VG Rumble

Warren

I nodded thoughtfully and turned away from the window, drawing the curtains closed.

"Even so, there's no need to be so melodramatic about it. They'll be running around with torches and pitch-forks next," I rolled my eyes and sat down on the bed, pulling my boots off. Luke chuckled dryly and nodded his agreement.

"That or they'll try sacrificing..." he hesitated and sighed. "I hope it doesn't come to that."

"We wont let it," I promised. "In fact, I have an idea. Come on, it's about time we showed these people who really has the power." Taking my socks off, I crossed the room bare foot and threw the window open.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked. Without replying, I latched onto a gust of wind and used it to raise both Luke and me far above the villages.

"Behold!" I commanded, sending lightening crashing to the ground. "We have come!"

"Look!" a villager pointed towards us and soon they were all staring up at the sky.

"I am Sir Warren, the almighty God of wind and this be my brother, God of lightening. We have come to tell you our will. Be good to one another or this world will perish!"

(Shouldn't it be God of Wind (Warren) and God of Lightning (Luke)?)

Oh yeah. Hehe. I'll edit that.

They ignored Warren and his show outside. Ilum held Karana against him, rubbing her back as she cried into him.

"I'm fine," he said over and over again. "I'm here. I'll never leave you again."

She nodded, sniffling. "I'll never leave you again. I thought...I thought I'd lost you."

They sat down on the edge of one of the beds, Karana still in his arms.

He sighed. "I didn't think anyone would help me, would save me. I was about ready to give up, to accept death, when I heard your voice; but then, I couldn't wake up. It's like I just forgot how to breathe."

She looked at him. "How were you caught, anyway?"

He thought for a moment, staring at the floor. "I don't really remember. Last thing I recall, I was walking along this tunnel, towards this vast chamber, and something came up behind me. I had little time to react, but my spells were deflected. I...I stumbled on something as I took blows to the head and chest...then I heard your voices, but couldn't wake up."

Karana accepted that. Being unconscious had its draw backs. Of course he wouldn't remember everything.

"What about you?"

And so Karana told him everything she could remember. How they were attacked and had to jump from the tracks. How they were separated during the fall and eventually joined back up. How they fought Ilfrit and Karana gained him as a summon. How they found the chamber and rescued Ilum...

"But the Dark Knight escaped," she concluded. "He left through a portal before anyone could do anything else."

Ilum nodded. "That makes sense. But tell me this: how did you get ice powers?"

She shrugged. "I guess we traded magic when we fused. Who knows? You may have some fire you haven't discovered yet!"

At least she felt better. At least Ilum was safe and alive. At least they were together.

Luke whispered, "I don't think this is a very good idea."

"Trust me, this'll work!" Warren whispered back. "We have sent this black sun to you, not as an omen, but as a test of your faith!" he shouted. "For every sin you commit, the black sun will get bigger and bigger until the entire world is filled with darkness! But, repent for your sins and spread good will and the darkness will slowly wash away. These are our words to you. If you do not comply, your world will be lost to the darkness!" Warren whispered back to Luke, "You mind finishing this up?"

Luke sighed and raise his hands. He sent lighting through his fingertips and lit up the sky as 'a testament of his power.' When he was finished he placed a hand on Warren's shoulder and used his shadow spell to make them both invisible.

Once Warren brought them back down into the inn he said, "Well, that oughta set things straight."

"Or, it might just make things worse," Luke answered, looking out the window.

"How could it make things worse?"

"Take a look." Warren looked out the window to see crowds of people running through the streets in a panic. They were screaming and saying things like, "All is lost! All is lost!"

Warren was silent, unsure of what to say. Luke filled the silence. "No matter how hard we try we can never fix everything, and just like with the kidnappings in that village a few weeks ago, there will be times where we can't save everyone either. No one can be the perfect hero. Sometimes the best thing we can do is leave matters as they are and hope they can sort themselves out."

Warren took another look out the window. "...I didn't mean for this to happen."

"I know you didn't, you were only trying to help. Your heart was in the right place, and that's all that matters." A bottle smashed against the side of the inn only a few inches beside the window. Luke closed the window and grabbed his sword. "I'm going downstairs to make sure nobody tries to burn down the inn. Go to sleep, we'll be getting up early tomorrow as usual."

Raven

I stepped lightly into the room and layed Izuki upon the bed nearest to the door. Her eyes flickered open and her lips twitched into a faint smile before she drifted back to sleep. I gently tugged the trainers and socks from her feet before pulling the cover back from under her and tucking her in.

"Sleep well," I said softly before changing into a cotton night gown and slipping beneath the warm, heavy covers. I closed my eyes, enjoying the scent of lavender, the soft blankets and the... disturbingly loud noises from outside.

Crossing to the window, I peered out and found the street in havoc. I ducked and covered my head reflexively as a bottle smashed against the wooden frame. Carefully straightening and looking out again, I blinked in the bright torch light. The sound of screams reached my ears. People were being hurt, how could I stay inside?

Closing the curtains tightly, I hurried from the room, locking it behind me and then down the stairs and out through the front door of the tavern. My white night gown fluttered behind me as I stepped bare-foot across the pavement, following the sounds of pain. Something drew me, some feeling so sharp that it could not be denied. A feeling of fear and dread. A feeling of anger. I had to find its owner.

Someone grabbed her arm. Raven whipped around, prepared to hit them with magic, but stopped when she saw it was Luke.

"Raven, what are you doing out here?" he asked.

"I can't stand by and watch as people riot in the street!" She took another glance at the chaos and asked, "How did this happen?"

Luke averted his gaze.

"Did you have something to do with this?" she asked, generally appalled.

"Warren thought he could knock some sense into these people by pretending we were Gods and telling them to behave themselves. Before I could object, we were already in the air." Luke motioned to the rioting crowds. "His plan backfired."

"I'll say," Raven said. "What do we do?"

Luke shook his head. "For the moment, there's nothing we CAN do. Resolving riots is a matter handled by the local enforcers. If we try to do anything to help it may add fuel to the fire. Warren thought he could help, and look what happened."

Raven

"I know but... I can feel them, Luke. They're inside my head, all their pain, all their fear... I have to try." Luke stared at Raven a moment and then nodded.

"Okay, lead the way."

"Thank you. It will work, if nothing else we can save a few lives." Raven hurried onwards, following the intangible trail to a small alley and the sound of crying mingled with the pain in her mind until tears were falling from her own eyes.

The alley was dark, lit only by a pale beam of moonlight that fell across Raven's face and illuminated her gown. The man looked up from where he sat amongst the dirt and what could only be trails of sticky, red blood.

"Are you an angel?" the man asked suspiciously.

"There are no angels," Luke soothed.

"I saw you," the man mumbled. "You're one of the Gods and she's an angel." He began to shake. With fear or rage, Raven couldn't tell at first but then she sensed it; a deep despair and rage born out of love.

"You can't take her."

"Don't be afraid, I just want to help..." The man shuffled back, dragging something with him.

"Is she dead?" Luke asked quietly.

"No, I can feel her, I can feel her..." Raven cried softly, trying to reach out to take the woman's hand. The man did not pull away again. He lacked the strength and a more reasonable part of his brain was trying to argue that angels don't cry while the other side fiercely insisted that Gods shouldn't walk on the ground but this one appeared to.

(Sorry about the wait. I don't usually like to post on the weekends.)

"Please, let me help." Tears continued to flow from Raven's eyes as she held the woman's hands. "I can save her, if you'll let me."

Finally, the man gave up and released the half-dead woman in his arms. Luke helped Raven lay her on the ground. Raven placed her hands on the woman, one on her chest and the other on her forehead. She reached for her magic and began to heal the woman.

After a few moments, all the visible wounds on the woman's body vanished and colour began to return to her skin. She made a small noise, as if waking up from a deep sleep. The man crawled next to the woman. "...Marianne?"

With nothing else left to heal, Raven backed away from the woman named Marianne so the man could take her in his arms. She slowly opened her eyes. "Marcus...?"

The man shuddered as tears of joy began to flow from his eyes. "Marianne, you're alive! I thought I had lost you!" He held her tight against his body.

"Marcus..."

Luke placed a hand on Raven's shoulder. He didn't need to tell her anything, the look in his eyes told her plainly that their job here was done. And she agreed, they had done their part. It was time to get back to the inn.

As they stood up to leave the man said, "Thank you, so much."

"We are not Gods, nor are we angels," Luke told him. "We are merely humans who wish to ease the suffering of others." With that said, Luke led Raven out of the alley and back to the inn.

Karana and Ilum just lay there, ignoring whatever was going on outside. Just laying there was good enough.

Tucked beneath his arm, Karana half dozed. She was still. But her thoughts were racing. Where would they go from here? How hard would things get? Would they have to separate again? Would they have more life-and-death experiences? A thinner line to walk on? And where would they go after this was over?

Wherever he went.

With a content sigh, she fell asleep as Ilum continued to stroke her arm lovingly, his other arm holding her close.

In truth, he was thinking the same things.

(kitty15, it's your turn to post.)

Alright...

Warren

A soft click awoke Warren from his sleep and he lay in silence, one hand reaching towards the weapon that was beside his bed as the footsteps crept across the room.

"I didn't mean to wake you," Luke sighed as he climbed into bed.

"You're lucky I didn't stab you," Warren grunted, relaxing again. "Where have you been?"

"Outside." Warren grunted again.

"Then you're lucky the mob didn't kill you. What was you doing out there?"

"Healing a little of the damage you caused," Luke replied. "Goodnight." Warren lay awake a little longer, feeling both guilty and afraid but eventually he decended into the depths of troubled dreams.

By the time Warren woke, everyone else was outside preparing the horses and durveying the desolation. Discarded torches lay in the streets and some of the buildings had suffered fire damage while others were stained with red. Warren struggled against his guilt as he mounted the horse but instead of following the others as they set out at a slow, heavy pace, he said softly;

"I'll stay."

(I left piepieman a very... let's say informative PM, asking him why he hasn't been posting and why he hasn't been answering my PMs. I don't have anything to post right now, class is about to start. Just one thing, though. Are you trying to get rid of Warren? it's OK if you are, at least this way we don't have to kill him off. or are you planning on him showing up again later in the story?)

Karana and Ilum watched in silence. Warren was deciding to leave? After all they'd been through? It was hard to accept...

"But, why now? Why when you've done so much with us?" Karana asked, a little disappointed in the man.

"This is as far as I want to go...it's getting to be too much," Warren half-shrugged.

Ilum and Izuki waited for Luke's response.

Luke just looked on him. His face was blank, no emotion showing at all. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Warren looked back at the city behind them. "Last night, this city was in so much chaos. Even in the morning the riot still rages. The people of this city were all on edge because of the black sun, and pretending we were Gods only threw fuel onto the fire. I can't just ignore the fact that this is partially my fault." He sighed and shook his head. "I want to help you save the world, I really do, but the people of this city needs someone to keep it from ripping itself apart."

"So, you want to stay behind and help these people through their time of need?" Luke asked.

Warren nodded.

Luke smiled. "Then I wish you the best of luck, Warren. With a heart as strong as yours, I just know you'll help these people."

Warren held out his hand. "Maybe we'll run into each other again someday," he said.

Luke took his hand and they shook. "Don't die on me before that day comes."

Warren smiled. "Promise."