St. Elmo's Fire

[supernal]

"Aum Bh?r Bhuva Svaha."

The words resonated in the quiet air of the small glade hidden in an alcove of Aeliyrian soil. Though technically still in the city, there was enough nature in this place that it put serenity in Nero's heart and he did not feel blasphemous praying here.

"Aum Tat Savitur Varenyam."

Trees did not surround him on all sides, they grew only from where his back faced, but the angle of the sun let these few trees provide as much shade as a forest. He sat cross-legged on the grass, his hands placed firmly on his knees. A coltish breeze toyed playfully with the ends of his black hair, causing them to cascade in a sable curtain across his cheeks. His eyes were closed but his mind was open.

"Bhargo Devasya Dh?mahi."

The words left his lips in a soft whisper, so mechanically that Nero was only superficially aware that he spoke them at all. The isolation of this place, when first found, astounded him. To think that such tranquility could be found when less than half a mile away, streets and vendors and criminals alike all milled about in their daily routine.

"Dhiyo Yo Nahah Prachoday?t, Aum."

[Raziel]

The vastness of the world seemed minuscule in stead of all of it's natural glory. Never had Taurva felt so genuinely involved in a land that was otherwise devoid of interest. Nero and his mantra had reached Taurva before either were seen or heard. He recited it in his mind as he strode gracefully to the patch in which Nero was sitting, mulling it over.

How strange humans were with language.

Although Taurva was always in Nirvana, (which it took for granted), it always wondered why human thoughts and actions were so crude. Disrespectful and unkind. Nero, for the most part, was an exception. Although he had struck Taurva before.

As the meditation would finish, the androgynous creature would raise a hand in greeting. "Serene here, yes?"

A thin line would fold across its face, in smile like fashion, showing its appreciation for seeing Nero in unison with his surroundings. Taurvas innate abilities had caused it to follow the strange non-thought patterns to the clearing. Perhaps the human mind was more intricate than first thought. "I followed you here. Which isn't to say I followed you. It is much more than that, but you understand yes?

[Mantus]

Hacking away at the lush rubbage Mantus continued penetrating the forest tearing down limbs and obstacles in his path with his own weapon of choice, his hands. Smacking at the seemingly infinite green that was around him he began to admit defeat to the forest.

"How irritating."

After sweeping his hair concealing his left crimson eye and his right crystalized blue eye was the visible one remaining, he forced both hands back into his tattered pockets. His wild bleach white hair was almost dyed green just by the pigmentation left from the torn vegetation. The whole scenario left Mantus irritated, a common occurence on this world. Resuming his stride in this annoying tree consumed land the muscles on his face ripped and contorted to show his teeth and bare his smile.

"Something interesting can deffinitely be found here."

The half-demon had a history of talking to himself, he perfered the sound of voice more then the damned silence of thinking. Destiny had proceeded to lead the half-man half-demon to this precariously serene piece of land. A shriek of laughter would attack the skies followed by an onslaught of chattering from the chains that wrapped around his body as the black Mantus had continued his barrage through the trees.

What possibly could destiny have in store?

[supernal]

Nero's eyes peeled open gently a few seconds after Taurva made his presence known. He had been somewhere far away from this place, somewhere that only the feet of the mind could reach, and rather than return to this world with startling suddenness, the man floated into place. Squinting against the sunlight even as he rose, Nero smiled upon noticing that the stranger before him was no stranger at all.

"It is serene here, yes." Nero stepped towards Taurva. There was something different in the way that Nero walked. Not confidence or swagger, for the man claimed both and their third brother arrogance when Nero and Taurva first met, but something else. No, not something else; something missing. The slight, nearly imperceptible limp which marked a tragedy in his life.

"I understand, somewhat. Enough to know that you're here now, which is all I really need." Nero opened his arms, extending the notion of an embrace, and stepped forward again. But before he could hug the man, or before he could be rejected, there came the sound of chains behind them. The rustle of wild-life; the flutter of birds.

Nero let his arms drop to his side and pivoted on one foot so that he and Taurva looked in just one direction.

"Does your kind know curiosity as intimately as they know themselves?"

[circa.cipher]

Frantic breathing and the quick pounding of a woman's feet were fast approaching the conversation, shouts wafting after her on the breeze. She ran quite fast for how short her legs were, but the guards were gaining on her. It didn't help that there was only one of her and several guards. Some of the guards had been chasing her from the beginning and were more tired, but some of them had just joined the chase and had fresh lungs and springy legs. The woman turned to glance over her shoulder, grabbing the hat that flew off her head and pressing it back on her messy, short hair.

She tripped over a root in this ordeal and went tumbling into the clearing as well as the conversation. She cussed and examined her ankle which was causing her a great deal of pain. She turned to the approaching voices of guards, knowing it was too late to start running again as they emerged from the surrounding trees. They approached cautiously, as if she were a bunny that was frozen but could hop away at any second. She looked around at all of them and then around the clearing, barely noticing the two other people. Her hat had been matted into the dirt when she tumbled into the clearing and the long half of her hair swished back and forth as she watched the guards advance. One man came too close, and she kicked him in the chest with such force that he tumbled back and hit another man, both of them toppling quite loudly to the floor, sending away the remaining crowd of birds.

Kiran took this particular chance to attack a few of the remaining men, as their attention was on the commotion of squawking distractions. She jumped at one, pulling her legs forward and kicking him full in the chest with both, landing on him and then springing from his chest as if a cat. She hit the next man with her entire body, punching him in the mouth and then rolling and kicking the legs out from under the next man. She pulled a knife from her boot and stabbed a man in the thigh before pulling his ring off and slipping it on to her left thumb. She giggled as it sparkled, turning and hitting a man in the jaw as he stormed toward her. She looked at the remaining two people in the clearing, her hair swishing once again as she tilted her head to the side, examining them.

"I hope you don't have a problem with that."

Her words were said carefully, with a hint of thought. It was obvious she didn't normally talk like that. She picked her hat up and shook it a few times before replacing it on her head. She was covered in dirt, and her lip and a few scrapes on her arms were bleeding. As she turned to leave the clearing, she passed by one of the men and something restricted her by her ankle, causing her to trip. As she turned, she saw a chain on her ankle leading to the ankle of the man she had just walked by.

"Well damn."

She saw that the chain had come from the man she had stabbed in the thigh, and she walked over to him, and kicked him in the nose until it bled. She turned back to the man she now happened to share an... imprisonment? with and sighed.

"Might as well get the formalities over with then, eh? Kiran. Beaumonte."

She held out her dirty, gloved hand that had to have more than five rings on it.

[Mantus]

Light ripped through the openings in the vegetation by which Mantus had completed his journey through. Once his hand exploded through the brush the warmth of the sun crawled over his skin once more. The mere fraction of a second that his hand protruded through the forest a pivot could be heard as the gravel scrapped underneath the man. Mantus made a sound of disappointment at the sight of the two, they appeared rather uninteresting.

"Tck, What ya' talkin 'bout?"

The kind of vocabulary that he uses isn't very common for the people who live in this age. Whenever people heard Mantus speak they always gave him a dumbfound look. When he spoke, it was composed of a confident and a derogatory tone.

Mantus' crystal blue eye gleamed due to the radiant hospitality of the sun above, glaring at the man unknown to him as Nero.

"I don' understand what ya' tryin' to say here."

A gratuitous smile tore its way onto his face, his teeth almost identical to his hair, both in hue and wilderness. Bearing his fangs another sky shattering laugh would scrape its way outside his throat and launch itself into the atmosphere. Both of the beings placed in front of him by destiny seemed rather appalled by his appearance, this added humor to Mantus' as he began to realize they still don't even know who he is.

"By the way ya' guys' are lookin' at me, I don' think ya' like me too much."

As he continued to provoke the two, his hands emerged from his pockets and balled into a fist without hesitation.


"Fiesta De Guerra"

These words were spoken in a completely different tone than previously; here, a dark and malicious tone was dominated. A loud clash could be heard as his chains snapped and threw themselves off his back, collapsing within his grasp and emitting a force powerful enough to tear tree roots from their home. Bursting wind sliced its way through the serene forest, tearing limbs off trees and throwing dust into the air. Clouds seemed to gather like a flock of birds above the ground they stood on and an ominous darkness fell over the once peaceful forest.

"So, wha' should we do 'bout this? And I'm not talkin' 'bout that girl right there."

[supernal]

Nero, an amiable smile still slightly stretching his lips, took a step away from Taurva and towards the thick of the forest. While his other foot rose to take him one step closer towards answering his insatiable curiosity, a breeze whipped between the trees and whispered of ill-tidings. When his second footfall touched ground, Nero had managed to turn himself around and look towards town; his smile already turned to a grimace.

Almost as if his whole life was little more than a stage production, a new actor to the scene and several others introduced themselves to the screen at just that moment. A woman tripped over a root, fell on the ground, and a posse of 'undesirables' followed suit. Nero watched the resulting scene with detached interest. He did not know the particulars of the situation, and so could not join in the battle against one side or the other with a clean conscience.

Yet another voice introduced itself. Nero turned his attention away from the unfolding fight, either ignorant of the perils that they indirectly presented to him or confident in his ability to handle it, and turned to face the white-haired man.

"No, not a man."

Part man. Part something else. Nero squinted his eyes and pushed the flimsy threshold that layered the physical. There was something dark webbing itself inside of this man's soul. The next few moments increased in chaos. The man unleashed a bevel of chains from his body; the woman introduced herself to him. That's when Nero looked down, turning his left ankle from side to side, and noticed that he and the woman were now shackled.

"A pleasure to meet you Kiran." Nero looked up from the shackles only after responding, shifting his attention between the woman and the bodies behind her. "I'm afraid that I don't shake hands with thieves. Are you aware that knocking someone out doesn't get rid of them? It only incapacitates them for a few moments. What exactly inspired this situation?"

Indeed the men were stirring. Nero looked once to Taurva and then back to the white-haired stranger.

"And will I have to fight you as well?"

[Raziel]

Taurva had watched the events quietly, withholding judgment as long as he could. This new challenger wasn't thinking clearly, and it seemed he was fuelled with some sort of arcane rage. A darkness swept through Taurva, chilling him slightly. Taurva had known of this man before he had arrived, just as he had known about the woman and Nero.

"Nero, brother, tell me: What good is curiosity when you know all already? Yes?" The creatures "lips" would split into a long smile. It had been what seemed like ages since Taurva had fought. Not since the days of lore. Nero, Taurva, and two others had lived those stories.

This creature that stood before them now was concerning. Taurva struggled internally, for it was with ever fibre of focus that Taurva stopped itself from simply engaging the man. He was the antithesis of Taurva. Violence was not an answer, only a solution when no others were given.

As for the woman, she was bothersome and a burden now. They would have to work quickly to remove the chains from themselves. Taurva knew nothing of manufactured metals. I'm not an alchemist. Taurva would then turn to Nero, smiling still. "Nero, this white haired of your kind would be wise to walk away. It would seem, though, he does not want to talk. I feel that in fighting him we would most definitely obliterate him. Perhaps it is smartest to let him know first, yes?"

[circa.cipher]

Her lip tightened as he called her a thief, the only acknowledgement she gave to that accusation before she curled her fingers and returned her hand to her side.

"Not too uncommon. And yes, quite aware, which is why I was hoping for a quicker getaway than standing and talking to a bunch of dillydallying men. Seeing as how that doesn't seem to be approaching any time soon, I suppose we're at an impasse."

She chose not to reply to his last statement. Seeing as he knew she was a thief, and could most likely infer she wasn't the most honorable of subjects, she allowed him to mull the thoughts over in his own head. She did, however, reply to his question.

"Well, that depends on your taking of the situation. Let's see, we have crazy chain man over here, and precious city guards waking up behind my left shoulder. You and I are also chained together, as I see you have noticed. Does fighting me really sound like a great idea?"

She shook her head in exasperation and turned to stab a guard between his ribs as he approached her in what was meant to be a silent charge.

"Cute.

She allowed him to slump to the floor and stooped to wipe her blade off on the grass.

"And to your... companion... here, I would like to say that he must first get to know someone before being able to judge their ability. Or character, for that matter."

She stood and turned her amber eyes to meet Taurva's as she said this last sentence, and then turned once again to face the stirring guards.

[Mantus]

A rising notion of irritation began to swell within the core of Mantus. He did not respond well to the idle threats and mockery of ignorance by the life forms standing before him. Simply clenching his teeth and grasping his chain to produce the effect of white knuckles on his fair skin, snapping his wrist forward the chain sliced through the atmosphere and continued its course of action through the very earth they stood on. The impact expelled a force that caused the vegetation around Mantus to explode into the air. The area where the chain impacted collapsed into a formidable crater.

"SHUT UP!"

His voice scraped the skies as it rose, demanding the simpletons talking in front of him with such insignificant problems.

"I'm tired of all this talk ya' know?" His feral gleam had returned bearing his fangs from ear to ear once more.

The restless chatter of chains that lay on the ground would be revoked once he began to lift his arm towards the heavens. With the easy motion of rotating his wrist, whipping his chain in a circular motion above him, the ominous clouds that gathered above, seem to condense into one singular sphere and continued to rain down darkness across the land. Each repetitive swing would have greater force applied to the shackled chains. The winds began to sheer throughout the land, lifting within a circular motion as if mother nature had descended in the form of a tornado. The winds exploded towards the people that lay before him. Had destiny been cruel enough to send unfit enough beings to withstand the wind, they would be cast away by the sheer force.

With every swing more force would be applied, this caused a destabilization of pressure between the heavens and the ground they stood on. The air filled with a dense feeling and electric explosions would seem to materialize with each swing.

Blood curling laughter would explode into the very sky once more, his voice vibrated due to the destabilization within the area.

"What should we do now 'bout all this?"

[supernal]

"He's not of my kind." Nero turned his attention to Taurva and stated the fact simply, without rancor or condescension. "Not quite." Nero thought of touching upon another point of Taurva's short-lived discourse. Such as that simply because Taurva was not human did not mean he was incapable of error; that if he knew all, why was he here and why did true happiness continue to escape him?

But that was not Nero's place. Still a student himself, Nero did not think himself a teacher. He could give no answers, no definitive conclusions, merely offer help from one kindred soul to another in finding the right path to walk. Taurva did not ask for that help, merely assumed he already had it. In time, maybe, they could walk the same path and not merely tread down roads that paralleled one another.

"You should stop stabbing them." Nero's attention had returned to Kiran. "You could have argued self-defense, but now it seems that you're attempting to kill."

Nero knelt down, one knee pressing into the ground, as his right hand gathered up the chains. Unlike Taurva, Nero's experience with metals and their manufacture was intimate. In his life before this one, a smaller life that was nonetheless happier, Nero had been a blacksmith. He studied the chains, turning it over in his hand.

"We can't break these chains. They double as a storage unit. If we try to break them, at best you and I," He looked up to Kiran then. "Will lose our legs. At worst, anyone within ten feet of us will die. We have to get the key, I don't trust picking the lock. The guards that shackle the prisoners and the guards that have the keys never run in the same group."

He dropped the chain, sighed, and rose. "We'll have to go hunting."

By now, the chain-man's demeanor reached a peak. A gale of wind blew through the forest, threatening to pick the man, woman, and thing off their feet. Nero's eyes narrowed.

The next sequence of events was undoubtedly intricate, but the end result simple enough to follow. A shallow trench led from where Kiran used to be to where she was now, her leg feeling the discomfort that came from being yanked forcibly in one direction without warning. One of Mantus' chains was wrapped around Nero's left arm. Nero himself was not only uncomfortably close to Mantus, but actually in contact with Mantus.

His forehead nestled comfortable against the bridge of Mantus' nose.

Then, the force of impact resounded. A crack like thunder rolled through the area; a wind of force, not unlike Mantus' own but distinctly separate from it, rustled the leaves and branches of the surrounding trees. Then Nero landed.

"No more quarrels. Please. Taurva, can you do anything about the guards?"

[circa.cipher]

She busied herself with exterminating the guards that came into her range, her skill with the blade undeniable. Even if the sharp edge got lodged in a bone, her arm was strong enough to resurface the metal. She had killed a few before the man started talking to her. She wasn't really listening, and she looked over at her shoulder at him, a bit distracted by her current quarrel with a nearby guard.

"I don't know you think I am, but I'm not your average lady."

This was her only response before she turned to slice the man's neck open, thick streams of blood oozing up over the wound and through his fingers that were attempting to staunch the flow. One last look of fear - the last one, a look Kiran had often seen without remorse - crossed the man's face. Kiran once again felt no -and therefore showed no - remorse. She turned her attention back to him as he spoke about the chains, and she knelt to look at them herself. She didn't bother to agree with him, if she said he was right it would be pointless. She merely nodded like she had learned something new and interesting and tightened her lips in exasperation.

"Felix is going to be pleasantly surprised when her captain-in-training doesn't return to the boat as planned."

A short pang of fear shot through her as she thought about this. Would she lose her spot? She didn't have doubt that Felix would replace her with no hesitation if she found the right specimen, but the question was, would she? Was there anyone out there that could replace Kiran? She grimaced at the thought, but her mind quickly returned to the moment when it took all of her strength just to stay in her spot. A large wind whipped her hat away, and she had to lift an arm to keep dirt and debris from getting in her eyes. A few sticks lashed at her, causing small scrapes to appear on her slightly weather worn skin.

The sudden jerk was very surprising. She about cried out in pain, from the sheer surprise. She lost her footing for a moment, and the wind seemed it would sweep her away before she quickly got her bearings and braced herself. She wrapped her arms around her shirt which was being pelted by rubble and sticks, more small scrapes appearing on her abdomen.

"Damn this is annoying."

Right as she spoke, the wind stopped, and she looked down at her leg with a grimace. She knelt to examine it, but made no comment as she stood again, checking to see if the ankle fully rotated and then she put pressure on it. It hurt. Her lips thinned in annoyance, and she looked up at Nero with slight distaste.

"Yes, well, let's get this over with."

[Mantus]

Wagering the fact that Nero was linked with another human, Mantus was ignorant to his speed. He soon apprehended just how ignorant he was. Crimson fluid would spray the floor as it leaked its way down Mantus' nose and dwindled off his cheek, journeying to its destined puddle on the earth. His neck was tweaked back and momentarily glared at the sky as if the sky itself waged war on him. His feet remained in the same spot, however, rather large crevices lay where he was forced to delve into the earth.

Rolling his face forward his accustomed grin was still being displayed.

"Not bad, ya' know?"

If not before, Nero would now feel the constriction of the chains that the man's arm was still shrouded in. Both feet would mine themselves further into the earth beneath them, while both hands impenetrably grasped the chain. Both arms would rip backwards causing a brutal force to transport the chain straight towards his body. Both bodies rocketed directly towards Mantus.

The grin that lay dormant upon Mantus' face was one of pure enjoyment, the thrill of battle pulsed through his veins. While the bodies bolted towards him, Mantus' rear leg tensed his muscles shook with anticipation.

NOW!

His eyes expanded as a rival shock wave exploded into the air, the ominous clouds above blasted into deviating directions by the brute force of contact. Mantus' knee throbbed from the feral force released into the chest of the man. According to Mantus' calculations of Nero's abilities the attack was not lethal.

"I won' attack ya' for real 'til ya get serious"

The words as savage as the attack that was just displayed, straining the ears of the man who was now tumbling around the earth. Finally the momentum would halt, as would the man's rolling, only to find another attack. This attack being a much less severe one, a body slam from the woman that is attached to him as her momentum finally died as well.

Mantus' eager body shook with excitement as he awaited the next attack.

[supernal]

Nero, in the middle of addressing the others, cut his speech short and looked to his arm as he felt the chains constricting. His right eyebrow hiked up a little in a fashion that denoted clear confusion and interest in this, and it seemed as if he was poised to voice his concern but the chance was stolen from him.

Without warning, Nero found himself whisked towards Mantus. He had only a split-second to decide what to do if he intended to save himself from Mantus' wrath and make sure that no harm, or at least as little harm as possible, befell the woman Kiran. The situation, unfortunately, called for something of a sacrifice. As Mantus' knee came up to meet his chest, Nero brought his hand down on Mantus' knee, moving it down slightly while simultaneously lifting himself up.

Though the end result wasn't altered much, Nero felt that bruised abs were a better outcome than a broken sternum. He tensed moments before contact, condensing his torso and strengthening it against the coming onslaught, and then Nero was tossed bodily in the opposite direction by the force of Mantus' knee.

Mantus' chain unraveled from his arm during the attack and, now free of the man's grasp, Nero turned about-face. He forced himself to the ground, digging shallow trenches with his feet as he skid to a stop, and grabbed the chain that linked him and Kiran to stop her from swinging into Mantus' range. There's no telling what that man would do if he got a chance.

"No, that's enough." Nero straightened his back and brought his hand to his stomach where Mantus' knee dug in, a slight grimace of pain over-taking his expression. "I can't fight you properly with this woman chained to me." Nero stared right into Mantus' eye, past the haze of bloodlust.

"If you want a real fight, will you help us find the key to these shackles?"

[Raziel]

Taurva took little time to react, and would simply watch with a mild detachment, busy with a different focus. A word of power would be spoken softly, Taurva's spindly finger outstretched, perfectly formed towards the dead men. The exchange of blows was uninteresting to Taurva, for conflict was unnecessary in all cases if there was no truth to be produced or said. Not even his stoic pose would shift as Nero offered the demon a partnership.

The woman he simply ignored. She seemed too caught up in her own endeavours to care about anything. The only thing worse than stupidity was ignorance. Unmoved by the previous, and present, quarrels Taurva would watch as it awaited the fruits of his labour. The hearts of men, woman, and demon alike were corrupt all the same. Eaten by a vicious snake. For they loathed the burdens they carried. Thus Taurva would in kind speak out to nobody in the group in particular, but it's voice would still be heard amongst the clamour by all. "As you sow, so shall you reap."

As the creatures raspy voice resounded, small saplings would rise up from below the men, silently, bending slowly at first from their weight, but would rapidly grow up and into the carcasses, blooming out of their sternums. The trees would gain girth, and the bodies would simply wither, turning slowly to dust. No blood would be produced, a strange sight to behold if one were to glance upon it. Their canopy now shaded the area significantly, the tops reaching a full twenty feet. The trees were about half the diameter, causing a somewhat ethereal feeling. Grass would rise up, earth dishevelling itself, rock dispersing.

Nature was a fickle thing.