Gemstone Knights (Full/Closed/Started)

Sam | Training Area

One of the night was hit bye the phone directly, and looked up startled. Then the group started looking at each other, smiling tiredly. They all yawned in unison, and during the chorus, dropped, sleeping. I grinned and walked over to the place, flipped off the phone, and took out my ear plugs. My songs never really did anything to me personally, but they are slightly suggestive. The last thing I needed was to be passed out in front of Jessa. I signled that it was okay to take the earplugs out and looked in my bag for anything we could use to make the knights look ridiculous.

Jessa Grayson| Training Area

I nailed one of the knights with the phone; he looked startled, then sort of dopey. In a moment all of the knights began yawning and smiling groggily at each other; in mere minutes they were all collapsed across the field, fast asleep.

Sam poked a few buttons on the phone and then motioned for me to take my ear plugs out. He began rummaging through his bag as I shoved the earplugs into my pockets.

I wonder what he's looking for...Now what do we do? There was really no point in making them fall asleep unless we do something...I could give them a hair cut. I thought, with a wicked grin.

A moment later Sam held up two Sharpies up, grinning triumphantly.

"Oooh," I say with a grin, as I take one of the markers from him.

Mean...but not as mean as my idea...not as permanent at least.

I crouched over my first victim and drew a nice, pointy black beard on her chin. A dramatic black mustache followed; and I finished it all off with drawing bushy black eyebrows over her natural ones.

I stepped back and admired my handywork. A giggle escaped my lips before I could stop it; I nervously looked at Sam, who was looking at me.

Shoot. He heard me giggle.

My cheeks flushed red; embarrased that my badass image kept fading out, while Sam was watching. I quickly leapt over the girl in front of me, and began vandalizing another knight.

Samual Heartstrings | Training Area

"You know, you don't have to be a bad-a** all the time," I said, giving her a friendly punch to the shoulder, "And you forgot to give her a good Egyptian eyeliner treatment." I winked at her, and wondered to myself how much trouble we were getting into. It was my idea, so I should get the most. If I had to, I'd talk so as to get her out of trouble, but maybe he would be merciful. Besides, it was boring to just stand around, especially after the excitement of training. I absently strummed my lute, playing a few bars of my Courage song before noting and stopping myself. The guy in front of me needed an adjustment to his new uni-brow anyway. I went back to the graffiti.

Jessa Grayson| Training Area

"You know, you don't have to be a bad-a** all the time," Sam said as he punched my shoudler playfully.

I narrow my eyes; trying to figure out what that punch meant in a boy's world.

"And you forgot to give her a good Egyptian eyeliner treatment," Sam added with a wink.

I hesitated; surprised that Sam had gotten so comfortable with me so quickly. couldn't remember the last time I had had a partner in crime; it felt nice...though I felt a knot forming in my stomach as I realized how much trouble I was getting myself into.

Angelus is gonna kill me, I thought. There'll only be a little puddle of Jessa left when he gets done with me.

I capped my marker, no longer courageous enough to use it.

Sam pulled his lute off his back and began strumming a song; instantly I felt the knot melting away. A few chords into the song and my fears were replaced by a sense of superiority over everyone and everything; an ego bigger than my natural one.

I grinned wickedly and crouched, adding the eyeliner that Sam had suggested. I barely noticed when Sam stopped strumming his lute to resume his artwork, if it could be called that.

Oh, this girl's gonna be ticked when she wakes up... Maybe I'll even get a good fight.

Angelus Pacis | Meditation Room

I meditated until I felt like I've had enough. I needed to check on the rookies. My absence would've made my own predecessor throw me in the dunegons on my own account. Thankfully, he was deceased with an Amethyst Knight left in the modern world and descendants prospering. I went outside and saw some of the rookies were drawn on while sleeping and two active rookies were running around with markers in their hands. I growled, took out my pistol, and fired a shot to wake up the rest of the rookies and grab the attention of the culprits. I growled again and dragged the two unmarked rookies to the castle. "You two are in big trouble. You're acting like children when you should be mature and dedictate yourselves to training instead of childish games. I run a training ground, not a playground. Which one of you had this childish idea?"
Neither one of the pair spoke up, causing my blood to boil.
The Crystal whispered, "Heartstrings was the mastermind of the operation. From start to finish. Heartstrings is to blame."
I growled at my deepest. "Opal and White Pearl, you both are held responsible for being immature in a mature environment. Until tomorrow's noon, you two are sentenced to the dungeons. I expected maturity from you, but now I feel like a fool because your lack of maturity." I dragged them to the dungeons and took their Gemstones from them before locking them in separate cells. "Also, you're cut off from your Gemstones until your time in here is up." I went back to the meditation room, ignoring their protests.
I kept my hood on as I thought of Nabaat once more. I felt so upset that she didn't wait for me to confess my love for her. With James and Camile out of the way, I could finally confess my love for Nabaat to her without feeling so much pressure on me. Tears ran down my cheeks. I longed to hold Nabaat, kiss her lips, and tell her I loved her and take her as mine. However, the Black Pearl was in the way, taking her from me when I wanted her the most. I wanted her to come back and let me take the chance to tell her I loved her. I wept as I meditated.

Jessa Grayson| Training Area

I gleefully ran all across the yard, adding a beard here, a mustache there; whatever I could think of in the moment.

A single shot rang across the yard.

I froze in my tracks, afraid of who the shot belonged to; half a second later someone had me by the ear and was dragging me into the castle. Angelus finally released me when we got to his chambers; I watched his cloaked figure, timidly peering into his hood, searching for a face, but to no avail.

"You two are in big trouble." He growled, "You're acting like children when you should be mature and dedictate yourselves to training instead of childish games. I run a training ground, not a playground. Which one of you had this childish idea?"

I should speak up. Keep Sam out of trouble; it was my fault after all. I shot the phone. But my tongue wouldn't cooperate.

Angelus growled menacingly. I swallowed hard; I was so dead.

"Opal and White Pearl, you both are held responsible for being immature in a mature environment. Until tomorrow's noon, you two are sentenced to the dungeons. I expected maturity from you, but now I feel like a fool because your lack of maturity." Angelus growled, as he seized my ear again and dragged me into the dungeon.

Angelus disarmed me and slammed the door to my cell; before he dragged Sam deeper into the dungeon. When he came back through he snatched my Gemstone, which I had dangling from a ribbon around my neck, and yanked it off.

"You're cut off from your Gemstones until your time in here is up," He said, as he stompped out of the dungeon.

"Wait! You didn't say anything about taking my pearl!" I shouted after him.

He ignored both mine and Sam's protests, even though we proclaimed them quite loudly.

I growled and punched the door to my cell; annoyed, even though I knew I deserved to be here. I paced back and forth, running my hands through my hair roughly. I could handle physical pain; but this closterphobic cell, with it's dark, dank corners, and spiders, and something scratching around under the thin mattress...

"Get me out of here!" I shouted, as I shook the door to my cell. I didn't even want to know what was going to come out.

I heard more scratching, the thing was getting nearer to my end of the mattress; I whirled around and tried to grab an arrow, only to find empty air in that hollow behind my neck. Instinctively I felt for sword; and found it missing too.

I gasped as a rat emerged from under my mattress; I dug my nails into my own palms as I pressed my back against the wall in the far corner of the room.

"Get away from me," I breathed, my eyes wide with fright, "Here kitty, kitty! Here kitty, kitty!"

Where'd that Tom get to?

The rat leisurely waddled off; I let out a scared breath. I let my head fall back; my eyes fell open, and I saw massive spider letting itself down a long silky web, just above my head.

I shrieked and leapt towards the center of my cell, tripping over something that was probably the dirty dishes of some older patron, though I imagined it was a human skeleton; I fell against the far wall, striking my head against the hard stone.

I cursed and sat up; coldly examining my cell from a new perspective. I imagined a dark fog was slowly creeping along the cold wall, closing in around me. I grabbed for my pearl and the fletching on my arrows simulataneously; unsure what would provide more comfort. Finding them both missing I curled up into a little ball and whimpered.

It was going to be a long night.

Samual Heartstring | Dungeon

The first thing the Grey Knight did was shoot a bullet in the sky. The second thing he did was to grab us both by the ear. I took this moment to slip the note I had prepared earlier into his pocket. It read the following:

Dear Grey Knight Angelus,

First of all, while I didn't exactly win any fights, or gain any high ground, I did actually manage to touch you, as prof of this message. Trickery can have it's advantages. Second of all, I'll be willing to take any time Jessa hasn't served in what ever punishment as my own; It was my idea through and through. She doesn't deserve to much punishment.

Sincerely, Samual Heartstring.

We stopped first in the dungeon, hich I hadn't entirely expected. I'd heard of this as punishment, but I thought we'd be washing dishes and serving the people who's faces we marked. At this point, I wasn't really sure which was worse. He through Jessa in and confiscated her weapons, an dragged me a few cell blocks further. He tossed me in, and took my staff, and my stone. Wait a minute, my stone?

"Hey, what the heck!" Which was glared at, receiving only his walking away as a response. I sighed, strumming my lute, which I was surprised he didn't take away. He'd probably come back for it. Maybe I should prepare a song to sing, or hide it. Well, probably not hide it; his see-all, know-all ability was slightly uncanny. I played on.

Terrance Donovan

I had been gone a long time. I wondered once or twice whether the other knights missed me. Actually, I wondered if some of them remembered I existed. A little voice in the back of my mind told me the Master Knight did, but as for the others, I didn't know.

My time on vacation had taught me things about myself that I had never known before. For example, I learned how much I enjoyed marine biology, and how much I disliked sunburn. But there were deeper thing I learned, too. Like the fact that I couldn't stand to see others hurt, and if I didn't know precisely whether the ones I love are safe or not, I freak out.

My vacation culminated with a trip to the top of a volcano. I was wandering around the crater when, in the corner of my eye, I noticed a portal being opened behind some boulders. Cautiously, I walked over, slipping my hand inside my satchel and feeling the diamond, preparing to use a spell if necessary. However, out of the portal stepped my friend John, the older Diamond knight. "Terrance," he said, "It's about time you came back to the Realm of Knights."

Jessa Grayson| Dungeon

In a moment I heard Sam softly strumming his lute; a nice, calm melody. The knot in my stomach slowly started to disolve, and I sat up, listening to Sam's strumming.

I sat for a long while, probably hours, listening to his relaxing tune. Too soon to suit me, he stopped strumming.

He probably fell asleep, I thought.

I sat for several more minutes, listening to the ghastly noises of the dungeon, and then sprang to my feet.

The heck if I'm spending a whole day in here! I thought, I'll blow this joint!

I grabbed the fork lying by the plate in the middle of the floor, and started picking away at a tiny rat hole that went all the way through the wall. It took me a long time, but finally I had a hole bigger than my head wore through the wall. I tried it, only to find that my shoulders were alot broader than they had been when I was a child; I made the hole bigger.

I sat back up, and started picking at the hole. I heard a noise behind me and froze; I listened hard for a long moment, but, not hearing anything else, resumed my burrowing.

Angelus Pacis | Meditation Room

Even though my tears had stopped, I kept with my meditation. I tried to regain my inner peace, but couldn't.
The Crystal whispered, "The Knight of the White Pearl's trying to escape confinement."
I unwound myself and went to the dungeons. I fired a shot at the ceiling. "You just earned another day in the dungeon, White Pearl." Using the Crystal, I forced her out of her hole, sealed it up, and turn the floor into a thick sheet of metal. "Don't pull off that stunt again. I'm trying to maintain a mature environment and you're acting like a child." I returned to the meditation room and sat down lotus-style. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind as well as settle my messed-up emotions.

Jessa Grayson| Dungeon

I was nearly through the hole when I heard a gunshot nearby. I jumped, scraping my back on the stone above me; suddenly an invisible hand pulled me from my hole and back into my cell.

"You just earned another day in the dungeon, White Pearl," I heard Angelus say, as the wall mended itself.

The wall was beautifully mended; seamlessly blending with the original stone. Suddenly the floor under me turned to metal.

"Don't pull off that stunt again. I'm trying to maintain a mature environment and you're acting like a child," he growled, before turning on his heel and exiting the dungeon again.

I watched him go, and then tried to find a crack in the patch in the wall; but the mended version was far sturdier than the original wall was. I growled in frustration and threw the fork.

It felt good. Throwing the fork made me want to throw more things. I grabbed a small plate and threw it; making it shatter against the far wall. I picked up the stones that had crumbled away when I first tried to burrow out and started throwing them at the wall; turning them into nothing more than a puff of fine powder.

Eventually I ran out of things to throw, which made me even angrier. I growled in frustration and punched the wall.

"Ow!" I growled, grabbing my hand and nursing my bare knuckles.

Punching the stone wall isn't the best idea you've ever had, Jessa , I berated myself mentally.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. It was obvious that Angelus had fixed this cell in a manner that would make me cause far more damage to myself than I ever could it. I needed to regain control of my body; of my emotions.

I breathed deeply for several long minutes, and then walked to the center of my cell. I punched the air, "Ich...Ni...San..."

I switched to my kicks, and went through set of them.

I sorted through various types of martial arts, practicing what I was the worst at. Several practice sets later my body was warmed and ready to go.

If I was going to be stuck in here, I might as well improve my discipline and karate...my hitch kick could use some work anyway.

Sam Heartstrings| Dungeon

I played for a little while, and then drifted off. When I woke up again, I heard the sound of a mad Angelus sentencing my partner to more time. I sighed, and looked around my cell. Not much to do in a prison cell. Excuse me, dungeon cell. I took out a piece of paper and looked at it for a little while. I figured, hey, why not write something? So I started the process. Hmm, what to write about? I thought, looking around. Not much to look at. I saw a circle and slowly something came to me. It wasn't great, but it was something to do.

Circles

Circles,
How many things
Are based on it's path?

The path of the Earth,
The path of a Hero,
The Journey of Life.

Life;
A gift or a curse?
I prefer the first.

Life can hurt,
But life is worth
More than entrophy.

Love,
An emotion, a drive,
The gist that most often lies.

Love can not be confined
By just a simple word,
And often times we get it wrong
And and up getting burned.

All things are connected
But often are obscured
And all things subject to change,
Effect the circle's verse.

He sighed, satisfied that he was done. He loved the familiar feeling of finished writings, but silently knew that he probably wouldn't show them to anyone. He looked out a small barred window and sighed again, this time with malcontent. Sometimes, making friends was really, really hard.

Jessa Grayson| Dungeon

I probably practiced for an hour, my frustration growing every second. I needed out of this cell. I needed to go for a run. I needed to feel the burning in my lungs, the sweat on my brow.

Yes I needed a run...killing somebody would do the job too. But I didn't have anybody to kill here.

I paced back and forth, too angry to do any good at my martial arts. I needed to get my peace back; my self control. I had too much negative energy running through me. I needed to release it.

I flopped on the floor and started doing push ups.

Sam Heartstrings | Dungeon

After writing the poem, I sat cross-legged on 'my' bed and thought. I must've fallen asleep, because I started seeing these weird... things. Like, connections in the forms of white lines. And everything was on the kind of background that makes you think of infered. I felt like I could feel a load of nervous tension, and then I woke up. "Weirdest dream ever," I said to myself, "Maybe this dungeon is doing more to me than I thought."

A few minutes after that, I took out my staff and practiced fighting. I did a few twirls, hitting myself in the back of the head in the process. I did some lunging, but tripped on the floor stones. I did do a few things right, like jabbing and whacking, but my form is terrible and I'm pretty slow. I sighed and returned to the bed.

Jessa Grayson| Dungeon

I dropped into a puddle of my own sweat; my arms had finally given out. I laid trembling for a moment, too exhausted to care about sitting up. My arms burned with exertion. After several long minutes I finally pushed myself to a sitting position; I pressed my back against the cold stone of the dungeon wall, welcoming the chill against my hot body.

I didn't regain my strength for quite a while; my throat burning from a lack of water.

I sure hope Angelus gets us a drink, somehow.

When I finally repossessed part of my strength, I pushed myself to my feet. My breathing was still a bit labored, but my mind was cleared. I felt more like myself.

Boy that was stupid Jessa. You should be getting out fairly soon, but instead you get to spend another whole day in this pit. You should've known Angelus would catch you...what would you have done even if you had gotten out? Run away? Some chance of that.

I sighed and resumed my martial arts.