City of Six (Started and Full)

Fumusia｜Edge of Forest

Seriously, what was I doing here? A random voice tells me to 'come to the forest' and I obey? Its like something out of a thiller book...
I sighed, and ran my hands through my short, spiky hair.

I could hear the girls teeth chattering behind me; what an annoying noise it was. She was clinging onto a small loaf of bread- almost like she could absorb some non-existing warmth out of it. How ridiculous.

I was just about to conjure up another smoke cape for her- to stop that awful juttering sound- when Cypress lept up out of her tree with a gasp.

'What the...'she breathed, her eyes wide in astonishment. I jumped up, to see a glowing figure. The gentle light this thing emmitted illuminated our suprised faces.
I couldnt work out who-or what- this shining creature was, but it caught my attention.

I found myself walking silently next to Cypress, following the fast moving, mysterious being, curious and anxious to keep up with it.
It had a strange aura about it... captivating, and unusual.

I had been so busy observing and following the gentle, pulsing light, that I didnt see the other guy coming ;until, ofcourse, I knocked right into him...

Ari You LOVE to torment him, don't you?

I jumped as someone ran into me. Sundancer immediately had her trapped against a tree.

"Who-"

"Can you get it off of me?!" She demanded.

"Who are you?" I asked. Back up, Sundancer. I mumbled to him. He sighed.

"Fumusia."

"Aridian." I replied. "Why are you here?"

~~~People, please remember to keep the posts at above 1000 characters/250 words. Thanks. And I'm going to do something so we can actually get started. Everybody's running into each other in this post, so I hope it clears some confusion and gets things rolling.

Zabriel | The Forest

Zabriel paused in the middle of the clearing, clasping his hands behind his back and smirking to nobody but himself. They were all so close together now, and Malis had finally found her way to the forest. Fumusia had managed to knock right into Aridian, and they were arguing with each other, or so it looked like. Cypress was staring at Dax-- or, more accurately, glaring at him. And then there was Conleth, who was nearest to Zabriel.

He brought two fingers to his lips and whistled. The talking stopped, and Zabriel didn't doubt he had startled a few of them. A glowing man in the middle of the forest, nightmares, invisible women waking you up in the middle of the night-- it would do a lot to the nerves.

But Zabriel didn't care much. The sun would be up within hours, and they had to start moving before anybody noticed the group missing. Unless they got a headstart, they'd be flogged in search parties. At least, search parties for those who were somewhat important. His eyes rested on Cypress, who was more or less glaring at him.

Zabriel blinked and looked away quickly. There was something unsettling about those eyes. He shook it off and scanned the rest of the group carefully, eyeing the cold and fearful looks, the tattered and the well-pressed clothes. Such opposites. What were the chances that they'd all get along? Probably not high.

Lu? Where are you? For a moment, Zabriel had no idea what to say to the group. He needed to stall somehow, though he couldn't quite figure out a way.

I'm still in the city. Her reply came quickly, though Zabriel couldn't find himself pleased to hear it.

"None of you move," he demanded, a little harsher than he had hoped to sound. Aridian shifted uneasily on his feet, and Cypress looked almost more skeptical than the others, but none of them moved.

I need your help. Now would be nice, if you wouldn't mind.

I'm coming. Stop being so pushy. Lu's mental-voice didn't sound excessively thrilled.

Zabriel let out a frustrated puff of air, suddenly realizing it would be a smart idea to get rid of the glowing effect. It would drain him if he held it too long, anyways. "And to answer your question, Aridian," he started, just to make small-talk as the light's glow ebbed off, "she's here for the same reason you are."

One of the girl started to say something, but Zabriel held up a stern hand.

"You six are going to have to stay together. Running back to Toliaz, or being uncooperative won't get you anywhere. If any of you try to run, I assure you you'll be dealt with," he paused to eye each of them in turn, "Questions will be answered, but not yet. If you ever want them to be answered, you'll follow without causing trouble."

More uneasy shifts, cold glares. Zabriel didn't mind. They could be as afraid, hateful or skeptic as they wanted so long as he convinced them to follow. Lulu would probably be able to help with that.

Speaking of which. Zabriel grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Lulu here, will be helping me keep an eye on you."

About time, he added mentally.

"We'll be disappearing momentarly, but don't think we arent' keeping a very close eye on you. Follow directions, don't argue, and don't make me sic Lulu on you. It's rather unpleasant." He shot his friend a cocky, teasing grin, one hundred percent sure Lulu had been able to read his lips.

Lulu

I glared hard at Zabe after his last little... comment. He could be such a dweeb at times!
''You know when we leave the other's view you are so going to get it?'' she asked rhetorically.
''I expected that much from you...'' He replied, with a mental laugh.

With that we ran into the trees, disappearing from the confused six's view. They were frightened, afraid, possibly hungry and cold. It almost made me feel bad. Almost. It reminded me of that day... the day we came home from training... Shut up and push those thoughts out of your head. Right now. I scolded myself. Zabe looked at me and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Perhaps he had said something but I didn't catch it. In that case it didn't matter.

Once we were in the trees I quickly shoved him to the ground and kicked him.
"Sic Lulu on you? Sic Lulu on you?! You are so impossible Zabriel! Simply impossible!" I fumed, not caring if the six could hear us or not.

I watched Zabe's lips, waiting for a response. He looked around then back to me.
"Could you please keep it down Lu? The six will find us."

Oh Zabe, you are so impossible.

Charna Serkan - Inn Room:

I couldn't sleep. No matter what, I couldn't sleep. Restless, I paced the room and then finally decided to go downstairs looking for the men father had sent with me. Before I left my room, I stared at the ashes on the floor. At the letter my father had sent me. He'd even given me their names, and like the good little soldier, I'd commited them to memory. Zabriel and Lulu.

Smirking, I kicked the ashes apart and limped out of the room. Once downstairs, I found Pravas and Varik just getting back. My smirk grew; so they'd gotten rid of my father's messenger. That would teach my father to send a messenger in the House of Serkan colours.

"Pravas, Varik," I called and moved towards the bar, sitting down beside a large lady who couldn't see. Shewent still as I sat down then got up and stumbled away. Not even the blind could handle me. I sighed, shaking my head. It didn't matter, I had a job to do.

My two goons sat done beside me. I looked them over. They seemed unharmed. Pravas now occupied the vacant lady's seat. "Ah, that was fun."

"Refreshing?" I asked, taking note of the smell of rain for the first time. Pravas flashed me a grin. I tried to ignore it, focusing on the foul smell of alcohol, among other things.

"Perhaps," he said. I turned away, laughing.

"We have Walkers to hunt," I said in a low voice. "We'll leave now. Are you packed?"

Fumusia | Forest

And then he disappeared. The glowing man, who had come into partial view, almost dissolved into the dark trees- gone as quickly as he had come.

I was left alone with these strangers, and three weird looking creatures, which seemed to be tagging along with the man called Aridian. One of them had even pinned me to a tree!

As I brushed the muddy paw prints of my cloak, I observed the group. There was six of us: me, Cypress, Aridian, a dark haired man who smelled of sheep, a scrawny young boy and a girl with light, messy brown hair who had just walked into the clearing.

We were all silent, eyeing each other and making judgements. The beasts, which Aridian had brought along, started to growl. Cypress sighed sceptically, and then crawled into a tree. The scrawny boy looked confused and almost… anxious. The tall, brown haired girl was contemplating me. I hate that- someone judging me just by the way I look. I bet all she saw was my fine cloak my clean hair and my general well-maintained appearance… Actually, isn’t that what I was just doing? Assuming that she’s a ‘snob’? I flashed the girl a quick smile, and then placed my attention on Aridian and the sheep guy.

They were discussing the beast that had attacked me, and pinned me to a tree. And what a magnificent beast it is! Its bright green feathers, and golden eyes almost shine in the shadows of the forest, and its sharp beak and powerful legs showed that it meant business.
The sheep guy was asking Aridian many questions.

“ What is it?” He asked, gawping at the beautiful bulk. Aridian smiled. He was obviously happy to find someone interested in his bird-like companion.

“ Well, I think he’s a griffin, but…” he replied, but then I stopped listening. Animals and stuff are not my thing. I traipsed over to the tall girl. She looked at me suspiciously.
“ So…” I started, awkwardly, “ I’m Fumusia.” Grinning, I held out my hand.

Zabriel | The Forest | Night

Zabriel rose to his feet, careful to avoid Lulu's feet and fists. He held his side where she had kicked him and brushed off the bits of dried leaves and dirt from his clothes and cloak. "And was the kick really necessary? I was expecting to be shoved around a little, but that was definitely an overreaction."

Lulu glared harder, firsts clenching dangerously. "It was absolutely necessary," she hissed.

Zabriel took his hand from his side and rose both defensively, taking one step back. "Don't take offense, but you are relatively scarey when you're mad." He shook his head. "I should know.

"You are not helping your situation, Zabriel."

He knew he wasn't, but he couldn't help teasing her a little bit every now and then. The girl overreacted constantly. Usually, though, their mentor was around to keep an eye on her. Out here? Well, anything goes. The best part was that Zabriel was pretty much defenseless, with the exception of lightning, which he refused to use on Lulu.

"Well, kick and hit and toss me around all you want. I still love you." Zabriel crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest and offered a crooked, half-smile. Lulu had hated him when he first came along, and everybody in the Walker City knew it. Now they were joined at the hip in a brother-sister relationship. They bickered and fought constantly, and Zabe had the bruises to prove for it, but they were close and one was rarely seen without the other.

Zabriel looked up through the tree-tops to get a glance at the moon. They were running low on time. "We've got to get them moving," he muttered, more to himself than to Lulu.

All of you head east. There's a chance you'll be persued, so make haste. He sent the message to the minds of each of the six. Zabriel doubted they would actually be presued-- in fact, he was quite sure they wouldn't be-- but if it got the group moving in the right direction, he'd bluff.

Ari

"I think it's a griffin, but..." I grinned. "I'm not really sure." I explained. "I'm Aridian."

"Conleth."

Call him Ari. He is too shy to ask. Eli said, emerging.

"What?!"Conleth said. He stared at Eli. "Did he just talk?"

"Great, Eli." I mumbled. "Yes. They can all speak mind-to-mind. This is Jelly-" I pointed to him, as he emerged- "and kitten." I said, showing him the sleeping dragon in my hand. He stared in wonder.

'Don't tell me these are on the streets! I've never seen the likes!" He exclamined. i grinned.

"They're very good at hiding themselves." I had a feeling we would be great friends.

Is this ok?

Dax van Curen

Pursued? What? The forest shifted around him, responding to his emotions. Somewhere far away, he could hear a leaf crackle as it exploded into a miniature firework show.

Somewhere far away, a small fire munched happily on somewhat dry grass, and it wouldn't be long before a large forest fire started.

The trees around Dax moaned and reached out for the humans around them. Dax touched one tree branch, and the tree yanked the boy off his horse and enclosed him in a protective hug.

Everything was going to be all right, everything was going to be all right, everything was always all right, no one would dare hurt him. Not these peasants, not bandits, not soldiers from neighboring kingdoms - not even fabled griffins. He stiffened as the griffin drew close to him, sniffing him, probably sensing the boy's affinity for manipulating nature.

The Griffin's beak brushed Dax, and a resounding boom echoed throughout the forest. Dax couldn't help it. He squeaked at the sound and smacked the griffin's beak away, at the same time changing the griffin's beak into a snout in sheer panic.

"What did you do?!" yelled a voice.

"I'm sorry," Dax yelped, retreating even further into the secure hug of the tree that enveloped him with its branches. The other trees he'd mutated acted up then, their branches crashing down on the other people.

"Stop that!" snapped Lulu.

The girl who'd hidden herself inside one of the trees jumped out then. Cypress, was it? She pointed at the smoke rising out of one part of the forest. "We have bigger problems, guys."

The owner of the griffin didn't seem too happy about what Dax had done, and Dax, poor thing, bundled in nobleman's finery and leaves, stared wide-eyed with fear at what had happened. He shut his eyes and covered his ears then.

"Change him back, or else!"

The griffin itself, too stunned to react, was clawing at its snout in terror.

No, no, no. He shouldn't have ever left Cal. Ever.

Malis

Malis had been quiet for hours, watching the madness unfold like a blanket. She didn't quite know what to make of it - with people arguing left and right, a griffin changing its beak into a snout and Zabe constantly yelling at everyone to make a move, she was getting confused. Very, very confused.

And Malis didn't like confusion.

"Alright, that's it!" Her voice was hoarse after the aforementioned not talking for hours and hours. "WHAT IN THIS GOD-FORSAKEN WORLD IS GOING ON?!"

Cypress | The Forest (moving further in)

I stopped, still wrapped around my branch, breath in my throat. I heard something. Hoofbeats- low pitched, a tall horse. Angry cries. "Where is the brat?"

Devon.

I froze for half a second, and then I was Cypress the Survivalist again. I dropped my body from the branch, hanging onto it with the very tips of my fingers. I swung, twirling in midair, and latched onto the next branch. With a half swing and a tense, I was lurching over the branch, knees bent and feet arched.

Someone below me had stopped moving. I half way caught my breath and looked over my shoulder. A crumb of bread crust tumbled from my pocket. I willed my fingers to unclench, to touch the trunk of the tree. Thankfully, nothing but the squirrels touched up here, and their chatter was easy to ignore. Good. Now I could rebalance without worrying about getting caught up in a wave of suicides and manic escapes.

You know, sometimes I wondered if anyone else felt the past like I did. Or heard hoofbeats from miles off. Well, it was saving my life right now, anyway. I could almost smell the horse's breath- like it was just starting to build up. I leapt to the next tree, twining around the trunk and scuttling upwards. The branch I had left was only barely shaking.

"What on... what are you doing?" I didn't know which one said it, and I didn't care, really. Sounded female.

Make up something. "Well, I don't want to get killed by some psycho chick!" I called, feeling disgustingly bratty. More like, I don't want to get arrested and hanged by a jealous, misinformed madman.

I strapped on my climbing claws and jumped to the next tree. God, I hated the forest.

Ari

Help! Ari, Please! I'm afraid! Sundancer's head pounded.His bravery surged through me.

"Change him back, or else!" I yelled.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Someone yelled.

"He- He bewitched Sundancer! He shut it's jaw for good! Make him fix it!"I commanded, Trying to get to sundancer's snout. He was thrashing all about, the poor thing.

Sundancer! Listen to me! I growled in his head. He continued to thrash. Anger poured through me, looking at sundancer panic. I ran across the area, putting my boot-leg knife against the boy's throat.

"You change him back. Now." I ordered.

People, please start reading the other posts more clearly. Cypress is moving away, Zabe told them to get moving a while ago... Keep the posts coherant. Please.

Zabriel | The Forest

Zabriel had officially had enough. Cypress had moved, but so far everybody else was staying behind. The six could not be seperated. There was absolutely no telling what was lurking around in this forest, just waiting for them to walk into an unfortunate trap. The creatures that lived here were dangerous, and these were Walkers. Anything could happen.

"Keep close, Lu, I might need you," he whispered, making sure she could see his lips. Without another word he turned and started back for the group, grabbing both axes from his back. Heaven knew he would never hurt these kids, but he would bluff.

Zabriel didn't even bother trying to keep silent. In fact, he made sure that he snapped every twig, made every leaf crackle, as he walked towards the group.

"All of you!" he shouted, glaring hard at Aridian when he saw the knife against Dax's throat. "Drop that dagger boy and I won't strike you dead on the spot!"

Zabriel watched in satisfaction as Aridian lowered the dagger and started muttering protests. Zabriel held up his hand for a silence he didn't quite recieve.

"One of you just demanded to know what was going on here, so I'll give you a very brief overview." He glared at them each in turn, except for Cypress, seeing as she had already taken off. At least on of them was obedient. "Right now, your lives are in Lulu's and my hands. If you want to survive this, you will do as you are told. All of you. East. RIGHT NOW." Zabriel glanced back at Dax for a moment. "Change the griffin back while you walk, if you can."

Fumusia | Deeper into the Forest

A brief overview? Pah, that wasnt even an overview. It was just another order... but the guy seemed serious enough, so I started walking.
Why I followed his orders? I dont know. I could easily go back to my comfortable home, my foster mother, my caring housemaids... Yes, I could easily go back to the easy life. But I didnt. I guess it was my need for advernture-- the easy life had become boring. Or maybe it was my curiosity? I had never liked being out of the loop, and I knew that soon as I got out of this damn forest, and into the East, I would get some answers. Besides, I could smell fire, and I could already almost feel its burning hands scratching my skin... I shuddered.

And I walked.

As for the brown-haired girl, well, she had completely ignored me. I thought that was pretty rude, as I knew for sure that she hadnt not heard me, because she clearly caught my eye.
"Alright, thats it", she had muttered, before bellowing, ""WHAT IN THIS GOD-FORSAKEN WORLD IS GOING ON?!"
Hahah! As if that measly attempt to get attention would work amongst this chaos! At that point I shied away from the deluded, rude girl, hoping I wouldnt have to hang out with her for long. That was not a great first impression-- and first impression's count.

I backed further into the forest, and watched the unsettled scene from a further distance, where it looked more like comedy than massacre.
The huge griffin-type-bird thing was staggering around, confused and scared at its sudden loss of a beak, whilst Ari tried to comfort it. The skinny guy was yelping in terror and apologising for his 'mistake'. Cypress had dissapeared.
Then ,ofcourse ,the guy who seems to know whats going on, jumped out of the darkness again, and tried to sort out the mess. And thats brings us back to the story.

I was walking briskly, away from the clearing, and completely avoiding the growing heat of the developing forest fire.
A shuffling, sniffling figure came up and walked beside me. It was the puny guy. I raised an eyebrow at him, and sighed.
" I'm Fumusia" I said, raising mys chin, continuing through the forest. I heard him mutter something.
" What?" I asked.
" Dax!" he said louder, " My name is Dax". Dax gave me a shy smile. I laughed under my breath.
Oh well, I thought, I've always had a soft spot for an underdog.

Malis | The Forest

Malis watched listlessly as the others started walking. The girl with the odd hair and eyes, (Fumusia, was it?) was at the front, with the skinny guy. They were followed by the rather tall guy, and after them was the kid with the animals. Malis rolled her eyes, but started walking anyway. What a group of misfits. And I'm one of them. Ha ha.

The boy with the pets - Aridian, she remembered - was muttering to himself, an action Malis could easily sympathize with, having dealt with many customers who wanted this design on their hilt, or this metal for their swords (something not as easily gotten as said). Malis sped up her walk, deciding to talk to him, if only to relieve her boredom.

"Hi - Aridian, is it? I'm Malis." The words came out in the rough tone she used with her customers, and for one moment, the boy flinched and shifted away from her. Malis felt slightly guilty but brushed it away, annoyed. If he couldn't take her brusqueness, then he'd have a tough time dealing with the journey. Malis didn't think so; she knew so. "Interesting pets you got there."

He flinched again, but at the sight of Malis's stare, he slightly relaxed. "Um, thanks, I guess. Except they're...not my pets, you know."

"Uh-huh." Malis replied, not really listening. "So what are you going to do about that sno - "

"OW! Watch it!"

Malis blinked as her foot squished in mid-step on something she couldn't quite see.