Soak the Soil in Red Despair (southern belle)

[fire_by_rain]

OoC:

BiC: A tall young man, looking about eighteen or nineteen, strolled briskly through the wooded countryside two hours after the dawn. His dirty blond hair held strands softly over his shining amber eyes that seemed to glow with sunlight themselves. A very faint scar ran across his left eye, though hard to see. Around him was an old-looking gray cloak that looked like it had seen much, keeping back the chill of the autumn air. His footfalls crunched softly under the dried leaf litter of the forest floor. His amber eyes flicked in all directions, scanning the trees. She was supposed to be here...

Keeping his senses alert, he felt around the area for a breathing pattern. The man could feel nothing. He frowned slightly. Where was she?

OoC: forgive the poor intro, friend. but never you fear, i have ideas as you should come to expect from me XD

[southern belle]

OoC: *glances at the title* Hmm... I know you, Iya, and that title REALLY doesn't bode well. XD *chuckles and starts her post*

BiC: A woman ran softly, but quickly, through the deserted ally, avoiding piles of trash easily as she ran. Her leather boots made no noise against the ground, and her breathing was quiet -- many wouldn't have heard her at all. Which, of course, was exactly what she wanted. She cursed inwardly to herself, attempting to speed up. That filthy, thieving little beast... I'm supposed to be in the forest already, and instead I'm chasing him!

The Hylian, short on funds, had been forced to spend the night in a tree near the outskirts of town. She didn't mind so much, being a forest child as she was. She had woken that morning to someone, a boy that looked to be in his teens, pawing through her bags. He had taken off before she could get to him -- taking her pack with him. All her food, her personal items, her money, was in the hands of that little punk. She frowned and continued running.

Unfortunately for the kid, but luckily for her, he had started running towards the forest. Bella grinned, seeing him long before she reached him. Perfect. She had to go to the forest anyways... and it'd be impossible for her not to catch him, once they were amongst the trees.

She chased him through the forest for a good thirty minutes, forced to move much slower once they entered it, so as not to make any revealing noise. Then, she saw him resting against a clump of bushes, and grinned. Without warning, they sprung forward, wrapping tightly around the kid. He struggled uselessly against them as Bella walked calmly into the clearing. His eyes widened as he saw her, and his struggling doubled.

"I think you have something of mine..." she said, walking over to take the pack from him.

"Witch!" the boy screamed, his eyes wide with fright. "Let me go!!"

"Hey now, if I really were a witch... would insulting me, when I've got you trapped like this, really be the way to go?" Bella paused, fingering her sword hilt. "Even if I'm not, you're still trapped, and I'm already not too happy with you. So, either way, is that REALLY wise?"

"I don't care!" he screamed. "Just LET ME GO!! Take your stupid bag, I don't care anymore!"

"Well, now that you mention it..." the red haired woman walked over and picked the bag up off the ground. She looked through it for a moment, and then looked back up at the boy, an eyebrow raised. "Alright, where is it?"

He tried to look innocent, and failed miserably. "Wh... where's what?" He was still struggling against the bushes.

"My money. Y'know, little coins, they go clink clink clink?" She looked at him expectantly.

He seemed to be fighting with himself, but in the end, fear won over. "In my pocket," he said, through clenched teeth.

Bella reached for his pocket, and withdrew the little leather pouch. She opened it and inspected the contents, then put it away, satisfied. "Alright, thank you." She smiled brightly at him, as though she had just bought a piece of fruit from him, and turned to walk away.

"Hey! Aren't you going to let me down?!?!" he shrieked after her.

Bella shrugged. "You made me late for a meeting with someone," she replied carelessly over her shoulder. "I think maybe I'll just let you hang there for awhile."

"WHAT?!?! Hey, you can't do that! Hey!!!"

Bella grinned as she walked away, sending the plants a signal to let the kid go after fifteen minutes. That should teach the little bugger. She just hoped Lohiya wasn't getting too worried...

[fire_by_rain]

The man sighed, leaning his back against a tree trunk, knee bent to rest his foot on the bark. He closed his amber eyes a moment, and without thinking reached out, trying to feel something... anything familiar. He opened his eyes again, frowning worriedly. "I hope nothing happened to her..." he said softly to himself. Horrible fantasies filled his mind, and he got off the tree quickly. "Okay i'm going to go look for her >>" he started walking back briskly, feeling around for any breathing pattern.

Suddenly he stopped, feeling a warm patch of air moving at a fast pace through the trees. He perked up, looking over in its direction. Concentrating more, he felt a quick, steady breathing pattern. He moved a little closer to it, and felt it stop moving. He turned a corner around a clump of trees.

"Lohiya! ^^"

He blinked, then smiled brightly at the familiar face. He vaulted over a clump of bushes and immediately wrapped the redheaded Hylian in a tight embrace. "There you are," he breathed in relief. He pulled back, stroking her hair softly. "You had me worried there for a bit. Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

Bella smiled. "I'm fine ^^." she reassured him. "I just ....had someone-THING... i had to take care of..." she said with a slightly evil grin.

Lohiya raised an eyebrow. "Uh-oh... the grin is not promising..." he said, amused.

Bella chuckled. "This stupid boy stole my pack.... but the silly thing ran into the *forest*." she grinned.

Lohiya chuckled. "Ah, well. I bet he'll think twice before doing that again " Taking her lightly by the hand, he started forward. "Iya and Ayalmar are waiting up ahead,"

[southern belle]

Bella followed him through the forest, her hand resting lightly in his. "How have they been since I last saw them, anyways?"

Lohiya shrugged. "Well, Iya's been alright," he began. "Ayalmar's been a real stick in the mud..."

The Hylian grinned mischieviously. "So, basically, business as usual?"

The air master laughed. "Exactly!"

A moment later, a glob of mud hit Lohiya in the back of the head, splattering over him. He stopped for a moment, blinking. A voice from behind them said, very calmly, "I am NOT a stick in the mud."

Bella, still holding Lohiya's hand, turned to look. Ayalmar was standing against a tree, a few feet behind them, his hand dripping with mud. Next to him was Iyasis, trying hard not to laugh. "Hello Bella," she said between chuckles. Bella lifted a hand and waved.

Lohiya let go of the tracker's hand, and turned to glare at the gryphon. "Oh, it is ON!" he yelled, rushing at him.

Bella laughed. Just like old times.

OoC-Edit: << Okaaaay... that's a lot shorter than I thought it was. >> Sorry. xD

[fire_by_rain]

OoC: *laughs* you know my boys way too well XD well, of course they are a bit on the predictable side...

BiC: Ayalmar grinned and bolted off into the trees, Lohiya hot on his tail. Iyasis laughed as they whirred by, smiling at Bella. "As i'm sure you can see, they haven't changed much " she grinned. "So i trust you've been well?"

The tracker smiled and nodded. "Yep ^^. Just same old stuff, really. Wandering, wandering, and if i'm lucky, some more wandering " she grinned.

The immortal chuckled. "Oh, how exciting." she mused.

Ayalmar u-turned so the two boys were coming back around, and with a smirk the gryphon, still running, half turned and shot out his left arm, palm out. There was a strange blur that rushed through the air, and suddenly Lohiya's feet froze in mid-run so he instantly fell over on his face. Ayalmar slowed to a stop, smirking.

Iyasis laughed. "Aaaand Ayamar's been practicing his new Demimancer status on Lohiya "

Ayalmar grinned. "And he makes such a wonderful guinea pig, does he not?"

Lohiya lifted his head, and spat out a clump of dirt. "Oh, so that's how you wanna play, huh tough guy? Well fine then. You aren't the only mancer here..." he jumped to his feet and flickered his fingers in a wave-like motion. He smiled. "And i've been at it far longer than you..."
The air began to tighten and swirl slowly around the gryphon. He blinked. "S*it..." he scowled, realizing what the blond was about to do. "That's not fair!"

Lohiya scoffed. "How so? It's exactly the same. You can't escape air, and i can't escape time." he smirked. "We're perfectly matched."

Ayalmar smirked even heavier. "Matched, are we?" Suddenly, seemingly from thin air, the man whipped out a long black staff. Three rings spun slowly around each other interwoven at its tip, not touching the staff itself, but just hovering there. Lohiya's eyes widened. Ayalmar muttered under his breath and the rings began to spin faster.

Lohiya backed up a bit. "Uh... heh. Hey now buddy... there's no need for that... >>;;" Ayalmar didn't stop. Lohiya looked jokingly nervous. "Ayalmar, i mean it... put it away, come on now... you don't really want to hurt me do you?" he gave him a childish puppy-eyed look.

Suddenly the swiftly spinning rings on the man's staff stopped abruptly. After a second of perfect silence, the ground beneath Lohiya exploded. He yelped. "Hot hot HOT!!!" he screamed, dancing up and down, prancing away from where he had stood but a moment before, where molten rock was beginning to ooz out of the ground.

Ayalmar smirked, blowing on the tip of his staff triumphantly. He tapped the staff end on the ground, and the earth closed back up, like nothing had happened. Lohiya scowled at him. "I liked you better when you were just a namarak." Ayalmar laughed.

OoC: YAY! an actual long post!!! XD

[southern belle]

Bella stood a few feet away, looking at them both and grinning. How she had missed this... "Now now boys," she said, smiling. "Can't you two ever play nicely together?"

Both gryphon and the roc turned to look at her and said, simultaneously, "No."

The Hylian laughed. "Ah well, if thousands of years couldn't do it, I guess I've got no hope." She put on an air of mock resignation.

Lohiya walked over, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Now that's the spirit!" He said, beaming down at her. He was rewarded by a gust of leaves blown at his face, and an angelic smile from the tracker.

The blonde was about to say something when a light mewing sound lilted through the clearing. Bella turned to see an orange head poking out of Ayalmar's pocket. "Rumples!" Abandoning Lohiya, she ran over to Ayalmar and plucked the kitten out of his pocket. She hugged the cat, who meowed at her. "Awww... I've missed you... :3" She paused, and blinked. "Heeeeey... you're not a kitten anymore!" The orange cat mewed, looking at her.

Lohiya stood where she had left him, a leaf still stuck in his hair. "...should I be at all worried that the cat got a more enthusiastic reception than I did? >>"

OoC: ...you can implement those ideas you mentioned anytime now. For the moment I'm left with nothing to post but witty banter... I almost resorted to them singing "We're off to see the wizard..." again. XP

And yay for kitties. <3

[fire_by_rain]

Ayalmar laughed, clapping a hand over the roc's back, staff vanishing. "Don't worry, brother. I'm sure you'll win out over the cat sooner or later," he grinned, then promptly ducked a swipe at his head from Lohiya.

The roc sighed dramatically. "No love for the poor birdy... " he pouted, slumping to sit on the forest floor, sniffling.

Ayalmar chuckled. "Sorry bud, i can't hold a lot of understanding sympathy for ya... im covered here " he grinned, as he wrapped an arm around Iya's waist beside him, who laughed a bit.

Lohiya sighed again, louder this time. "Well fine," he said loudly, emphasized; glancing over at the tracker's direction. "Then i guess *Bella* won't get to learn about the *new exciting adventure* that we called her for in the *first place*..." he gazed down at his fingernails casually.

Bella blinked, turning from the cat over to the air master. "What new adventure?" she asked curiously.

"No no, yoooouu chose the cat... get HIM to tell you about it... since his word is cleeeary better than mine..." he said in an aloof tone, eyebrows raised.

The other couple chuckled softly, amused.