The Darkness Wars Rated Teen/Accepting

"So there was no sense of protecting your country's people or anything of that sort? You just decided that being a knight would be the best career to take?" Tifa was a little taken aback at what he said. She had become a knight not only to prove her worth a girl and because she knew it would please her parents, but because she always had this sense of civil duty. To find out that Vladmir became one because of his family standing was kind of weird.

"No never mind. I'm sorry to bring it up," Tifa said. She didn't want Vladmir mad at her. It would only cause problems if they ran into trouble soon.
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Tazer nodded and stayed close to Rain. She wasn't about to let herself get lost here.

"I don't mind if you look up this Hallard guy. You've done plenty for me, so it's only fair that you do something for yourself."

Rain smiled at Tazer. She was certainly sweet under her hard stubborn surface. "Thank you Tazer. And I just want to know exactly who I'm impersonating here." he told her, walking through the crowd. He noticed now that people were looking at him, especially scholars. Whispering even. They seemed to be just as nervous as the two guards. Whoever Hallard was, he generated quite a bit of buzz, and was probably short on friends. Rain quickened his pace slightly. He was feeling oddly boxed in now as well, with all of the stares. He could feel the weight of what he had done back on the day he discovered his power, he saw Clara, her face battered, and bloody, and heard his children's screams. His hand flashed with darkness for a moment, but Rain concealed it. He hid is worries as best he could. He would need to get used to crowds, and people looking at him if he didn't want a repeat of that night. "Let's hurry and get to the library." he said to Tazer.

(Skip to the library?)

Vladmir

Vladmir stopped, and turned to look at Tifa. "Never question my loyalty," he said, a chilling wind blowing past. "I would never betray my fellow countrymen, regardless what I think of them. If need be I will die for Belle, and you would do well to remember that!"

Nolan

"Ok then, Marcus, go look for Izumi and Shimi, the rest of us will head to Hala. You know where that is, right," Nolan asked.

(Ok)

Tazer looked at the building. She could vaguely recall learning basic lessons in reading and writing. Most of it taught by Nolan. But once they began taking in runaways along with orphans, Tazer was able to learn some more. Still she didn't really think she would be able to understand much of what was in here.
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Tifa frowned when Vladmir snapped at her. Man was this guy touchy. But Tifa knew she shouldn't have said anything like that. It seemed that after this was all over, they weren't going to be friends still. Not that she cared anyways.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," Tifa said softly, apologizing.

"Are we going to stare at the building all day, or actually start looking?" asked Rain, after looking at the relatively modern architecture. (for the time of course) The library wasn't all that old, made at the whims of the previous king, perhaps twenty years old. It held a very regal air to it, rather than gothic. Rain turned to a younger scholar who seemed to be an apprentice, the girl didn't seem to know Hallard, so it would be easier to get information without suspicion. "Where can I find the library archives, and a place to purchase some robes. We've misplaced ours and are both new from the capitol." Rain said, faking embarrassment. The girl smiled, she seemed thrilled to be helping out a scholar. "Right... ummm..." the girl closed her eyes and began to think. "Archives are in the north wing located on the left of the entrance. They hold the the history of our prosperous kingdom of Belle, inside you can find any person in the kingdom, with the exception of those born and raised in the castle. Such information is held in the restricted archives of the royal library." the girl said, repeating what seemed to be a fact she had learned from a book. She then looked back up at Rain. "Photographic memory." she explained. "Doesn't seem to help my general memory any though. I lose my robes all the time." she continued, and then gave an embarrassed smile. "That would be just in through the entrance, also to your left, you should find a booth in the wall where somebody can hook you up with some robes. You just need to give your name if you're new." she explained. Rain nodded and took in this information. "Thank you. You've been a huge help..." he said, and then the girl finished his sentence. "Marigold. That's my name." she said, and then blushed with pride, then ran off, and turned to wave goodbye, but tripped up. She then got back up, waved once more, and then ran again. She seemed to be in a hurry.

Rain turned to Tazer. "Shall we?" he asked.

Tazer nodded. The girl, Marigold, seemed nice. Tazer wondered if every girl in the city was like her or at least among the scholars.

"Yeah let's go." Tazer remembered what the girl said as she headed to get a set of robes. Seeing what they looked like they didn't seem that bad. But it was still not her taste. "So who do you think Nala is in general? Someone important or....?"

Rain looked at Tazer. He realized this was the first time that Tazer had actually asked about Nala. About herself. "Well if the knights, and those assassins are after her, especially that one in the cloak, then she must be very important." he said, as he headed over to get the robes. "My guess is that there's a prophecy about you." he continued, remembering the old man who claimed to be connected to the divine and would come up with prophecies in his old town. He was never right though. "I think that you have a big destiny behind you." Rain said, and then sighed. "It's too bad we don't know what it is yet. Sorry if I'm scaring you." he continued. "I just believe that we all have a set purpose to serve in life, and yours seems like it's far bigger than most." he finished. Now if only I knew what mine was. He added to himself in his head. Rain reached the desk. "Professor Hallard, and a new Apprentice, Tazer." he said. The man at the counter, a young apprentice himself it seemed, boredly checked a list ticked off Hallard's name, and added Tazer to the list, and ticked it as well. He retrieved a large cloak with red as a secondary color. Upon further inspection there was a gold line running along the border of the secondary color and the white, and an upside down triangle hung from the neck down to the center of the chest, and a small golden triangle with an insignia in the middle lay at the center of the red triangle. The boy did a one over of Tazer, and then got a smaller cloak, similar except with bronze in the place of gold. The third color seemed to indicate rank, as silver was a common color among the scholars. Rain left his coat and armor with the boy, who agreed to let him take it on the way out, he then put the white cloak on over his clothes.

Tazer nodded. The thought that she had this huge fate was kind of unnerving. All her life she didn't think much about why she was here or anything of the sort. She mainly focused on surviving. But now that she had time to think about it, she did wonder.

'If I'm so important why did my parents abandoned me?'

She took the robe and put it on over her clothes. Then she reflexed on what Marigold had told them.

"We should check out the archives first. If Nala isn't there then...well then..."

"Then you came from the palace." Rain said, finishing her sentence. The kingdom most likely created this rule of archiving so that only they could keep track of the royalty, and the goings on there, to keep palace matters out of common knowledge, and out of enemy knowledge, but it also made things easy to cover up for them. The whole castle was covered in a protective shield of the unknown. Being from the castle didn't necessarily mean Nala was royalty, she could be the maid's daughter for all they knew, but it made her connections to power far more likely. Rain didn't think that Tazer wanted to be part of the royal family. The world was already asking too much of her. Rain walked up to Tazer, and pulled up the hood on the robe. "You make a fine scholar." he said, teasingly. "Alright, let's go to the archives. Nala won't find herself... Well not in the figurative sense." he said.

When Garth was summoned to Belle castle he was out in the field of battle not three and a half days ride from the castle, and in two days he had managed to have his gold, his horse, and worst of all his pride, stolen from his. He had managed to walk as far as Hala and now he was sitting in the middle of a tavern trying to find a way out of this royal sized mess.

He was a two day walk from the castle and there was no way he could get a horse. (It seemed that many of the horse where needed by the local knights to maintain some kind of order in The Rim). He only hoped that some of the other knights (who the summons listed) were late as he was if not later. ‘Two choices...' he thought, 'I can either go to the castle and face my punishment, or find Lord Valdmir and asked to be briefed on the mission'.

He got up from his seat ad sighed. “Easiest choice is to report in and explained what happened. I’m sure they’ll understand.” He said to himself knowing that that was going to be the last thing he intended to do. He walked out of the Tavern into the beautiful sunlit streets of west Hala. As he walked towards the gate he noticed a Tall blonde haired man and a shorter girl who seemed to be (in Garth’s eyes) under the large mans protection. He didn’t know why his mind chose these two as note worthy but it did, and for Garth an ‘I did it because I can’ expiation to something wasn’t good enough. So, partly because he wanted a reason why his mind told him to notice these people and partly because he wanted to avoid his punishments, he started following the two.

When they entered the library Garth shivered. Not that he ever used them. His reading was limited to maps and whatever letters he got from home (which he could barley read some times) He didn't know why exactly but places with large amounts of books made him uneasy. It might have just been his imagination but he always thought people, and the books, we laughing at him and his lack of what was viewed as "important knowledge." Garth was so busy trying not to think about the books he almost lost the two strangers when they changed robes. Thankful he didn’t lose them Garth sneaked a little closer, trying to find out more about the pair, especially the one with the sword.

(Had to add a little to the end toko, Sorry)

"So do you 'Hallard'," Tazer teased back, nodding. She looked around in wonder as they headed to the archives. So much knowledge was here in reach for almost anyone. It was kind of cool to think about it.

(That's ok.)

"Why thank you." said Rain, smiling back at her. He then followed Tazer into the archives, and couldn't help but look around in wonder. The books were stacked high on the shelves, at least twenty feet per book case, and then a second floor, and third, before finally reaching the curved window ceiling. The slight tint in the window caused green rays to float down, and cast themselves along the floor. Rolling ladders were attached to the bookcases to reach the higher books. Tables of fine wood lay in the middle of the ails, with comfortable looking chairs for seats, and vases with a variety of flowers sat in the center of each table. It was truly marvelous. He could imagine people becoming lost in a novel all day in this library. But this was not the fiction section. Here, scholars busily trotted around the rooms looking for dates, times, people, and events. Rain saw a sign that pointed down an ails that said "Census." Rain turned to Tazer. "Nala should be on the first, or second floor. I'll take the bottom level." he said, and headed towards the ails.

Tazer nodded and took the other one. She scanned the shelves, trailing her fingers over the spines of the books she passed. She could make out the words on the spines, but when she looked in one, some words were hard to understand.

Looking in the third book she thouht might be helpful, she shut it with a sigh. She could tell that their search for Nala, who she may or may not be, was going to take some time.

Rain began his search by walking down the ails. It didn't look like he would have much luck with this. The archives seemed to be done by town, and then by names alphabetically. Rain walked along the first ails, looking for towns that were close to the capitol, until he reached the end, where he bumped into a pedestal. He turned to look at what he had hit. There was a small Ionic pillar holding a book that read. "Famous Scholars of Hala." This intrigued Rain. He knew he had to help Tazer find Nala, but an opportunity to find Hallard had just magically landed in his lap. It wasn't everyday you were met with such fortune, and it would only take a couple of minutes. From Hallard's reputation he must be in this book. It seemed to be new as well, so it should have newer Hala Scholars. Rain flipped through the pages until he reached Hal, "Hala, Halen, Halford..." Rain mumbled the names of various famous Scholars, who's names all began in Hal "Hallen again, but with two ls." he continued, until he found him. It was the picture that caught Rain's attention before the name. There, in the book was a portrait of a man who looked exactly like Rain. It was practically Rain in the picture. The white, red ,and gold robes, the blond hair, the blue eyes. Of course Hallard looked a few years younger. His name was Hallard Crane, member of the elite scholars. Rain read on about his doppelganger.

Hallard studied in the field of Alchemy. The study of the bonds between magic and science. It wasn't a field that many entered into, because Magic an Science liked staying a good distance away. Hallard was last studying Mana and the spirits. Hallard had gone missing five years ago, but he still had a manor in the city. Rain looked around, and made sure nobody was looking, then he faked a sneeze, and ripped the page out at the same time. He stuffed the paper into his pocket and shut the book. He could read more about Hallard later, right now they needed to find Nala. Plus, it would be helpful to know where that manor was, they didn't really have the money to stay at an inn. Rain began to search once more for cities near the Capitol.

Tazer was about to give up her search when a name jumped out at her. She started, dropping the book to the floor. A young scholar looked over at her with eyebrows raised and she mouthed "Sorry." The scholar just shrugged and continued on with whatever he was doing.

Tazer bent down slowly, picking up the book. She found the page again and this time, instead of dropping it or something something crazy she just stared. She couldn't believe what she had found. It wasn't necessarily about Nala, but it was important to her. Glancing around she slowly tore the page from where it was. The book contained information about the people living on the outskirt of Belle. But Tazer wasn't interested in knowing who did what and where they lived. What had made her drop the book was just a name. One single name.

Nolan.

Nolan

After making sure that the other Wild Freaks were in a safe spot, Nolan continued toward Hala without them. The older ones could help the younger ones, but Tazer was only with Rain, and last time the assasins attacked, Rain had been incapcitated for most of it. Though he had had too much trouble with just one, he still didn't like Tazer to be without someone she could trust completely, and Rain was too vague about things to trust completely, though he had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Tazer felt nervous as she made her way through the shelves. Not because she had found something on Nolan here, but because she wasn't sure if anyone saw her take the page. She couldn't risk being kicked out.

After a minute or so of searching Tazer let out a heavy sigh. She couldn't find anything on Nala.

Rain couldn't find anything on Nala, so he decided to see how Tazer was doing. As he saw her sigh, and walk away from the book shelves, he could tell it hadn't gone very well. "I couldn't find anything on Nala, but I found Hallard. He has a place in town and has been missing for five years, so we can stay there tonight, and leave a request for the guards telling them to show Nolan and the others where we are." said Rain, explaining his plan. "We can go to Hallard's manor once we're done and leave a message with one of the library guards when you're done. You need a night off anyways." he continued.

Marcus assembled the team ad he walked with them a few minutes after Nolan had gone after Tazer. Then he started thinking, and that’s when he made his decision. He couldn’t just sit back and not go. He turned around and ran towards were Nolan had gone off.

He shouldn’t be so far away. I can catch up to him in a few minutes. The teen thought as he rode through the thick dense wild.

"That sounds like a good idea," Tazer said, her hand subconsciously moving over her pocket. She wanted to tell Rain about what she had found about Nolan and she knew she should. Nolan was abandoned with her and so it might help them, but Tazer couldn't. This was about Nolan and she felt like if she showed it to Rain she would be invading her friend's privacy. "I just hope they hurry up. I don't think the assassins are after them, but I don't think they are below using my friends to bait me."

Nolan

Nolan crouched on a branch on the outskirts, scanning the area for any sign of Tazer or Rain. Just when he was about to drop down and begin his search, he saw her, just beyond the gates. Tazer was standing alone, and from where he perched, there was something off.

He dropped down and raced into the city, not even stopping by the guards, and ran straight to her. When she saw him, she ran to him and yelled, "Nolan," then wrapped her arms around him. "Tazer, what happened? Where's Rain?" "He-he abandoned me here," she said. "What," Nolan asked, feeling his anger rise. "He said that I was just an annoying kid and should never have brought me here, and he threatened to kill me if I bothered him again," she said, in between tears.

Nothing really added up, but Nolan was too angry to do the math anyway, all he heard was that Rain had betrayed his trust and left Tazer alone in a foreign city, and he didn't stop to consider everything. "Where did you last see him," Nolan asked. Tazer pointed toward the library and said, "I'll show you."

Vixen felt a wave of anger consumed her. She was still feeling mad that they weren't able to get Tazer or even stop any of her friends. All because of those stupid knights. Letting her emotions get the best of her for a second, a sapling and a brush suddenly flew ten feet away, hitting a tree. Vixen frowned, disappointed in herself for allowing such a thing. She knew that someone, probably Oeni, was going to yell at her for doing such a thing. She just hoped that she wouldn't get too angry. She didn't want to hurt any of her fellow assassins. Well she did, but she didn't think that would be good.

"Koh...we have to take out the knights if we want to get to Tazer easier. They are going to cause us the most problems. But I know Zarxs won't let us do that. What do you think we should do?"
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Tifa walked in silence, feeling insanely bored. Why of all people did she have to get paired with Vladmir? She didn't hate the guy, but he wasn't exactly someone she would choose to hang out with. Tifa sighed. At least she knew tha he could handle himself in a fight.

A noise made Tifa jump. She saw someone up ahead, but couldn't make out who it was. She moved slower hoping that Vladmir saw them too.

(It can be any of the Wild Freaks that Tifa spots.)

{Sorry I haven't been posting recently, I thought I'd be able to keep up with my current RPs a little bit better...or way better...Anyways, I'm not sure if the assassin's were calling Tazer "Tazer," 'cause I remember them calling her "Nala." Was that more of a mistake, or did you do it intentionally and I really just haven't been here for awhile...?}



"Disappeared into smoke?" Izumi questioned, then resumed being silent and listened. A small breeze sweeped through and rustled the leaves, but it didn't seem like there was any other disturbance. "You're right. I think he's gone..."

The teen stepped out from behind the trunk a bit more, and peered around to confirm that the assassin had left. When nothing happened, Izumi let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness...eep!" Upon noticing how close she was to Shimi, the archer flinched jumping back a bit, but then slipped out of the tree branch, hitting the forest floor hard.

"Oww...huh?!" suddenly heavy foot steps were heading towards the girl, and a figure started to emerge out of the bushes.



The assassin's horse leapt over a few boulders, and landed on the road. Having caught up to the others, who were only a few yards from him, Koh pushed his steed further.

Taking care of the knights are not part of the plan. Lord Zarxs' will is absolute, and we must obey his command. he answered Vixen's question simply and coldly. However, after he had something strange overcame him; an emotion he was not familiar with. For some reason Koh felt compelled to give a different response; he not only wanted to help the female assassin think of a solution, but he wanted to do everything in his power to accomplish it. He was confused by this urge, as he believed the truth of his initial response with every fiber of his being. Yet, this feeling he was feeling towards her was nearly on par with his loyalty to the Dark Lord.

...well...I'll see what I can do about the knights. Can you brief me about them and what happened? I wasn't there when they attacked...



"Uh, yes. Let's go..." with that, Leit mounted his own steed, kicked the horses' sides slightly, causing it to leap back on it's hind legs for a bit, and darted off into the forest in the direction of where Tazer ran off too. The royal guard tried to ride quickly, in an attempt to outrun the distractions of his mind.

IC: Oeni

His gaze drifted to Vixen, and he shook his head. "Keep your powers under control, Vixen. We wouldn't want you to have an accident, now would we?" A dark smile played across his face, as his finger tapped the handle of his sword in warning. He followed after Zarxs quietly, keeping himself a respectful distance behind as always.

It would seem she has fled the forest. Strange. Where can this girl go that can shelter her?

(No the name thing was an accident. Oops.)

Vixen scowled at Oeni. If things turned out badly, she would be sure to take down the man with her. Or at least see him suffer. But after hearing Koh's response to her question she blocked out any negative thoughts about Oeni.

"I'll try to remember that."

"We were fighting Nala and her companions when about five knights of Belle came to her aid. I don't believe that the girl knew them or wanted their help, so it appears we are not the only ones after her. Anyways they weren't too much trouble for we easily disabled some of them. Still it worries me that they might interfer too much in our mission."
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Tifa finally emerged from the bushes and was surprised to see a girl in the clearing. Tifa at first thought she found Nala, but no. This wasn't the girl they wanted. Still she looked to be....non-civilized and the knight assumed that she was friend's with Nala. Which meant that she might be able to use her to get the girl.

"Who are you and what are you doing here," Tifa asked, her voice soft, but still commanding.