VG Rumble

Luke used his hand to gently lift Raven's face so their eyes met again. She didn't struggle. "That's not it," Luke said. "You can tell me, what's wrong?"

"I..." Looking into his silver eyes, feeling his warm breath on her skin, there was no way she could lie to him. "I think... I'm falling in love."

"With who?" Luke asked. Raven knew that he knew, but he was probably asking because he wanted to hear the words.

"With you."

"But why does that bother you so?"

"Because everyone else in the world is suffering right now. I just feel bad that I'm having these feelings when everyone else is feeling nothing but fear and pain."

Luke moved the hand he was using to hold her chin up to cup the side of her face. "We can't control our feelings, it's one of the things that make us human. This quest may be our last, so we should make the best out of the time we have."

Luke slowly moved closer as he spoke, bringing his face only inches away from Raven's. She was frozen in place. Raven was shocked at what he was doing, but at the same time she didn't want him to stop. She wanted him to pass those last few inches, to feel the warm caress of his lips against hers.

"I love you, too," Luke said. Before Raven could say anything he passed those last few inches and kissed her.

Raven

The kiss was intense and full of all the passion that Luke and Raven felt for each other. Her body shifted forward, as if of its own will to brush against his and her arms wrapped themselves around him. When they parted, only their lips separated and each savoured the other's breath, warmer and much more invigorating than the air they breathed.

"This quest will not be our last," Raven promised him, a determination in her eyes.

"I hope that you are right," Luke said before kissing her again. Raven wriggled into his lap and leaned against his chest, placing a beating hand across his heart.

"I can feel it," she said, realising that a part of her could sense his love, his devotion and also that touch of fear of what was to come.

"Feel what?" Luke asked.

"Your love," she told him. "I can feel it as if it were my own heart beat."

Luke smiled and kissed her again. "You are an incredible woman, and one of many talents I might add. I would love nothing more than to hold you in my arms and kiss you all night, but it's late and you need to save your energy."

"You still can't sleep?" Raven asked.

Luke nodded. "Whenever I'm away from you I get the nightmares, and I fear with the black sun our adventure will give me more."

Raven gently stroked Luke's face. "Tomorrow night, I'll stay up and keep watch and you can sleep."

Luke gave her a weak smile before kissing her one last time. "Sleep," he told her.

Raven didn't get out of his lap. Instead she snuggled up against his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and said, "I love you," before drifting off to sleep.

Luke knew she couldn't hear him now that she was asleep, but he replied, "I love you, too, Raven. More than you'll ever know..."

(((Awww! That was so sweet!!!)))

(Thanks. It's someone else's turn to post now.)

**Want me to skip to morning?**

(Sure, that'd be great.)

(We're skipping to the next morning now.)

Karana rose to find the sun even blacker than before. This is not good, she thought, trying to mask her concern as Ilum stirred next to her.

She looked around and saw Luke sitting in his post, nearby, with something - or someone - in his lap, against him, in his arms...

Raven.

Karana bit back her smile; she had known it would happen eventually, and it was a pleasant sight. It made her happy that they were still trying to get on with their regular lives.

**Sorry, all I've got...**

Raven

Raven awoke slowly after a much more pleasant dream than the last and she turned to look up at Luke with a soft smile.

"Morning," she said gently.

"Good morning," he replied. Raven sat up and kissed him lightly on the lips before slipping away towards the horses. She did not fail to notice how the grass had wilted, how the black sun burned, but she knew there was nothing she could do. Not yet.

"It's so dark," Izuki said sadly.

"We'll fix it," Karana told her as she and Ilum gathered their horses. Raven brought the others over and they all mounted.

"What about breakfast?" Izuki asked in surprise.

"Soon," Luke told her. "But let's ride a little first."

They traveled by horse most of the day. They stopped a few times on the way to eat or rest. The power of the black sun had created a fog, like a thin miasma over the top of the forest. Through this miasma they could see the feint outline of a mountain.

Luke stopped the others and pointed. "There is our destination," he said. "Mt. Gigazet."

Izuki looked at the mountain in awe. "It's huge!"

"We have to climb all the way to the top?" Karana said with just as much surprise in her voice as Izuki.

"Yes, and we're going to have to leave the horses here," Luke told them. "The path we take is inaccessible for our mounts."

Alas! My internet works! Thanks for keeping me in the story. Oh my word a lot changed in one day/night. As a usual habit I'm going to backtrack a bit...

<Izuki>

I listened to the entire conversation that night. Raven and Luke confessed their love to eachother, it was so cute! The only problem that occured to me was an unfamiliar feeling, like a hole inside me. I curled up tighter into a ball and reminded myself of the rhymes we used to sing in school.

In the morning we got up and headed off, before breakfast!

We came to mount Googazet, a mountain that would make you go google-eyed if you tried to look all the way to the top.

We left the horses behind and started up the rocky path, following Luke's lead.

'How long will it take?' I moaned over the sound of my rumbling stomach.

'A day,' Luke answered. 'Maybe two.'

I slipped twice on some rocks with the pain in my stomach, and the third time I curled over.

'Food!'

'Just a bit further up,' Raven assured me.

'Food!' I growled.

The others looked to eachother and came to an agreement. We settled down to eat, though my share of what we where carrying was gone in minutes. I rose from the group and went in search of something to then cure my boredom... Or something that looked remotely edible.

What I found was a foul looking bush, mainly because as I approached something moved. It snarled, growled, whilst I froze. What was I supposed to do?

I wanted to try fighting it on my own. I also wanted to shout for help, because I knew I couldn't. I wanted it to be a friend, so we didn't have to kill anything else.

Most of all I hoped - in the event that it wasn't a friend - it could be roasted.

--Random Encounter!-- (Izuki: solo)

x1 Dire Wolf

Solo??

<Izuki>

It took until the creature lunged at me to decide it wasn't very friendly.

I dodged out the way and moved as fast as I could to avoid its huge jaws clamping onto me. The second time I somersaulted off the side of a tree to gain the advantage of being behind it, only to have the thing spin round faster than a puppy chasing its tail. I moved fast enough to avoid its full attack, though i felt a horrible numbness where its jaws left three huge gashes in my arm.

I flinched long enough to be caught off guard, and the full weight of its body on its paws pushed me to the ground. I grabbed the nearest stick I could find and forced it into the right eye, which popped with a disturbing squelch.

Whilst it howled I slipped aside and latched onto its neck, forming a small ball of void in my hand that exploded against its neck.

The creature twitched for a few seconds before falling limp. I grabbed the fur behind its neck and started to drag it back to the others.

'Can we eat this?' I asked.

Izuki gained Level 1 Burst of Speed!


Current Abilities:

Ilum:
Level 3 Ice
Level 2 Fire
Level 1 Gravity (Advanced)
Level 1 Burst of Strength (Skill)

Karana:
Level 3 Fire
Level 3 Lightning
Level 3 Ice
Level 1 Meteor (Advanced)
Level 3 Burst of Speed (Skill)
Ifrit (Summon)

Raven:
Level 3 Healing
Level 3 Water
Level 1 Lightning
Level 1 Holy (Advanced)
Level 2 Empathy (Skill)

Warren: (Away)
Level 3 Wind
Level 2 Lightning
Level 2 Time (Advanced)
Level 2 Enhanced Sight (Skill)

Luke:
Level 3 Lightning
Level 2 Void
Level 1 Healing
Level 2 Earth (Advanced)
Level 3 Shadow (Skill)
Leviathan (Summon)

Izuki:
Level 3 Void
Level 1 Bio (Advanced)
Level 3 Unlock (Skill)
Level 1 Burst of Speed (Skill)