The Darkness Wars Rated Teen/Accepting

Vladmir

"That guy," Vladmir said, turning to look Tifa in the eye, "was Lord Zarxs of the Darkness Realm." He walked over to a tree, and punched it. He didn't feel a thing, and as he tried to bring it back to his eyes, he noticed it had become lodged into it. He had punched through the wood, and after a few moments examining his body some more, one thought entered his mind. "I will crush the traitor," he said, turning back to the others and walked past them. "We need to pursue, our mission is in jeapordy."

Tifa frowned. Just when she thought that Vladmir was actually showing some emotion, he went back to being just a knight. Shrugging she followed him.

"But where should we look for her? She could be anywhere now."

Vladmir

"Then we'll look, everywhere," Vladmir said. "It's unlikely she left the forest, but Zarxs will be on her soon, and we can't allow him to get to her." Then again, maybe we can, he thought.

Zarxs

"Koh, return to me at once," Zarxs sent out to his missing assasin. He rode at a liesurely pace where he sensed Tazer was going, not wanting to get too close, but keeping within a few kilometers of her.

Carrington sighed and stroked her horse's neck. "Should we split up to cover more ground? Go in pairs? Then signal the other pair if we see her?" She was just throwing out ideas trying to get them moving. She was totally bummed that she wasn't here when the other's were attacked.

"That would help," Tifa said. Separated they were weaker, but had less chance at finding Nala. Besides she doubted that they were being hunted still and when they did find Nala, they could easily let the others know to come. So if they had to fight against Zarxs and his assassins they wouldn't face them completely alone. "But who should go with who?"

Vladmir

"Splitting up may not be the wisest choice, but it's the best for completing our mission," Vladmir said. "Leit and Carrington will travel together after the girl, Tifa will accompany me to travel a different path I believe will lead to them as well."

Nolan

The teen finally caught up with the majority of the Wild Freaks, and told them where Tazer wanted to meet them. "We're missing some Wild Freaks," he said, looking around. "I need a small team with me to track them down while the rest of you head toward Hala."

(Hey, I'm wondering what's going on with Rain and Tazer? Should they be at Hala or something?)

(Outside of it waiting for the others or something. Tazer said she would wait for the others outside Hala. But they could be checking out the place too while waiting. I know Tazer would get distracted by something and just so running in.)

Tifa nodded although she didn't want to be alone with Vladmir. Still she wasn't going to argue.

"Ok then lead on."
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Vixen was feeling nervous. She had used her pyschic abilities in front of the others and although she wasn't sure how much they knew about her powers or if she could only use telekenisis, Vixen still felt unsure. She liked having an upper hand on the others, but now it was gone.

(Cool. Alright outside of Hala then.)

Rain watched Hala as they came closer and closer to the city. He had heard a lot of stories about Hala. It was home to all of the scholars of Belle, therefore a lot of science was done here as well. And that is what Hala became known for. While it held philosophical figures, linguists, and men and women studying all kinds of different subjects, Hala was a city of science. Science bloomed there, but morality was also an issue. This was the darker side of Hala. With knowledge, there is power, and with power there is responsibility. (Yeah, I just made a bit of a Spiderman quote. ^^') And some people in Hala would do anything to keep science progressing. The biggest myth was that people were doing inhumane testing on humans, using them as guinea pigs in their sick experiments. The royalty however saw problems with this, quite obviously. They sent the knights to Hala to deal with the scientists who were doing terrible things like this. The scholars were exiled from Hala, but they held strong. The exiled scientists banded together to make SWB. Science Without Borders. They built a ghetto outside of the city walls that would later be named, "The Rim". In the Rim the exiled scholars continued to study, and do experiments whatever way they saw fit, throwing away morals, and seeing only progression. Of course they had little in the way of materials to use in experiments, so they stole from Hala, and passers by, simply to continue with their studies. Some said that they even abduct travelers to use in experiments. These are the rumors at least. Rain had once been told by a traveling merchant that you could see the city become more civilized as you looked from east to west. Rain could see that from outside of the city. A large lump at the eastern entrance that formed the Rim, and then watched as the city became brighter until it reached the library in the center, and then continue on bright and beautiful, the peace kept well there by the knights.

"We're keeping away from the east side." Rain told Tazer, as he continued to walk. "Shady things go on there. Nothing we would want to get involved with. So we'll wait for your friends by the west end." he continued. "Is that all right?" he asked, and looked over to the girl.

Tazer looked at the place. She knew about the places surrounding the forest. She had stolen a map at one point and mae an effort to figure out where everything was. She didn't need a map to know where she was going in the forest, but more for knowing what was on the outside of it. But now seeing Hala, Tazer could feel herself both curious and apalled by the place.

"It's fine. I don't want to get into any more trouble than I need to."

Rain could sense a curious disgust for this place coming from Tazer. He nodded as they continued to approach the city, The doors to the city now in view. He understood how she felt. "Indeed, we're both in over our heads as it is." he said. Rain also wanted to avoid being seen by the knights if he could help it. After thinking about avoiding the knights Rain realized that both him, and Tazer stuck out like sore thumbs. Rain's garbs were just begging for attention, and it was easy to tell that there was something wild about Tazer. "Perhaps we should take a look around for some new clothes in town." he suggested.

Tazer looked at her clothes then to Rain. She looked like she was offended by his comment.

"Why? I think I look fine. You know it's hard to look fashionable when you live in a woods. It's not like there are any stores there." But Tazer agreed. As much as she didn't want to change, she knew she was going to have to. "But fine. I'll change my clothes. Just as long as I can still move freely in them."

Rain chuckled a little at Tazer's look of offense. "You look lovely Tazer, you can be sure of that." he said to show that he didn't mean anything rude like that. "You just look like, well, you came out of the woods after living there. Which you did. The knights will be looking for somebody like that, and I don't think that many other scholars look like they came back from some rough field work." he explained. And then smiled at her when she agreed to the idea. "We'll just store them until we're done here. And I swear, I won't be putting you in anything restricting like a dress anytime soon." He promised, and then his smile turned teasing. "Wouldn't suit you anyways." he said. The city was getting much closer, and they would soon be entering.

Tazer laughed. She was feeling more comfortable around Rain. He wasn't as bad a guy as she first thought of him. But then again her fear of finding out the truth about her past had made her jump to conclusions.

"Good. Now you might look good in one," she teased back.

Rain laughed at Tazer's rebuttal. "I guess we'll have to see." he said, allowing a joke at his expense. He was starting to enjoy the company of Tazer. She felt like less of an obligation than she had when they first met. He felt more like he was coming with her to help her, rather than have her help him with who he was. But still there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. He knew he was connected to her through his past, but he still didn't know how. Was he supposed to hate her, or help her? Guide her on her way, or stop her in her tracks. He didn't wish harm on her, but he wondered if his past did. The pair were now by the gate, where two guards stood in front of the door. As they came closer, the guards began to look at each other. Both seemed a little uneasy.

(Supper time, gotta go! BYE!)

"Umm, alright." Leit responded. Not only was the young knight concerned about Vladimir, whose condition was strange and seemingly other worldly, but he was also kind of nervous about being partnered up with Carrington.



Something bumped into the assassin, but he quickly recaught his balance, and used the momentum to pivot and turn around. Simultaenously, he brandished a sai and thrust it forward, the weapon's dagger-like blade and right prong surrounding a girl's neck. This one wasn't the one he had been chasing, but Koh could tell that she was one of her companions.

Before he could take any further action, Koh had recieved Lord Zarxs' mental message. Lord Zarxs' orders took priority above all else, so the assassin subliminated into smoke, and whisked away.

A shortwhile later the assassin reappeared on his steed, and rode off, knowing which way to go only because the Dark Lord had allowed him too. I'm on my way, Lord Zarxs.



Hearing a thud, a skidding sound, a whoosh, and then a swish, Izumi slowly peered out from behind the tree. "Shimi!" she cried out and immediately embraced the girl in a hug. The teen blushed a little, but she was relieved to see one of her friends again. However, the thought that her hooded assaliant could be nearby surged a familiar fear throughout the Wild Freak's entire body. "Shimi! Quick, we have to hide! There's some strange guy wearing a hood with daggers and he's trying to kill me!" Izumi hissed.

Shimi's face was a shocked one. Everything had happened so quickly. "If that's the same guy that just disapeared into smoke then I don't think we need to hide." She said while rubbing her neck, but at the same time got up to follow Izumi.

~*~

Carrington mounted her horse. "Shall we get going then?" she asked Leit. It was a bit strange being paired up with him, but hey did it really matter?

Vixen was getting impatient. It was strange that Koh was the one who was lagging behind. But it also made her feel a little better. At least no one could add 'lazy' or 'disobedient' to her list of bad qualities. Not that Vixen really cared. But she still hated being put down.
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Tazer looked at the guards and frowned. Before she knew what she was doing, her hand was already clenched around her whip. Knowing that violence was not going to get them in, Tazer get go of it and decided to let Rain take the lead. Tazer wasn't going to attempt to talk to these guards. If she did, well it would probably lead to a fight or some major confusion. Tazer knew that Rain who was more civilized than her would be able to get them through better than she could.
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Tifa didn't like the silence. It had always annoyed her the feeling of nothing or almost nothing. But it didn't look like Vladmir was a really chatty guy. Still it couldn't hurt to try.

"So Vladmir why did you become a knight?"

Rain could see that Tazer wasn't about to speak to these people without first giving them a few scars. He understood that it was up to him to get them inside. He wasn't sure if this could work though, since Rain was a wanted man, it was likely that they could be arrested on the spot. He nodded as she fell back.

As the two of them approached, he noticed the guards were acting... nervous? A little scared even. Rain could not see the mens' faces because they were covered in helmets, but he could be relatively sure that they wore looks of discomfort. "Good day." Rain began, and almost before he had finished the two had exclaimed. "G-good day Professor Hallard!" their reaction made it sound like they were speaking to a superior officer. Rain tried to hide his confusion. He was obviously not any professor, but if these two had mistaken him for somebody else, then he wasn't going to waste a chance to get in without suspicion. "Me and my associate would like to enter." Rain explained. The two looked at Tazer. They didn't notice her as anybody who had entered Hala through their gate before. "Now please." Rain continued, more forcefully, to pull attention away from Tazer. The two guards straightened up once more, like they were afraid Rain would cut their heads off if the didn't obey. "Y-yes of course Professor Hallard!" they exclaimed. The doors through the wall surrounding the city began to creak open, until they were fully opened and a large gap in the wall formed an entry. "Let's get out of here." he whispered to Tazer, then headed into the city. "At ease." he ordered the two guards, deciding to play with them a little. The guards gave a sigh of relief. Whoever this Professor Hallard was, he must have given these guards plenty of abuse. But the name Hallard still rung in his head. It sounded oddly familiar.

"What are you thinking about?" Doran asked bluntly as he rode beside Vixen. He was bored with the long ride and he wanted to keep his mind off the task of killing children.

Tazer smiled at their good luck. So far it was the only lucky thing that happened. Well besides the knights coming. But that wasn't as lucky as it should have been since they were after her too. Once the guards had their back turn, Tazer stuck her tongue out at them.

Once in the city, Tazer felt out of place and confined. But she kept walking trying not to let the weird feeling in the pit of her stomach get to her.

"So where are we going," Tazer asked Rain.
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Vixen didn't answer at first as if she didn't hear Doran. Then she turned to him with a small smile.

"Nothing really. Just about what happened. We can't allow ourselves to slip up again, although some of our opponents are pretty weak."

He smiled back, gripping his blade as he thought about what she said.
"The people here are weak. They can't compare to us or our companions," he told her, thinking, Zarxs is more of a threat to us than our enemies. His anger would mean death.

Rain moved closer to Tazer, a little defensively. She looked a little out of place here. She also looked a little scared. Cities didn't seem to be high on her list of favorite things. Rain looked around at the people, trying to see what most of them wore. That question was answered almost immediately. All of the scholars of Hala seemed to be wearing fine white robes with another secondary color running from the tip of the hood to the base of the back part of the robe, along the shoulders and down the arms, and along the trim of the base, and ends of the sleeves. A uniform that symbolized your rank and field, much like in the military. "We'll go to the library first, and begin our search for Nala. We'll most likely be able to acquire some robes there too. I'm also curious about this Hallard character, if you don't mind, I'd like to collect some information on him too." said Rain, and moved through the crowd of people who walked the narrow streets. "Stay close, and if you loose me, head to the center of the city, that's where the library is." he told her.

Vladmir

Vladmir felt irritated at the question, and really just wanted to smack her on the head and tell her not to talk. Unfortunately, his moral sense and the fact that no one was around to hear them anyway made it a bad move to make. He toyed around with ignoring her, but if she was one of those stubborn people, she might not give up.

"Not that it's your business, but my older brother was to replace my father as the nobleman of our family, and I had an aptitude for physical action, and a sharp mind," he said. "The life of a politician was out of my grasp, and the life of a scholar was too tame."

“Where do you want me to go?” Marcus asked Nolan.

“I have to go since I’m currently the fastest because of this elegant fellow I’m riding” he said while slowly caressing the head of the horse.