VG Rumble

Raven

Raven went first to Luke who lay motionless on the floor, his flesh pale with the cold. She knelt beside him and placed a gentle hand upon his brow, reaching forwards with the warmth of her magic and her love.

Luke's eyes opened slowly and his lips parted to allow an icy breath to be exhaled and then he drew in the warmth of the air surrounding Raven.

"Does that feel better?" Raven asked as Luke began to move his stiff body, raising himself from the frozen lake. Raven stood and offered him a helping hand, taking him towards the others where Izuki sat beside Ilum who was holding Karana in his arms.

"She's just unconscious," Ilum said quietly as if to reassure himself as much as anyone else. Raven nodded and took Karana's hand in hers.

"Wake up," she commanded in a strange voice that caused the others to eye her warily but then all except Luke's attention was returned to Karana as she smiled and opened her eyes as if awakening from a dream.

"You should take it," Luke said, indicating the faint aura of light that emenated from the esper's hand. At first Raven felt hesitant but then she nodded, striding over to the fallen creature.

"But first..." Raven touched the damaged shoulder from which the other arm had been torn and suddenly a stream of blue and white sparks poured across the wound, extending downwards to produce a new arm. At the same time, the esper began to breathe again and she looked directly at Raven, her glare fierce, before she bowed her head.

"I am forever in your service," the esper said, holding out a small, ice-blue orb. "I will fight for you should the need arise." Raven took the object and as she did, the esper faded and then the orb surrounded Raven in a bright light and when the light was gone, so was the orb.

Ilum kept Karana against him, holding her as if to assure them both that they were alive. He stroked her hair as she rest against him, sharing the warmth of their bodies on the frozen shore.

"How do you feel?" Ilum asked, his lips against her forehead.

"A little tired, but I'll be fine..." Karana spoke before she remembered being stabbed. She traced her side with careful fingers, finding the blood splotch from her wound. But, the ice was gone, along with the cut...

Raven healed me again. She smiled as she watched the woman wake up after accepting the orb of the esper.

They were all in this together. No doubt about that.

Raven may now summon Shiva!


Current Abilities:

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

Karana:
Level 3 Fire
Level 3 Lightning
Level 3 Ice
Level 2 Meteor (Advanced)
Level 3 Burst of Speed (Skill)
Ifrit (Summon)

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

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 2 Healing
Level 2 Earth (Advanced)
Level 3 Shadow (Skill)
Leviathan (Summon)

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

Luke went to Raven's side when the Esper disappeared. Raven looked at him and said, "You risked your own life to save mine."

"I know," Luke said. "And I would do it again."

"But, you could have died!"

Luke drew Raven into his arms and whispered. "People do crazy things when they're in love." He gave her the barest brush of lips. Raven returned the gesture by giving him a full on kiss. They stood there for a moment kissing each other, happy that they were both still alive.

Raven suddenly remembered the others were watching. She pulled away from the kiss and looked at her feet. Her face was red with embarrassment. Luke laughed and held her tighter in his embrace. "They're our friends, they don't mind."

They heard a cracking noise under their feet. They looked down to see a fine split in the ice. They followed the crack with their eyes to see similar cracks all over the frozen lake. They didn't even have a chance to run to the shore before the ice broke under their feet and they fell into the water.

When they resurfaced they saw that the rest of the ice in the lake was melting. They others ad fallen through the ice and were in the water, too.

A bright light drew their attention to the Aqualith. The floating gem ceased its constant generation of water and began to move toward Luke and Raven. They two of them swam to a floating block of ice that hadn't quite melted yet and held on to it. The Sacred Azura Stone stopped in front of Raven, floating in the air within her reach.

She looked at Luke, as if, with her eyes, asked him what she should do. "Take it," he said. And she did. She reached out and grabbed the large stone out of the air. She could see her reflection on the surface of the stone. In her mind she could hear the sound of water flowing through a stream as she held the Aqualith.

"One down, two more to go," Luke said.

Raven

As soon as her hands touched the Aqualith, Raven felt at peace. The sound of a gentle stream hummed in her head and the surface of the stone was so smooth and so beautiful. She was entranced by the way it controlled light, drawing it in and then issuing it in any and every direction it desired.

"Raven, we need to get out of the water," Luke said gently, one arm laced around Raven's waist to hold her up and the other clutching at the block of ice. Raven looked away from the stone to see Ilum and Karana holding onto a similar block of ice upon which Izuki was seated, shivering greatly.

Raven placed the stone on the block of ice and pulled herself up while Luke steadied it and then he followed her. Ilum used his powers to form more ice for Karana and himself and then attempted to create a bridge between the floating ice and the land but the current of the lake was too strong, cracking and breaking the ice as soon as it formed.

Luke turned his back to Raven and said, "Grab on, I'll swim us both to the shore." Raven tucked the Aqualith under her arm and held onto Luke's shoulder. Ilum did the same for Izuki and together they all swam to the edge of the lake.

Luke helped Raven out of the water as they climbed onto the grass. "Wow, is that the Aqualith?" Karana said as the three of them gathered around Raven and Luke.

"Wow," Izuki said. "It's pretty! Can I hold it?"

Raven smiled and said, "Sure." She handed Izuki the stone.

Izuki stared into the Aqualith with pure wonder. She looked like she had never seen anything like it in her life. Ilum and Karana looked over her shoulders at it.

"It sure is one heck of a big rock," Ilum said.

"So all that's left now is the Pyrolith and the Aerolith, right?" Karana asked.

Luke nodded. "That's right." He looked up at the sky. "But nightfall will be coming shortly, we'd best make camp here for the night." Luke lifted his arms and looked at himself. He was soaked from head to toe. "Besides, we need to dry off before our wet clothes cause us all to catch a cold. None of us can afford to fall ill at a time like this."

"Hey, Luke?" Ilum asked, "Do you have any spare clothes I could borrow while mine are drying?"

Luke looked at him. "I was hoping you had some." They both looked at the girls. All three of them shook their heads at the same time. They had all forgotten to pack spare clothes.

(Looks like one of those awkward scenes is coming up. It looks like the girls and guys are going to have to go to different parts of the lake to undress and wait for their clothes to dry. This'll give us a chance for some more character development. While the guys are away the girls can tell each other about their relationships and whatnot.)

**Uh...huh. Interesting. But the reasons sound good! One problem: I'm gonna let you take over Ilum for now, Dynamo. I'm not that great with male charies yet...lol.**

Karana, Raven, and Izuki walked around to another portion of the forest while the guys left, probably making their way to the other side of the lake. It was only just; no one had any clothes to change into.

At least they would get to know each other better, and Karana and Raven could compare each other's relationships.

**All I've got, sorry.**

Raven

Raven felt a little awkward removing her clothes in front of Izuki and Karana, even after all they had been through together. But she also knew they needed to get warm and dry as soon as possible.

"Let's light a fire," Karana suggested, quickly gathering a small pile of wood and using her magic to set it alight. Izuki and Raven scouted the neighbouring area, collecting a few more sticks and twigs to add to the blaze.

"That's better," Izuki decided, moving closer.

"Much," Raven agreed. "How are you both feeling? That was quite a fight."

Karana sat with her knees close to her chest. Undressing in front of the others was indeed very awkward.

But oh well.

"Thank you for healing me," she said to Raven. "That's a simple as I can put it. The battle was hard, and I got hurt. That's all."

"Hey, Luke."

Luke tossed his shirt to the side and looked at Ilum. "Yes?"

"Were you scared when that Esper froze you in that block of ice?"

Luke closed his eyes and sighed. "I was terrified."

"Really? You don't seem like the type who gets scared easily," Ilum said.

"I'm terrified everyday on this journey," Luke said. "I just better at hiding it that you are. I can't afford to break down in fear in the middle of battle." He looked at Ilum then. "All of you told me you believed in me and thought of me as your leader. If I succumb to my fear then the rest of you will lose hope."

"So you bottle up your fear?" Ilum asked. Luke nodded. "Do you think that's healthy."

"I don't care in the slightest. I would rather suffer from an injury than succumb to my fear if it would mean the rest of you would fight at your best."

They undressed in silence for the next few minutes. After they had made a fire and their clothes were hung up to dry Ilum said. "You've changed a lot since we first met you?"

"Really?" Luke asked. "I hadn't noticed."

"The first time I saw you I had thought of you as a man of logic and practicality."

"And you do not think of me as such now?" Luke asked.

Ilum held his hand up. "Let me finish. I had thought of you as this cold guy who would have forced use to turn around and go back home if you hadn't needed our help. In our first battle together I honestly didn't think you would held any of us if we got hurt. But now you seem like a really warm person, someone to look up to. I know the others think so to. Today you proved that you would risk your own life to protect one of us, and I know if the situation ever arose we would do the same for you."

Luke gave him a weak smile before sighing and closing his eyes again. "When I was frozen I was still aware of everything around me. I couldn't move, but I could feel the cold eating away at my soul, trying to pull me into that eternal sleep. At that moment, I truly believed it was the end for me. The only thing that made me fight to stay awake was Raven's voice." He opened his eyes again. "At that moment I realized if I died there would be nobody to protect Raven."

"That's not true," Ilum said. "We would have protected her."

"That's not what went through my mind at the time," Luke said. "I thought that if I died I would be leaving Raven, she would be alone without me. When faced with death people think strange things, and I was thinking she couldn't live without me." He shook his head. "No, that's not it. I wanted to live so I could continue to protect her. I wanted to protect her, I wanted it more than anything in my life, and I still do. I would give my life to save hers because it would kill something inside of me if she died." Luke looked at the ground for a moment. "No woman has ever effected me like this."

"I think you might be in love," Ilum said.

Luke nodded, still not meeting his gaze. "Everyday I spend with her it becomes more clear. I do love her, and I would give anything to keep her alive just so I may see her smile." Luke looked at Ilum finally. "I think I have shared enough, tell me how you feel about Karana."

(I know you left me to take over Ilum, Karana. I'm just stopping it here for a moment to give you guys time to post and to give myself time to think.)

Raven

"I thought it was very scary," Izuki said quietly. "I wish I could be brave like all of you." Raven smiled at her and gently ruffled her hair, ignoring the feeling of discomfort as she revealed more of her body.

"You are brave, Izuki," Karana said kindly.

"But not like you!" Izuki insisted. "You got hurt real bad but still stood your ground and the way Luke threw himself in front of Raven was so great... I mean, it was really brave." Raven smiled, recalling the feeling of fear that she had felt in that moment, much more for Luke than herself.

"It was very brave of him," Raven agreed. "But bravery doesn't prevent fear." Izuki drifted into thought, staring into the fire.

"So how's it going with Ilum?" Raven asked Karana. "He really cares about you."

Karana

I smiled, glancing at the sky as a laugh escaped me.

"Oh, God! Where do I even begin?" I chuckled, then realization that I was going to give up my private feelings to them made me blush. "It's really, really great.

"I think it all started when we went into that first cave, after the Husks. Remember? We split into groups, and it was me and Ilum and you, Luke, and Warren."

Raven nodded while Izuki leaned in closer. She had not been a part of the adventure, and I was sure she wanted to hear all about it.

"We were attacked after we entered the cave, and he was nearly crushed trying to protect me. The Husks threw him around like he was a rag doll! But he still fought...When I finally came to, I saw the kind of danger he was in, and I took care of him."

They smiled with me.

"I love him. I know I do. And I worry every day; his past bothers him so much, he's talked of giving up his life. It scares me..."

My smile faded. He had said that, and I remembered it. I remembered the shock of his words, and how afraid and outraged I had been.

"Every day, and every time we go into battle, I'm afraid he'll do something reckless - on purpose or not - and get himself hurt, or...or killed."

Tears came to my eyes. "I don't want to lose him...I really don't!"

(I was thinking maybe Warren could come back into the picture after we find the Pyrolith.)

"Karana?" Ilum looked at the ground, a soft smile curling around his lips. "She's an amazing woman, beautiful, kind, courageous, fiery." He laughed when he said fiery. "I've never met anyone like her before." His smile began fading around the edges. "Before I met her I was just drifting from one battle to another, not caring if I survived or not. But when I look at her I feel I have something to fight for, to live for, to die for."

"None of us will be dying on this journey," Luke reminded him.

Ilum nodded. "I know, with Warren gone we can't afford to lose anyone." He looked up at the night sky. "After my brother died I used to think there was no meaning to life, that I was probably better off dead. When I'm with Karana it's different, I feel that there's more to life than just fighting and dying. For the first time for as long as I can remember, I want to live, to stay alive and be with her. I want to stay by her side no matter what." He looked at Luke then. "When this is all over, I think I want to marry her."

Luke looked at him for a moment, careful not to betray his emotions. He kept his face utterly blank as he stirred the thought of what Ilum had just said in his mind. "Marriage is a big commitment, something not to be taken lightly."

"I know," Ilum said, "but she means more to me than anything ever has, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

Luke nodded. "You are a very brave and honorable man, Ilum. I'm sure you'd make a great husband, and father."

Ilum looked at the ground. "I hope so..."

yeah, I'd really like to bring Warren back in. He's an interesting character. Maybe he can help them out in the next fight? there could be a sneak attack pretty soon and they could be captured by some creature and trapped in webs or something cool?

At the moment, I think Warren is already tracking them, searching them. I think he's probably realised that the best way for him to help others and redeem himself is to be up-front fighting with the group.

(I meant after our characters find the Pyrolith, not before. I was hoping Warren could be with them when they go looking for the Aerolith. But yeah, that's what I was thinking.)