An Unwelcomed Return (Any and All)

[Tenkawa]

OoC: Well considering I've snuck back into ZU, and I loved the BA, I thought I'd bring one of my better characters back. Thankfully if you need to find him he's not the far away from the first page of the Characters Thread. xD

BiC:

Embers lit up the night sky. It was an alarming sight to the nobleman village only miles away. An elder was the first to react to this, thrusting a mallet violently against a gong in hopes to warn the villagers of the impending trouble that may come their way. A small platoon of horse driven soldiers galloped their way down the village dirt path motioned to the old man to help evacuate as they passed by, charging valiantly into the wood that secluded them for so many generations. The forest stood silent as they made their way through, chasing anything and everything out of their path until they had come out the other side.
The horses neighed wildly as the reigns were pulled, bringing them all to an abrupt halt. It was now that the men were silent. They looked down across the valley and could see nothing but engulfing flames. The thought of what could possibly create such destruction of that which was once so beautiful left them speechless. The young man leading the force opened his mouth to speak when something caught his eye. Several yards away there was an opening in the sea of flame. A small circle of field occupied by two objects, no, two beings. It was hard for him to make out much from their elevation but from the look of the battered body on the ground, death was marching this way. He turned to the soldiers behind him signalling to withdraw but as soon as they turned around a dark, omnipresent figure stood in their way. It towered over the men and their horses, glaring at them with blood-stained eyes, paralyzing every muscle in their body. As the figure screamed to the heavens his hands burst into flames and his stare returned to them, more devilish than before. They were certain, now more than ever, death was coming their way.


Junai jerked himself awake, his whole body dripping in sweat. It was the same dream again, his mind playing back memories of his defeat. It was only by sheer luck his "former owners" had picked him up and tossed him in thicket several miles away from his upcoming death. The problem he had with it was he didn't want salvation. This being had come from seconds from crushing him until a string of soldiers showed up several yards away.. it was a perfect opportunity to pick himself up off the ground and at least die without regret. The gods had other plans for him though. They were in need of his services once more, in hopes to gain back the followers they had lost in year's past, if not willingly then by force. They however would never resort to staining their hands with blood, therefore Junai was the candidate they chose. He had no intention of being their lapdog again, but they were paying him with information on the one who haunted his dreams for so long. It made him more than willing to join their "cause".
The information had led him to a broken down manor on the outskirts of a small, unnerving town. He had no doubts that they were leading him for their own selfish needs, but he was trying to be optimistic. He also had no doubts about how unwanted he was in this town the second he stepped foot into the bar. He ordered a couple drinks, poured them into a flask, and walked out as quickly as he walked in. Even in a "hole in the ground" such as that he was unwelcomed, it made him laugh how uninviting humans can be, with or without a threat.
He decided to stay the night in the abandoned manor as it was the only place nearby without a locked door and the townsfolk seemed to avoid the place altogether. The moment he stepped into the dust invested foyer he could feel another presence lurking inside but there was no physical entity behind it. It seemed to ease his mind, keeping him at rest till dawn, when the haunting inside of him overpowered it. Junai awoke in the courtyard, he felt it being the best place for him to rest because it wasn't an ideal place for sneak attacks. It stretched along the interior of the manor for about fifty feet with almost nothing in its original state. Large amounts of damage to the walls lay strewned around the dead brush and cracked cobblestone walkway. There was a small fountain set as a centerpiece that looked as if it was uprooted from its piping and its statue was scattered nearby in pieces. There was a pool of water nestled at the bottom of it, most likely from a recent storm since the glass ceiling above him was no more than borken, tangled metal.
He picked himself up, brushed off the debri from his clothing, then proceeded to slip his hand inside of the cloak he was wearing and pulled out a small hard roll. Just as he placed it in his mouth he noticed something a little peculiar. There was a large portion of metal fencing he had moved near the walkway into the manor last night that somehow managed to move itself against a wall inside the manor. Either someone was nearby...or his mind was playing tricks on him.

[nekoryuuha]

OoC: I don't know how good I'll be anymore after my extended absence, but I'll have a go at it with my Sakuraneko.

Ic:

High up on the Manor wall, above the now unblocked walkway, quietly sat a petite figure. Slowly, she seemed to come alive as the dawn's light started to light the courtyard. Her vibrantly colored hair and shorts stood out in the lightening shadows as her movement soon brought Junai's attention to her stirring form. "That was just what I needed," Sakuraneko murmured to herself as she stood, rubbing her eyes with one hand as she picked up her Tsukiyomi with the other. "Hey, you down there! You know you sleep like a rock, I though I'd wake the dead moving that metal fence last night, but you barely rolled over in your sleep."

"Hmm. Just who are you?" The demon called back to her as she used both hands to finishing putting Tsukiyomi on her back. As the sunlight Illuminated her better, her cat ears and tail became more visible. "Or better yet, what are you?"

"I'm Sakuraneko. Or just Sakura if you prefer." She took a step forward and leapt from the wall to land with ease if rather heavily down to the courtyard, ending in a crouch before standing. Unless she was far heavier then her slim body showed, the weight must have stemmed from the massive weapon she wore on her back. "As for what I am, I'm a Neko-Demon. Though we tended to just refer to ourselves as just 'Neko' since we don't really act like our truly Devilish ancestors." She looked him over with her mismatched eyes a moment before meeting his gaze once more. "So who are you, mister Demon?"

If she'd surprised him, he didn't let it show. "Junai is my name," He replied simply.

"Not much for conversation, are you?"

"Does one need to be?"

"I guess you got me there Junai." She chuckled a moment before crossing her arms. "But for now, why just humor me for a bit?"


OoC: Bah, I'm horribly out of practice.

[Zorolo]

The ground began to fissure as ice erupted from it in the form of spikes as the fissure moved between Junai and Sakuraneko, forcing them to both move backwards. The two looked at each other, and then at the unnoticed assailant. A light chuckling first came to their ears, followed by a louder one as a red haired warrior walked towards them, resting a sword on his shoulder. The warrior adjusted a pair of ice glasses on his face and lowered them as he looked at the two.

"Humor you, Sakuraneko?" the ice warrior asked as he hefted his sword from his shoulder and slammed it into the ground. The part of the ground that had been cut quickly froze around the blade as Zachary Leos, the firebrand Ice Elemental, glanced his dark blue eyes at the woman. "I'll humor you both if you really want a fight."

"How do you know who I am?" the woman inquired as Zachary first took note of the massive sword on her back as he pushed back up his ice sunglasses.

The ice mage grabbed his sword with both hands and heaved the blade from the ground and spun it around in a circles with his right hand stretched out to the side. It took a bit of energy to show off, but he enjoyed inquisitive looks the two gave him as he finally answered. "For one, you just announced yourself, and as that guy introduced himself. Man you must have some short term memory or something?" the ice innate asked with a chuckle again.

"Not at all, but you speak as if you know me. Who are you to blind side me with your magic?" she asked in annoyance as Zachary ceased spinning his sword.

"Name's Zachary Leos, as I told you. As to why I attacked you, Z gave a bunch of good words about how strong you are. Said back in the day, you could give him a real run for his money. I want to see how strong you really are!" the ice innate stated.

"Leave, little human. Who invited you?" the other person asked as he pointed his armored hand at the swordsman.

"Blah, blah, blah. Who asked you? Screw off!" Zachary yelled as he looked at Sakura who finally replied.

"Z? Zorlo... it's been a long time since I've seen him. And I think he slightly overestimated himself, since I kicked his ass."

"Man you talk a lot. Just draw your sword and fight me already. We'll see just how strong you are, since for however strong I am... well, I'll save that piece of information for later. Let's dance!" Leos yelled as he pointed his sword at the woman.

[Tenkawa]

OoC: Sorry for the long response, it’s hard to keep track of things with work and my fiancé’s planning (even if she is way ahead of herself), but I’ll do my best to keep it moving.

BiC: Junai occupied himself with his cloak for the meantime, noticing that it had ignited. He casually removed it from his back, took it in his left hand, and incinerated it in the palm of his gauntlet. He brushed his hands of its remains and brought his attention now to the young man. He could tell from his attitude and demeanor that this one was going to be a nuisance and knowing fare well he was being ignored at this point, jumped at the opportunity to show him what for. Without hesitation, Junai leapt at the young man, thrusting out his arm and grabbing him at the neck. The thumb of his gauntlet twisted into his jugular for a brief moment before Junai tossed him aside into a nearby pile of rubble.
“Zachary, was it? I would assume that a young man, such as yourself, would have the decency to treat a female with a little more respect before you start spitting out a challenge. I would assume it can’t say much for your upbringing.”
As he finished his speech, he looked back to where Sarukaneko had been and noticed an empty seat. Not even a moment before he turned back was his body sent flying through the door and into the mansion, flying through the banister and crashing in the chandelier that lay dormant on the foyer’s floor. Junai slowly picked himself up and brushed himself off, laughing a bit while pulling remnants of the chandelier from his hair, “I’m certainly out of practice.”

He cracked his neck quick then closed his eyes, his muscles tightening more and more till he let out a roar, his Ifrit flashing a violent red glow and gradually dying down. A faint glow encompassed his entire body, an angelic sight coming from such a dark figure. Junai looked toward the rotten staircase and with the notion it could crumble under the smallest of steps, decided to take the short route of flying back up. A large set of wings slowly stretched out from behind him, dark as night and flapping vigorously. Not more than a second that they picked him off the ground a large rumble was heard at the top of the staircase.
“Where in the hell is that demon?!”
Junai laughed again, knowing fare well who it was, “That kid’s mouth is going to get him in trouble in more ways than one.” He landed back on the top floor of the mansion and glared down the hall towards the door which now lay in pieces on the floor, “Now it gets interesting.”

[nekoryuuha]

As Sakuraneko watched from the upper walkway, she could only smile as Zachary's comment. "I wonder which Demon that boy is asking about?" she murmured, looking at the powerful magic field encompassing Junai with the aid of her crimson eye. With that same eyes, she could also see the energy radiating slightly from Zachary's blade, Mobius. Let's give them a scare." Seeing a small rock near her feet, she picked it up and tossed it up several times before launching it at the remains of the staircase between them. If Junai thought that kick was hard, he'll flip over this. The stone hit the stairs and wiped the rotting structure out in a cloud of debris that made both jump back from the stairs and forced Zachary to move away from the top toward her.

"Jeez! What the hell was that?!" Zachary yelled as the floor groaned but started to hold. The sudden extra groaning made him turn to see Sakura bearing at him, one fist ready.

"You thought that was bad, wait till you feel my punches or kicks!" she yelled as threw the punch. Streams of magic were her only warning as it gathered to Zachery's hand and thrust forward to meet her fist. A quick move let her turn the punch to a grab, grabbing his hand and pushing it aside. She barely even reacted as the energy still caused her leather gauntlet to partly freeze to her skin as she flipped backward to kick Zachary in the chest and down the walkway. Now for the other, before he can- Magic fulled her vision and she jumped back to see the magic stemming from the Ifrit gauntlet Junai wore and had tried to punch her out with. He spun as he landed and threw the punch again as Sakura threw her own. The two fists met with such force that the two staggered back a step, Sakura wincing from her newly burned knuckles and Junai from the force that shook his arm hard enough to make it tingle. "You're stronger then I thought."

"You too!" He moved to attack again as the walkway groaned and began to fall, forcing all three to jump down. Sakuraneko and Zachary hit the floor as Junai flew up and out of the high foyer window. The two stood momently to fight once more as the roof shook and begun to fall.

"He must have collapsed the roof if the fighting didn't do that!" Zachary bolted for the door as Sakura leapt for the high window, both reaching their exits just before the roof and the rest of the building collapsed in on itself. Even as Junai landed, a ball of ice magic hit his aura and scattered harmlessly. "That's not good." Before he could ready something else, the two could see an enlarging shadow and jumped away as Sakuraneko literally split the small area with her Tsukiyomi. As her feet planted and she began the pull the massive blade from the ground, Junai and Zachary were already charging back in, blades ready.

"Looks like I'll have to leave it here for the moment," she murmured as she let go of the handle just before the two attacked her. Sword met sword in the not empty space where Sakura last stood. Not even bothering to worry about the Neko for now, Zachary disengaged with Junai and continued to attack the demon as Sakura stood by the side, watching for a moment before dashing back to her Sword and catching the handle. Her force pried the Zanbatou from the ground as The other two watched her flip it up and into it's sheath. "At this rate none of us are going to win. We just be beating at each other for how know how long. We could use a fourth..."

[Zorolo]

Zachary rested his sword on his shoulder as he looked at the Neko. She hit hard. Not quite as hard as Zorlo did, but still pretty damn hard. Also, she was fast. She might have been a little faster then the Aura Master, but Zachary could never be certain unless he watched the two fight. Either way, that woman seemed to be more then capable of fighting. The Ice Elemental wasn't about to pass a chance to fight someone like her up.

The other guy, the guy with the flame gauntlet, no doubt, was bound to be annoying. Flames and fire were annoying things. The red haired avenger began to create ice gauntlets on his hands almost as a second thought while he pondered. The woman had a massive sword she hadn't drawn yet, so that meant she was good with it, as he had seen. The guy with the fire gauntlet was just annoying. When matched with two foes, pick off the weaker, or seemingly weaker, of the two first.

The firebrand turned towards Junai and clenched his left, now armored, fist. His right hand, clenched tightly around his sword, had also formed a nice glove of ice over it. The red haired warrior burst towards the warrior and the two clashed, the broad blade of the avenger striking the flaming gauntlet of the warrior and creating a clash between hot and cold in the epicenter. Zachary pushed his blade forwards, magical power seeping off of it as he made a grand push, tossing Junai off balance just long enough to allow the ice mage to leap back and toss three spears of ice.

"I'll take you out first, and use what I've got left to fight the lady. After all, she seems like a real foe!" Zachary mocked with a mischievous smile across his face. He hadn't felt alive like this in a while.

OoC: Okay, it's short, but it moves things along. If no one else joins when my turn comes around again, I'll bring in another character, or Neko can, or either of you. We'll see how it works out. ^_^