Ethereal Void

THE ETHEREAL VOID

INTRODUCTION - DESCRIPTION - DIFFERENT PARTS

Mystical region, interpreted as an unreal apparition of the transition of the existing world we now live in and the realm of infinite possibility and un-reality. In archaic interpretation the Void is the place where the existing world enters the thoughts of "God".

• Description:

The Ethereal Void is one of the strangest places in all the whole world, which should not be surprising as it is not truly in the world at all. It is thought by some to be a mist that surrounds our world. While this is partially true, the full nature of the Void is a bit more convoluted. Many speak of mysteries located in the Ethereal Void to the far south, beyond the Barthavos Desert, but even more fear the apparition of the Void beyond the world to the north. The latter is said to consist of utter darkness which is another expression or aspect of this nothingness between worlds, a cold, windy nothing-mist filled with ominous shapes and terrors. Evil is said to live and originate there. The nothing mist to the south seems much friendlier to the infrequent visitor, filled with a soft light coming from the nothing-mist itself. Most of the time this mist is either motionless or swirling gently, and travellers feel warm and safe inside. Yet the Void is not without its dangers. Imaginary storms are infrequent, but unpredictable, and can smear the thoughts and physical form of a still-living individual throughout the Void. Thus the Void takes on gradually the slightest shadow of a personality as the eons pass in the worlds it surrounds.

The Void is a place where dreams can and do come true, but precautions must be taken. Anything can be imagined into existence, but to become permanent the imaginings must be made fully real by magic. Otherwise they will vanish as soon as the one imagining is no longer paying attention. Vigilance must constantly be kept as impossible creatures sometimes wander in through the Void, coming from other worlds, occasionally causing havoc. It is said that some of the stranger creatures found in Gaia and other places are descended from creatures who had thus wandered in.

Even though the Ethereal Void surrounds the worlds, one cannot simply walk into the Void and find oneself in a different reality. Even if a wizard or highly imaginative person left the world behind, surrounding himself with his own reality, and walked straight into the Void, he would never get to another world. He could walk due south for hundreds of miles, and still he would be but a step away from the Desert of Light. This is because the Ethereal Void, in itself, is not truly real, it is only potential, and concepts such as time or distance simply have no meaning there. Other worlds can only be reached through the Void by first knowing the imaginary location in the Void, and then using a combination of imagination and magic to open a hole or a door that leads directly into the desired destination world. These locations cannot be described by distance or direction or duration or any other measurement we commonly use in our world of four dimensions. Instead, these locations must be described in the fifth, sixth, and seventh dimension, with using the eighth dimension being optional most of the time. With such an abstract way of thinking being neccessary to open portals to other worlds, even though only the most basic of magic is required, few can open them - only those few that have near-genius level imaginations. Technology works poorly in the Void, while magic is enhanced. Blades of steel are especially useless. Glass blades on the other hand, are quite usable in the Unreal.

Different Places:

The Nothern Ethereal Void

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Purported view on the Ethereal Void seen from an extreme northern position on the continent of Guldor. The skies in this northern region of the world are said to appear as constantly moving oceans with enormous menacing wave-like formations rolling around, reshaping constantly.

The Southern Ethereal Void

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Purported view on the Ethereal Void seen from southern parts of the Barthavos desert. The sky in this region has completely lost its common blue, but appears bright with cloudlike structures of orange, red or even darker colours, which are constantly reshaping.

The Island of Eden

Eden is an island which is not located in our world, at least not in the same plane of existence. How it can be reached is still a great mystery, however, due to several reports of different travelers who managed to leave Eden it seems now confirmed that the isle indeed exists. It seems most likely that it can be only accessed through magical means as it is only possible to leave Eden with the help of magic. An invisible gate seems to exist in the Sea of Mists far to the west of the Gaian continent, but where exactly it is located cannot be said for certain.

Tree of Life

The only know location in the Void that actually sees visitors willingly. Simply put, two chosen people will literally vanish, and end up here. Upon winning or losing, they come back to their original place in time and space like nothing happened. The tree can change, it's platform filling with sand or becoming as slippery as ice. Of course, the changes only take place at the start of the fight, and never during.

It would feel ... woozy. For a moment, there was the world, the peoples, the sounds, and then ... nothing. So fast it seemed to never have happened at all. The floor where they had been standing transformed to concrete. A small platform for each, 30 feet away from each. The platform was floating in the darkness, held up by a tree. A dark tree, black, blue, green and red in colors, that seemed made of anything but wood. It wouldn't burn, it wouldn't cripple, but it would move, alive.

More platforms were everywhere, held up by the twisted tree. Four men could stand on one very comfily. Only, there were only two. Upon waking up, none would know where they are. None would know why they are here. None would know how, who, what, but they'd both no one thing for a certainty: the key to salvation was defeating the opponent.

::The winds were soft as soft and beautiful as the one they carried. Amidst a sea of cherry blossoms a silohette came into view, the tiny leave each danced across the figures features blinding all view of him minus the brief glimses from behind the precious pink leaves.

And then just as suddenly as they came the winds where gone and the cherry blosoms each gently drifted to the floor. There he was, his long white hair flowed behind like a thousand soft leaves caught in the wind, its gently motion blinded view of all but his left eye. An eye colored with a most stunning grey, almost a white, and yet not, just caught in an endless gaze of infinite despair.

His body was slender, thin and almost feminine. His samurai style white kimono was adorned with grey streaks, like lashes caught in the wind, and its long stretched neck gaze a view of his smooth and slender chest, and the violent scars that painted it.

As the wind blew, his clothes blew, pressing against him to reveal his thin and slender feminine form, and causing the sheathed katana at his right hip to jingle in the unatural breeze. The katana itself was an item of notoriety, it was the Gale Blade. Its sheath was decorated with a single japanese symbol on it.

風

Wind. And there he stood, his right hand rested gently on the hilt of his katana while his left hand simply hung at his right side, his slender fingers resting gently against his leg. And he spoke, his voice was carried on the wind like a cherry blossom pedal, it was soft, beautiful, and yet full of so much despair.::

Have you see him....have you seen Irikuzi...?

::He gazed in silence. No words. Just a silent gaze, his distraught grey eye gazing into the other mans. There were things that could simply not be said with words. Gently and sleekly the words slipped through his pale lips.::

My brother...

::The winds around him gently lifted the cherry blossoms again causing them to dance around him to a depressing rythym. His right hand rose gently his index finger slowly extending towards this other man, and he spoke again, his voice just as gently before, sleek, smooth, like a soft wine. As he spoke a single cherry blossom pedal danced along his hand before resting against the tip of his extended right index finger.::

Did you...take my Irikuzi?

Vahn The Devil Wrote:

Danger. Warning. What the hell.

The very thoughts that were running wild in Starr's head right now, even as he smiled. The smile broke into a soft laughter. "Look, I'm sorry buddy, I think you got the wrong guy..."

::A wise man once said a water can roll and water can crash. The same could be said of wind, it can gently comfort, or viciously crush those in its path. Its quiet inconspicuous beauty is only matched by its unrivaled fury. The man across from the slender samurai had unknowing stepped over a silent boundary. And beauty would give into fury.

The once soft spoken and gently mans voice boomed forth.

LIAR!

As his shout tore forth across the battle field so did a sharp and furious wind, as it rushed at his opponent it tore up random chunks of grass which whipped around in its boundless fury. The blades of grass bore down on the lone warrior across the field each whipping wildly, each blade would cut like a razor. And through the center of this wild storm the single cherry blossom resting upon his extended finger shot forth like a bullet cutting straight through the center of the storm like a razor sharp dart aiming to pierce right through the lone warriors heart just behind the storm of leaves and shatter it, just like the samurai's heart had been.::

::His storm was unrelenting! The winds never ceased nor died down, and niether did the storm of grass razors, his eye never left his target. Niether did his hand ever leave the hilt of the Gale Blade.

At the core of the storm the winds were the strongest. And through the cycle of razor sharp leaves and small rocks that bullet fought to reach the samurai. And he waited for it. As it broke throught the storm aiming straight form him leaned forward to meet it. His left hand gripped the hilt and immediately drew it, his form was as gently as summers wind but his strength was a raging hurricane. The blade whistled as it cut through the winds and its curved katana blade which rested in like with his forarm immediately split the bullet in twain.

The sheer force of the bullets impact pushed the samurai back a foot, allowing the bullets resulting explosion to miss him entirely. The mans face was full of a silent despair which drove him this madness. As the explosion cleared one could see the samurai plowing forward directly through his own storm and toward his opponent. That one grey eye never quiting its gaze, never changing its sorrowful stare. He held his sword to his lower right with its tip just inches from the ground, constantly cutting the grass as he ran and using the fresh blades to full his windy storm.

And as he ran he shouted once more. His voice clearly lashing forth over the sound of the rushing winds.::

I am Okuzakimarinoboru En! Samurai of the 5 Winds! Brother to Irikuzi the Burning Blade!

::Just about the the time he finished that sentence he reached a good 5ft from his opponent, he ducked low and slashed a wide sweep at his opponents feet. Aiming to slice them off just above the ankles. As he slashed he shouted again.::

For the memory of a brothers love, I will take you to hell with him!!

::The word "take" stuck out above the others because as he spoke it a rolling wave of wind flew directly at the man with incredible force.::

::Oki would have normally smiled as his opponent took to the air. He fell so easily for his trap, the reason Oki even attacked the ground was so that his opponet would jump and be caught in the air. The air was his domain, but a greater sadness filled his heart. A lost love. And even as his opponent jumped the storm of winds visibly curved upwards to meet him in the air. Though the air was invisible anyone could see the blades of grass rise up to continue there lashing. And as the winds kept him airborne and kept him moving steadily upwards.

The explosion of the missiles launching was something most unexpected though, and as they burst downwards Okizakimarinoburu's left eye shot open in shock. He knew what they were, he knew what they would do, and he knew that he could not escape that wide of a spread unharmed. But as he sat with his sword now laying to his lower right side, the Gale Blade began to visibly pulse. The blade itself was delicately crafted from its hilt up to its tip several etchings were carved into it, hundreds of thin lines that seemed to pave the way up to the tip. And as she sat watching the missiles with his legs crouched beneath a sort of light green energy began to seep from those etchings, filling them with a light green glow.

Beneath Okizakimarinoboru in a small 3ft radius, the blades of grass still attached to the ground began to stand straight upwards. All this would be visible or just a split second before the missles struck causing a massive explosion covering the area in a powerful blaze and blowing chunks of land in all directions. For all of half a second Oki was no where to be seen. One would assume he had been destroyed, they would assume wrong.

In a sudden burst he shot straight up from the blazing explosion, a strong gust of wind carrying him by his baggy and loose clothing. In all actuality he had jumped just before the missles hit, but the explosion had out run him. His bits of his clothes were badly singled and some of his kimono was still aflame. His face was sooty and covered with ash and part of his legs and arms, and other areas of his meek frame showed terrible burns. But there pain was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

Okizakimarinoboru didnt need a rocket. During the seconds before the missles spiraled down to him he had gathered enough of a forceful wind to turn him into a rocket. He shot straight up at his opponent with immense speeds and with The Gale Blade held at an angle to the lower right. The blade itself seemed to be housed in its own wind as there were visibly bits grass whooshing around it at inconceivable speeds like blurs of grass.

It would take all but a second from Oki to reach within 5ft of his opponent and when he did he would slash use his powerful 5 Wind Slash. The wind caught around the Gale Blade would flatten against it making it into an even sharper cutting device, and added an effective 3ft to its length. The slash would be aimed directly at his opponents mid section with the direct intent of rending him in two.

Oki knew the air, and the sky, he knew that without wings one had no free motion in the air, they could turn and tumble, but they were a slave to gravity, and a slave to the wind. A slave to Okizakimarinoboru, Samurai of the 5 Winds.::

No more toys! This is for Irikuzi!

::Oki shouted back as he saw the gun drawn. Immediately he began to calculate, behind his soft face, and his scarred and slender chest, beat the heart of a killer, and the mind of a warrior. A little toy wouldnt stop him from getting vengeance for his broken heart.

He slashed his sword early. The force of the mighty 5 winds burst forward impacted the bullet just as it reached directly and evenly between the two fighters and allowing for an even dispersal of shrapnel between the two fighters.

The force of the explosion blew Okizakimarinoboru straight back and out of the powerful gust of wind which shot him forward. As he flew back he could feel the fresh burns along his chest. But the wind didnt disperse when Oki exited it, instead it shot directly at the blown back Starr, catching him and just as he recoiled from his shot, it would impact him like a wall, with enough force to blow stop even a speeding train dead cold, and trailing in that wall of wind would be the shrapnel meant for Oki.

The winds course was definite. It would shoot the man straight up, gravity held nothing on him, they were already over 200ft up and in a matter of seconds the man would be over 500ft up, and with no sign of stopping. Oki hoped he was afraid of hieghts. He wanted to see the fear, and pain on his eyes before he ending him.

The burns on his face and body stung, as did the few pieces of shrapnel which pierced him before the gust of wind caught them. For now he began to fall, his body danced along the winds as gentle as one of the cherry blossoms he brought when he first arrived, with his blood soaked and burned hair trailed gently behind him. Drops of his blood floated up as his body carreened downwards toward the ground. Finally a look of peace came over his face. He had gotten his revenge.

His opponent on the other hand wouldnt be graced with such a gentle ride, as the 5 winds blew him up they would be sure to knock him about, he would likely feel as if he was being constantly pushed and around by 5 random angles. This was meant to bring about a sense of distortion, to make him sick and dizzy, as his body was blown into a different angle every few fractions of a second. As he was blown about like a leaf caught in a tornado. And all the while he would be carried straight up. And then, at precisely 500ft, the winds would stop just dead cold. But as gravity regained its control he would see that the bundle of leaves and small rocks which were carried with him were now circling directly above him. The danced around like marbles caught in a sphere. Like an eye watching him. But, leaving him to free fall back 500ft to the ground. ::

::Unfortunately for the bounty hunter that ball that was behind and above him. The ball of swirling bits and bobbles was not for show. It was a trap, it was a reason for the peaceful look on his face. The ball of wind picked up speed lashing around furiously as the bounty hunter fell. Then, like the finger of god it extended down toward the free falling man. The wind itself had become Okizakimarinobu's ultimate technique. The 5 Wind Tornado. And as all of natures tornados its winds whirled at a full 500mph, winds powerful enough to rip a man to shreds, and winds capable of making even the softest of things a weapon. And the 5 Wind Tornado now bore down on the bounty hunters back.

The sound of whirring winds brought further peace to Oki's heart. His brother would be avenged. But he didnt free fall backwards, his fall was slower, softer, he rocked back and forth in a cushion of wind like a cherry blossom, the winds were softly carrying down to the ground. His clothes waved about in the wind as if barely held on by some form of magic, as he descended in his gently bubble. A bubble which was then impacted by his opponents wire. The wire didnt reach through but rather hit it was knocked off its aim by the winds, and wrapped 3 thrice around his waist, as the winds acted like a pulley, basically pulling in the bounty hunter as opposed to Oki being pulled by him.

At the sound of the wire whipping past his right ear Oki slowly opened his dull and yet beautiful gray eyes to see his opponent, his brothers murderer falling towards him with the 5 Wind Tornado in tow.

His eyes glimmered as his heart nearly skipped a beat and he let out a gasp. This, this one eyed man, the look on his face, it was impossible! This wasnt the look of a killer, it wasnt the look of a man who wanted his death but rather, it was the look of man trying to save him! His eye, his one yellow eye. At that moment nothing seemed as innocent as it. With that gasp, just a full 3 inches from the bounty hunters back the 5 Wind Tornado dispersed and the rocks and blades of grass each flew off in different directions. And he spoke. His voice once again gentle, soft spoken, kind. His words again slipped through his persed lips.::

Who...are you...?

::In that moment all Oki could do was simply looked up in an awe struck shock as his left eye, his only visible eye, his eye full of despair, gazed up at his opponents yellow eye. He was caught in its beauty and its madness. And in that moment, as his concentration faded, and so did the bubble of wind that kept him up.

Feeling his support fade, his soft feminine and scarred face filled with a sort of quiet desperation, as he began to free fall. He reached his right arm up as if to reach from his opponent, to cling to him and accept saving he offered. If he still offered it.::

Angel...

::Oki said as he gently gazed upward. For a moment no one else existed, and then his hand was grasped. In an instance his reailty shattered and was replaced by memory.

There stood love. There stood Irikuzi. As persual he wore a bright red kimono with a white belt and red pants. From the fringes of his clothes came a white flame pattern, the flame rose from his shoulders and his ankles. His black hair was tied back into a ponytail that seemed to explode from the back of his head. He was walking out of the dojo in his usual fashion, with a long match in his teeth and his Burning Blade as always gripped tightly by his right hand and resting, sheathed, on his right shoulder. Today was a day he was definately looking forward too. A journey to the famed Leviathan Fighting Arena and Stadium. He never knew he'd never make it back. He was so happy about it infact that he shouted it back to his brothers as he exited.::

Brothers! I'm off! Today I conquer the Leviathan!

::Okizakimarinoboru rushed from the dojo, a quick gust flung open the dojo's doors as Oki reached for his brother, only to trip and began to fall. Even as he fell his slender fingers he reached for his brothers feet in vien and finally he called out.::

Irikuzi no! Please! Theres an ominous wind dont go...

::Irikuzi stopped dead in his path and spun around on his right foot lunging forward, his left hand quickly reached out and grasped Oki's while his right hand shot to Oki's left hip and helped push him up. Oki's one visible grey eye gazed almost longingly into Irikuzi's, his eye still held hope, it still held joy, though it was clouded by worry. Looking up in Irikuzi's bright red eyes he spoke.::

You'll...someone...will take you away from me...then...who will be my brother...

::Irikuzi spoke in his most comforting tone, but his voice always carried a playful arrogance.::

Wind shmind, theres no one here or there that can kill Irikuzi the Burning Blade.

::Irikuzi's arrogance always made Oki sad, he knew it would lead to his downfall. His slowly began to lower as despair crept over him. See that sadness on Oki's face Irikuzi that his pride wasnt helping the situation, his left hand gently slid off of Oki's and under Oki's chin and lifted his brothers face until it was eye to eye with his own. And spoke again, his voice lacked all arrogance as he continued his last sentence.::

Even if I did die...I'll just be your own personal angel.

::With Irikuzi's face filling Okizakimarinoburo's view, he spoke, but this time, as he spoke in his memory, he spoke in reality to the bounty hunter before him. Each syllable gently gliding through his lips, he spoke to the past and the present. The entire memory had passed in a mere second, and his words seemed to continue directly off his last. His one eye still full of despair now showing a glimmer of its past hope as it gazed up at the wild yellow before it.::

...my...angel...

::In that instant. Just the very second the word angel exited his mouth, and with both fighters no more than 50ft from the ground, a warm wind seemed to silently explode upwards from beneath them. Despite the somewhat cold air this wind seemed to gain its heat from area's beyond. It gently carressed both fighters faces and bodies and slowed there fall allowing them both to softly land on there feet. And all the while Oki never broke his gaze, not even to blink.

When he landed a final recognition hit him. That warm air, its scent, its presence. It was unmistakable. It was one man. It was one angel. As he still held the bounty hunters hand, he spoke the angels name.::

Irikuzi...

::Okizakimarinoboru heard the womans name as it slipped from his lips. And his hand gently slip from the bounty hunters just as his feet nimbly rested on the ground. It was only a dream, Irikuzi was still gone, and despair slowly dripped back over hsi face.

Gentle motion Oki sheathed The Gale Blade, and spoke as he began to slowly turn away from the bounty hunter.::

You did not take my Irikuzi...

::Witha flick of his head his gray locks gently waved behind him as he began to walk away. His feminine frame only barely disturbing the grass as he walked. And spoke again.::

I will find him...I will go to the Leviathan...

::And with the gently and final declaration the storm of cherry blossoms, now a pure white, rose again and swirled around him, blinding all view of the samurai inside. And then, just as suddenly as he had come, the cherry blossom storm shattered as the blossoms were carried away by the wind and Okizakimarinoboru was no where to be seen.::

'Yo holmes, hush up'

Was the reply, coming from what seemed to be the ground. Upon closer inspection, one would find that this was Jazzy D. Wearing a coal ensemble. What appeared to be leather trousers, and a crop top that exposed her stomach. In her belly button, there was a small jewel, possibly diamond. Her brown hair was in a ponytail, and poked through the back of her cap, also black. But with 'Jazzy D' emblazoned in white on the front. Jazzy D was lying on her back, with her head on her hands.

'Or I'll make you'

Le sigh. Jasmine slowly got to her feet, before making slow steps around the man. Eyeing him up carefully, before rolling her eyes, and making a few well thought out statements. 'Homie, you be trippin, so obviously you aint from around Durem, cos then you'd know that you be messin with the most low down gal this side of the wizzorld. So I'm gonna give you another chance to walkizzle away, or I'm gonna have to walk up and down yo a** mo' times than the stairs at an apartment block.' She stopped in front of the man and made eye contact. 'Know what I'm sayin?'

'Homie, you want me to draw you a mizzap?' Jasmine took two steps back and one forward whilst adjusting her cap slightly. 'You about to get a beat down unless you keep it down.'

'Fo Rizzeal' Jazzy D seemed to phase out, before reappearing behind Zee, and performing a double foot drop kick to the small of his back, with an air distort type thing to boot. They looked like explosions, but without the fire. They would deliver the same sort of effect aswell. Send things flying. Once she had kicked, she would reappear where she was before.

Jasmine would now be about a foot diagonal to Zee. She performed a low sweep kick with her left leg, with the little explosion thing, before using the momentum spin another 180 degrees, and changing into a right hook kick, aimed at this chest, again, explosion thing. Unfortunately this left her back availible for an attack.

Still with her back to him, she replied 'Yo need to show yo balls mo, not just cowerizzle' She pulled her feet together, and stretched her arms out, forming a cross. 'Hit me, if yo canizzle'

'Didnt seem to stop me from tryizzlin did it?' Jazzy D smirked at him, before hawking up the contents of her lungs, and spitting in his face. 'Still waitizzlin'

Jazzy glared at him, and kissed her teeth, before quickly knocking his arm to his side with her right hand, and grabbing his head, and attempting to head butt him in the nose, she had to jump slightly to reach though.

Jazzy Ds eyes flew open, and the diamond in her stomach gave a flash. It absorbed a lot of the pain, but it still felt as if she'd been hit by a car with a huge spear on the end. Appropriately, she fell on her arse. And shook her head a couple of times, trying to get her head round what just happened. 'What the hell was that holmes?'

Chrissy Hunt Wrote:

Jazzy Ds eyes flew open, and the diamond in her stomach gave a flash. It absorbed a lot of the pain, but it still felt as if she'd been hit by a car with a huge spear on the end. Appropriately, she fell on her arse. And shook her head a couple of times, trying to get her head round what just happened. 'What the hell was that holmes?'

His eyes flashed in their violent green color as he appeared next to the girl, lifting her to her feet by her shirt. "It was my way of hot hitting you..."He said with his oh so creepy grin. As he spoke he had used a bit of his own natural necroplasam to summon up a small dagger in his off hand, as he finished speaking he drove it into the muscley part of his leg and dragged it upward, and the energy went to the hand that held her, the energy traded bodies again, and we all know what happened from there.

Le sigh.And he was just getting started. That was the thing about mortal women, they were beautiful, but they could only take so much. The spawn sighed again, and put a hand over her heart, he called forth the pain he had caused and summoned it into him, he had been fed now, and the girl was still unconcious. He picked her up, cradleing her smaller form in his arms and carried her off to the infirmary mumbleing something about potential.

TK TK TK TK TK TK TK

Faint footsteps were heard, coming from the other end of the platform, as a slim figure soon made its way forward, through the gentle, roiling mist that surrounded the platforms.

It was kind of hard to really tell just where exactly he was, even the single tree in this damned place looked all out of shape. Gnarly and stuff...

He broke free of the 'mist's' hold, and stood still, craning his head to look around. A thin plume of smoke weaved its way upwards, from the cigarette held between his lips. Both hands were in the pockets of his pants. Pants that were a dark hue of denim, and boot-cut. Towards the bottom, they were folded once over, showing barely, the tips of the white sneakers he wore. They had a nice soft black trim to them. His jeans had double pockets etched into the portion that overlapped at his knees. The belt that supported the jeans was oversized by many inches, and so, stuck out like a tounge resting against his hip. A simple white, short sleeved shirt adorned his upper body, a black messenger bag hanging off his shoulder. Even his hair was slightly ruffled and gently spiked...needless to say- Vahn had been enjoying his walk in the surrounding forest...

Until that wierd displacement feeling..and he came out walking here.

"Keh..."

Eyebrows rose in surprise, dulled surprise, but surprise nonetheless. He only slightly smiled and leaned back slightly, balancing on the balls of his feet.

"Hey-hey, whats this now? Don't make fun of me just 'cause I'm an old man..."

His yellowed eyes stared down to the figure in consideration. Yea, he knew who he was- it was kind of hard to forget those who were your real friends. And those who were meant to kill you.

"Tch...dammit, still as annoying as ever."

A grin broke out on his face now, as he sent a larger plume of smoke upwards, before tilting his head down and to the side, locks of hair falling into place.

Stepping forward, he began walking once more- tossing a glance to the weird a** tree. He kept getting bad vibes off it, which made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end..it was like having someone whisper into his ear, 'Fight' constantly...

"Bored stiff, eh? S'too bad...I was in the mood for a lil' fun."

"Keh..!" As soon as the younger boy- because of his advanced age, Vahn always thought of everyone else as still being children in his eyes- had leaned down, after seemingly almost falling flat on his face, Vahn had acted.

TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK

The messenger bag that had been strapped about his body, struck the ground, about the same time as Sun lifted out that stick, the bag settling onto the ground, just about the same time as Sun had begun settling into a position with the pole, Vahn's body came whirling and spinning in a top-like motion his legs out.

Reshuuken! Tempered Wind!

This was far different than from when he initially prepared his body for speed, as the kicks came just a tad slower and less impressive than the full blown move.

HWWOOOOOOO

His movements came to a slow halt, legs whipping out, until the soles of his feet came hugging down, grinding into the ground.

A complete halt.

"You going to play a game or something?" Vahn's body was leaned forward, his fingertips having been dragged right along with his body, and soft smears of blood seen on the ground... He noticed the tree seemed to slightly writhe about more than usual and what not, as if relishing off of that little show of blood... Tch.

"Tch."

that pole would come down, smashing right onto Vahn's head... Then travelling right on through his head, down his neck- through his chest, splitting him in half!

The first thoughts right into his opponent's head might be something along the lines of: 'Oh s**t!' But, that wasn't really the case. If anything..it was purely odd, seeing such a weapon able to split a person in half the way it did...but careful observation would reveal that the image continued to split..and softl fade away.

A short burst of black flames would confirm it.

It had been nothing but a 'after-image' of Vahn, an illusionary type technique you could call it, using the wavering heat of his own flames.

However, even that wasn't entire true. Vahn's natural speed also had a hand in the matter, which enabled him to completely avoid the strike from the outset. The 'image' was there to for confusion purposes.

Reshuuken! Winding Windmill!

Vahn was directly at Sun's left side, his right leg sweeping in a slight roundhouse fashion, but oddly angled and curved- his aim was for his opponent's mid-section.

~Shadow Flame Step: Using above average honed speed and his shadow, he can evade most attacks with this move. He moves at such a pace, that it seems as if his shadow is actually left behind, creating a faux after-image effect made up of his black flames.~

Erractic was good. Surprise was best. Doing the unexpected, was where victory lay.

And so, following this set of self-rules, vahn was quite caught off guard with that last action.

He was still int he process of winding down his kick, that the sudden, somewhat flimsy wide strike of the stick, caught him cleanly in the jaw. "Hhgk!" Vahn's head turned with the blow, to try and disperse most of the hurt, and his body tilted down in turn with where his jaw turned... He felt a tooth get chipped.

s**t! Vahn indeed, did back off.

Vahn remained standing there, the silent gust of wind dying now, as he stared down the younger male. His yellowed eyes were bright, full of promise as well as joy. It had indeed been quite a while since estranged teacher and pupil could meet.

Needless to say he was curious as to what Sun had picked up along his way back home. His left hand rested casually on his left hip, his head tilted slightly to the side, as he watched him, as friendly as he could be. "Well-well... You sure haven't grown that much! S'matter, not enough veggies where you went?" Shortened spikes of raven hair ruffled, as his right hand ran through it, before coming to rest and cover half his face.

"......."

His left cheek turned a slight red, before swelling a little, as silence stretched on. The moment continued on, a bead of sweat running down his cheek.

" Wha... What the hell... are you doing?" Vahn stared towards Sun, his eyes slightly strained, as he had just been... poked. Needless to say, Vahn was confused beyond beleif, embarrased...and well... I hate entering smiley's in with my posts, but until I get my emoticon set done, this is kinda what he looked like right now:

His eyes were closed, his right eyebrow twitching violently every now and then, as he gritted his teeth.

"Tch...dammit..." It almost seemed like the veins in his forehead would pop, before he leaned forward, and sent his right sailing forward for Sun's own cheek. "What the hell?!" He shouted out loudly, letting seem as if a mighty lion had just let loose with a frightening roar.

Vahn's body leaned forward, with the amount of pressure exerted on his legs, it was only natural for his body to react this way.

He easily caught himself with the palms of his hands, and right upon reaching the hand-stand position, he would whirl out his legs just once, to try and get a mere glancing blow on the boy's backside and rear.

The sounds and smells of burnt wood would be more than obvious at this point. "Close...but not close enough..."

Supporting himself with his right palm, he had angled in his left hand, and let out a small, bouncing black flame- which grew and soon became hot enough, around 876 degrees farenheit to be exact- so that the wooden pole literally shortened- burning away as it was shoved towards his body.

Red. It was the colour of the large plume that seemed to bounce up and down in the mist, half shrouded in the empty whiteness.

"Helloooooooo~!?" Turriens called out as he stepped through the mist, flailing his arms before himself as he brushed though the thick fog.

A large green hat with an equally large red plume adorned the top of his head, fitting perfectly on top of his shoulder length brown hair. He wore a pink shirt with a silver and purple plaid vest over it and blue pants. His back was lined by a heavy yellow cape, stretching down just a little past his knees. And of course, upon his feet lay his customary black riding boots. Turriens, so called "Frufru" behind his back by others walked through the mist that twisted and curled around the tree of life.

He had a vacant look on his face, wide eyes and flat mouth as he looked around the current area as it became clear of mist for a second, just enough for him to survey the surroundings. "Where am I?" he asked himself. One moment, he was moving towards the source of something shiney in the halls of the arena, the next, he was here in... limbo?

"ECHO... echo... echo... echo..." he called out, making echo sounds for entertainment. Quickly bored, he spun around. Nothing. it was so very empty... and quiet... and boring.

Well, thers only one thing to do if you were as directionally handicapped as he was.

Shwing! the clean sound of metal sliding off of metal rang through the still air, causing whisps of the misty tendrils to follow in the quick airflow as he drew his fine crafted rappier. He looked around and tossed it into the air, watching it disappear in the thick fog of mist, waiting for it to come back down. Whichever way the tip of the weapon would point, he would go in that direction. Only problem was that, because of the fog, he couldnt really see where the rappier went, or when it would come down, yet, he was oblivious to the danger.