Courtyard (North)

[Misao]

Rachel froze immediately as she touched the card - her body remaining in this world, but her mind experiencing the horrors of... somewhere. Somewhere that was decidedly not here. Her lips curled in an expression of terror, and her eyes fell dead blank for a few moments.

What... what the hell is all of this? she cried out in her mind as the swirling chaos threatened to envelop her. Closing her eyes and wincing, she tried to block out all of the madness, steeling herself as best she could against the terror lashing out at her from every direction.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp wind blow past her. She slowly cracked her eyes open, and heaved a sigh of relief as she noticed that she was once more back to familiar surroundings.

"What... was that?" she asked, turning uneasily back to Graymalk and tossing the card down in front of him.  

[[Roxxan-Tasukimaru]]

"So, I take it you were that "one person?" she asked and gave off a bit more wider smile. "How lucky, that's such an awsome gift to have. Nice trick too!" she said, feelin that yuina was probably one of the few lucky people in the world. Her mind wondered a bit, thinking about her older brother that she hasnt seen in almost a three weeks now. I hope terry's alright... she thought, looking at her feet.  

[Stephen Pact]

Graymalk fell to the ground. It had only lasted a few seconds, but his ordeal had been exhausting. He looked up at Rachel.

"That" he said, indicating the card "is a provisional contract card. It's a magical item which represents my link to my previous master, Jill, and also a fairly potent magical item in its own right. As for what you just experienced, that, I'm afraid, was the unexpected side-effect of the open psychic link which is one of the special abilities the card allows between partners. Ordinarily a bystander like yourself wouldn't be able to access the link even holding the card, but Jill must have been psychically screaming for some relef from the horror she was experiencing, and her mind latched onto the first mind it had the means to contact. As for just where or, if you prefer, what the place you just experienced was, I'm afraid my research hasn't found it's true name. It's a nightmare dimension, but far worse than anything in the conventional world of dreams. My partner, Jill, was caught up in a spell a little over a year ago and ended up... there." Graymalk struggled to keep the emotion out of his voice at this point. "I've spent over a year trying to find a way to rescue her. She's held out longer than anyone could have imagined, but from what I saw today..." Graymalk couldn't bring himself to continue.  

[Misao]

Rachel nodded slowly, pushing her glasses up her nose. She folded her arms as she listened to Graymalk's explanation, wondering what exactly she'd managed to get herself involved in. She had no problem understanding what Graymalk was talking about, of course - she'd read enough fantasy books that an explanation like this seemed almost commonplace - she just hadn't been aware of the actual existence of this sort of thing until just now.

"So..." she started, speaking slowly, "...you're like a wizard's familiar, then, and this girl Jill messed up a spell and stranded herself in this terrible nightmare dimension." Frowning a little, she looked Graymalk in the eyes - Rachel was a smart girl, and she knew where this was likely to lead. "And I suppose you're looking for some help with all of this, aren't you?"  

[Stephen Pact]

Graymalk looked at the ground. True, he had planned upon recruiting Rachel, and had even seriously considered manipulating her into it, but to have her bring it up after experiencing that - Graymalk found himself experiencing a most un-cat-like shame.

"I..." he began, then "You've got me. I've spent over a year mastering magic, researching the problem, what have you, but the truth is I just can't do this alone. I'd planned to break it to you gently, maybe make a game of it or even make a partner of you myself, but after what you've just been through... well, even a cat has some scruples. I won't say I'm not impressed with you; any normal mind would have been blasted into a jibbering wreck by what you just experienced. I'd be honored to have you as a partner, but at this moment I'd be amazed if you don't hate me." at this he looked up at her. "I'm sorry Rachel. I really think you'd like Jill if you met her, but if you want nothing to do with this I'll try to find someone else. Thanks for picking up the card for me, in any case.  

[Amaya_Sasumi]

"Yes I am." Yuina smiled faintly. "I used to think of myself as different because of this crystal, but I had a strange dream one night as I slept in my tent. It said the power to control this crystal is a gift of some sort. It was weird. Oh, and for the trick, I guess anyone would learn cool things after living on a mountain for eight years." She said, not telling how she lived entirely.  

[Misao]

Rachel remained silent for what seemed like a very long time. True, what she had just experienced was horrifying beyond her wildest nightmares, but part of her had always secretly wanted to become involved in some grand magical adventure like this. It's not as if she hadn't faced danger before - despite only having been a member of her parents' superhero team for a short time, she'd gone on several dangerous missions, and her powers were quite well-developed even in spite of her never using them that often.

"I..." she started before folding her arms again and thinking for a few moments more. "...Can you tell me more first? I can't say I'm exactly enthusiastic about this after what just happened, but I'm not going to turn you down outright, either." Her expression was somewhat guarded, but still with an air of curiosity about the whole thing.  

[Stephen Pact]

She was actually considering it? Amazing! Maybe those augeries were worth something after all!

"You want to hear more? Alright, but first Adeat." at this, the card flashed and was replaced by a black cat collar with a tiny silver bell in the center. "Would you mind putting this on? These things are so hard to manipulate with paws, you've no idea."  

[Misao]

Rachel blinked as the cat collar flashed into existence. She waited for Graymalk's signal (leaving nothing to chance concerning picking things up at this point) before picking the collar up and fastening it gently around the cat's neck.

"There you go," she said plainly, sitting on her heels and waiting for Graymalk to do whatever it was he was going to do.

This is so weird, she thought to herself.  

[The Action Hank]

Sora entered the nothern courtyard, as he began to immediately soak in all the surroundings; the trees, the sky, and the student populous around him. He noticed the girl leashing her cat, smiling softly as he walked over to a tree. He stood under it, not saying a word. It would of been rude to interrupt their conversation.  

[Sexy Suki]

Suki walked up to the Yui and looked at the stone. "It's very precious" She nodded and listened to her story. "Everyone is different that why everyone is unique in their own way i have like 5 totally different sisters." She laughed and widen her eyes. "Eight years wow...thats not all is it?" She could sense there were more. Suki uncurled her tail and poked Shadow at the ribs. "I know you want to play" She giggled again and looked at Roxxan thinking about the wings. "They're hidden in her back"

-Edit-  

[Stephen Pact]

"Thank you." Said Graymalk. "Now, where to begin? It's a rather long story, but I'll just give you the highlights."

At this, Graymalk pointedly shook his head, causing the bell on his collar to ring with a high, singing tone. The gloom and darkness of the shadows seemed to deepen, and a slight chill seemed to come to the air around them even as the sun shined on not far away. From the earth, phantasm-like figures emerged, floating like whispy vapor images of people. When they had arrived, Graymalk's story began, the spirits' forms bringing the tale to ghostly life before his audience of one.

Graymalk began with his own tale, growing up on the streets of Philidelphia. He mostly glossed over this period of his life, only pausing to note the arrival of a single, small girl, frail and boney, in his alley. The girl was clearly starving, yet she shared the scrap of bread she had with the kitten she found there. Graymalk's body may have been young at the time, but his soul was old, and he recognized virtue and power in this girl.

The story continued, meandering through some events, flashing forward through others, as the two grew up together. Jill was a natural for magic, and it was only a matter of time before a wielder of it - guided by the alley-cat network tipped off by Graymalk - came for her. By this point Jill and Graymalk were inseperable, and the crone willingly accepted him too.

Things went well for Jill and Graymalk during that time, but it didn't last. The crone was old, and frail, and before long she died. She left behind only her library of magical tomes, and only Jill knew of those. She continued her studies on her own.

Eventually, Jill felt herself summoned to the Great Game. Graymalk didn't elaborate much upon the game itself, explaining that this was against the rules, but explained that there were Openers and Closers and assorted rituals. Jill had never been a part of the Game before, nor had Graymalk, but her talent and power was considerable.

Too considerable, as it turned out.

One of the other Players was breaking the rules. Two others had died under mysterious circumstances, and Jill wasn't sure which side they had been on. She stayed on her guard, but no one could be on guard all the time.

On the night of the ritual, she was betrayed. The portal stood half-open, a time when the circle of players was inviolate. Suddenly, a shot rang out. Although protected by magic, Jill ducked, which proved to be the wrong thing to do. It put her off-balance, making it easy for a player next to her to push her into the portal. She vanished, madness erupted, and Graymalk awoke half-dead two days later.

"Which brings me" Graymalk finished "to today. I think I'm finally on the verge of rescuing Jill, but I can't be sure. I'll need help: the gathering of various magical items, and most of all an extra pair of hands, as I am sadly lacking in that area. There's some risk, I won't lie to you, but it's the only way. I won't abandon Jill. I can't. I hope you'll help me."  

[Misao]

Rachel nodded solemnly. After hearing a story like that, she couldn't exactly turn and walk away from all of this. Smiling cautiously, she leaned down to pat Graymalk comfortingly on the head.

"...I'm still not sure what I'm getting myself into, but I can't just tell you no," she said, lightly stroking Graymalk's fur. "I'll do what I can. I can't promise how useful I'll be, but a spare pair of hands is something I can definitely handle."

She smirked a little at this. If only he knew how many spare pairs I have to offer.  

[[Roxxan-Tasukimaru]]

"smart, you're correct." she said to suki and turned to Yuina again. "eight years huh? That is a pretty long time, were you lonely at all? I know I would be... mountains are pretty vacant accept for the animals and trees, aren't they?" she asked, hoping it wouldnt bother her. "But its alot better than living on the streets of the city, people are so mean there..." she added, thinking back about a few years ago when her and her brother were still living on the streets. Roxxan was alittle bored so She raised her hand infront of her face, watching as a small ball of fire formed She played with the ball a bit, raising her other hand and watching as it floated to one hand to the other. She smiled and turned to shadow, "Hey, I've got better control over it now!" she said, closing her hand letting the ball of fire dissapear and turn into a stream of smoke.  

[Sexy Suki]

Suki circled around Roxxan and smiled stopping to look at her back. "Well of course half-angel ....but i feel badd that yours are hidden behind they can leave awful marks on you when they come out." She remembered that what happened to young Yumi when she was young. She used to cry every night so she decided to hide them forever. Suki's ears twitched. "yeah the city can be a harsh...thats why i was glad to have my sisters but then we got seperated hear in Ria..." Suki walked over to her face and looked at her crystal.