Internal Affairs

[AAB]

Save the things. Yes, that's what she should have done. Tamael frantically assisted Allen in rescuing dishes, a chair, a couple of books... But then there was a crackling overhead, and Tamael jumped clear as the roof caved in.

A voice came from the direction of the town. Tamael turned to answer it, nearly in tears. "That is going on," she said, pointing at the smouldering wreckage, "on and on and on..." She rested her hand on the chair and stroked it briefly. Her grandmother had been gone for a while now, and now her grandmother's house was gone.

The little white animal scurried over and Tamael gave it a slight smile. Another time she would have given it a second look, known it wasn't just an animal. But her internal energy dimmed as the flames did the same.

Tamael glanced at the singed books that had been pulled from the cottage. A journal and a book of plants. The gold-bound book of lore must have been destroyed, and Tamael hadn't even begun reading it until recently.

 

[Kyrion]

Allen was inside the cottage when the roof started to fall around him. Fortunately, as most of it was burned to little fragments, nothing more than a few pieces of wood surrounded him. At least until the main beam fell, blocking his exit. He was trapped inside a claustrophobic inferno.

The fire was already marking his skin, making it sensitive under the thick layer of sweat and ashes. He would breath deeply to calm his mind, if the fumes were not starting to suffocate him, irritating his lungs and also his eyes. Among the dense clouds of smoke, he found the window, also partly blocked by what remained from a table. He reached it with his hands, but the wood didn't move under the pressure. It was too far for him to jump... at least for those legs he was using.

Using the remainings of a bed sheet, he made a bundle with the little objects he saved last: another book, a feather pen, a small metal box, something carved in wood he couldn't recognize yet and what seemed a piece of jewelry. He tied the sheet to protect everything, and put it not on his hands, but in his mouth.

The sudden sound of cracking grass resonated outside, when a large form throwed itself through the fragile window. It was not the man who entered the place, but a large feline, his very pale gold fur brindled with dirt and ashes, carrying the bundle in his jaws, only recognizable by his crystalline eyes. He trotted away from the burning cottage, at the same time a soft rain started to fall, despite the sun from minutes earlier. A small cloud seemed to choose that exact space to deliver its contents. The feline shook his head, waving the short mane around his neck; one could say a smile curved his large lips, before his face changed to that of a man, again.

"Here are the last things I could rescue from the fire. With the rain, I believe the fire will subside soon, and it will be possible to rebuild the cottage from the remains of its foundations." Allen talked to Tamael, giving her the bundle. He looked at Mizuki and the others, glad they were okay. But something was missing...

The ermine was not in his clothes anymore. He looked around frantically, until he found the little silhouette among the people, too close to the many feet walking furiously here and there, oblivious of its existence. "Wait!" he quickly run after it, catching it with his arms before it could get too close to the fire. Unfortunately, part of the ashes covering his body and clothes tainted the absolutely white fur. "Please, don't go there. Let's return to where it's safe." He said, caressing with his fingers, getting close again to the trees, and sitting, absolutely exhausted. His body was aching from the efforts, and his skin was covered in small burns.

 

[Vinyl]

Fire, smoke, sounds, big feet - feet stomping everywhere and all places, descending with huge scary booms. The tiny white creature faltered and coughed and only narrowly missed collision with a pair of huge shoes. Smoke, fire, cats - she wasn't sure how much more she could handle - if this kept on she'd just -

and then there was the touch. The Touch saved her. From the heavens it came, swooping down into the fiery chaos and lifting her trembling body to undescribable safety. Again, she owed it with her life. The soft booming of that mythical heart and the shroud of welcoming warmth eveloped her senses. The little furry creature sniffled gently against what smelt a lot like a big hand and curled up once more, closing her eyes. Where had the Touch been all her life? She knew so many cold night and dangerous lonely days where she would have longed for its soft stroking and caressing. But there was no point, she reasoned, in whining now - here was the Touch, and she would always be safe in its arms.

 

[xWyCKeD]

From some distance away, still wrapped in Ghost Walk, Ralf watched the events unfold.

The structural integrity of the cottage failed just as a small rain cloud appeared over it. Heartbeats later the cloud opened up, as if nature itself disagreed with the fire. Almost simultaneously a large cat burst from a window carrying a satchel in its mouth.

Curious.

Just as the thought formed though, the cat shifted back into the man he recognized from the tavern at breakfast. The question of the raincloud would be left unanswered. The young girl who had previously lived in the cottage appeared to have some powerful friends. Of the woman who lived with her, he saw no sign, but he had more pressing concerns.

The Father points me East.

He looked up and using the sun oriented himself east. He released the spell keeping him camouflaged, and started off.

 

[Lyrical Machine]

Aspen was confused and scared. It had been a while since she had seen a fire, the last fire she witnessed still sent shivers through her. Lansing nudged Aspen's hand and Aspen smiled down at the large cat. "Right.." Aspen muttered. "We're here to buy some supplies."

It had been what seemed like ages since she had been in town and Aspen hardly remembered where anything was. She decided to ask a villager.

"Excuse me." Aspen said in a polite tone towards the closest villager. "This may not be the greatest time... but would you mind telling me where an elf can buy some arrows around here..?" She hoped that the villager wouldn't make some remark about her appearance.

 

[MagiKin]

Helena ran along the path, her breaths coming in short quick drawn gasps as she listened to the voices behind her. Kill her! Capture the girl! Reap the bounty! She had been like this for the last two days since those bounty hunters caught her trail. They were relentless and chased her up mountains and inside caverns, never taking or giving her a break. These guys are persistent and they keep informing other hunters ahead of my coming...I need to lose them!

She didn't want to use her power. That was the reason she was being hunted and she hated that she was this way. Why did it have to be her? Why not someone else? It wasn't her fault she was pureblood kitsune heritage and had access to the infinity realm. She still had no clue what those things were exactly, but from what she overheard it was a plane of existence totally separate from theirs where she had access to spirits and other creatures to summon at her whim.

Soon, they had talked about turning her into a weapon or draining her power and trying to infuse it in a human body. She broke out of there soon after and hadn't stopped running since. She stopped as two hunters stepped into the path in front of her and the four behind her caught up, chuckling. "You're done girlie. Come quietly and we'll be nice to you...."
She turned..her eyes pure ice blue and two orangish redish tails waving behind her. "You all have no right to me....I won't go with you....CELSIUS!" A summoning rune appeared under her and a powerful ice spirit manifested itself beside her, launching into a volley of freezing attacks against the men until they all lay dead in the road.

The spirit vanished and Helena collapsed to the ground. Her body had no energy and she was so exhausted. Her clothes were torn and felt as heavy as steel with every breath. She could feel the fatigue setting in and she collapsed to the ground in a heap.

 

[AAB]

Tamael was alarmed to see a cat emerge from the smouldering cottage. But it was the man, and he had saved more things. Wide-eyed, Tamael accepted the bundle from Allen and briefly looked through it as he retrieved the white weasel. The other girl with the other cat headed off toward the village.

Tamael added a knife, a few eating tools, and the first two books to the sheet Allen had given her. She smiled fondly at the last book. It was the lore-book she had missed, and it was badly damaged, but some parts may still be readable. Judging from the other items, the man must have made his last grabs hear Tamael's grandmother's side of the house, for none of the items were Tamael's. It was all for the better, though. Tamael had always felt her grandmother's things were more interesting than her own.

Tamael picked up a sturdy stick to tie her pack to. As she finished the knot, she paused. Was that yelling? Further on the dirt path that led into the forest (the path which the cottage had sat beside and which Aspen had used to return to the town), Tamael spotted movement. She looked to Allen and pointed. "I think someone is there," she said, and curiosity grew stronger as she slowly approached the noise.

 

[Kyrion]

Allen certainly heard the same sounds coming from inside the forest. Screams, sounds of battle - a fierce one. Among the masculine voices was a feminine one, and the constant beat of something big, too big and too magical. While his hand continued to stroke the soft fur of the creature in his arms, his mind was far away, and his senses were sharp. "Yes. I'm going, too."

Before leaving the place, he looked back at the cottage, now completely free from the fire. The soft rain continued to fall, refreshing the ruins and the lands around it. Thanks, Goddess, for your blessing. I offer my services to accomplish any mission you charge me next, at the moment you say your command. His head bowed, eyes closed, and then he left, covering the ermine in his arms to protect it from the rain. On his way, he picked his coat from the floor, and followed the girl who lived at the cottage, entering the forest.

For a brief moment, he felt a subtle use of divine magic, and what seemed the silhouette from the man on the tavern appeared where it was not just a moment before. He ignored his goals. I thought little human villages were calm and simples. Yet, I've found at least ten different races here, and a few strange incidents. Is there a reason for all that? Are we getting reunited?

Allen's thought were cut by the strange vision before him: many bodies were spread in a tight clear in the forest, covered here and there by magical ice, the kind that doesn't evaporate the same way natural ice would do. Among the death, was a girl... no, a kitsune. For some reason, the hair on the scruff of his neck was stiff. But she was alive.

He approached her, trying to find any injuries. With the ermine still on his lap, he extended one hand to touch hers. "Are you alright? Can you hear me?" he said calmly, to not scare the kitsune

 

[MagiKin]

Helena groaned as she felt something touch her. Was it one of the hunters? I thought I got them all! She slowly forced herself to lift herself and prepared to be beaten down and restrained, but it never came. Her eyes had to readjust before she saw a man kneeling beside her. "Uhh...I'm..fine. Really. You're not a bounty hunter are you?"

She mentally slapped herself. Being sneaky and stealthy weren't her strong points and she often found herself digging holes and jumping right in. If this man was a bounty hunter, he didn't look the part. He didn't really look all too scary or intimidating and it didn't look like he had any weapons on him. There were too many questions and ideas pounding in her head and she couldn't focus, feeling herself collapse to the ground again.