Chapter 3 - Black Moon Haven

[Jack]

(Zeroth)
.:: Slowly Zeroth steps in, his shoes silently click against the floor. He glances up. Seeing good rafters he smirks and jumps up, sitting solemnly among them. ::.

Zeroth: Hand me some...Coke.
Bartender: Aright... .:: tosses up a closed bottle of coke and continues to washing the counter. ::.
.:: Sips the Coke fast, watching the bar beneath him. ::.
Zeroth: A bit slow today..
Bartender: Aye. 'Tis true. Just a bit of silence. Something good. Pay for nothing I always say. Only its my bar. So I see nothing worth it...

[Jack]

(Kyi\\Finch)
Kyi looked up from her half-sleeping state and twitched from the clicking shoes. Slowly, she looked up and saw the man who walked in. Still half-asleep she wasn't sure who he was and pulled her hood tighter over her face and scooted back into her corner. Kyi shivered a bit as the damp ground touched her clothes and the cold seeped into her skin.

"Cream?" She called out, turning towards the bartender. He nodded and tossed her a small glass of cream, a lid covering the top so it wouldn't spill. She fumbled forward to catch it then sat back up. Groaning and mumbling, she flicked off the lid and took a few sips. She then placed the glass down by her side and shoved her cold hands into her pockets. Her hood shadowed her face more as she hunched over slightly.

Is that...
I think.. so...

Her thoughts raced though she looked asleep, besides the fact she twitched every few minutes.

[Jack]

(Kurai)
*a young girl with white hair and demonic eyes and ears walks in to the bar with a cold and strong aura around her to any who are somewhat strrong, to the weak ones she sees some drunk some not they run out of the bar in fear, and sits at the bar tenders table asking for a bloody marie."

Aren't you a little too young, young lady? *says the bar tender*

Aren't you a bit too young, mr bar tender? *she digs out of her pocket her id, as he looks at it in somewhat of a shock then quickly gets her the drink as she pays for it and drinks it slowly, putting her id away, thinking to herself about things she must do also being aware of the surroundings in the bar.*

[Jack]

(Onizuka)
A sensitive nose twitched. Burn smell.. Wolf thought. He squeezed his orange eyes shut and curled into a tighter ball. Burn smell?! Wolf sat up suddenly, almost falling back down.

The dawn was hazy with smoke that drifted through the empty street. Distant screams and the piercing roar of battle could be heard. Metal-shafted arrows twinkled from the stone walls, and the broken doors and facades to the shops on the street hung awkwardly on their hinges. An upturned table and a small countertop formed a small deserted barrier at a street corner. Wolf stood on his numb feet shakily, blinking at the change in atmosphere. Wolf? A battle here?


His mind was thrown into chaos at the sudden turn of events. This is a dangerous place, but people could need our help--Onward into battle! The weak will fall and the strong shall stand in the face of--You freaking idiots! This has nothing to do with us, we're staying out of--Coward, Infidel! Our foes shall pay for their heresies in their blood--BLoooOOood? ItsSs BEeN sO lOnG--No fighting, not here and now! A citizen fleeing the conflict through the streets would have thought the strange man was paralyzed with fear. Sadly, this was not the case.

The sounds of battle were drifting away from him, deeper into the city by the time his thoughts had collected. The man clicked the snaps of his boots together and threw on his trenchcoat as he rain, faltering as he struggled to get his arm through the second sleeve. He folded back the top of the sash that wrapped his six swords, and tied the bundle at the small of his back, on the outside of his trencoat for an easier draw.

He had put on his goggles after waking up, but now he pushed them back to his forehead as his eyes scanned the distant figures fighting at the end of the long thoroughfare he was running. Wolf had been awakened first because of his keen nose, but his muzzle and fur had faded away as the more veteran warrior personalities came to the fore of their mind.

He had been concentrating too much on the fight in the distance, however, and was taken completely off guard when a metal arrow shot from an alley as he passed and preforated his leather trenchcoat, narrowly missing a rib and sinking into his soft organs. The man gave out a weak gasp and fell, rolling to a stop beside a small gutter beside an abandoned flower shop.

A soldier swathed in heavy cloth and tarnished armor shouldered a wide wooden crossbow and drew a short, heavy sword as he stepped out of his concealed postion. The soldier made a barked an order in a tongue none of them were familiar with, his sword poised and ready to deliver a fatal blow to the fallen man.

The foreign soldier yelled the order again, placing the tip of his sword under the man's chin and lifting up his head. He cried out in surprise as saw the glowing red eyes and the lips that twisted around rapidly growing teeth, twisting into an appalling grin. "hElLo, MoRtaL."

A piercing shriek cut through the noise of the battle that continued at the end of the avenue, but none had time to consider what it may have been.

[Jack]

(Onizuka)
An armored party of soldiers advanced carefully through the streets, peering through the smoky haze with crossbows and swords ready. Overturned furniture and an occasional body littered the street, potential hiding places where the enemy could ambush them at any moment. The Captain was gripping his crossbow tightly and flinched when one of his soldiers loudly swore. The captain hissed at him and batted his shoulder, but the soldier didn't notice, as his attention was riveted to the wall of a flower shop several dozen feet away. The Captain followed his gaze and gave out a small cry.

It had once been a soldier, undoubtedly part of the first wave to attack the city. He had been pressed into the wall with such force that his spine had snapped and he protruded from the hole in the wall, neatly folded in half. The dead soldier stared blankly past his own legs at the ground.

"Bachat!" the Captain held his crossbow at ready, some of his pale faced soldiers stepping a little faster down the street. A burning cart sent billowing smoke between the buildings of the avenue, narrowing their visibility of the street ahead. The stepped cautiously through the smoke, peering through the haze to try to see the rest of the street.

A sudden gust cleared the smoke of the road, allowing them a full vista of what had become of the first wave here. Blood was spilled and even sprayed everywhere, limbs that had been torn from bodies lay scattered across the street amid bloodied weapons. Metal arrows studded every wall and even the ground in many places.

"Chuh-Chai!" The captain yelled as his men fled back down the avenue. He grimaced at the carnage and then followed them in retreat, shouldering his crossbow.

Sitting atop a bloody pile of what may have been three or possibly four bodies was a fourteen year old boy, with dazed eyes and a sick looking face. Xero's six swords were bundled together and sat in Ink's lap. The wraps were wet with blood. Why he had been the one left in control of their body after slaughtering the soldiers, he didn't know. He did know that his head was maddeningly quiet, and he felt like throwing up. Again.

Tears matted with the smoke grease from the fires,and blood that had sprayed over his young face. Ink hunched over the bundle of swords and sobbed. I...I did this? Distantly he knew that he had not, that it had been the insanely bloodthirsty Xero.. He remembered the other minds jumping in to restrain the demon, lest he continue on and kill everything in the city. It had been a shock to him, when all the other minds fell silent and left him alone in a street full of the fresh dead and smoke of battle. I..I can't do this..I can't kill..not even..not even my brother..I can't..

The boy cried to himself, alone with his fallen victims.

[Jack]

(Onizuka)
Onizuka now wandered, traversing the empty city, looking for survivors- enemies- anybody, he hadn't seen a living soul since the soldiers fled from him yesterday. They had fallen asleep as the troubled Ink and woken the next day as Onizuka, who had cleaned the swords and washed as best he could. An arrow shaft had been lodged in their side that Ink had neglected to remove, which Onizuka now tenderly did, tying bandages in place and putting his trenchcoat back on. He wondered if Wolf would be able to sniff out survivors, but the furry persona simply wouldn't come out. Wolf's senses were simply too keen to be used in a city that reeked of charred buildings, ash, and blood.

Where is everybody? Onizuka thought, Are they all dead? If not for his fickle personalities he would have continued on into the battle he had heard to the east, but as it was he had only helped fight one group of the invaders.

Coward, Nom Anor muttered, although he had been as unabled to restrain Xero's bloodlust and Ink's weak stomach for it as well.

"Hey," A voice called out from an alleyway on their left. Onizuka spun and drew one of the six swords, scars lining over his face and an eye deadening as he began to shift into Nom Anor. The man that stepped out was clearly a soldier, but his uniform was cut differently, and he was old, with a graying mustache and wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. One of his arms was in a sling made of what was probably a torn jacket. "Wait, wait! The enemy is gone, they've been repelled from the city," The man looked tired and worn of battle. "I..I saw what you did. I'm an officer of the Queen's royal army, and I must ask you for an audience with the queen."

It's a trap, a cowardly infidel trap, kill him now, Nom Anor demanded, but he had already shifted back to Onizuka. "Can you tell me what's going on? Who were they that were attacking the city and why?" He carefully set the sword back in with its brothers and tied the sash closed again. "You will..." The man trailed off and looked down. "It's better if you just come and see for yourself."

Onizuka followed the man, ignoring Nom Anor's protests, although keeping a hand near his wrap of swords. The fires had died out across most of the city, leaving black leaning collumns of smoke to drift across the sky. In places the street was hewn with the aftermath of battle, in other places just vacant and empty as if nothing had ever happened. Onizuka's entire side was numb, it felt like the arrow had torn some tissue deep in his gut, and every step was a blinding burst of pain that made his vision swarm and his head light.

The buildings abruptly ended, and the land dropped off several feet later into a sharp downward plunge. The road continued on as a bridge, stretching on picturesque to a sight that awed even Nom Anor into silence. A palace hung over the gap, suspended somehow in midair, connected to the land only by the several thin bridges like the one on which he now walked. The palace was stunningly beautifull, pure and shining ivory towers and glimmering fragile spires that rose towards the clouds.

The palace was directly in the center of the large crater, which was surrounded on all sides with the buildings of the city, which had been built as closely to the edges as they dared.

"What, a moat wasn't enough?" Onizuka turned and grinnned at the officer, who himself couldn't take eyes off the breathtaking palace. As they grew closer it was clear to him why the city was deserted, for hundreds of people were camped on the narrow band of land that surrounded the castle's outer walls. They all fled here as soon as the fighting broke out..Is this where they wanted to die? Or is there something more here..The people sat in the carts they had pulled and were shaded by the tents they had erected, all cramped in together, with not a visible speck of land, save for the several feet of leeway they gave the edge of the chasm.

An incredibly arched gate stood open where the bridge met the palace. Here the people bowed low and humbly, not with fear or envy but simple respect, as Onizuka and the officer stepped up to the palace. These people must have a good ruler here, Onizuka thought. Nom Anor couldn't comprehend it. The officer stopped in the gateway, but gestured for Onizuka to continue on inside. Onizuka nodded his thanks and took off his goggles as he entered. Nom Anor was immediately suspicious. It's a trap! They'll kill us! We should strike first..Onizuka sighed to himself, wishing a different personality had been awake with him at the moment.

The palace's antechamber was an enormous open court of gently sloping white arches that stretched forever overhead, between which tall crystalline windows poured sunlight across the tiled floor. A low polished table sat at the far side of the room, where three distant figures waited for him.

The first he easily recognized as the girl from the bar, although she had a wry look to her eyes and a bandage over her right arm. She was darkly dressed, a great contrast to everything else in the room, and appeared to have fully outfitted for battle. A bandolier of leather held both a quiver and a sword sheath across her back, and her hands were gripping something in her pockets, although he couldn't see what.

His breath haulted and his vision swam again as he saw the face of the second figure. It was a face he'd seen before, a face he'd loved and cherished, a person he'd gone into Hell to avenge. Sail.. Nom Anor's indignant snort broke Onizuka of his reverie. It's not her, this is an entirely different dimension..This must be the Sail of this universe..As he saw her now he could spot some differences, her outlandish garb and a broadsword sheathed on her back. She's still so beautifull, though...

The third person was another soldier, like the one who had brought him to the palace, although considerably thicker around the gut. He also looked old, tired, a veteran of more battles he cared to think about. He had a stern set about his face. Kyi shifted to her other foot. "We meet again, Wolf. Or whoever you are." Onizuka nodded towards her. The girl who looked so much like Sail bowed slightly. "I'm Serena Eikichi, it's nice to meet you." Onizuka bowed back and decided against trying to offer one of his names. Who knows who I'll be the next time we speak?

"You were brought here," the officer said softly, "For an audience with the Queen. However, this isn't possible, as several months ago she fell into a dehabilitating illness. She's unable to wake, let alone rise and counter threats against the Black Moon Kingdom." Shock was readily apparent on Serena and Kyi's faces, but Onizuka was new to the city and had, in fact, only just recently learned there was a Queen. Ah, Nom Anor thought, understanding. What better time to attack a nation then when the leader is unable to rise against you?

"Will she be alright?" Serena asked. The old soldier shook his head. "If things continue as they are, the Queen Laura Deloessian will die soon. Although in the absence of leadership we soldiers did our best to repel the invasion..but the truth is you three warriors, in different parts of the city, did more then our small army could do. We need you now. The Queen...needs you now."

Kyi flipped a small knife out and spun it on her hand. "What can we do?"

The officer sighed. "On the other side of this world, where blood is foul and shadows run deep, there is something in the black palace of the Light Moon Kingdom that may cure the Queen. I'm asking you, the entire city is asking you, to journey there and try to find it."

Onizuka's eyes flickered colors. "What about the city? What will happen to it if it is attacked while we are away?"

A sad look came across the soldier's face again. "There's nothing else that we can do- as soon as you've left, we'll destroy the bridges into the palace." A personality woke up so quickly Onizuka could not react quickly enough to stop it. "Wolf will find it, whatever it is, and bring it to the Queen." Nom Anor laughed coldly. Even if we were to do this, he just said there will be no way back into the palace, you simpleton.

It was Serena who asked it out loud. "How will we bring it back to the Queen if we can't get into the palace?" the officer turned away. "There are rumors of the powers of this talisman..you will find your way back into the palace. I can say nothing more here, it is forbidden. Can you take this quest?"

Kyi and Serena both agreed. Onizuka turned from the man and began to walk out, beginning the quest already. "Hey!" Serena called, running after him. "Wait for us!" Kyi, by some trick of supernatural speed, was already ahead of him by several paces and grinning. "You sure you're up for this, Wolf?"

Onizuka nodded but slid his hand inside his trenchcoat. Warm, wet blood was seeping steadily through the bandage onto his fingers. He carefully wiped his hand clean on his shirt before taking it out of his trenchcoat. "I'm ready. Let's go." Kyi grinned again and Serena stepped out into the crowd waiting outside, who all broke into cheering and applause. Onizuka turned to Kyi.

"You fought the soldiers in the city? Tell me about it, I'm afraid I don't remember much about my battle.."

[Jack]

(Kyi\\Finch)
Still grinning, Kyi slid her hands deep into her pockets, "Well," She began, not turning to face Onizuka, "I don't know how it went with you, but for me, it was much of a blur. Swiping and sliding, jumping and twisting everywhere. Blood, sweat, hurtling cries. You've been in battles before, they're hard to tell, really." Yawning, Kyi slid her left hand out of her warm, comforting pockets, and placed it on her right arm, rubbing it gently. "They're not as good as I thought they would be though. Not speedy enough, so if they were to come back with more recruits, we'd still win. Hopefully, next time we wouldn't lose so many villagers though."

She slid her hand off her arm and back into her pocket, sighing. Her eyes stared off into the streets before the three, becoming glassy almost as her thoughts drifted back into a small memory.

"No.. We cannot. Kyi, quickly, leave!"

"I will not leave you!" Kyi's hands tightened in her pockets as the images began to form. Sliding across the mud on her feet, sword in her hands, Kyi glared at the man ahead of her. The man half-laughing and grinning sickly charged towards Kyi, ramming his shoulder into her gut, and sliding his sword across her arms.

"KYI!" Falling to the floor, she heard his voice thicken, screaming her name, as tears poured down his face. The other man, the one who had screamed, shook his head back and fourth slowly, "Kyi... No..."

Kyi cringed and curled up, as slowly she faded from the two men's vision..

"Kyi? Kyi?" Serena's voice slowly forced it's way into her mind, and she shook.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. What?"

Serena blinked, "Are you okay?" Kyi nodded, still staring ahead of her. They had passed a few blocks now. Turning, Kyi saw behind her that the palace was almost out of site.

"Mind if I take a small smoke?" Kyi asked, taking her hands out of her pockets.

"You smoke?" Onizuka asked, as Serena tilted her head in confusion.

Kyi shrugged, "Not really. It's my own kind of cig, I guess. It's got, let's see.." She rolled her head around, cracking her neck, and thought for a moment. "It's got that special paper regular cigs got, but inside there isn't tobacco. Naw, I don't want cancer or nothin'. So, I made my own, kind of. I like my cream, as you guys know, since I always get it at the bar in the Haven. Well, I found some cream dust, and I liked it, so I rolled it into the special paper, and my friend added some ingredient to it so it'll catch fire and smoke. Kinda weird, but it works for me."

Serena moved her head so it was facing forward again, and Onizuka smirked slightly. "Go on ahead, then," Onizuka answered.

"Kay, thanks," Kyi scratched the back of her neck, then knelt down. The two others continued walking for a moment, then turned, stopping, and waited.

She unzipped one of her many pockets, and pulled out a lighter and a piece of ductaped cardboard. She struggled, but finally got one of her fingers in the small box and took out one of the cream cigarrettes. Kyi rolled her finger across the top of the lighter and gazed at the flame that arose. She placed the firey substance at the top of the cigarrette, then shook the lighter to put the flame out. Sticking the cigarrette in her mouth and holding it with her lips, she tossed the cardboard box and lighter back into her pocket. She stood, taking out the cigarrette and letting out a puff of white-ish smoke.

Smiling, Kyi sniffed it as did Serena and Onizuka afterwards. "Smells like cream, huh?" They nodded, as Kyi smiled wider and slid the cigarrette back between her lips

[Jack]

(Onizuka)
The cloying scent of burning cream was overpowering to Wolf. He woozily stepped to the back of the odd little line of minds in their head. His nose clearing slightly as it desensitized, Onizuka pulled his goggles down over his eyes and turned to his traveling companions. He had to protect them now, they were the 'herd', as Wolf would say. Well, they both look like fighters at least, despite their apparent age..

"We'll need supplies for the journey...what say we meet back here tommorrow morning and leave then?" Onizuka felt his bandage seeping again.

[Jack]

(Kyi\\Finch)
Shutting one eye half-way for absolutely no reason, Kyi took out her cigarette again. "Perhaps? I've got everything I need. And whatever the hell you all need is probably too far anyhow." She slid the cigarette back between her lips as she exhaled a large puff of the off-white smoke.

There was a long pause and Kyi looked down, letting the two strands of her hair that weren't within her pony tail fall down by her cheeks. She spat out the cigarette, which was now three fourths burnt, and dug it into the poorly pathed ground with her shoe. As she looked up, she saw that Serena and Onizuka were standing quietly beside her. "All right then.. what are we doing?" She quirked and eyebrow at them each and paused, then added, "You guys can go get your stuff if you need to - quickly - and I can meet you in that alley over there." Lazily, she threw her arm up and pointed to an alley just behind her companions.