Tamers (Started/Accepting Via OOC)

[encapturer]

Daena blinked in disbelief as she witnessed the tension easing up. No longer were they strangers in a tournament. This felt more like a normal game, where those strangers instead just hang out and mess around. No one had really attacked, after all.

 

She had no idea what was going on anymore.

 

Even so, she did not put away her bow. While lowered, she could easily raise it to fire. Irenia never really lowered her guard at all, and the multiple green light strands around her showed that she was ready to let loose many spells once the time was right. As the fairy looked around for anyone acting odd, she finally found something out of place; a wyvern which had landed nearby.

 

Daena was more interested in what the Roc-using tamer was saying. Apparently, she had allied herself with *cheaters*, of all things. They were probably high level, if Max's claim was to be believed. Still, a Kraken of all things. Irenia soon pulled Daena's attention away from the ongoing conversation by flying around her head, the floating in the general direction of the wyvern she had spotted. Daena nodded at Irenia, recognizing her concern.

 

"What to do?" Irenia whispered to Daena, who was surveying the immediate area. There was no Tamer in the general area. She thought about asking Irenia to cast float on her so she could get an aerial view of the area, but with Irenia's current mastery of that spell... that wouldn't be a good idea. Daena instead turned to Max and Crystal who were still arguing.

 

"Do you know who that is?" She asked them, pointing towards the mystery wyvern. It seemed to stand stationary, just watching the group. It made Daena worried, as if someone was waiting to launch a sneak attack. Before that, she had to make sure it wasn't an ally of her benefactors, of course.

[Ultimate Assassin Ninjew]

Trago began to growl as well when the dragon began to growl. "Well I can say the same to you. Trago here, hates other people, much like I do. And if it is a fight you want well...it's a fight you shall get," he said plainly. Sven drew out his twin swords from his side sheathes and held them both in a reverse grip. Trago changed into the dragon, copying its lookes, but staying a pure white. "You can make the first move," he said with a devious smile. Then he looked at the cloaked man who was stating we shouldn't be fighting. "And why are you butting into all this, bub," Sven said with a hint of anger in his voice.

[Jake the Sage]

Looking over Max and Crystal gulped at the sight of the wyvern staring at them, it's eyes fixated on the group with almost no clear intention; making all the more dangerous if it was planning to attack. Shaking their heads Max and Crystal said they didn't own a wyvern, Tommy and Amy ready to defend their Tamers if need be, but hardly appeared to be a match for the mighty dragonic.

 

"Well I don't want m-," the cloak man began to say until the sound of beating wings caught his attention. He glanced over his shoudlers to spot the wyvern that everyone was worrying about, his hood flapping enough that it almost came off, honestly suprised that things could get more complicated. Sighing he turned around, not moving from his spot, and faced the Wyvern, "You can come out now girl . . . I know you're there already."

[The Warden]

Aaron took the oppertunity to walk off with Lancet. The kimono girl may and will notice their departure, but it didn't matter. They would be gone before she could alert all of them. Still, it did leave Aaron with an unusual imbalance in his opinion of her. 'The girl clearly has ADD or something along those lines, and yet SHE was the one to defeat the kraken. From what I saw that carbuncle was her partner. It must've been a powerful combination of abilities and tamer fighting to achieve victory. That, or they cheated somehow' he thought and considered.

[Andx]

Flamme snarled a bit at the cloaked man's call. He wasn't about to let him do anything to Evelyn. He backed up a bit as if to say he wasn't about to let it happen.

"Flamme, calm down." Evelyn said. She came out from behind his large back and was visible to the group.

"Evelyn, get back behind me. I-" Flamme said mentally to his partner only to be cut off.

"Stop worrying about it. I'll be fine. I'm not getting off I'm just letting them see me." Evelyn said. This conversation must have seemed very odd to the others in the area as only Evelyn's voice was audible. Flamme was speaking mentally so they could have no idea what he was saying to her.

 

"No, I don't like this. If that voice shook you up that bad who knows what they'll try to pull." Flamme said. Evelyn put her tome away for the moment as it seemed clear to her that she wouldn't be fighting.

"I appreciate the concern but I don't think anything's going to happen. They'd already be fighting if that was their intention." Evelyn said. Evelyn moved to sit higher on Flamme's neck to show the rest of the group she was there.

"I'm still taking off the moment anything happens." Flamme said to Evelyn, a bit angry.

"I know Flamme. Thanks for looking out for me." she said. Evelyn had mostly recomposed herself. Now she decided to speak to the man who'd addressed her.

"I'm showing you all we don't have any intentions to fight. Now what is it you want? And why have you all just been standing here?" she said addressing the cloaked man with the first question and mostly the cloaked man with the second. "Now tell me who contacted me earlier, I'm sure you know what I mean if you knew I was here. And know that Flamme and I will be out of here faster than you can think if you try anything." Evelyn said. Flamme rustled a bit showing his dissatisfaction with Evelyn addressing the group but Evelyn ignored it for the most part.

[DragonJLB]

Rift was getting annoyed with all these people gathering in one spot. " My name is Rift and this is my partner Iceis and No not know" then with a little pause, then said " Can he copy her ability as well." Then he turned to this new comer, a man in a cloak. " Do you want to know my attack stile." He said to the cloaked man. "Glacialis fog!" HE yelled. AS Iceis Let out the fog,

Rift raised his sword up and as his forum disappeared in their thick ,cold foe Rift said to the cloaked man, In Latin "Can vos servo vestri ego , ut vos operor non animadverto is to order." As his word echoed across the fogy field he went over to Iceis, and the two other their in the fog. He told them what he had said in Latin "Can you protect your self, when you do not see it coming." The he said to the others, " Attack where you can ...and try not to hit us." With that he hoped on to Iceis and disappeared back in to the fog.

[Naimo]

Having pretty much tagged along with everyone, Rose felt this was finally her time to try and make some friends, and survive through this tournament ... until she became a bishop, anyway. I must be there by now, it's been a whole year ....

 

"Well, if anyone's remotely interested, I'm Rose - or Meiqui, my Chinese name which co-incidently translates exactly to rose - and this is my partner Grunhelm. I'm a cleric, and as you can guess, I can't fight at all." Grunhelm gave a short nod as Rose mentioned his name. Now that Rose had introduced herself, she hoped she could finally do something useful in this tournament.

[Jake the Sage]

Aaron took the oppertunity to walk off a ways with Lancet, making sure the Kimono Girl didn't notice their departure until it was too late; they would be gone before she could alert all of them. Still, it did leave Aaron with an unusual opinion of her, "The girl is clearly a strange one . . . and yet she was the one to defeat the Kraken? From what I saw that Carbuncle was her partner. It mut've been a powerful combination of abilities and skill to achieve that victory. That or they cheated somehow."

 

Looking over Max and Crystal gulped at the sight of the wyvern staring at them, it's eyes fixated on the group with almost no clear intention; making all the more dangerous if it was planning to attack. Shaking their heads Max and Crystal said they didn't own a wyvern, Tommy and Amy ready to defend their Tamers if need be, but hardly appeared to be a match for the mighty dragonic. Flamme snarled a bit at the cloak man, who had asked for the beast's Tamer to set out from hiding, and wasn't about to let him to anything to Evelyn. He backed up a bit as if to say he wasn't about to follow his request. Stepping out from behind the wyvern's large back, now in full view of the group, and Evelyn told her partner to 'calm down.' Turning his head the wyvern shook his head, "Evelyn, get back behind me! I-"

 

"Stop worrying about it, I'll be fine. I'm not getting off," Evelyn said despite no one else hearing her partner's mental words, making the converstation seem very odd to others, "I'm just letting them see me."

 

"Well, if anyone's remotely interested, I'm Rose and this is my partner Grunhelm," Rose stated, pointing to the Centaur beside her, and looking down shyly as a few of the Tamers turn thier attention to her for a few moments. She had pretty much tagged along, surviving through the tournament, and now felt it was finally her time to make some friends; she was only a cleric and couldn't fight at all. Grunhelm gave a snort and a nod as Rose mentioned his name, noticing Jasper floating around eyeing his Tamer. Grinning he landed on her shoulder, patting her cheek, "Don't be too modest girlie . . . a cleric is invaluable to something like this!"

 

"No, I don't like this! If that voice shook you up that bad, who knows what they'll try to pull," Flamme retorted while the cloaked man calmly walked towards them, his hands held to reveal he was unarmed, and Evelyn put her tome away for the moment as it seemed clear to her that she wouldn't be fighting.

 

"I appreciate the concern, but I don't think anything's going to happen; never noticing Rift becoming more annoyed with all the talk. Moving on her wyvern so that she sat on his neck she addressed the cloaked man who was now at a dangerous distance from Flamme's snapping jaws, "I'm showing you all we don't have any intentions to fight. Now tell me who contacted me earlier, I'm sure you know what I mean if you knew I was here. And know that Flamme and I will be out of here faster than you can think if you try anything!"

 

Flamme rustled a bit, showing his dissatisfaction with Evelyn addressing the group, but Evelyn ignored it for the most part. Smiling he gave a courteous bow and then looked up at her, though his upper face remained hidden, "That would've been me, ma'am. I wanted to have you join us so tha-"

 

Stopping at teh sound of the Kitsune's hiss the cloaked man turned to see Rift mounting his dragon, sword drawn, and asked if 'he can copy her ability as well.' Then he turned to the man who had been attempting to stop their fight, "Do not interfer!"

 

"Sto-"

 

"Glacialis fog!" he yelled to his dragon as she let out a cold and thick fog, quickly making it difficult to see; also making those who had already be on edge more nervous. Rift raised his sword up while the cloaked man could see him and laughed as his form disappeared; addressing the cloaked man once more, ""Can vos servo vestri ego, ut vos operor non animadverto is to order [Can you protect your self, when you do not see it coming]?"

 

As his word echoed across the foggy field the cloaked man called out to everyone, "Don't move! Eve! Jasper!"

 

"Right!" Jasper called back hopping off of Rose's shoulder, but not before boldly giving her a kiss on the cheek; though barely avoiding Grunhelm's open palm. Floating around he could see the Kimono Girl dashing through the fog though it was nothing, scowling in a bit of jeliousy at how easy she makes it look, and then stopped in front of his Tamer, "What is it boss?"

 

"Technique number one, Go!" the cloaked man ordered, revealing that he was in fact the Carbuncle's Tamer, and leapt high into the air. Pulling his jewel from his forehead he tossed it into the air so that it shined brightly enough to break the fog. Once the fog broke the Kimono Girl and the Cloaked Man had managed to get beside Rift and Iceis. With a swing of his sword Rift tore off the cloaked man's hood, showing his full face but could not manage to dodge the Kimono Girl's punch; which had knocked him off the dragon. Landing both of them looked back, seeing the astonished looks on everyone; though Max and Crystal had seen it all before. Glancing to the, now uncloaked, man the Kimono Girl smiled and finally spoke, "Jake, Eve did good?"

 

"Naturally," he answered with a smile, patting Eve on her head so that her hair moved enough to reveal ears! Hugging Jake Eve's ears perked up, making everyone watch in amazement until a video screen appeared within the sky; the image appearing to be Mr. Valiant! Backing away Max and Crystal knew things had turned for the worst.

 

"What are you doing in the game Jake!? I thought I told you you were not able to participate! This is too dangerous for a high socialite like you," Mr. Valiant yelled into the microphone without even realizing he was still being taped by Mrs. Takkakaw. Both began to argue amongst each other, both sides watching their respective person, and then Jake slammed his foot on the ground, "I made this game so I have every right to participate!"

[Andx]

The cloaked man claimed he was the one who had contacted her mentally before but Evelyn couldn't believe that. The voice she had heard was not a man's, it was softer and higher like a woman. Just when she was about to respond a shroud of fog suddenly engulfed the area. Flamme immediately made motions to take off and as was quickly a few feet in the air. Before he could go any further the carbuncle dispelled the fog at the cloaked man's request and the Tamer of the dragon who was responsible for the fog had effectively been incapacitated.

 

The issue had been quickly resolved and as the cloaked man hadn't been launching an attack on them Flamme cautiously came back down to the ground. It didn't take long as he was only a few feet off the ground at the time. Flamme looked more defensive than he had before.

"What happened?" Evelyn said quietly. The fog had moved in so suddenly, and Flamme had reacted so quickly that she hadn't gotten a chance to see what the man had done.

"It seems someone tried to attack. The man stopped him though." Flamme told her.

 

Evelyn was about to attempt to reinitiate the conversation when suddenly the man revealed himself to be the creator of Tamers itself. Every doubt and concern left Evelyn's mind at once. Here was a chance to talk with the creator! She jumped off of Flamme, who immediately protested, and ran over to Jake.

"You're the creator?" she asked excitedly. This fact had not only dispelled her fears but brought out her super anime and video game fan self.

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe it. I never thought I'd ever see you! I mean, at least not ever in person! What are you doing here?! I thought this was for beginners and sort of experienced players. But then again you're the creator so I guess you don't need a reason to do something in your own game. I have to ask-" Evelyn said. She was very excited and was firing off questions and comments with amazing speed. Just looking at her, one could tell just how much meeting Jake filled her with excitement. She would have continued but the irritated and protective Flamme quickly grabbed the back of her robe with his mouth and pulled her back.

 

Flamme's action sort of snapped Evelyn back into reality. She and Flamme argued a little bit but this didn't seem nearly as serious as before. Eventually Evelyn got Flamme to back down though he still stayed right behind her.

"I'm sorry! I was just so excited that I got to see you, I couldn't help it. Now I suppose I should get back to our conversation earlier. Why exactly did you contact me and how did you do it? Did you know I could communicate mentally with my partner and had another magical creature speak to me?" she said. The recent events no longer seemed to bother her in the slightest and Flamme sort of sighed at how Evelyn's mood could swing so much at times, at least when it came to games and that sort of thing.

[Guest Tainted Black]

When Rift had begun his assault, Ave's eyes had opened wide, and he had gotten into a defensive position around Josh, almost like a lizard or some other reptile. He let out a hiis, which he only did when something sincerely scared him, and made him want to kill it. The Bird just glared at the man, until Jake had beat him. Then he relaxed, and lay in the same position he stood.

 

Josh had no clue what had happened, because his Roc had gone feral, and surrounded him when the fog began to appear. He knew that Ave was seriously agitated, and that stepping in was a bad idea. Then he saw the giant reptilian bird lay down, and the fog was gone. Jake's face was revealed, and Josh could not help but wonder why he had been covered. Then he saw the video screen, and listened in. "So, you lazy roc," He said with a smile, antagonizing the bird that had gotten defensive for him, "He's the creator of this game. Interestin', eh?"

[encapturer]

Things kept getting stranger and stranger.

 

Daena watched as the wyvern's tamer appeared from behind her partner. She wasn't an enemy, even if she was rather forceful with her demands. Daena just shrugged, she had no idea what she meant.

 

After that, another person appeared, this time a Cleric named Rose with a centaur partner. That carbuncle immediately returned Rose's greeting. Are these guys trying to create a large coalition of players or something?

 

The sudden outburst from Rift caught Daena offguard, though Irenia had her eye on that guy and his partners for a moment. Of course, the mystery man fought back, dispelling the fog and immediately going on the offensive. Daena watched carefully; who knew if she had to ever fight this guy? The fight was over in a flash, though the faces of the two hooded people. So that's an elf, or something, and that guy...

 

Daena's train of though shifted quickly once she learned who this man *was*: Jake, the creator of this game. On one hand, she admired the guy; a game this complex could only be coded by a genius. On the other hand, she found him quite the fool. And with all the tension she had built up, she lashed out at Jake. Mentally.

 

What in the world is *wrong* with this guy?! Daena thought to herself. She was completely motionless in shock, with only her long hair moving slightly in the breeze. Playing the game - participating in the tournament like this would be a public relations nightmare! Do you *want* the game to fail? At least disguise yourself better than using a cloak! In the end, she vocalized none of these concerns, since he was the reason why she was still in the game. Instead, she sighed, and facepalmed. "I hope no one else knows he's in the tournament," she muttered into her hand.

 

Irenia flew around Daena's head as she was deep in thought, staring into her face a few times. Once Daena finally moved, Irenia flew up towards the video screen. Spells still charged of course; if there was one thing that Daena drilled into Irenia's mind, was to always be prepared.

 

"So, is the tournament continuing?" Irenia asked the people on the other side of the screen, speaking clearly for the first time since the tournament started. Her voice was sweet, like that of a young girl's, which still chills Daena's nerves whenever Irenia speaks about fighting with that voice, although she has gotten used to it. "Or is it training?" she added, remembering what Jake had said about the tournament before.

[Naimo]

OOC: Jake, I'm on Grunhelm's back

 

The outburst from Rift, and the appearance of Jake, was only confusing Rose even more. It was far to say she was horribly lost within this tournament; and seeing how she was making no progress whatsoever, she was even more determined to be of some use. She tried to see who was and wasn't injured, yet even if she did heal, she had to be careful ... if there weren't that many clerics around, she didn't fancy having a large crowd of injured people following her everywhere.

 

"Rose, isn't that Jake the creator of this game?" Grunhelm suddenly asked, his manly, brash voice hitting her ears like a heavy bat.

 

"I think he is." Rose temporarily didn't answer after this; she had just heard Daena speak. Deciding she might as well answer, Grunhelm trotted over to her. "I'm not sure myself; we might be, we might not be. If this is training, I don't know what the tournament's going to be like."

[Jake the Sage]

Things kept getting stranger and stranger after an outburst from one of the Wyvern Tamers, named Rift, began to make an attack; making the Roc Ave's eyes open wide and prepared to fight with a loud hiss. While a few of the Tamers didn't have time to react, and the young Cleric Rose wandered around confused, Flamme immediately took off a few feet into the air. Circling around Evelyn could see Daena, having been caught off guard initially, watching the cloaked man dash into the thick fog with the Kimono Girl and the Carbuncle.

 

Before anything serious happened the Carbuncle, Jasper, dispelled the fog so that the cloaked man and the Kimono Girl could incapacitate him with a single punch; though it was only the Kimono Girl, calling herself Eve, who had actually made contact with the Tamer. The issue had been quickly resolved, leaving Rift mumbeling on the floor, the man's hood removed by Rift's sword; revealing the face of a young man. Not having been attacked Flamme cautiously came back down to the ground while Ave and his own Tamer gave a simultanious sigh of relief; the Roc laying back down to relax.

 

"What happened?" Evelyn asked, not the only one who had became confused in the abrupt chaos, looking around at everyone. The fog had moved in to rapidly, so suddenly, that there had hardly been any time to react. Josh, because Ave had folded his wings to protect his Tamer, wasn't able to see the entire battle before it was over. Glancing around on top of her wyvern, Evlyn's question was answered by Flamme, "It seems someone tried to attack. That man stopped him though . . ."

 

"Jake, Eve did good?"

 

"Naturally," he answered with a smile, patting Eve on her head so that her hair moved enough to reveal ears! Hugging Jake Eve's ears perked up, making everyone watch in amazement until a video screen appeared within the sky; the image appearing to be Mr. Valiant! Backing away Max and Crystal knew things had turned for the worst.

 

"What are you doing in the game Jake!? I thought I told you you were not able to participate! This is too dangerous for a high socialite like you," Mr. Valiant yelled into the microphone without even realizing he was still being taped by Mrs. Takkakaw. Both began to argue amongst each other, both sides watching their respective person, and then Jake slammed his foot on the ground, "I made this game so I have every right to participate!"

 

"Rose, isn't that Jake the creator of this game?" Grunhelm suddenly asked, his manly, brash voice hitting her ears like a heavy bat. Rose didn't temporarily answer after she simply nodded her head, but finally voiced her response, "I think he is . . ."

 

Evelyn was about to attempt to reinitiate the conversation when suddenly the man revealed himself to be the creator of Tamers itself. Every doubt and concern left Evelyn's mind at once. Here was a chance to talk with the creator! She jumped off of Flamme, who immediately protested, and ran over to Jake, "You're the creator!? Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! I never thought I'd ever see you! I mean, at least not ever in person! What are you doing here?! I thought this was for beginners and sort of experienced players. But then again you're the creator so I guess you don't need a reason to do something in your own game. I have to ask-"

 

Evelyn was very excited and was firing off questions and comments with amazing speed. Just looking at her, one could tell just how much meeting Jake filled her with excitement. She would have continued but the irritated and protective Flamme quickly grabbed the back of her robe with his mouth and pulled her back; overhearing Josh muse to his Roc about Jake's identity. Even Daena's train of through shifted quickly once she learned who the man 'was"- Jake, the Creator of Tamers. On one hand, she admired the guy; a game this complex could only be coded by a genius. On the other hand, she found him quite the fool. And with all the tension she had built up, she lashed out at Jake; at least mentally.

 

"What in the world is wrong with him!?" Daena thought to herself, being completely motionless in her shock, with only her long hair moving slightly in the breeze, "Why is he even here!? At least disguise yourself better than using a cloak!" In the end, she vocalized none of these concerns, since he was the reason why she was still in the game; the arguing betweenJake and Mr. Valiant reaching a fever pitch. Instead she sighed, covering her face, and muttered into her hand, "I hope no one else knows he's in the tournament . . ."

 

Irenia flew around Daena's head as she was deep in thought, staring into her face a few times, only moving once Max tapped her on the shoulder. Once Daena finally looked up she could see that, in the real world, everything was being tapped live by a news camera crew; with an all to excited announcer trying to get an interview with Mr. Valiant. Slamming his fist on the table Mr. Valiant's image could've been breaking through the screen, if it was even possinly, "It was my money that helped make this game! I own the licensing rights to it and there is nothing you can do you spoiled child!"

 

"I'd like to see you try operating the system without my help Uncle," Jake said in anger, pointing at the video screen, "The game's coded and I'm the only one who can break through all fourty eight security walls!"

 

"Fine then!" Mr. Valiant yelled back as his hands began to type directly into the gaming system; a very dangerous thing to attempt with gamers currently playing, something only Jake knew. His eyes opening wide Jake tried not to panic, knowing it'll only make the others become hysterical, and tried to convince his uncle to stop; though with no avail. Breaking past the first couple of security walls with no problem everyone, within the game and inside the outside world, could see the coloring of the skies becoming red and then green. Moving into the tens the apparant time the players could see was zipping by faster than anyone could imagine; days became blurrs and they could see trees growing in the span of minutes. Finally hitting the Security Wall No. 24 the warning systems began to sound off; warning video screens popping up around the Tamers.

 

"NO!"

 

The game's timeline freezing up all those inside the game suddenly felt their bodies becoming lighter until they began to float. Then the sky went dark, the sun and moon vanishing as if they had merely been deleted . . . until the buzzing of the warning sirens faded away- leaving those players who had been remaining in the game, upwards of two hundred able bodies, in a black unknown.

 

Hours seemed to pass . . .

 

Day possibly?

 

Finally a light in the distance broke the darkness around a few of the Tamers, opening their eyes to see the sun rise on unfamiliar landmarks.

 

As the light of the sun further illuminated the world around them, many could see a simple truth, this wasn't their Earth . . .

[encapturer]

"You're insane!" Daena yelled at Mr. Valiant as he tapped into the code itself. "It doesn't matter *what* he did, you don't need to do that!" Unfortunately, he seemed to be running directly off of raw emotion, and Daena feared for her life. She thought about logging out for a moment, but decided against it, noting that Jake was not moving to log out. Most likely doing so would be very bad idea, she figured.

 

In fact, Jake seemed mostly composed as he argued with his uncle. Maybe he has a plan? Her hope was shattered, once the warning screens popped up everywhere. Irenia floated down to Daena, and began to attack the screens with wind spells, which obviously were ineffective. As the world seemed to be engulfed in darkness, Irenia floated down to Daena and landed on her shoulder, when she spoke.

 

"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" she said.

 

"How.... How are you still working?" Daena replied, taken aback by the fact that Irenia's AI routine was still running. A glance around identified the other tamer's partners being unaffected. "What is going on..." Her voice trailed off as her consciousness faded...

 

***

 

*GRRRRROWL*

 

This once quiet beach was being terrorized by a fishman who came from the nearby sea to hunt prey. He was being interrupted by a small fairy, who was flying above him as continued to jump and grab it. As it flew higher and higher, it dropped what it was doing and ran inland, towards a unconcious woman, who lay facedown in the sand a few yards away. As he did, he was suddenly cut in the back by the wind. He turned around to notice that it was the fairy's doing, as it was moving its finger in a complex pattern, controlling a green strand of light. As he turned around and lept at the now lower fairy, the fairy grinned, and used her other hand to create a similar pattern, and the fishman was knocked out by sudden cuts to the face.

 

The fairy sighed as water pulled the fishman back into the sea. She made her way towards the woman, who was waking up. The woman coughed up bits of sand and looked up, just in time to see the fairy's face, now on the verge of crying.

 

"*sniff* Daena... *sniff*.... You're alive...."

[The Warden]

Aaron heard the frenzied cries and was forced to turn. It seemed someone was messing witht he data of the world, which had a cold reception from Aaron. 'What could that idiot think he be doing? Altering data whilst players are inside is bloody stupid' he roared. The area began to warp as Aaron and Lancet began to float up. They were both helpless as the both of them were taken into some black beyond.

 

The waves beat gently on the shoreline. Lancet was standing guard at Aaron's body, who had been unconscious for an undefined amount of time. A Bakeneko trotted across the beach, before hungrily looking at Aaron's body. Lancet shot the cat a dark look and it continued trotting on. Aaron began to move as he realized his face was in the sand. Gladly there wasn't any sand in his mouth as he forced himelf up. Lancet knelt down and kept him stable. 'Lancet, your hands are cold' Aaron commented. Lancet kept Aaron propped up with hand hand as he checked it. A metallic echo reasonated from the armour. 'What do you mean 'How can I warm them for you?' Aaron demanded. Lancet echoed again in responce. 'So you can keep me warm? Look Lancet, I'm not cold alright, I shouldn't even be feeling cold in....this...game?' he said as it dawned on him that this was real.

[encapturer]

Daena shook herself off the sand that was on her body as she picked up her two bows and reattached them to their harnesses. She took out her housing unit and began messing with it, eventually sighing and just putting it away. "Tch, the log out function is busted," she muttered under her breath. "These people need better QA..." While she knew there was no such thing as perfect software, pulling something like Mr. Valiant did is a quick way to lose respect from Daena. At least Jake had an excuse, being as eccentric as he was.

 

With her robe now mostly clean of sand, Daena took the time to survey the surrounding area, as Irenia sat down on Daena's left shoulder. She did not recognize the area at all, and did not recall any features from forum posts online. "A beta area...?" she muttered. It wouldn't surprise her, though this zone is quite complete for something incomplete by definition. She spotted a few creatures, including a bakaneko which walked right past her in a hurry. Looking in the general direction the cat was coming from, she saw some figures in the distance, though too far to make them out.

 

"Irenia, let's go!" Daena called out as she took off running.

 

"Okay!" Irenia gathered a few strands of wind magic with her right hand, before spinning them in a spiral. The green light surrounded Daena, at which point she lept off the ground. While she was now hovering due to the Float magic, she kept her forward momentum, nice for getting places quickly.

 

As she neared the distance figures, Daena made out one distinctive animated armor. She remembered it instantly; she spent a good portion of her time aiming at it, after all. Still, that was the tournament, and this... this was something else entirely. Once she was close enough, Irenia dispelled the Float spell, and began charging wind elemental magic, only concerned with the fact that these people could harm Daena and herself.

 

"Are you alright?" Daena called out as she ran up to Aaron and Lancet. Irenia stayed further back, in case they attacked, though Daena was more relaxed, more concerned whether or not the two were feeling alright. They may still be in the game, but the damage it can do to the mind when run unchecked, is real.

[Guest Tainted Black]

Josh had no clue as to what had happened. He just knew that there was a fight. That fight led to tampering with the system, and that tampering led to him falling out of the sky, with Ave to his right. He watched as the avian creature flew underneath him, and he landed none too softly. "Thanks, I don't need my back." He said sarcastically, and the bird made it's hissing noise. He knew that meant 'Shut up, ot I'll drop you. Got it?', and he did just that. He sat up on the bird, and looked around. "So, I guess we're not in Kansas anymore. Any idea as to where we are?" he asked absently, and the bird grunted as they flew around. "Oh, look! Someone! That way!" He pointed at the couple of people below him, and the bird landed. It was revealed to be Dana and Aaron, and he hopped off of Ave after landing. "Oi, any clu where we are? This does not look right."

[The Warden]

Aaron looked up at the girl and her little fairy, followed up by the boy and his roc. 'This place is real' he stated. 'You may not have realized it yet, but this place IS real. Feel the water, it is as cool and refreshing as actual water, because it is actual water. Feel the ocean breeze on your face, the sand is gritty and real. We're actually breathing' he continued pointing out, hoping for the realization to finally click in them.

[encapturer]

Daena shrugged. "Real? I don't know. Our partners are still here, so I think we're somehow still in Tamers," she replied. "Though yes, the sensory feedback here is very high..." she added, the feel of sand in her throat being fresh in her mind. Too high. Isn't this level of sophistication supposed to be impossible without having a pocket universe to calculate from? she thought to herself, not sure if the other two here had any interest in virtual reality technology beyond playing Tamers. "I wish we knew where we are, too," she said to the others, sighing. "It could be a completed zone for Tamers that hasn't been released yet, or some sort of testing ground."

 

A light breeze blew through the area, causing her hair to sway in the wind. The boy was right, everything seemed real. Daena's mind flashed back to the Matrix, a movie she had to watch in her computer science history class. It depicted what people in the past thought Virtual Reality technology would have been like. The main thing that applies here was that dying in that simulation killed you in real life. Modern simulators like Tamers are built where it was simply impossible to die for real. But with so many unknowns, their lives may very well be on the line here.

 

"We should be careful, anyway. Who knows what tampering with the system back-" Daena began, but she was interrupted by Irenia, who was pulling on her ear.

 

"Daena, Daena! Over there!" Irenia pointed to the area behind Aaron, where there seemed to be a dirt road that led further inland. From her position it seemed like the road traveled through an open plain, with the path itself mostly devoid of monsters, as if it led to some sort of civilization.

 

"Thanks, Irenia," Daena replied to the fairy with a smile. Irenia giggled to herself as she returned to her perch on Daena's shoulder. "Well, there's a road." Daena said as she waled towards it, passing Aaron and Lancet. After taking a few steps, she turned around to face Aaron and Josh again. "I'm going to check out where it leads, maybe find a few clues." She smiled, figuring that at the very least she could unravel some secrets behind Tamers from within. "Want to come?"

[Naimo]

"Urgh." That was the first word to escape Grunhelm's mouth as he shook his head, his senses returning. The lack of weight on his lower half told him that Rose must have been thrown off him. Pushing himself up with his palms, then his hind legs, he straightened up and glanced around; they were definately somewhere. Beside him, he saw the slightly imbeded shape of Rose lying with her back on the sand. Awkwardly, due to the instability that was the beach, he made his way over to her. "Rose?"

 

"Hmm? What?" He watched her clasp her hand to her forehead as she sat up. It barely took her seconds before she began patting herself, like she had suddenly gone blind (which she clearly hadn't). "What the-" She turned in awe to Grunhelm, who was just looking confused.

 

"Rose? Are you alright?" he asked solitiously.

 

"Yeah..." She got up and held out a trembling arm towards him. He felt her hand gently grasp his shoulder, then move its way down his spine, and onto his horse half. "You're ... real. This is ..." She took her hand off him and looked up around her. "...real ... all of it." Still looking amazed, she stooped down and cupped the sand, feeling every grain gently run past her fingers as they fell back to rejoin the beach again. She could smell the air; it really was oxygen, there was no mistake. "But how? It's just a game..." Realising she might be able to cast a spell, she drew her crosier and closed her sleeves and overskirt. Then, the ivory tip began to glow a pale green.

 

She looked down at her palm, where she had cut her hand only three days ago. The scab had formed, and it seemed unlikely to disappear any time soon; concentrating, she could feel that power rush through her blood and very body as her hand glowed the same green. Undramatically, the scab closed itself and disappeared completely, leaving behind not a single mark. Her hand looked new again.

 

This left Rose standing in awe; then, she looked up and saw Daena, Aaron and Josh nearby. After checking whether Grunhelm was alright to move, the duo approached the group; as she did so, Rose unfastened her sleeves and overskirt, seeing as she had no need to be in her "cleric mode".

 

"Hi guys," said Rose as she stopped before them. "Any idea what's happened at all?" Out of the three of them, she only recognised Daena.

[Jake the Sage]

Though Rose was able to heal her minor wound she could hardly notice the small ammount of fatigue it had given her; only as if she had held her breath for about a minute. Yet the warnings of Daena on the possability of dying was not to be taken lightly, looking around and being able to see everything in such detail can do that to one so unfocused.

 

Forward in motion they continued on the dirt trail, for it could not be a road due to its crude formation, and slowly noticed they had begun to ascend a hill. Knowing that ontop of this hill would be a better chance of viewing whatever imaginary or realistic place they had been thrusted into the four humans and their partners sprinted the last distance to see the sun shining high over a vast landscape wide with planes; and dotted with blue spots of fresh water.

 

Gazing over the path that they had followed, up to a fork, they could see what appeared to be a horse drawn cart approaching the split; a tall and lanky man sitting with the reighns in hand.

[encapturer]

"No idea," Daena replied, acknowledging Rose. "We were just going to follow the road up to see where it leads." She glanced further down the road, squinting her eyes. She still could not see anything further down the path. "You should come too, it'd be nice to have another familiar face.", she said, turning back to Rose. "....I'm Daena, by the way." she added, finally remembering that the people here probably did not know her name.

 

***

 

As they walked down the road Irenia spotted, Daena noted that it was less worn than she first thought; unlike the common paths in popular places in Tamers which were well travelled. Makes sense, she thought to herself, No players have been here before.

 

Once at the fork in the path, Daena tried to look around for any signs or anything, but she found nothing. Her attention was then drawn to something she didn't recognize... though it seemed to be a vehicle pulled by a horse. It was antiquated enough for Tamers, at least. The main thing was that there was a man at the controls, whether it was a NPC, a GM, or something else entirely. The only thing that mattered was that she got some answers.

 

Might as well start with the basics... I guess I should treat him as a GM who might be an NPC... Daena planned as she approached the cart. "Hey, hey sir?" she called out waving her hand in the air when he got close enough. "We're lost... could you please tell use where we are?"

[Jake the Sage]

With Daena and her group approaching the horse drawn carrage the animal reared it's hind legs with a loud neigh, stomping and snorting, but not making another noise. When the horse had finally settled down, with a few encouraging words from the man, everyone could see that upon the horse's brow was a single seven inch pearl white horn- thus this horse was no horse, but instead a regal unicorn. The man, old as he maybe with grey hairs cropping out of each ear, looked over lightly and his withered old eyes grew wide at the sight of such strangely clothed children. Shakingly lifting a hand to his ear the man asked, "What was that my dear child?"

 

"Ungulf you old codger," the unicorn blurted out, a deep voice even for such a mystical beast, and turned his head, "The maiden proclaimed she and her companions are preplexed on their current local. Thus she wises to know the answer to her whereabouts."

 

"Ah!" Ungulf said, a wily smile that caused his single remaining tooth to become exposed, his dry husky laughs almost ratteling his entire frame, "Magnanim is that really the question?"

 

Nodding his head Magnanim almost gave a sigh, or as much as one could being a unicorn, and turned to look at the strangers. Rubbing his chin Ungulf then turned to Daena and answered her, "My dear child you are only a few miles away from the village of Roax."

[Andx]

A strange darkness had consumed the area after Jake began messing with something. It seemed like he shouldn't have been but there was no point to debating what had already been done. Evelyn woke up to Flamme prodding at her multiple times. When she awoke she saw sunlight at first. After getting up she looked around and saw nothing of the stadium they had been in. Everything seemed so real. Evelyn realized it had to be the game world as the tournament was nothing like this.

 

"You finally up Evelyn?" Flamme asked. Evelyn was quickly focused.

"Yeah I'm fine. Now where are we? This seems like the game world but I don't recall any place like this. How about you Flamme?" Evelyn said.

"I've never seen it before." Flamme said. Evelyn fumbled around with her system. She noticed it was still storing her items and they could be removed and put away but she couldn't log out.

"Looks like we'll have to get searching for Jake. The log out function isn't working properly, or at all I should say." Evelyn said.

"Well get on then." Flamme said lowering his back for Evelyn. Evelyn hopped onto her partner's back and Flamme took off. To be safe Evelyn drew her long range tome. She didn't expect a fight but how could she know?

 

Flamme began flying and both he and Evelyn were scanning the land for people. Anyone would have been fine, just as long as someone was around. It took a few minutes but Evelyn thought she spied some people off in the distance. It must have been some of the other Tamers who had been in the area with her. There seemed to be other people as well.

"Well, we might as well join up with the group." Evelyn said.

"I think we'll be fine on our own." Flamme said. It was clear he still didn't want Evelyn around the others.

"Lighten up. We don't know what's going on so for now it's smarter to stick together." Evelyn said. Flamme growled in the back of his throat but went on towards the others anyway. He landed a decent distance away from them so as not to scare the ones who didn't seem like Tamers. Evelyn got off and began walking towards the group with Flamme closely behind. As she approached she saw it was the group and the others were just now coming into earshot.

[Jake the Sage]

At first what appeared to be the group of people whom Evelyn had met during the Tournament quickly turned out to be another group of individuals completely different from herself or the others. These people seemed to be wearing the kind of outfit you'd expect a person working in a Mideaval Times, and slung across their backs were what appeared to be hoods and bags stuffed to the point everything was overflowing.

 

Though Flamme and Evelyn had landed a bit away, in an attempt not to scare anyone, they were still heard when a Apsaras turned her head around, spotting Flamme before giving a loud scream. The people around the creature turned, stunned at first, before dropping their things to yank what appeared to be books from their bags; each opening to what appeared to be a random page.

 

Stepping back a bit the teenagers, very afraid, discussed amongst each other without ever taking their eyes off of Evelyn. Finally being pushed forward one of the teenagers gulped and called out as bravely as he could manage, "Who are you!? Are you a Wyvern Knight of Valni!?"