~Time Stranger Kyoko RPG~

[akeikas]

Hayato shifted on his feet, wondering on what to say next. Clearing his throat, he tried to act formal, to lessen the tension building up in his mind. "Princess Alcina," he formally said, bowing a little in respect. "You are more than welcome to stay as long as you need; the Wolf Kizoku welcomes you, I welcome you." He paused, his mind racing to figure out what to say next. However, when Hayato finally opened his mouth to say the next few lines, he froze as he heard a soft chuckling, echoing through the forest.

"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but...I must," the voice said.

Instinctively Hayato leaped and stood between Alcina and the voice, his daggers out, his teeth bared into a snarl. "Stay back, Alcina," he growled, shifting into a fighting stance.

"Oh, I don't know if you want to do that, Hayato..." Akira had come out of the shadows of the trees, and in one of her arms, was a girl in a simple dress, gagged, tied. "I have your precious Natsu here..."

The she-wolf looked up with fear in her eyes, and Hayato let out another growl when he smelled blood off of her, Natsu's blood. "What have you done to her, Akira!" he snarled, but he did not move. He didn't know what to do. He knew, that if he moved, Alcina was in trouble. But if he didn't fight, Natsu was in danger.

What was he to do?  

[MemoryDragon]

So that was that, huh? He was just going to act formal now, and forget anything had happened. She never hated anyone more than she did him at that moment. It was a rejection as clear as day.

Alcina sensed a mazoku presence before she heard Akira's voice, and she whirled back around to see Natsu tied and gagged at the mazoku's mercy.

Hayato moved to protect her and anger rose up in her cheeks. The princess decided to make his choice for him. The Chronos Staff grew to it's full length and she twirled it around a few times before falling into a fighting stance, this time in front of Hayato. Alcina would not let him protect her. "That girl is not the one you want, Akira-san. I seem to recall that you had a quarel with me as well."  

[akeikas]

Hayato gaped at Alcina for a split second, calculating what had just happened. However, he sighed and stood next to her, both of his daggers out. "Fine, suit yourself," he muttered to her. It wouldn't be his fault if she had purposly stood in front of him! However...his eyes kept shiftint to Alcina, worried. "Watch her left hand...she's skilled in sword play, and she has a dagger hidden in her left sleeve all the time."

"Oh, yes," Akira said, looking at Alcina with a glint in her eyes. "I haven't finished with you yet, now have I?" She looked at Hayato now, her smirk widening. "Hayato...it seems, you have two choices: protect the princess, and run, leaving me with your fiancee. Or, Hayato you can fight me, leaving your princess unguarded."

Her eyes flashed at Alcina, then to her hostage in her arm. "Choices, Hayato..." she smirked, and with a whip like motion, threw Natsu into the air to the side. With her free arm, she threw a ball of fire at Natsu. "The choice, Hayato?" she asked, taunting him. The time seemed to slow. "Protect your fiancee, and you will leave the princess' side for me. Protect the princess, and you leave your fiancee to die in my fire."  

[Lessien Oronra]

MemoryDragon

"Well, Lessien Oronra, this isn't exactly a safe place to be at the moment." He avoided looking over at the body again. Bran was already sick to his stomach as it was... "I think all of the neko-zoku were destroyed, very recently too. Rather dangerous for a bath, don't you think?"

The mazoku continued staring at the moon, guilt entering into his golden eyes as he realized he had done nothing to stop it. Setting a few bombs as distractions had been one thing, but to kill everyone? Bran gulped down the bile rising in this throat as he told himself not to look towards the body again.

Lessien glanced at the body as well and felt disgust once more, though she didn't let it show.

"I gathered as much, " she said as she pulled on her clothes. Once she was fully dressed, she put the stone in her pocket and looked back at Bran with her piercing amethyst eyes.

"Though I would also think it to be dangerous for anyone to be wandering around on such a night. Wouldn't you agree, Bran?"  

[MemoryDragon]

To that, Bran felt a malicious smile play upon his face. His stomach was falling to even deeper depths, but he was still a mazoku. "I highly doubt the ones that did this would try and tangle with me. I'm... known to them in a way that would probably be very unpleasant should they go against me. You however..." Bran eyed the now fully clothed girl in front of him with that same malicious smile. "No matter how good a fighter you might be, you still wouldn't stand a chance again a Mazoku."

Completely forgetting she had time powers and could easily have stopped the fireball and had plenty of time to rescue Natsu, Alcina did the thing most instinctive to her.

The princess used the time Akira left for Hayato to save his fiancee in order to shift her weight and jump in the air. She caught Natsu in her arms and twisted her body so that her back took the fireball full on. With a cry of pain, she clutched tighter to the girl in her arms and gritted her teeth against further outbursts from her throat. Alcina landed directly on the other side of Akira, leaving the mazoku between her and Hayato.  

[Lessien Oronra]

Lessien's gave a low laugh when she heard this, and her eyes twinkled slightly with humor as she noticed his smile.

"They would have to find me first," she said, "And lets just say that I am very good at keeping to the shadows..."  

[akeikas]

"Alcina!" Hayato gasped when she had jumped. However, too late; hearing her cry of pain Hayato leaped to the two women's side, his eyes not leaving Akira, but his hands over the wound. "Can you stand?" he asked sharply, as he ripped the knots of rope that was tieing Natsu. He was breathing hard, his heart pounding. "Alcina, can you stand?!"

"Hayato-sama," Natsu gasped, her eyes watering, but she kept it back. "I'm so sorry...I got caught..." However, she stopped, seeing how Hayato was protectively hovering over Alcina. She bit back her lips, holding back her emotions. "Hayato-sama, instructions?" she asked softly. She looked at Alcina, and the wound. She had protected her...why?

Akira raised her eyebrows in amusement when the princess had taken the blow, chuckling softly to herself. "Well, that was different," she said. She looked at Hayato, meeting his glare. "What now, Hayato?" she asked, pulling out her sword.

"Natsu," Hayato growled, getting to his feet, daggers out. "Call backup, and take Alcina back with you to the den. Tend to her wounds, and protect her!"  

[MemoryDragon]

"So are the mazoku." He had to wonder what sort of person this girl was. Not a normal human, obviously. Probably a kizoku, but he wasn't entirely certain what kind. "What are you doing our here anyway?"

That. Was. It. Alcina stood up, anger fueling her body. She turned, her bloody and burned bare back now facing Natsu. "Just get out of here. I'll keep that over-grown flee bag from doing anything stupid, even if I have to knock him out myself," she whispered to Natsu.

Her back screaming in pain, she didn't waste a second before attacking Akira head on, bring the Chronos Staff down towards the mazoku's head. "I don't need to be protected!"  

[Lessien Oronra]

Lessien smiled a very sly smile.

"Well, I haven't been found by them as of yet," she said, "but then again, I haven't done much worth noticing. I'm a wanderer, and I go wherever I please."  

[akeikas]

Hayato gaped at her, but he shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. Alcina, was after all Alcina. "Natsu, the backup!" he yelled, and leaped forward, intending on assisting Alcina or covering her if needed.

A smile...on Hayato? Natsu however did not waste any more time, she faced the sky, and let out a loud howl.

"Well," Akira smiled. "Come, Alcina. Fight me, and meet your death!" She raised her hand, her sword glinting against the sunlight.

((well if anyone wants to jump in, that howl should have been heard by the others... biggrin ))  

[MemoryDragon]

((I think this will be my last post for the night... I'll post for Bran tomorrow. Fight scene comes first, lol.))

The princess wasted no words of confirmation. Instead, Alcina's staff met Akira's sword with a loud clash. The princess put all her weight behind the blow, still trying to push down to Akira's head. However, she prepared for a quick shift back if that didn't work, mentaly preparing for the battle a head. She had to be faster than Akira for this to work, and she would be, no matter what.  

[akeikas]

"Is that all, princess?" Akira smirked and pushed her sword and leaped away once the weight was off of her. "Come on, Princess...you have got to be joking." She laughed maniacally, running her long fingers through her hair.

Hayato suddenly spun and leaped to the side, jabbing his dagger at Akira, snarling. However, as he had thought, she had just simply leaped away gracefully, laughing still. "Akira!" he growled, getting ready to jab at her again.

Akira tossed her head to the side, her green hair flowing in the wind. "Hayato, your in my way," she simply said. "I guess breaking one of your arm wasn't enough...and someone had healed it..." she studied Hayato as she spoke. "Well then...I'll just have to break both arms, and put my pwn magic to stop it from healing!" she laughed and leaped down, throwing herself at Hayato

He was prepared, but she was a mazoku...he was not. Hayato had successfully leaped back in time to avoid the first blow, but Akira was already on her next attack while he was trying to regain balance. He snarled in anger and pain, when his just healed arm screamed at him. He staggered, trying to focus, and just when his blurred visionw as focusing again, she was on the attack once more.

Natsu had leaped at Akira when she had heard Hayato's cry, anger fueling her. "No!" she yelled, and with her hands equipped with wolf claws, she lashed at Akira who was just about to break his other arm. However, reaching in time, Akira was not able to break the other, but both of Hayato's arms limped lifelessly at his sides. Once Akira had leaped away into a safe distance, Natsu took a step back so that she stood next to Hayato. "Hayato-sama..." she whispered, worried.

((ok that takes hayato out. now alcina vs akira! woohoo! haha))  

[MemoryDragon]

Alcina was furious. She began a flurry of attacks, cutting at Akira's shoulders.

Bran thought of how nice that would be, to just wander the world and not care about anything else. But Akira... He would have liked Akira to come with him.

The mazoku became so deep in thought that he forgot of Lessien's existance. To just follow the wind... But the wind always lead him back again.  

[akeikas]

Akira laughed as she effortlessly spun away from Alcina’s attacks, her green hair whipping in the air. “My dear Hayato, you may watch from there…” she turned her head to Natsu, her eyes narrowing. “And you, she-wolf…You will be next.”

Natsu bit her lower lip, trying to stay focused. She had been training for so long to fight her, to defeat her! However, no matter how much she tried, Natsu could not move an inch. Was she that weak? To only be able to look while everyone else fought?

Hayato’s vision was blurring from the pain, and he staggered to stay up. “Akira…no…” he muttered, swaying on his feet. However, he knew that if he joined in the fray, he would just be in Alcina’s way. He cursed, trying to forget his pain on his arms. He was so weak, and he knew it.

((yes, Akira’s looking away from Alcina. Do whatever you want, Mem haha. And Natsu can just realize how weak she is with this event razz ))  

[MemoryDragon]

Alcina saw Akira's moment of distraction and took full advantage of it. She shoved the chronos staff into Akira's stomach, hoping to knock the breath out of the mazoku and quickly follow up the that attack with another to her head.