-_ 
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/ ...  
_-He eats puppies named Fluffy-_</div> 
 
<div style="text-align:center">Out Of My Mind; Back In Five Minutes</div> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p082.ezboard.com/bunicornsvision ... >Windra</A> at: 3/9/06 2:23

Post by **JunoZXV** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 7:09 am

AWK! POLLY DOES'NT WANT A FREAKING CRACKER. POLLY WANTS- Juno inerupted the shreeking little skeleton on his shoulder. 
 
"What was that?" 
 
SORRY FORCE OF HABIT. LOOK OUT. 
 
"Oh-" 
 
Juno raised his hand and caught the projectile in mid flight, then placed it out the ground. 
 
"You know, why don't you help her?" 
 
IT'S HER REAP. I DON'T INTERFERE. UNION RULES. 
 
"You're death! You don't have rules!" 
 
BUT I DO LIKE ORGANIZATION. 
 
"Point taken."

____________________________________ 
 
This signature is under protcection of MegamanJuno. If this signature is plagerized, summerized, or paraphrased in any way for anothers personal gain, the guilty party will expierence the upmost severe punishment, involving several chicken feathers, cod liver oil and a very, very depaved walrus.

Post by **Windra** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 8:47 am

<div style="text-align:center">(Gwaha ... long post. Sorreh. But I combined some stuff I was gonna put in other posts .. make it run a little quicker.) 
 
<img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/V ... ngPost.gif ALT=":longpost"> 
 
 
Ashowan was ahead of them again, so she didn't exactly hear the entire conversation going on behind her. Though she caught snippets and thought she heard a new voice among the mix ... saying something that made her grin ironically .. she couldn't tell for sure. Besides, any speech was temporarily drowned out. 
 
Not just by the terran reaper's devotion to the task ahead, but by the sudden thrumming coming from the gem. A kind of soft, melodic song that filled their minds, rather than their ears. That went from reaper, to reaper, to pirate, to graveling. 
 
Speaking of gravelings ... Terry huffed dissapointedly because not only did it miss the gem, but the other two as well! With a snort of derision it turned and followed after Ashow, scuttling here and there, jumping and teleporting from spot to spot, until it trailed along beside her. But for once, it didn't pull a prank ... Instead, it set its yellow eyes on the matching yellow stone. 
 
"Mhhrr?" 
 
As they walked, it eyed up the post-its Ashowan held. The reaper plucked one and held it up for it to see. 
 
"Yup." 
 
Windra's thrumming continued. No words ... just soft music. In Sho's opinion it was pretty, though Terry stuck out its tongue. "That's beautiful." 
 
The ghost paused. +Thank you. I learned it during my first year in the Deep Forest, from a close friend.+ A pause. +Friends, and a home, in these Woods ... + 
 
Ashowan slowed in her step, her eyes holding now an odd mix of emotion and a bit of understanding. "That's why you came here." 
 
+I wanted to come back to the only real home I ever had. The only place I was accepted and looked upon as family and friend, not beast of mythology. I couldn't rest otherwise .. Not without being sure my home was safe.+ 
 
Sho nodded, drawing closer. "Some dead need to reach closure before seeing their lightshow. Find the missing piece." 
 
+Like you?+ 
 
Ashowan didn't answer. 
 
- 
 
She extended her hand instead, waving it in front of the scenery displayed before them. By now she was three feet away from the gemstone, still hovering, still swirling with silver life. 
 
"So why stop at this spot?" 
 
+I figured it would be an ideal place ... One last look at the beauty of this world, before heading to the next.+ The voice purred. Purred. +I used to come here when the moon reached its zenith, roost here ... and take it all in.+ 
 
The sight of the entire woods ... everything from the fields they left moments before, the massive lake they flew over, to a meadow in the distance and a huge mountain form close to the river ... was seen. 
 
A magnificent sight. Ashow said nothing, the awe a little too much. Windra rumbled, seeming to pick up on this. 
 
+I loved it here.+ 
 
"Yeah, I can see why." 
 
But then she saw the migration from the Village, and creatures moving all about in a frantic rush .. and her awe was mixed with some deep disturbance. 
 
Que sera sera. "You said that I was needed?" 
 
+To reap me, of course,+ Windra chirruped. +That, and there is another reason ... + The voice spoke now to Juno. +I must thank you, by the way, for bringing her here. The sooner the better, yes? She would have taken forever otherwise,+ it joked, knowing full well that the reaper would have arrived here quickly anyway. 
 
Ashow chuckled. "Gee, thanks." 
 
+Hehe. There is a reason to explain why I am trapped in this stone.+ 
 
Terry grumbled ... or chuckled, depending on how one heard it. Sho grinned. "I was wondering that, too." 
 
+You saw me before I was killed. There was another gemstone like this one attatched to my body. Attatched to my tail ... which was partially destroyed. You hold the proof.+ 
 
Ashowan flicked the broken-spaded tail. 
 
+The stones held my ability. And my soul .. When one was destroyed, the ability was lost but the soul rejoined my body. Now that the body is gone, I have become one in spirit with this gem. I am whole once more ... + 
 
It trailed off. More was to be said, but it would be told in time. As if in reminder of her duties, the two post-its of Windra's reaps flew from Ashowan's hands. Lifted off on a gust of wind. (Windra, Marine Park bayside, ETD 11:45 PM .. Windra, Boundary Mountains, ETD predawn) Ashowan nodded and stuffed the blank one into her pocket. Terry grumbled in excitement. 
 
"I'll let you out," she told Windra. 
 
In responce, the gem flickered once, twice ... on the third the glow died. The citrine stone fell to the ground with a 'ching' and sat there. Terry sat back and watched, rubbing hands together deviously ... its mere presence ensuring what was about to happen. Ashowan knelt down, extended a gloved hand .. a hand that, like the other, Ashowan considered to be cursed. Like her. 
 
And reaped. 
 
There was that faint ghostly glow of blue that only the dead were meant to see. The nonelectric charge of a spirit's presence racing up her arm ... but something went wrong. Something silver and yellow, matching hues of the tail and spade, shot from the stone and coiled around her arm like a misty snake. Ashowan recoiled, muffling a gasp of surprise, and for once second - just one second - disappeared from view as the mist fused with spirit. A grim reminder of all Ashow was - a ghost in a fully functioning shell. 
 
That spectacle made Terry jump back. "Rheee!" 
 
Ashow popped back into view ... and the mist around her arm was gone. But there was still a feeling of electricity racing up and down it, and now to the other arm. Sho stood up in surprise, and was immediately hit with a pang of vertigo. Her vision hazed and faded out, a weird feverish sensation took hold, her stomach knotted and twisted. And her legs seemed to turn jelly on her. The staff was dropped to the ground and she swayed backwards gently, into whatever was behind her. 
 
"Wha .. ?" came her murmur. 
 
The reply came from the stone, silver swirling frantically inside. +Temporary disorientation. I have seen it before. But do not worry .. It only lasts for a few moments. All part of the process.+ 
 
Process? 
 
+Everything has come full circle.+ 
 
What was inside the stone - that silver mist of rapidly spinning energy - shot up into the sky. And though it was still there, it faded from view of the living, became a spirit ... seen only to Show, seen only to Terry, and seen only to Mort. 
 
Wings easily four times the size of the body stretched out on either side of this silver dragon, each one huge enough to hold a ship the size of the Nightmare down below. A silver hide, a white segmented underbelly ... Long neck that extended over the entire odd group of half-dragon, half-cat, and skeleton .. A jaw shaped like a beak but, as the three horns that curved outward from the back of the dragon's skull, was the same silver as the rest of the body. 
 
This creature could have been considered beautiful, if not for a few things ... 
 
Like how, even though the wings beat in a steady movement, no gusts were generated. How the lower half of this dragon's body faded into a kind of mist, dissipating. How the eyes that were once lively hazel, were dimmed and glazed with death. How there was a hollow in the center of its forehead where something should have been. 
 
Or how the white and silver of this dragon's belly was splattered with crimson. How the chest cavity was fully exposed, ribs pushing through partly-burnt flesh and dripping with gore. Little droplets of the red stuff slipped from pearly bone, falling to the rock they stood on, hitting it, but vanishing upon contact. 
 
All of that? In a matter of seconds it happened. Weird it is. Speaking like Yoda I am.</div>

<div style="text-align:center">_-Upon Leaving-_ 
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/ ...  
_-Please Check for Missing Fingers and/or Limbs-_</div> 
 
<div style="text-align:center">It's you and me against the world. 
We attack at dawn.</div> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p082.ezboard.com/bunicornsvision ... >Windra</A> at: 3/15/06 2:16

Post by **JunoZXV** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:30 pm

"The who-dee-hay what the (censored) was that?" 
 
THAT MY DEAR BLEEPED-OUT FRIEND IS A REAP. SEEING THAT YOU'VE BEEN KILLED SO MANY TIMES THIS SHOULDN'T COME AS A SUPRISE. HOWEVER, YOU HAVING YOUR FLY OPEN SHOULD. 
 
There was a slight zipping noise after Juno did a quick 180 turn and went back, this time a ripped his shirt hanging from the zipper. 
 
"I really hate your omnipresence." 
 
AH, BUT IT'S A BIT OF A PAIN AS WELL. 
 
"Oh really?" Asked Juno with an eyebrow partially raised. 
 
THINK ABOUT IT I KNOW EVERYTHING THATS GOING ON, EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHEN. 
 
"And your point being..." urged Juno shuffling his hands in a circle trying to get a clue. 
 
I KNOW THAT AT ALL TIMES AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT THERE'S A FAT, BALD, HAIRY MAN SINGING A COUNTRY SONG IN A SHOWER. 
 
"Can you change the topic? I really need to get that mental image out of my head." 
 
Then he saw the gore in the dragons chest cavity. 
 
"Not with that!" He complained as he ran off to the bushes and vomited. 
 
PSSSHT... LIGHTWEIGHT.

____________________________________ 
 
This signature is under protcection of MegamanJuno. If this signature is plagerized, summerized, or paraphrased in any way for anothers personal gain, the guilty party will expierence the upmost severe punishment, involving several chicken feathers, cod liver oil and a very, very depaved walrus.Edited by: <A HREF=http://p082.ezboard.com/bunicornsvision ... manJuno</A> at: 3/18/06 6:32

Post by **Windra** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 5:06 pm

Ashowan backed into a rock and stood there for a moment to let the nausea pass. Once the haziness and feverish feeling went away, she opened her eyes. Vision was no longer blurred, whiteout. Though when trying to stand upright again, she wobbled a bit .. and her arms still felt electrically charge. 
 
Definitely not like a normal reap. A casual assignment wouldn't have made her feel craptacular like that. 
 
Terry was busy laughing at Juno's plight, suddenly distracted from the massive dragon in front of them. 
 
Said dragon was looking down with what could've been considered a brow arched. Setting dimmed eyes on the odd duo behind the reaper and graveling. The corner of the dragon's jaw rose in a grim smile. +Friends?+ 
 
Ashowan tried to stand again, succeeded, and looked over in the direction. If the goriness of Windra's state disturbed her, she was far from showing it. A smile of her own. "Yeah." 
 
Ashowan stuck out her tongue and 'blegh'-ed when sounds of sickness came her way. Terry laughed harder, holdings its sides, and Windra rumbled a bit. The terran reaper rubbed the back of her head, quirked a brow, and grinned. 
 
"So much for not being queasy," she cracked. 
 
The she saw the other thing ... the other ... gah, cloak and bones? A skeleton in a robe? She paused for a moment, blinking ... for the first time really seeing the other being that was there the entire time. 
 
"Who are ... ?" 
 
She had a baaaad feeling she already knew what this creature was ... Even Terry, death-dealer, stopped for a moment to look. 

<div style="text-align:center">_-Upon Leaving-_ 
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/ ...  
_-Please Check for Missing Fingers and/or Limbs-_</div> 
 
<div style="text-align:center">It's you and me against the world. 
We attack at dawn.</div>

Post by **JunoZXV** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 5:24 pm

A little light went off in Death's Skull reading " I've been I.D.ed Abort, Abort Mission." but he remained calm and did what any one would do in that sort of situation. Hide like a sissy. 
 
Oh wait... that was Juno's Idea. 
 
Death just remained calm and put on a pair of sunglasses that he stole from Juno's coat. And put them over his eyes. 
 
WELCOME TO THE MATRIX, MR ANDERSON. 
 
He said without a pause, letting the chill sensation take effect 
 
"What are you taking about?" Yelled Juno as he turned around. "My name's JUNO!" 
 
Death wasn't phased, keeping the hood over his eyes as he seemed to get taller and his scythe as well. The skeleton standing at 9 feet with a 12foot tall scythe would scare just about anything human. Which the forest had a serious lack of. 
 
BOO. 
 
Terry shreeked and hid behind Ashowans ankle shivering in fear. Juno just walked up behind death and smacked him over the head. 
 
"Will you cut that out, your freaking out your employee." 
 
FUNNY, I THOUGHT THAT WAS MY JOB AS A BOSS. 

____________________________________ 
 
This signature is under protcection of MegamanJuno. If this signature is plagerized, summerized, or paraphrased in any way for anothers personal gain, the guilty party will expierence the upmost severe punishment, involving several chicken feathers, cod liver oil and a very, very depaved walrus.

Post by **Windra** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:01 pm

Ashowan wasn't really sure what to make of the situation ... especially when Terry, the supposed master of death in all its forms, and one of the mechanizing minds about how somebody was supposed to die, went and his behind her leg like a scared child. And super especially when the skeleton thing, at first tiny in appearance, steadily grew ... and grew ... until it towered over all of them. Only Windra made this skeleton look like an ant. 
 
But it wasn't how tall this thing stood that got to the reaper. 
 
Or the massive weapon it weilded. 
 
No ... nonono. It was what this creature was that unnerved her. The appearance was far too cliché. The only thing Ashowan had met that bore any resemblance to what stood before her was Nysse-Omega, apparently another soul-herder ... led the dead to the afterlife ... But she was nothing in comparison ... to the real life Grim Reaper. 
 
Reaper to reaper, death to soul-taker ... 
 
"Holy ..," she murmured. 
 
Windra's own curiousity rose. +Is that ..?+ 
 
Ashowan nodded. 
 
+But you are the reaper!+ 
 
"A reaper. A, as in one of many. One of thousands worldwide." Her brows furrowed ... a little anxious, despite the odd intro of the Grim. "Remember the goth who was with me when I reaped you? She was one too." 
 
+Yes ... Yes I see. Then this is your boss?+ 
 
"Upper Management .. " 
 
Aside from the initial shock, Ashowan wasn't spooked to death like Terry was. She'd seen worst ... been through worst. Greenwood, the Anne Marie ... for examples. The reaper reached down to Terry, scooped it up, and placed it on her head. Terry found comfort in a familiar perch and gained some courage, pointing out at the Grim. 
 
"Rhaaa .. !" 
 
Windra rumbled and buckled her wings, lowering and swooping down to meet them all. Wings flapped, but no gust passed .. The dragon latched the only two limbs it had left to the rock, while the hindquarters vanished in mist. Wings tucked to its side, but the open wound still pulsed in its own ghostly way. Windra stood about three times as tall as Ashowan at the shoulder, and she stretched her neck down so that the spectre's cranium rested beside Ashowan's own shoulder. 
 
In the need to break the tension ... "Alright. My conclusion: these are some strange woods." 
 

<div style="text-align:center">_-Upon Leaving-_ 
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/ ...  
_-Please Check for Missing Fingers and/or Limbs-_</div> 
 
<div style="text-align:center">It's you and me against the world. 
We attack at dawn.</div>

Post by **JunoZXV** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:10 pm

VERY WELL OBSERVED ASHOWAN. BUT HEY DON"T MIND ME, WE AREN'T GETTING ANY DEADER, SAVE JUNO. 
 
"HEY!" 
 
I'M JUST HERE ON A SEPERATE ASSIGNMENT I'M WAITING FOR THE OTHERS TO SHOW UP. 
 
"Others?" 
 
YOU'VE ALREADY MET THEM. 
 
"Oh right." 
 
There was a awkward slience. 
 
"Soooooo..." Juno said as he coughed into his shoulder. "Are these people inlaws?" 
 
Death just rolled his flaming eyeballs in annoyence. 
 
NO. 
 
"Relatives of some sort?" 
 
NO. 
 
"People you owe money?" 
 
NO. 
 
"Long lost twin?" 
 
DID ANYONE TELL YOU HOW ANNOYING YOU ARE? 
 
"Ah ah aaaaaah," taunted Juno waving a finger "You didn't answer my question." 
 
Death fumed for a moment his eyes turning red in slience then back to blue as he uttered a threat between his clenched eternal grimace. 
 
YOU KNOW IF YOU WERN'T IMMORTAL I'D KILL YOU RIGHT NOW.

____________________________________ 
 
This signature is under protcection of MegamanJuno. If this signature is plagerized, summerized, or paraphrased in any way for anothers personal gain, the guilty party will expierence the upmost severe punishment, involving several chicken feathers, cod liver oil and a very, very depaved walrus.

Post by **Windra** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:50 pm

Then tension just kind of evaporated into a fine mist with all this weird humor going around. It was contagious. Ashowan chuckled and covered her mouth to muffle the sound, though the smile was visible from what her hand couldn't hide. 
 
Ashowan was grateful for the company, even if it was ... odd ... 
 
"It's a convention of immortals." 
 
Others ... meaning there would be more going on than what meets the eye? 
 
So many unanswered questions revolved around her mind. About life and death, and so on .. But really, who was she to question? She hadn't really been ... accepting ... of her own deathly state from the beginning. Defied it from the start, and therein ... Well, things hadn't turned out well for her. 
 
And besides, upon asking her first gang of reapers, the reply was, 'Just do your job. We can't give you the answers you're looking for.' 
 
But what was she looking for .. ? 
 
Windra thrummed, mouth opening ... mind opening, about to ask Death a question. Then it paused and lowered its cranium, whatever its question was being stalled off ... and instead saved Ashow from an awkward greetings. +The legendary omen of demise revealed. It is a pleasure to meet you ... Reaper of reapers, though the circumstances are extremely odd.+ 
 
"Likewise." Though still uneasy. Ashowan quipped, "Well, at least we aren't seeing things." This was far from an illusion. 
 
+Indeed.+ 
 
"Windra," she started, looking over, pausing and looking at the wound. And sighed heavily. "Gods ... I'm sorry about not getting to you before you .." 
 
Windra, who was absorbed in the conversation before, looked a little befuddled. +Why sorry? I was in the air when I was killed ... and unless the law of evolution has been broken, humans cannot fly.+ 
 
"Still, it isn't exactly a nice experience to go through." Her own hand instinctively went to her throat. 
 
Windra rumbled and nudged at her shoulder with the tip of her beak. Windra was a ghost ... but since Ashowan, technically, was also ... they could come in contact with one another. 
 
+What is done is done, and cannot be changed. Correct? Your mind tells me that you have said that time and time again.+ The dragon stood firm. +I have no regrets.+ 
 
"Yeah .. " Her look flashed with curiousity. "What did you ... what happened earlier? You said 'process' ..." 
 
Windra rumbled, pulling her head back and extending her neck upwards so that it towered even over Grim. +This ... is a long tale. Get comfortable.+ 
 
+I am from a line of Elemental Dragons ... There are only four of us in the world .. one of fire, water, earth, and wind. Our power, along with our souls, is held inside two twin gemstones that are attatched to the tail spade, and one attatched to the forehead. Our body, though fully functioning and complete with a digestive system, circulatory system, and so on, is merely a shell that connects these two halves of the soul. It binds them together. We, like you, are forever young, but can suffer mortal wounds and die ... as you have seen.+ Windra's face crumpled into confusion. +I do not understand why those metallic birds attacked me .. + 
 
Ashowan nodded. "The national gaurd was brought down on you, Windra. They though you a threat to society, I guess ... The one flaw of humanity. We fear what we don't understand, end up hating what we fear ... and then it's shoot first, ask questions later." 
 
The dragon's answering purr was almost sad. 
 
+That seems to have been an ongiong trend throughout history, on all planets.+ 
 

<div style="text-align:center">_-Upon Leaving-_ 
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/ ...  
_-Please Check for Missing Fingers and/or Limbs-_</div> 
 
<div style="text-align:center">It's you and me against the world. 
We attack at dawn.</div> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p082.ezboard.com/bunicornsvision ... >Windra</A> at: 3/18/06 22:59

Post by **JunoZXV** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:29 am

"So... can I still guess?" 
 
JUNO, EVEN IF I COULD STEAL YOUR VOCAL CORDS YOU WOULD STILL BE ABLE TO FIND SOME WAY TO ANNOY ME. 
 
"I'll be serious this time." 
 
Deaths gaze shifted out of annoyence to intrigue and bent over as Juno whispered his answer. 
 
CORRECT he replied with a smile. (As if a skulls expression could actually change.) 
 
Juno's face blanched pale and horror striken at the moment. He wasn't to comfortable with "That" company. He paced around a bit nerviously and shaking, they were like... unwanted relatives in his book.

____________________________________ 
 
This signature is under protcection of MegamanJuno. If this signature is plagerized, summerized, or paraphrased in any way for anothers personal gain, the guilty party will expierence the upmost severe punishment, involving several chicken feathers, cod liver oil and a very, very depaved walrus.

Post by **Windra** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 11:08 am

The flurry of movement got Sho to look back, and she quirked a brow. One of the duop behind them was pacing back and forth rapidly, while the other was grinning. 
 
Okay .. grinning. Could that frown? 
 
Dearie ... Imagine what the others would say if they knew the grim was a skeleton with a cloak. 
 
She could imagine their laughter and confusion at the bit ... and felt a little bitter upon realizing she'd never get to see them again. Anyways, what was up with the Pirate Guy? Terry decided to investigate ... scurrying off of Ashowan's skull and scuttling to the pirate, sneaking up behind him and ready to pounce. Terry wouldn't try that with the Grim, because there was a sort of ingrained respect for the master of death. 
 
But Juno, on the other hand ... 
 
Windra caught Sho's attention before she could try and pull Terry away. 
 
+Bad times lay ahead ... deadly times. I can feel it just the same as any other living and breathing creature, even if my heart has been stopped.+ 
 
Unable to resist, Ashowan pointed out, "Your heart went kablooey, Wind." 
 
Windra snorted. 
 
+Thank you. Anyway ... the throbbing of raw power ... I can feel it within the Woods. But it is not restricted there. There is something growing within these Mountains as well, something ... that bodes a bad omen. More than usual for this location. Danger is rising. Darkness is rising.+ 
 
It pointed a claw to Ashowan's chest. +All the more reason for me to tell you this .. My time is short, I should make this quick. You have a power in you now.+ A draconic grin. +An element.+ 
 
Blink. "You know how to get a dead girl's attention, don't you?" 
 
+I do my best.+

<div style="text-align:center">_-Upon Leaving-_ 
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/ ...  
_-Please Check for Missing Fingers and/or Limbs-_</div> 
 
<div style="text-align:center">It's you and me against the world. 
We attack at dawn.</div> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p082.ezboard.com/bunicornsvision ... >Windra</A> at: 3/19/06 1:09

Post by **JunoZXV** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 11:25 am

"Hey what's that?" Shouted juno suddenly with an enthuastic tone that starteld Terry causing the graveling to jump. 
 
THAT WOULD BE A BURNT CLEARING IN THE FOREST. 
 
"I mean what's happening there." 
 
OH, IT WOULD APPEAR TO BE A WAR. LOOK OUT. 
 
"What do you mean look ou-" 
 
KA-Thwam. A giant file cabinet fell out of the sky and squashed the pirate cartoon style, pancakeing him. 
 
A shelf slid out and files sprung up and open revealing history, death dates and such, some of them were bristeling with sticky notes. 
 
APARRENTLY IVE GOT MY WORK CUT OUT FOR ME.

____________________________________ 
 
This signature is under protcection of MegamanJuno. If this signature is plagerized, summerized, or paraphrased in any way for anothers personal gain, the guilty party will expierence the upmost severe punishment, involving several chicken feathers, cod liver oil and a very, very depaved walrus.

Post by **Windra** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 11:50 am

The mention of war caught both dragon's and human's attention. They followed the others' gazes and looked to the burned fields ... Then a metallic clang! Ashowan looked back in time to see the cabinet smack down, and grimaced. Oww. The Grim said something, and Sho grinned slightly at the well-placed macabre humor. 
 
"No kidding." 
 
Windra narrowed her eyes and raised her ghostly wings into the air, letting out a hollow growl that sounded more like a whistle of wind. +War ... War?!+ 
 
Ashowan stood alongside them, and Terry scuttled up her back once more to nest on her skull. She narrowed her eyes ... something was indeed happening. In the place, coincidentally, that she and the others left a short while ago. 
 
"What is that place?" 
 
Windra's voice was trembling. +The Lost Fields ... Long ago there was a great battle between the residents of the Woods, and the undead armies of the Balraa. The Deep Forest won ... but the Fields were forever scarred.+ Neck swiveled and looked at a meadow not too far from it ... that was also going through some event. +The Meadows of Peace, the safe haven. No evil is permitted to enter, and Gaeven gaurds it like a brooding parent ... My home ... my home ...+ 
 
Terry mumbled something ... its eyes gleamed menacingly. 
 
Ashowan shuddered suddenly. She slid one hand over her pocket, where the blank post-it rested. A chill .. to the bone ... an a great feeling of being unnerved. The feeling she'd gotten when lingering in the Shadow Realm, being stalked by Rishcath. 
 
Dawn broke, and the sun struck out over the horizon. 
 
Something glowed from the Lost Fields ... from the fields of the dead. Rising, shining, bringing with it a massive halo and a mist of deadly white that spread out to encompass everything. 
 
And then it shrieked - a blood curdling noise that shook the very ground beneath them. 
 
Windra answered with a challenge of her own, drawing back flexible muscles in its beak in a drawled out snarl. She stood on what would have been hindquarters, raising her badly mutilated body into the air in defiance. A ghost standing gaurd of her former home, enraged that danger was being brought to it .. to the lives within it. 
 
The words that followed were thoughts that reeled from the dragon, to all their minds, angry and deadly, far from the calm and hyper dragon they saw before. 
 
My home. You dare to harm it! 
 
Terry scrunched closer to Ashowan's skull as if to hide in her brown hair. 
 
Ashowan slid her eyes to the others. 
 
"So much for a vacation."

<div style="text-align:center">_-Upon Leaving-_ 
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/ ...  
_-Please Check for Missing Fingers and/or Limbs-_</div> 
 
<div style="text-align:center">It's you and me against the world. 
We attack at dawn.</div> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p082.ezboard.com/bunicornsvision ... >Windra</A> at: 3/19/06 6:43

Post by **JunoZXV** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 5:52 pm

SEEING THAT YOUR ROYALLY PISSED WINDRA NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME FOR ME NOT TO MENTION- 
 
Death covered his mouth with his bony hand refusing to say more. 
 
"What? mention what?" Asked Juno "Mention the possiblity of pos- MMMPH!" 
 
Death had placed his other hand on Juno's mouth keeping him from speaking and creaping him out because of the really old bones touching his lips. The cold feel of the hard ligaments and stiff cartalige the- 
 
(This paragraph unfinished due to vomiting on the Authors behalf.) 
 
Anyway Juno was plenty freaked out, not only because of bone but because of what wasn't said. 
 
IF YOU EVEN THINK OF MENTIONING THE POSSIBLITY OF POSSESSION, I WILL UNLEASH YOU. THINK HOW THE ENTIRE FOREST WOULD ACT IF YOU SUDDENLY WENT ON A KILLING SPREE. 
 
"What I ment to say was the possiblity of positive thinking... thats it... heh heh heh."

____________________________________ 
 
This signature is under protcection of MegamanJuno. If this signature is plagerized, summerized, or paraphrased in any way for anothers personal gain, the guilty party will expierence the upmost severe punishment, involving several chicken feathers, cod liver oil and a very, very depaved walrus.

Post by **Windra** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:02 am

Windra looked back at the other two through narrowed hazel eyes. Pissed off? You bet, but it wasn't towards them ... though there was suspicion behind the glazed orbs now. The possibility of ... what? Juno passed it off as 'positive thinking'. 
 
The way Windra's expression contorted showed she clearly didn't buy it. Ashowan, on the other hand, caught on and covered her face with the palm of her hand. Terry looked between them. 
 
Windra's head swiveled and shot Ashowan an inquisitive glance, but before the dragon could ask what was really meant, but was cut off. Fast. 
 
"What're you planning to do?" 
 
It caught Windra off gaurd. +Hmm?+ 
 
The reaper repeated. 
 
Windra snorted ... looking down at the ground, then at the wound that brought the dragon down from her last real flight. +I ... I cannot leave. Not now. Not yet.+ 
 
Ashow's brow furrowed. She was afraid of this. "You can't fight. Not like that." 
 
+But I cannot just abandon my home in a time of bad omens.+ The dragon looked witheringly at them. +I have to stay. I have to see.+ 
 
"You know about the window ... yeah?" 
 
Confused look. Terry rubbed the quills 'pon its skull, eager to see this discussion. 
 
"You can't stay .. I think. There's a window .. Uh, a timeframe for you to see your lightshow. Usually, it's for a few hours ... the soul gets to meet closure and stuff before it moves on, but if you stay after the window closes, you get stuck like that," she pointed to Windra's ghostly state, "for good. Right .. " 
 
Windra debated. +You are certain of this?+ 
 
Ashowan opened her mouth to speak, paused, then sighed. "Beats me. We always kind of assumed that." 
 
+There was a saying for 'assume'.+ 
 
A grin from the other. 
 
The dragon's mutilated chest swelled with pride. +This dragon will stay, then. I doubt the Fates will be cruel enough not to allow me to see if my home is saved, or .. or .. + She stammered. +I must see for myself .. I can't jump into my afterlife portal without being satisfied that all is as it should be. It would haunt me. I would not rest.+ 
 
Wings spread opened, pumped once, twice .. and hovered above the ground. Droplets of red fell once more, increasing in frequency as though Windra's nonexistant heart was beating faster. 
 
Ashowan was a little confused, but overall a little .. well, proud that this creature was so hell-bent on making sure her world was safe. The dragon sorely reminded Ashow of herself, in her first few months of being a reaper. 
 
"Fine, fine." She raised her arms in surrender. "The ghost has spoken." 
 
But that means I have to follow. Reaper duties and all. 
 
Terry grumbled and prodded 'Sho in the head. 

<div style="text-align:center">_-Upon Leaving-_ 
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/ ...  
_-Please Check for Missing Fingers and/or Limbs-_</div> 
 
<div style="text-align:center">It's you and me against the world. 
We attack at dawn.</div> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p082.ezboard.com/bunicornsvision ... >Windra</A> at: 3/19/06 21:25

Post by **JunoZXV** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:38 pm

WAIT BAD CALL, I WAS LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE. IT LOOKS LIKE A GIANT GREY DRAGON JUST BURST THROUGH A SOME SORT OF MAGICAL SEAL. 
 
"Well that's what happens when you use discount spells..." 
 
THEY DON'T KNOW OF THOSE JUNO. 
 
"Oh, so what's this then?" 
 
A POSSIBLE APOCOLYPSE. HENCE WHY THEY ARE COMING. THE OTHER THREE. 
 
"And you need me because..." 
 
YOU PLAY A KEY ROLE, THIS WORLDLY DEATH WOULD BE PREMATURE. WITCH IS WHY I'VE CALLED THE OTHERS TO STOP IT. YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WITH THE "QUICKEST" MEANS OF TRANSPORATION. 
 
"Ahhh...." 
 
Another long pause followed by a swift boot in the rear by death. Juno just looked back with a "WTF was that for?" look. 
 
I MEAN WE LEAVE NOW, JUNO. 
 
"Oh right..." Juno stuck both his hands into his mouth and whistled, the giant ship arose like a... er... well... dang how does one describe a flying ship with sails as black as night and a mast that reminds one of thorns. With a paint job so intricate that it puts shame to the artists of the renaissance and a complex mechanism that would baffle Bill Gates on how it worked? 
 
Yeah, pretty darned hard to describe, anyway... 
 
The ship rose up the deck perpendicular to Juno and Death. The gang plank lowered, clouting Juno on the head, again. And let them both on. 
 
"Hey, you two, are you coming or not? We've got a future to save."

____________________________________ 
 
This signature is under protcection of MegamanJuno. If this signature is plagerized, summerized, or paraphrased in any way for anothers personal gain, the guilty party will expierence the upmost severe punishment, involving several chicken feathers, cod liver oil and a very, very depaved walrus.

+- Hot Pursuit -+ (cont. from Caverns)

+- Hot Pursuit -+ (cont. from Caverns)

Re: +- Hot Pursuit -+ (cont. from Caverns)

Re: +- Hot Pursuit -+ (cont. from Caverns)

Re: +- Hot Pursuit -+ (cont. from Caverns)

Re: +- Hot Pursuit -+ (cont. from Caverns)

Re: +- Hot Pursuit -+ (cont. from Caverns)

Snarf. >.> <.<

Being "godly" isnt all what it's cracked up to be

Re: Being "godly" isnt all what it's cracked up to

Re: Being "godly" isnt all what it's cracked up to

Re: Being "godly" isnt all what it's cracked up to

Re: Being "godly" isnt all what it's cracked up to

Re: Being "godly" isnt all what it's cracked up to

Whispers in the wind.

Re: Whispers in the wind.

Re: Whispers in the wind.

Re: Whispers in the wind.

Re: Whispers in the wind.

Re: Meep

Re: Meep