The Chosen

Vera frowned and pouted up at Miles, giving him her the best puppy dog look she could muster. He really wasn't half bad, or maybe Vera just thought that because he subliminally complimented her cooking. Then again, she could force a compliment out of a cactus so it wasn't that big of a deal. Still, it didn't stop him from earning a couple brownie points.

She reached for his food with her fork again and said, "Awww, c'mon Miles! How else am I gonna support my big ole titties if my back isn't strong?" She looked completely serious. Little did he know, she used just a bit of air magic constantly to help support them so her back wasn't completely screwed up all the time. It wasn't like she used the air as a pushup bra, just a slight change in the current of the wind to take some weight off. It was invisible to the naked eye and something Vera did without thinking.

"Noooope." He poked her between the eyes playfully and ate the last of his chicken before she could make another attempt to steal it. "Guess you'll just have to suffer. But really, thanks for making that."

[i]I never thought I'm that grumpy.[\i]

"You know, I should probably ask old man Hannibal if I can borrow a cane. I don't wanna scratch the floor with my blade. Getting back's gonna be a pain in the ass."

Vera let out a squawk of disappointment as the chicken went from his plate to his mouth and disappeared. She clutched at her chest at one hand and thrust out her other, keeping her arm ramrod straight. She made it look like she was having a heart attack, the way her face was dramatically contorted in pain.

"AH! My back!" She said, although she was still clutching at her chest so it didn't make much sense, "It's been thrown out! Everything's going black!" She shut her eyes and waved her hands around, "I'm going to..." She said, and then face planted into the table (after moving her plate aside). Weakly, she whispered and lifted up her head to look at Miles, "Tell... tell the grocerer... his fruits suck and they're always squishy." She then let out a dramatic huff of hair and allowed her shoulders to go lack, her face falling back onto the table.

Muffled, she said again, "If I wasn't dead, I'd fly you back to your room."

If you couldn't laugh at that, there was no way you had a sense of humor for anything. No one ever said her over dramatics were ALWAYS annoying.

"'Tell the grocerer his fruits suck and they're always squishy?' Ah, the famous last words. And if you were dead, you wouldn't be talking." As an after thought, more to amuse her, he added, "Unless you're a zombie."

Too slow for his liking, he stood from his chair, wincing. "God dammit. I'll be in my freaking room until this stupid bone heals. I won't be able to train or anything! I didn't know a rib could be so much trouble! Gah, next time we leave and you see that brunette, don't let him hit you."

~

Raize looked at Celstine. "Mm...Well, since you don't even know what your power is yet, how about you come with my group? Since you have the same power as I do, I think it'd be better if you stayed with me, too, Savir," he added. "David, for now you need to rest, but if the rest of you want, we can start training you now. That ok, or you wanna wait? And Savir, about the contract. I don't know all about it, like I said before, but you might not have to make one. It's your choice, after all."

He sighed. "And if I don't make that contract? Everyone else gets stuck protecting me. So I either get stuck as the weak link or put myself at someone's mercy."

He stood and shook his head. "Nevermind. Show me how to fend off those guys, if you please."

Link sighed, sipping his drink. He had sat silently through all this explaining, actually having a few feint recollections, and even a few strange urges to go yell at a few litterers outside. He set his class down, wondering when his food would come and if he would get a chance to flirt with Suki and Sasha, and maybe have the guts to ask both or at least one of them out. He scratched at the tattoo of the lion on his body, glancing at the other two, before saying, "is it necessary for me to use a weapon? And why a blade? I've always been great with a bow."

"Doesn't have to be a sword; whatever you prefer is fine." Raize stood. "Sky, stay here with the rest of them. Make sure they're safe. You guys," he looked at his group. "Can come with me. Savir, I'm going to start with you first. I'll train one-on-one, so the rest of you listen to what I tell your friends. It'll come on handy when I get a turn with you. When I feel you're getting the hang of it, all of you will take me on as a team. Got it? I know a empty lot we can go, so follow me."

Link grunted, sitting where he was and starting to feel a little confused about who's group he was in. He smiled to himself anyways, trying to catch a look at Savir's sisters from the kitchen or behind the counter, turning a little red behind his water.

Samuel smirked.
"Please do. If he kicks your butt again ill treasure that memory forever."

"Maybe you didn't hear the part about chopping thier legs off in thier sleep...." Deron mentioned as he began walking the right direction, expecting Samuel to follow. "If you're asleep and legless, you can't fight. If you can't fight, you can't kick anyone's butt either. Which I would assume would be even more difficult if they didn't have legs!"

Without even noticing whatever Samuel was doing, he continued ranting. "You should've been there to see it for yourself! The brat was puking all over the place and I was going to literally lead him by the hand to the others! I had him, damnit! He was right there! I could've broken him until he couldn't fight- I SHOULD'VE broken his skull open on the spot! He just barely got enough energy to get away again. If only I didn't stop to get my head bandaged.... I should've been more aggressive. More aware! Shown no mercy at all! Next time, I won't be as forgiving."

Deron gave a quick look back twords Samuel. "Or you could've stepped in. You could have at any time instead of doing nothing.... You won't leave me to fight every one of them alone, right?"

Samuel thought for a moment.
"I did. But for some reason, whenever i was about to step in, he did something, i dont know what, but he walked away without either of us noticing. I only realised that myself because i probed my memories a lot."


_____


David got up.
"Nah, i feel a lot better now. Lets get to this training thing!" he said, trying to look perky.

"Huhh," Deron mumbled, "I never honestly thought probing your memories that often could ever do anything useful. But I guess there's a first time for everything...." He returned to facing forward, twords the enemy location! "Well enough chatter for now, we've got to conserve energy to get there quickly, right? Don't want to be all exhausted and tired out when we make our move, do we?"

"No!" The scythe-master randomly yelled to himself, "of COURSE we don't want that! Try to keep up, Samuel! One of them is definately more powerful than I ever thought they would be, but I've gone off and completely forgotten which one I've pointed out as the powerful one. I guess I'll remember when we get there. Refresh my memory, and all."

When Raize stopped, they were at a closed off lot, just north of the diner. He beckoned for Savir to come forward, across from him.

"Alright, sorry for the wait. But since I stopped by my place and brought these," now he motioned to a display of weapons set on the ground, "you can pick whatever you like. I won't be using my blade myself--just my hands." He slid on a pair of gloves, metal plates at the palm and fingers, and got into a relaxed stance. "Now all of you, pay attention. Savir, I was you to try and land a hit on me. The only thing I'll be doing is deflecting your attempts, or disarming you if I see the chance. If I like enough time has passed, I'll disarm you once and for all and get the next person to come. I don't care about getting cut, just as long as it isn't life-threatening."

~

Remaining with Cyrus, Vivien, Celestine and Link, Skyla looked at Link. "So, what's your power?" she asked him. "I gotta know so I can figure out what to do with you guys. Raize is pretty organized when it comes to training, and if I don't think of something, he'll complain about it later. I know V and Cyrus', so I'm hoping I can do something with all three of you."

Link motioned to the ear and tail that wrapped around him as if they were everyday things, "if my ears didn't make it apparent, I'm a shape shifter. A tiger, and," he showed the other two tattoos on he possessed, the bounding hair and the crouching fox, "I do believe the hare and fox are my other two forms. If anything is apparent by my transformation, I also get damn cute animal features, wouldn't you agree?"

He finished the last question with a wide grin.

Skyla laughed. "I guess so. And hmm....Well, first I think I'm going to work on your dodging skills, since the three of you have an interesting group of powers. But for now, let's just chill here. I don't wanna do too much while Raize is training the others--might attract attention. Specially with your ears." She was glad the sisters had closed up shop, letting only the small group in. She looked over when Vivien sighed.

"Something wrong?"

"I just want some fresh air. All of this is still setting in...I'll just be right out back, I promise. If I need anything, I'll shout." That said, she stood and left without another word. The brick was cool against her back and she sighed again, fingering the necklace Raize had given her. So it was her mother's, huh?

Sadness filled her when she looked into the crystal. She was quick to shake it off. Maybe not remembering them was actually helping her at this point. But when the memories did start to come back, she was afraid of what they'd be. Good or bad? Happy or sad? She didn't know, but she was thankful for the emptiness.

~

Skyla looked back to Link and David. "Well, at any rate, I'm happy everyone got out of that ok. I'm just g;ad those guys didn't expect you to put up much of a fight. Dave definetly showed he wasn't afraid to." She laughed. "But we'll start training soon, promise. I just wanna finish eating--I'm starved."

Link snorted, running his finger over the jackrabbit on his wrist. He forced energy into it, and slipped into the form, flopping off the bench he had been sitting in to follow Vivien outside. He sniffed and hopped his way over to her, trying to look like any regular hare, even if it wasn't naturally suited for the current environment. He sniffed at her feet, before looking up at her with big rabbit eyes.

Cyrus leaned back on the counter/table (where ever they were sitting). He directed some energy from his mark to his right index finger. Red and orange energy could be seen flowing this his chest and arm as he did so. He made a small flame that hovered a little over his fingertip. He examined it with fascination.

"I wonder if I can change the color of the fire," he said to himself, "That would be so cool."

He picked up his cup of hot chocolate he order. Taking a sip, he found that it had cooled. Directing energy to his hand, he reheated it. He took another sip, feeling that satisfactory warmth.

'Better."

Skyla smirked. "Of course you can--just gotta practice. If you do, maybe you'll be able to do this."

She snapped and sapphire flames circled the air above her palm. They shifted from blue, to silver, to crimson, then finally a combination of all three. "It also depends on how hot you can make the fire. Red is the normal temperature, obviously. Blue is kind of an in-between, and the third color- which is kinda decided by the person, is the hottest. Mine turned out silver, so how knows. Try changing the color and see if you can do anything--seems like you'd be a natural at it, since you can summon it so easily."

~

Vivien looked down at Link, unaware it was the teen even though she knew it was out if place for an animal such as the rabbit to be around. She knelt down and scratched behind the bunny's ears, sighing. She almost wondered if it was someone's pet that had escaped.

"Where'd you come from, little guy?" she muttered.

"Well, then. You're certainly confident. Sasha made a point of telling me to always overestimate everyone I meet, though, so as far as I'm concerned, you can knock my head off with one punch. Considering what you said earlier," he hefted a pair of swords, each two and a half feet long with a hand and a half hilt, then discarded the heavier, "you probably could."

He smiled and took the same stance as he did facing Miles; back leg bent sharp at the knee, front foot far forward, sword held in his left hand with the hilt high and the blade slanting down. His free arm was loose, away from his body. With a "Tch!" he lunged forward, rolling his wrist t shift the sword using it's own weight and slash across Raize's right shoulder. Cracking The Lightning echoed in his thoughts, sounding like a name for the stance.

"Eh, I wouldn't call it confidant." The moment he picked a sword, Raize slid his foot back. Leaving a way for a side-step was rule number-one for him. Turned out to be a good choice. When Savir charged at him, he pivoted back, remaining in his own stance though more agile now that he saw how fast Savir was. "I'd just call it caution. So far, nice stance. Your holding the blade right and you're pretty quick...A natural. Might not have to do too much work with you. Fell free to throw in any tricks you want, kid. I'm up for anything as long as you show me you can give me something to work with."

David sat down, and began to watch the others, wondering if he could pick up any tips by watching.

_____

Samuel looked at Deron.
"I could refresh your memory if you like."

Link silently continued to look up at her, letting her scratch him behind the ears, sniffing at her feet a little, absently wondering if she had a carrot for him. He scratched his face under his paws once, hopping down an alleyway, hoping she would follow. He reached the fire escape, and turned into a fox, leaping onto a dumpster, then to the fire escape, trotting up the stairs and onto the roof. She better follow, with what he was revealing to her.

On the roof of the cafe, he leaped acrossed, a short jump for any regular sized person, onto a tall stack of containers, glancing at the ladder leading down, finally dropping down onto a low roof, walls raised around it to hide it from view. On top sat a couch, a few chairs, piles upon piles of books covered with small tarps, a table, and even more notebooks containing his boredom in class and creativity when trying to show off. He turned into his human form, smiling at his clothes, and scratching at his fox ears.

He sat on the couch, flipping through a few notebooks, and flipping on a radio, waiting for her to appear.

Vivien was not about to follow, considering she'd told Skyla she'd be outside the diner. But it couldn't hurt--after all, all the bad guys were gone. She jogged after the bunny, though spotted the fox ascending the building and paused.

However, figuring it was Link due to what he said about his powers, she climbed the ladder and stepped onto the roof, feeling a bit stupid for not figuring out it was him before. She made the jump, though was a bit hesitant at first, and walked over to him.

"Man, not cool. Cudda told me it was you..." she pouted. She sat down next to him, arms crossed. "...Why'd you come up here, anyway?"

He tossed her his notebook, picking up another, and glancing at the clouds, spotting a few oddly shaped ones. He shrugged, saying, "I like it, thought you might too. I've brought Savir up here, so, yeah. Maybe I just need a place to think about, I don't know, that I'm what appears to be a half animal freak."

He sighed, pointing up at the sky and saying, "is it just me, or does that one look like a rabbit?"

Now that he mentioned it, it was peaceful up there. That was something she wanted--to distract herself.

"...Kinda, yeah. Like the one you turned in to." She remained quiet for a second, still messing with the necklace. She didn't really want to bring up the whole power thing, but she couldn't help but think about it. She wanted to know what was going to happen to them.

"Crazy night, though. I'm kind of expecting just to wake up any second now, actually."