Underground Twilight (Safer's Advanced Students)

OOC: With some added… prodding, I’ve finally gotten around to making an assignment for my advancies. Now that we have THREE, this can actually spark something.

POSTING ORDER AS OF 2/8/07. Subject to change:

Safer
Maru Nui
MaskedLegend
HitokiriChibi
Ciroton
Vane Dayrose

BiC: Tokumaru held his pen quaveringly, dipping the quill back into the ink and dashing it messily onto a piece of parchment. His hazel eyes followed the pen as it skidded across the paper, leaving behind it a hardly-legible, awful-handwriting passage, like a sea of sticky black goop over a manila canvas. Finishing the letter silently, Tokumaru signed it in kanji and sealed it in an envelope with a wax seal. He grabbed another piece of parchment, and began rewriting the same letter.

When he finished this one, he wrapped it up in the same fashion as the one before, and finished yet another, sealing it in another envelope. His tasks complete, Tokumaru swished his hair out of his face and swung around, letting his feet tap down on the floor as he rested his hands on his hips, looking around his simple room of ages passed.

“Domerii,” he said kindly, and a phantasmal character rose from the ground. He stood short and stout, adorned in a simple black uniform, with no apparent expression on his face.

“Yes, master Kyô?” he asked neutrally. Tokumaru handed the Domerii the letters, and patted him on the shoulder.

“Please, give these to the students to which they’re addressed, thank you,” the samurai said. The Domerii nodded, and disappeared into the floor. Shortly after, flames engulfed Tokumaru, and he was transported to where the letter led:

Good day,

It is my pleasure, as your teacher, to invite you to a most splendid and challenging event. After analyzing your past trials and feats, I have come to the conclusion that you are ready for a challenge such as this. This will be the opportunity of a lifetime, and will grant you an experience you will never forget. However, your life could be at stake, so keep that in mind if you dare attempt it. If you are so brave as to undergo my challenge, report to the Volcano Room as soon as you get this letter. Thank you very much.

Regards,

Tokumaru Kyô

OOC: My three advancies, post in any order, once each, with your character receiving the letter and going to the Volcano Room. That order will be how we post for the rest of the lesson. This is going to be a LOT of fun, trust me. Also, with the exclusion of these three beginning posts, once the order is set, you have ONE WEEK to respond when it is your turn, or you shall be skipped. Note: If you’re new to the Advance Class, and are not among the original three advancies, please refer to my next post, which is after the three posts by your fellow advancies following this one.

Lyra was sprawled out on her bed, a book placed in front of her. Her head rested on the pale pages, her auburn hair out of its usual ponytail and taking over whatever space it possibly could. Her bare foot lay dangling over the edge of the bed, her large toe slightly twitching. Her other foot rested on her pillow. The Hylian’s head was right by the window in her room. The large, square window was open all the way, letting in the salty sea air. Her hair ruffled from the light breeze.

A loud knocking on the door abruptly woke the teenager. She bolted up, her eyes still partially closed. “Say wha?” she muttered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Geeze, that wasn’t very comfortable…” She rubbed her neck, trying to get the crick out of it, when the knocking continued. Groaning, Lyra got up, tiptoeing over her various piles of clothes, possessions, and other semi-identifiable objects. She stepped over her boots, which were lying on their sides in front of the door, and managed to reach the doorknob. She opened the door a crack and looked to see who could possibly be at the door.

Standing in front of her was a small creature that was garbed in black. He stared at Lyra with a blank expression. “Uh…can I help you?” the young Hylian asked, blinking her eyes as she got the last bit of sleep out of them. I think I’ve seen this creature before, though I’m not quite sure where or when, she thought to herself as she examined the Domerii.

“Are you Lyra?” the Domerii asked monotonously, looking at her.

“The one and only,” she muttered as she opened the door a bit more and leaned against the door frame.

“I have a letter for you from Master Kyô,” he replied pulling out a letter from a pocket that Lyra had failed to notice. Lyra grabbed the letter, and the Domerii disappeared into the floor.

“Odd,” she commented as she closed her blue door. Walking back to her bed, she plopped down on it and ripped open the letter. Glancing at the paper addressed to her with blue-green eyes, she read the note, which was written in a sloppy, barely-legible handwriting. Rubbing her eyes once more, she did her best to decipher what had been written.

She managed to make out that it was a note requesting her to attend a challenging event. Right away Lyra realized the note was from her teacher, Tokumaru Kyô. As if to reassure herself, her gaze shot down to the signature, which she recognized as Tokumaru’s. She returned to the top of the paper and continued reading. Her lips curved upward into a cocky smile as she saw the line that read: “After analyzing your past trials and feats, I have come to the conclusion that you are ready for a challenge such as this.” As Lyra read the rest of the letter, she saw the line that said her life could be at risk by taking part in this challenge. She scoffed it off, thinking to herself, Like I’d let myself get killed. That’s a laugh!

Once she finished reading the note, she crumpled it up and tossed it to her desk; she missed miserably. Shrugging, she got up and grabbed her brown boots. While she pulled them on, she looked around her room for her brown bag. The auburn-haired teen finally found the bag underneath her desk. Laughing at herself, she grabbed the bag, as well as the sword that hung on the chair nearby. She grabbed a string and lazily tied back her messy hair, knowing that some hairs would manage to find a way to escape from her ponytail anyway. She checked to make sure had everything she needed and exited her room.

She traversed through the Dome, which, as usual, was empty. Lyra wasn’t bothered by the lack of people; if anything, she preferred it. Having sailed around the Great Sea for four years on her own, she was used to being by herself. Besides, she wasn’t one who could hold a conversation with someone for long periods of time.

Lyra glanced around every so often, looking for the door that lead to the Volcano Room. It wasn’t very hard to miss; it was bright red, and though every door in the dome was unique in its own way, the Volcano Room’s door just seemed to contrast with the other doors. As her footsteps echoed through the empty hallways, she relaxed and thought of the Volcano Room. With any luck, the Dome would lead her to the Volcano Room.

When she glanced to her right, she saw a fire-red door. She reached for the doorknob, feeling the heat the emitted from it. Grasping the handle, she felt the heat surge through her hand. Despite being able to stand heat with more ease than others, it the hot metal burned at her hand. Trying to ignore the sharp pain, she turned the handle and opened the door. She let go of the doorknob immediately and walked through the opening.

She glanced around the barren plain of the Volcano Room, seeing the volcano on the horizon. Closing the door, Lyra walked forwards, scuffing her feet on the dry ground. “So, what should I do now?” Lyra asked herself, glancing at the volcano once more.

“Well, the first thing you can do is wait for the others to arrive,” a man’s voice suggested.

Lyra spun around, unsheathing her sword. She automatically got into a fighting stance, though relaxed when the saw the owner of the voice. Chuckling at herself, she sheathed her sword. “Figures that you’re here before everyone else. I should’ve known. Nice to see you again, Mister Tokumaru,” she said, mentally laughing at herself for not recognizing his voice. “So there are others coming?”

He nodded at his student. “They should be here soon,” he replied.

“Cool.” When it finally registered in Lyra’s head that she would be meeting some of Tokumaru’s other students, she realized that she would most likely have to talk to them and even possibly work alongside them. “Fun,” she muttered sarcastically to herself as she sat down on the hard ground.

OoC: Sorry for the delay. Here I go...

BiC: The half angel awoke in her room. The vision from the dagger still confused her. What had the dagger done to the Seasons tribe? Where did they go after the dagger was put away? She had many more questions and this place seemed to be the root of it all. The tribe's first member had come here originally and taken the dagger. Her mind soon wandered from the tribe to her "imprisonment" in the Dome. She had not gotten word from Tokumaru for quite a while. A sigh came out and she fell back onto her bed.

"I haven't flown in a while," she commented, "I haven't seen the sky, grass, trees, or anything but these stone walls. I should have found a library or something fun to do by now."

Sylva could only look at the ceiling now and wonder what was happening back at Urbes. She didn't know how long she has been within these walls, whether it has only been a day or a month. Out of pure loss of interest, she began looking her sword over for any clues, but she would always see the same four words that depicted the seasons of the world. The angel stood up and headed for the door when something came up in front of her from the floor. She fell back onto her bed while the sword fell to the ground. This thing was wearing black and only looked at her.

"By any chance, are you Sylva Winter?" it asked.
"I am. What the hell are you?" she shouted back from fear.
"I am a Domerii, messenger of the Dome," it answered, "I have a letter for you from Master Kyô."
"Who?" the sword wielder asked.
"Tokumaru." the Domerii replied, handing the letter to the angel.

Sylva nodded in appreciation as it went through the floor again. She shivered after it left and opened the letter, interpreting the horrid handwriting of her teacher. It was an invitation to some challenge. The angel smiled at that point, excited that something was finally going to happen and then continued reading.

This will be the opportunity of a lifetime, and will grant you an experience you will never forget.

She looked back at her sword, thought about the vision, and nodded, already accepting the invitation. She kept reading anyway.

However, your life could be at stake, so keep that in mind if you dare attempt it.

She stared at those words for a bit, but brushed it off again. The angel had fought in a few impossible situations and lived, so how much harder could this be. She read the last bit of information.

If you are so brave as to undergo my challenge, report to the Volcano Room as soon as you get this letter.

The angel picked up her sword, sheathed it, and headed for the Volcano Room. It wasn't going to be too hard. In fact, whenever she left her room on her own, she would always arrive at the Volcano Room. A few turns here and there and the red hot door was in front of her. Sure enough, she reached, what she now labeled, the Door of Destiny. Of course, on the other side of this red hot door would be the Volcano Room. She cooled down the knob with Blizzard, like always, and opened the door, the heat once again pushing for a way out.

The barren landscape of flames, steam, and volcanic smoke was becoming her home. The angel wanted to go to the volcano's peak and see if the dagger was still up there, but she spotted someone on the ground. This person was looking at the door, apparently. It was a female with reddish-brown hair and long ears. She wore a light blue shirt, brown pants and boots, and a sword was next to her on the ground. The angel walked over to this mystery girl.

"Hello." Sylva greeted.
The girl looked at her and then looked back at the door and said, "Hey."
"Are you here for Tokumaru's challenge?" she asked, smiling.
"Yes." the mysterious one answered.
"I'm Sylva." the angel announced, holding out a hand.
"Lyra." the girl introduced, taking the hand, proceeding to waiting.

The angel walked a bit forward and prepared to fly to the volcano.

"You can't do that now." a voice stated.

The angel looked to her right and saw Tokumaru, her teacher.

"Why not?" she asked.
"We're still waiting for another student. Be patient," the samurai said.
"Can I at least stretch my wings as long as I don't go near the volcano?" Sylva negotiated.
"Alright, but get back here when the last student comes in." Tokumaru said.

With that, Sylva took off, her eyes looking at where the door would be when the new arrival came in.

OoC: Tell me if I need to change something.

OoC: Hmph, FFXII made me late for this Also, sorry if it's short, but I kinda had to rush. My schedule has become tight because I procrastinate too much ^^;;

BiC: It was dark out. Very dark now…and Luce had not yet been able to fall into sleep. He kept attempting to fill the large gap in his head that seemed to encumber the space of his last few hours. The last thing he remembered was lying on this hospital bed, staring up at Tokumaru Kyô. He had remembered Tokumaru from the war that was waged against the great overlord, Drago Universi, and the mighty demon, Rein Aeria. Luce had not personally been there for the battle, but he came in the aftermath to help heal the wounded and bury the dead; that’s when he first saw the Heavenflame Samurai. I wonder what fates decided that we meet again… I mean it isn’t like we had a grand ole’ time and became friends, the crusader thought.

He had only been at the Dome for two hours now, and he had no idea how he even knew that it was called the Dome. He slowly got up out of bed and walked towards the door. He was feeling better now and he felt that he should find out where exactly he was. The grand general slowly put his hand out and twisted the metallic doorknob on the door that led out into the corridor. As the door slowly creaked open and he stepped out, he felt something under his foot. It was an envelope with a little sticker on the side. He bent down, perplexed, and picked it up to observe. The little sticker read: You are Late!

“Tch, late for what?” he asked himself as he ripped open the envelope. His eyes skimmed the letter quickly, without care, highlighting a few key words: invite, challenge, opportunity of a lifetime, life…at stake, brave, Volcano Room… Something in his head clicked when he finished and he decided to reread the whole thing. This time he started laughing as he finished, realizing that he had done nothing and was being asked to join this thing. From what he got out of it, Tokumaru had been searching for great warriors and had been observing them; he had no idea that this whole place was a massive school and Tokumaru was referring to students. Of course, he had completely ignored the part where the samurai stated that he was the teacher.

“What could this mean? Well, I guess I’ll have to find this Volcano Room and talk to Tokumaru about it. He knew there would be others there, and maybe he could get some fun out of it.

“Oh… Finally!” came a voice from down the hall. It was the Domeril, but Luce hadn’t heard it.

Master Spearseten turned down the long corridor the opposite of where the Domeril was. He observed the walls that were completely crowded with strange looking doors, each unique their own way. It was impossible for entire rooms to fit in such tight spaces, so he assumed that there was some sort of magic governing them. The colors and shapes of everything in the Dome were completely contrasting and he had no idea what he was looking for.

Finally, after a long search, he felt a massive aura of heat coming from his left. Sure enough, he turned to face a heavily decorated, red door that radiated heat. He touched the handle of the door without pain and opened it slowly to reveal a massive landscape of fire and rock. In the distance was a massive volcano that dominated the surroundings on the horizon.

“Ah, you have arrived,” came the familiar voice of Tokumaru. “We can finally begin now.”

“Whoa, it’s just me and these two girls?” Luce asked with a hidden smile. He shot a wink over at the other two and made his was over to Tokumaru. “Well, what is this all about anyway?”

“Well, this is a class of my advanced students: these two. I am basically inviting you into it, considering that I know of what you are capable of.

“Hah, bring it on then!”

OOC: Woot! Oh lol’d, I am so excited. I’ll explain the details in the OOC after this post. And if you think I’m going to sit back and watch, au contraire, you’d be wrong. I’m in this baby too, till the end! (Oh, Vane, by the way… Inscarem here is different from our Inscarem. Same name, different places. XD. Also, please delete that OoC post up there.)

BiC: Tokumaru shuffled around a bit, remaining quiet at his hair bobbled in the dry breeze that scattered across the barren wasteland. The desolation of the Volcano Room, his personal training arena, spanned until it met is own horizon, signaling that it went far beyond normal comprehension. Stuffing a hand in his kimono in yakuta style, he looked at his students with pride.

“Luce,” he said, addressing the general, “I want you to know that I am very happy you have come to the Dome when you did. A challenge such as this would not be the same without a man of your caliber—nor yours, ladies.”

His students shuffled around different faces of emotion, not knowing what to really respond with. Tokumaru smiled.

“But enough with the greetings, no? I am here to tell you a tale of old lore, spanning far beyond my time, the times of your fathers, or their fathers. I suggest you take a seat.”

With a quick wave of his hand, the ground shook for half a moment, and three orbs of magma shot out from the Volcano afar, pummeling through the air and landing lightly on the ground behind his students. Waving his hand back in the other direction, Tokumaru’s eyes glinted, and the magma hardened into three earthenware—yet comfortable—chairs. The samurai remained standing as his students took their seats.

“Tell me,” he said calmly, “have any of you heard of the Kiramaern?”

His students held blank looks.

“Heh,” Tokumaru chuckled, “I’d thought not. The Kiramaern is a very interesting thing—countless men have given their lives to find it, and yet thousands still have given their lives to get away from it. It is a symbol of death, and a symbol of rebirth. Of light and dark. Of good and evil. This omnipotent, Yin-Yang-esque power source is the ultimate goal for those who wish to discover their true strengths.

“Even I have not unraveled all the mysteries of the Kiramaern, but I can say these facts with unbridled certainty: The Kiramaern exists in the realm called Inscarem, a crystalline place lost in the rifts between worlds. The gates to Inscarem open at random times, but each opening is rare and extravagant, lasting from a few seconds to centuries at a time. However, the gates are a one-way path. This is where things become interesting.

“Once in Inscarem, the only way to get out is to find the Kiramaern. In doing so, the Kiramaern will read your mind and soul, and, if it so wishes, will grant you your heart’s greatest desires…or it could harm you in a way that will scar you forever; it all depends upon what you’ve done with your life, i.e., evil gets treated with evil, and good gets treated with good. I can’t guarantee which one the Kiramaern shall bestow, but I can tell you that it will take you out of Inscarem regardless. Finding the Kiramaern is the challenge, a challenge which I ask each of you to try. Together, we can find the Kiramaern, and have our greatest dreams fulfilled.”

The wind howled eerily as the thoughts of conquest echoed through their minds. A long pause followed, and Tokumaru turned around to face his back to his students, revealing his wings.

“The gate has come. If you desire to come along on this adventure, please, follow me. There will be no turning back until we find the Kiramaern, unfortunately, so make sure you chose carefully. I await you on the other side.”

And in an instant, a shining rip appeared in the air in front of Tokumaru—he stepped in.

OOC: Okay, a recap: The Kiramaern is a power that gives one his or her greatest dreams, or worst nightmares, depending upon the choices that that person has made in his or her life. The Kiramaern exists in the realm of Inscarem, a crystalline land trapped in a rift between worlds. Once we go in, there is no coming out until we find the Kiramaern, for this power is the only thing that can return us to the surface world. We don’t all have to touch it at once, it’s re-usable, but only once per person. If you have any other questions, please PM me.

NOTE: Please have your next post be with your characters’ thoughts about the situation, feelings about what to do, and—provided they accept the challenge—walking through the gate. When and if they do, they’ll enter a dark hallway, with the light at the end being the only illumination. Do not exit the tunnel through the shining end, I will be doing that in my post. I won’t be putting criteria like this on many posts (because this is an RP, after all), but this time it’s necessary. I know the basics of this world that I have recently created, so for the rest, we’re going to create it together. Good luck!

Posting order: Rising Light, DarkZeroHyrule, Vane Dayrose. To all others who will join: Post whenever you like, just try and hop in (I’ll make sure you find a way to the gate) anyway you can. Whoever you post in between in the order will seal your posting spot in the order.

Lyra looked at her fellow classmates. One of them was a teenage girl who went by the name of Sylva. She had dark blue hair that ended at her waist. Her pale skin contrasted with the dark hair and made her brown eyes seem darker. She had watched the dark-haired teen as she flew around, wondering if this girl was an angel. The other student was a full-grown man whom Tokumaru had called Luce. He was a good head taller than Lyra. His blonde hair stuck out at odd angles, and he had facial hair of the same color. The Hylian teen grimaced as he winked at Sylva and her. Great, she thought angrily, I’m going to be working with a pervert. She resisted the urge to shudder. Goddesses, he’s probably at least twice my age!

Pushing her thoughts aside, she focused her attention on her teacher, who had begun to talk. As he asked the three of them if they knew what a Kiramaern was, Lyra stared at her teacher with a blank gaze, wondering what he was going on about. He explained that the Kiramaern was a power that was in another realm. It could read people’s minds and could see people’s hopes and wishes. Tokumaru told them that it would either grant one of them the heart’s desire or would cause permanent damage, depending on whether their deeds were good or evil. It reminded Lyra of the Golden Power that was mentioned in the legends that the people spoke of in her world.

Oh Goddesses, Lyra thought, bringing her hand to her head. This creature could destroy me mentally, physically, or even both ways! It could make me relive my horrible nightmares… She remembered what she had experienced weeks ago when she had touched the mysterious dagger that she had found in the very room that she was standing in. Ever since that day, the vision had haunted her dreams, taunting her, making her think that her parents were fading away from her life. Even now, she struggled to remember what they looked like.

What if my deeds were evil deeds? I abandoned my parents all those years ago without even a letter to tell them what I was doing. They don’t know whether I’m alive or not; they don’t know where I am now. I’ve caused them so much pain and suffering, all for my selfish desires. I wanted to have adventures and be free from my parents' grasp, and I just thought about my own feelings. I didn’t even consider how my parents would feel about it.

My father… The auburn-haired teen shook her head. He understood my hopes and dreams. And my mother…she really did love me, despite her reactions towards what I wanted to do with my life. She just wanted to protect me. Running a hand through her hair, she struggled to remember their faces. She remembered her father’s hair that was redder than hers, and her mother’s eyes popped into her head; after all, those eyes were passed on to her. Finally, she remembered her little baby brother, Joshua. My Goddesses, he’s four by now! He’s lived four years without knowing his older sister! And older siblings are supposed to be role models.

She blinked away the tears that burned at her eyes. If I don’t confront my fears, I’ll never be able to live with myself. I have to do this, even if it means I’ll die. I’d rather have courage and die than be a coward and know that I couldn’t even defeat a nightmare. She inhaled deeply, trying to compose herself. I could wish for my family to know that I’m alright, and let them know that they don’t have to worry about me. That is, if the creature chooses me.

Lyra glanced around to see if Sylva or Luce had advanced towards the portal that had appeared. To her surprise, neither of them had moved yet. The Hylian gulped, her heart pounding in her chest. Someone has to go first, she told herself, looking at the portal. It was dark, an ominous air surrounding it. As much as she trusted her teacher, this portal was frightening. If she entered it, she would be transported to a land that she could quite possibly be trapped in for all eternity.

I have to do this, she convinced herself, forcing her feet to move forwards. She advanced towards the rift, trying not to show her doubts. Her head held up high, she gripped the hilt of her sword. She stopped just before it, her blue-green eyes examining it once more. She took a few more deep breaths, settling her nerves, and stepped into the darkness.

To her surprise, as soon as she entered the rift, she could see a light at the very end of the tunnel. It seemed to be far away, but Lyra forced herself to think that it wasn’t as far as it appeared to be. Darkness surrounded her, with no visible forms of light other than the one at the end of the tunnel. Not looking back, Lyra walked towards the bright light at the end, hoping it wasn’t the same light that people saw just before their deaths.

OoC: A quick question. Did you get the Kiramaern from Bleach?

BiC:The Kiramaern, the half angel thought, A symbol of rebirth and death. What would I do with such a thing - or rather, what would I ask of it - or what would it say about me? The Kiramaern - power that could heal or harm because of one's choices in life. So many things happened, some worse than others. What if they were all the wrong choices? What if evil was in her heart rather than good?

Sylva looked at the gate that lead to the challenge. Should I risk my life for something that can haunt me? She shook the idea from her head as another came in. What if it can explain this sword to me, or let me use some of its hidden power? This sword in her hand was branded with the four seasons and it could detect the elements. This sword held within it, the solution to her mystery of the Seasons. If the Kiramaern could help her unlock anything about it, then she could solve the mystery of the past.

The gate before her led to the land of Inscarem, where the only way out was the very item she feared. What will happen hen I reach this land? What if there truly is no Inscarem? The angel sat on the floor in despair. She would be risking everything by entering that gate. She could die or worse - she could live and be forever scarred by a physical or mental action. Besides, she only sort of knew Tokumaru, her teacher. These other two were strange to her. She cold only look at the two, and then at the gate where her teacher escaped into.

Sylva's mind went towards what might be happening in the village. They could be playing around in the clearing in the forest that mysterious bird attacked them when they were younger. Her parents might be with her friends, looking at the night's lights with her grandmother looking down on them from the world above. This whole adventure started to lose meaning to her as the gate still waited for someone to eat.

"Why did I leave?" she muttered to herself, "What did I have to gain by leaving? Maybe... I sh-should go."

At that point, some tears were beginning to fall as she rose. She gave the gate one last look and began to turn when other footsteps were heard. Sylva saw Lyra, the other girl in the group, go towards the gate and then step into the gate. The sword mage stood still, looking at where Lyra once stood.

"Why did she go?" she asked herself.

Something sparked in her mind. The spark created a flame that began engulfing her doubts and sorrows. Why did I leave?, she thought to herself, Am I stupid? Sylva lifted her head up, looked at the gate, where Lyra daringly entered, at Luce, the man she saw as enigmatic and a tad creepy, and back at the gate. Her tears, by now, evaporated from the heat of the room.

"I am the daughter of the angel Joseph Winter and the human Maria Winter," she whispered to herself, "Why did I leave? I left to find out about the past of my grandmother, of Urbes! I chose to go for adventure, not knowing what was out there. Everything was shrouded in darkness and I met Tokumaru, Rayu, and some others. I had so much fun and I didn't know that I would end up in the Dome. I came here and now I'll follow this through to the end! This gate is the beginning of everything! To Inscarem!"

The half angel lifted herself up into the air and flew into the gate without hesitation. The end result was a dark hallway. She could not see anything around her, but there was a light at the end of the hallway. I can't be dead. If I was, grandma would be right here to guide me back to the living, she thought.

"Is anyone here? Tokumaru? Lyra?" Sylva shouted at the top of her lungs, slowly reaching the light.

What a bad idea!, the demon figure spoke in her head.
Agreed, the angel figure spoke in the same place.

Interesting, Luce thought, wondering what was within this portal to "Inscarem." If it were the Inscarem that he knew it wouldn't be very easy, but if it wasn't, then it shouldn't be any more difficult to get through. This Kiramaern... he would use this to repay his best friend. It was clear as day in his head when Esni Dayrose had thwarted Soren's assasination attempt, and Luce had never really found a way to repay him. In fact, he had treated the poor kid like an inferior being just because of his age. Yes... he would give it to Esni.

The portal flashed before him like a giant vortex waiting to consume him. The others had already gone through and he was rather embarassed to be the last one there; beaten in courage by women! He laughed at that thought, knowing that he was always the late one and it had nothing to do with his own traits. Many things flashed through his mind as his hubris melted away and he began to realize how powerless he was compared to the demons that he fought with. He was always given so much credit by Vane, but Vane was the true hero.

"I am going to get this thing and share it with my friend, no matter what I have to go through to get it. Aside from Tokumaru, I doubt that anybody that's going to be in here is more powerful than me, but then again that's just more arrogance," he uttered to himself. It's just completely stupid to assume these things. I'll have to be at my best if I want to impress anyone. With that, he drew his spear and began to stroll towards the scalding volcano. He passed the portal and continued walking up the slope of the volcano.

He had no idea what was controlling him, but a part of his mind that was hidden from his consciousness knew.

"Luce, I know what you are doing," came the voice of a young man.

"What of it, and why are you drawing me here?" Luce called back.

"Heh, I cannot get inside the dome because I am not as skilled as you, but I can still get inside your head pretty easily. There is something I want you to try, which is why you must keep on walking."

"Whatever," Luce continued walking. He was almost halfway up the slope when the image of Nicanor Adams appeared in front of him. "Damn, your magic reaches pretty far.

"Indeed, I want you to have this item. This is the most I can do at my level, but I hope that this can help you," the prince said as he held out a small piece of paper.

"What is it?"

"Do not open it until you have reached Helios," was the boy's reply as his image faded. Luce made a crooked face as he slid the piece of paper under his armor and then began the walk back down. In a few seconds, he stood face to face with the portal once again. A smile crossed his face as he let himself walk through the portal and allowed his spirit and body to fly through dimensions.

When he arrived he saw a white light in the distance. Though tempted to touch the light he did not. The crusader knew better than to go off alone on such an important mission. Finally after a few seconds of looking he spotted the two girls and decided to walk over to their direction. They did not see eachother nor him, so he made sure that he didn't startle them. Sylva was closest to him, and Lyra wasn't much farther away. Tokumaru wasn't in sight at all, so Luce decided to stick with them for now.

OoC: This post is so awful. x_x

Well, I’ll be damned, they all came.

The Heavenflame, even in his infinitely glorious light, was hidden in a veil of darkness. Tendrils of murky black surrounded him as the light of his fire was instantly submerged to only his view, his hazel eyes fixated on the gleaming light of the surface ahead; this cavern, this seemingly endless form of blackness clouded Tokumaru’s vision like a miasma. However, as humbled and calm as he was, the Heavenflame trudged onward, his students trailing not too far behind.

When the light at the end of the tunnel became so close that it caused Tokumaru’s eyes to begin to adjust, the samurai turned around, and yelled deep into the cavern.

“Run as fast as you can to the entryway! There is no peril, but this is a sight worth seeing as quickly as possible.”

The steps behind him picked up, and Tokumaru whizzed back around, unfurling his wings and heading straight for the exit right ahead of him. A hearty laugh escaped him when he was let out of the cavern, and into the splendour of Inscarem. The sky was a great azure dome, with thing white slits of wispy clouds floating about. The sun hung high in the midday sun, warming the earth and all that inhabited it.

In front of Tokumaru spanned a vast field which would take awhile to cross, reaching outwards to a great mountain range in the south, which spanned to the horizon on the east and west. A few towers dotted the tops of these mountains, which, once they ascended high enough, were covered by thick clouds. It was a pure place, untouched by anything evil—to the naked eye, anyway—it rang of beauty, grace, and tranquility.

Within a few moments, Tokumaru’s students found their way up behind him, and marveled on their own the great spectacle of this field leading to the mountains.

“Damn,” Luce said with a chuckle, “have you ever seen such a big lot of nothing?”

Tokumaru pointed to the mountains.

“Plenty of times, yes. Now, I suppose, seeing as how this cavern lurches up right out of the field, and everything back in its direction is field, and the only things ahead of us are mountains… we should head towards them. Besides, there are towers there in those ranges. Perhaps we can find some assis—”

There was a loud crackle, and suddenly, a similar gate to the one they had all just stepped through opened up in front of Tokumaru. On the defensive, the samurai unsheathed his sword in the blink of an eye, but quickly sheathed it as three bodies were flung out of the gate; they all landed with a loud “Oof!”

Tokumaru raised an eyebrow

“Hmm, that’s right, I remember now… I was told three students were finding their way to the Dome right before I called to have you all brought into Inscarem.”

“Inscawhat?” one of the students asked. Tokumaru chuckled a bit.

“Well, first, allow me to introduce myself. I am Tokumaru Kyô, and you have arrived at the Dome, a place of training for warriors across the universe. Right now, we are in a world that exists in a gap between dimensions. Technically, this entire planet is under the Dome, which is why Inscarem is often referred to as the Dome’s ‘Underground Twilight’. Nevertheless, Inscarem… well… it’s a bit of a long story.”

And for the next few moments, Tokumaru explained what he had just explained to his other students moments ago.

“So you see, you’re here whether or not you like it, so you might as well enjoy it,” Tokumaru said sagely. “I’m a very nice person once you get to know me, and I’m sure that your peers here would enjoy some more accompaniment. Let’s head for the mountains, shall we?”

OoC: I know, I know, this was riddled with continuity errors. All my advancies who were already here, wait for these three advancies to post before posting. The new order will proceed as whatever order the new advancies post stacked on top of the old order. To my new advancies: check your inboxes.

So, now we’ve got this thing on the road. But it’s not just my journey now. We’re going to build this world together, we’re going to build relationships between our fellow students, and we're going to write not just a joint assignment, but an interactive story in itself. Let’s have some fun, guys!

OoC: Sorry for describing the characters of others a bit... I read their character personalities and went from there to describe them from how Joker would view them ^-^; if anything is wrong just PM me and i'll alter it.

BiC:
Joker slowly opened his eyes and winced, his body aching where it had connected so solidly with the floor. One minute he’d been bounding into that big building he’d found in the woods and the next he’d felt he was being sucked into a portal, and not one summoned by him.

Picking himself up off the ground Joker briefly surveyed the surrounding, taking in the panoramic view afforded by their vantage point. Grimacing he tugged his still damp shirt and vest away from his skin and realised the man with wings and a white kimono was speaking.

“… allow me to introduce myself. I am Tokumaru Kyô, and you have arrived at the Dome, a place of training for warriors across the universe. Right now, we are in a world that exists in a gap between dimensions. Technically, this entire planet is under the Dome, which is why Inscarem is often referred to as the Dome’s ‘Underground Twilight’. Nevertheless, Inscarem… well… it’s a bit of a long story.” This was the man, slightly shorter than Joker and wearing a white kimono was saying and Joker listened as seriously as he could until the man, Tokumaru he reminded himself, was finished giving them the lay down.

The Dream Weaver paused and examined the situation. He was surrounded by six other people, two males and four females, a bonus in Joker’s opinion. The girl with elf ears held herself away slightly from the group while another, slightly older one with a rod in her hands kept her eyes on everyone warily. The one with white hair and sapphire eyes also kept watch on those around her while the angelic with navy hair stood passively, displaying little contention with those around her as the others had. Obviously Joker now knew the man with wings was Tokumaru while the other with dark blonde hair was spiky in appearance seemed to be a battle hardened warrior. Not one to get on the bad side, Joker decided resolutely.

Having assessed the new people nowin his life Joker smiled.

Then Joker pounced. Literally. He wasn’t the sort to really think things through in his head so when he had questions he verbalised them in a physical and oral manifestation that always managed to confuse or irritate people.

“Inscarem? This place? What caused the portal to get me? Did you do that? You have same skill as Joker to create portals to a different Realm? Joker’s not a very good warrior though, is that bad?” he pouted then went back to grin happily at Tokumaru, “Who are these people? Is everyone like this in your Realm? Joker’s realm only has humans in it, unless I go to the Dream Realm, then people alter their appearances,” he paused for a breath then grinned happily as he slapped his forehead.

“Aiyah! Joker forgot to introduce himself!” At this some of the others glanced at each other is trepidation, it was self-evident who he was, what with him speaking third person and all. Joker was past noticing that kind of reaction to himself, he was busy seeing how people would react to him and by that how far he could push each of them before they tried to kill him.

“Joker be Joker~!” At this everyone nodded slowly. Perhaps they even started wondering if he was a simpleton. Either way they were all surprised when he started leaping from one person to the next, giving them all big tackle hugs, beginning with Tokumaru of course. Oh and his clothes were still a bit wet…

One of the girls who had white hair saw him coming towards her, sapphire eyes widening with some fierce emotion as she ducked beneath his tackle and watched in apprehension as he twisted mid-air, did a handspring upon reaching the ground and flipped around to face her.

Joker pouted, his long bangs shading his eyes as he looked at her reproachfully, “You don’t want Joker’s hug? Everyone likes Joker’s hugs! Why don’t you want Joker?!” the last ended on a wail, his voice usually in the tenor range lifting to as close to a soprano as he could make it. Suddenly he jumped and slapped himself in the chest, looking down as he pulled out a small fish that must’ve been caught in his clothes from his earlier dunk in a lake near what he now knew was the Dome. Looking at the fish then the girl he grinned gamely, “Peace offering?”

Abruptly his mood changed and he looked at Tokumaru who seemed to have watched the confusion with some amusement. “Tokumaru sir, Joker will do his best to help… so long as this place or the people continue to be amusing to Joker.”

Finally the other male of the group, a big man with dirty blonde hair spoke, “You would willingly hinder our quest of glory if this isn’t amusing?”

Joker grinned at him cat like, “Joker doesn’t do anything that isn’t fun. Life is fun for Joker and if its not fun Joker would DIE!” he finished melodramatically, clutching his chest as he swooned towards a girl with auburn hair and elfish ears who abruptly sidestepped to avoid him.

The stone doors of the elevator opened slowly, light from the outside spilling into the dark confines of the elevator. The sight that met the half-demon’s eyes was incredible; a long marble hall as high as a cathedral endowed with beautiful engravings all along both of its walls. Along each wall rose tall, slender stained glass windows bathing the white hall in multitudes of colour. Aleena stepped beyond the threshold of the elevator into the serene beauty of the hall, the doors behind her slammed shut, however, she felt no fear.

Every step she took down the hallowed hall echoed seamlessly, giving a hint as to how vast it truly was. The young woman continued down the hall, her sight turning to the intricate drawing upon the walls. The walls, split into panels, depicted different scenes ranging from fearsome creatures, to violent battles to sacred objects. Wow, thought the half-demon as she continued to walk down the hall. This dome place is sure intriguing. I would have hated to be one of the people that made this place though. Aleena, her attention diverted, walked straight into a door at the very end of the hall.

“Son of a,” cursed the half-demon. The heavy wooden door in front of her, painted pure white to compliment the marble walls of the light-saturated halls, beckoned her to open them and further venture into the Dome. Aleena grasped the handle of the door, doubt beginning to fill her head. Should I really go through with this? thought the young woman. Who knows what lies beyond it? Well, I guess I cannot go back, and I never saw any other door.

However, without any prompting from Aleena, the door opened squeaking as if it had not moved in centuries. When it opened completely, the young half demon met the sight of a strange wall of light. The wall’s opaque surface absorbed all the light around it, making it glow more intensely as each second passed. Aleena paused for a few seconds, taken back by the strange sight. Eventually, however, her natural curiosity got the better of her, so she briskly stepped into the wall of light.

What awaited her on the other side could not be anymore the opposite then what the portal had first promised. It was as though a cloud of darkness had surrounded Aleena, leaving only a tiny pinpoint of light at the other end of the vast darkness. This is stupid, thought the young woman. However, when she turned around to leave, she found only nothing but darkness. Hell, it looks like I really can’t go back now. So, the young half-demon walked toward the pinpoint of light. After what felt like an eternity of walking, Aleena finally reached the other end of the tunnel. She tentatively outstretched her hand to touch the surface of the wall, but when she made contact, it was as if a giant invisible hand shoved her through.

On the other side of the portal lay a vast field with some mountains in the distance. However, the half-demon had no time to take in the sight as she fell flat on her face to the grass below. The impact had completely knocked the wind out of Aleena, stunning her for a few seconds. However, she wasn’t the only one who came out of the gate, as two others landed on her back, driving her face further into the dirt.

“Hmm, that’s right, I remember now… I was told three students were finding their way to the Dome right before I called to have you all brought into Inscarem,” said a strange voice that Aleena could tell was male.

“Inscawhat?” sounded one of the people on top of the half-demon. The man that first spoke began to chuckle, most likely at the question itself. Aleena struggled to get free of the crushing weight of the two people on top of her. Well, now I know what people feel like after I turn up the gravity, thought the half-demon as she forced the other people off her.

One of the people who landed on top of her was a rather enigmatic man who spoke as if he was a complete idiot. Moron, thought the half-demon savagely. After saying some incomprehensible things, went around hugging everyone. Naturally, Aleena hated the idea greatly. After everyone had finally settled down, the man who first spoke addressed the three.

“Well, first, allow me to introduce myself. I am Tokumaru Kyô, and you have arrived at the Dome, a place of training for warriors across the universe. Right now, we are in a world that exists in a gap between dimensions. Technically, this entire planet is under the Dome, which is why Inscarem is often referred to as the Dome’s ‘Underground Twilight’. Nevertheless, Inscarem… well… it’s a bit of a long story.”

Oh great, a lecture, thought the Aleena acidly. She was never the one to appreciate lectures, however, she decided it was best to listen. After all, she was in a strange place and had no idea why she was here. Yet, during the lecture, Aleena found herself looking at everyone else in the group. The group consisted of seven members, three males, and four females. However, to her great displeasure, most of them were human. Although she let her eye wander, the half-demon had been listening intently to the conversation, and found the idea of an object that could make dreams, or nightmares, come true to be wondrous, yet disturbing, at the same time. However, she absolutely hated the idea of being stuck in this “Inscarem” place until they found that artifact.

“So you see, you’re here whether or not you like it, so you might as well enjoy it,” Tokumaru said sagely. “I’m a very nice person once you get to know me, and I’m sure that your peers here would enjoy some more accompaniment. Let’s head for the mountains, shall we?”

“Wait a minute,” Aleena finally said, catching everyone’s attention. “Before you start barking orders at me, I want some questions answered,” demanded the young woman. “First off, why the hell am I here? The last thing on my mind was going on some dangerous expedition for some relic. What does this stupid Kiramaern thing have to do with me?”

Tokumaru stood there for a few seconds, obviously trying to find the right to use, kind of like Aleena herself. "Well, you've stumbled upon the Dome, and apparently it has chosen me to be your instructor. And seeing as how that gate is one way... you're pretty much stuck in here," he said facing the young half-demon. “Also, the Kiramaern has noting to do with you really. This was just a chance I was extending to my students to achieve greatness. If you'd like to go on your own, that's fine, but I'd wish you good luck in finding an exit without help."

“Alright then. I guess Ill just stick around,” said the half-demon grudgingly. She threw an acidic look toward the person named Joker. What an appropriate name, she though acidly.

“Wow.”

Lyra was struck speechless as she found herself in the world called Inscarem. She had thought that this world would be a dark and mysterious world. To her surprise, it was quite the opposite. She found herself standing in a large, open field that stretched out for miles. In the distance Lyra could make the shape of mountains. The sky was a bright blue with a few wispy clouds floating in it. Lyra couldn’t believe that this place was where they would search for the power that her teacher had mentioned.

As Tokumaru began explaining to the pupils what they were going to do, there was a loud disturbance. There was a cackling sound, followed by the opening of a portal. As Lyra wondered to herself what was going on, three people were flung out from the portal. Lyra cocked her head, wondering what these people were doing here.

What the hell is going on? How did these people manage to get here? Why are they here in the first place?

Her questions were soon answered as Tokumaru mused out loud, “Hmm, that’s right, I remember now… I was told three students were finding their way to the Dome right before I called to have you all brought into Inscarem.”

Lyra grimaced. Wonderful. More people to work with.

The young Hylian, used to working by herself for years, was none too fond of socializing, much less working, with these people. One of them, who introduced himself as Joker, felt the need to hug everyone, despite being soaking wet. Glaring at him, she felt that she would be on the verge of killing him some time during this adventure. When he swooned over to her, she stepped out of the way. Looking over to the other new arrival, she saw that she was at least a head taller than the Hylian. Judging by the look of hatred in her eyes, Lyra figured she wasn’t too fond of the person named Joker either.

“Elf girl is too quiet! Joker thinks she’s no fun!” Joker’s face blocked her view of the world, bright purple eyes replacing the landscape.

“Did you just call me an elf?” Lyra questioned, her voice just barely a whisper. She clenched her fists, fighting the urge to draw her sword. Joker nodded, oblivious to her anger. Blood rose to her face as her anger rose. Taking a deep breath, the Hylian tied in vain to calm down. The last thing she needed to do was get on her teacher’s bad side because she choked one of his students. “Contrary to what you might think, I am not an elf,” she hissed at him. “So, it would be wise of you not to call me that again.”

She gave him one last glare before turning around. This is going to be tough. How can I work with him without wanting to strangle him! Letting out one last exasperated sigh, she turned to the other students. I really hope that no one else here is as annoying as Joker. Putting on a forced smile, she turned to the other new arrival and said, “Lyra. Nice to meet you.” She offered a hand to the white-haired girl. When she didn’t respond to her offer, Lyra moved her hand back to her side, shrugging.

Another person who doesn’t seem fond of working with others. And to think, I thought I was the only one! The Hylian’s smile changed from a fake, cheery smile to a real, understanding smile. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.”

Turning her attention to Tokumaru, she asked with curiosity, “Where are we off to, again?” She shrugged. “I didn’t catch what you said before they arrived.” She nodded towards the newer students.

“We’re going to the mountains,” he replied. He added quietly, so only she would hear, “Please try to control your temper. You’re going to have to work with everyone, so you’d best try to get along with them.”

Lyra nodded, although she knew that it would be a challenge. Well, he did warn us that it would be a challenging trip. Brushing aside a few stray hairs from her face, the auburn-haired teen glanced at the mountain range once more.

OoC: Eh, I've had better posts...

The tunnel seemed to take all the light of the tunnel and place it in the front. After hearing Tokumaru shout, she flew towards the exit and looked at the landscape. She had to divert most of her energy to keep herself from dropping her jaw. Therefore, she landed on the ground as a gate opened. Her sensei had unsheathed his sword as quickly as the gate appeared. This gate spat out three people and closed again.

As Tokumaru spoke to the newcomers about the situation they were now in, a man named Joker referred to himself in the third person as he tried to hug everyone with his wet clothes.

What an odd person, she thought, Did he just skip me?

Another newcomer had avoided Joker's hug and refused Lyra's hand. This cold person seemed to not like company more than Lyra. Although now she had to share the search for the Kiramaern with the rest of them. The third student had not said anything since they entered. Sylva thought over what they should do.

Maybe I should talk to Joker, she thought to herself.

Not in your life!, the demon thought.

He seems nice, the angel thought.

He seems psycho!

Against her darkest thoughts, she went up to him after Lyra lectured to him about what not to call her.

"I'm Sylva" she said, extending her hand.

Joker didn't take it, but hugged her and said, "Joker be Joker!"

"Nice to meet you" the half-angel said as she rung out her wet shirt.

Joker moved off to look at something. Sylva couldn't tell what, but right now, she could care less. The Kiramaern would hold curse her or bless her, but she was ready. The mountains, according to Tokumaru, were their next stop. The place seemed to be Heaven, but Underground Twilight made the land seem... forbidden. She couldn't seem to settle on what to ask the Kiramaern, forgetting about the reciprocal that could occur.

Sylva approached the other man she met before they entered the first gate. He gave her an odd look which she quickly dismissed.

"What do you think of Joker?" Sylva asked.

OoC: Writer's block! Argh! Sorry for this mess.

“Damn,” Luce said with a chuckle, “have you ever seen such a big lot of nothing?”

“Plenty of times, yes. Now, I suppose, seeing as how this cavern lurches up right out of the field, and everything back in its direction is field, and the only things ahead of us are mountains… we should head towards them. Besides, there are towers there in those ranges. Perhaps we can find some assis—”

There was a loud crackle, and suddenly, a similar gate to the one they had all just stepped through opened up in front of Tokumaru. Three bodies were flung out of the gate.

“Hmm, that’s right, I remember now… I was told three students were finding their way to the Dome right before I called to have you all brought into Inscarem.”

More people? How many can actually use this Kiramaern thing? Luce wondered, observing the newcomers with great interest. One of them was clearly a nuisance that he knew he could never get along with. He introduced himself as Joker and proceeded to dish out random hugs to many of the students. A couple of them refused and showed hatred for the man, or thing...

One of the other new-arrivals was a girl, with a similar atitude to one of the original students. They both seemed to look down on everyone else. Yet another thing that pissed off the Grand General. He was never really ill-tempered, but people's attitudes usually got to him much more than other things. The last one was a rather nice-looking girl, who didn't seem to have a problem with anyone. She even tried to talk to Joker, which really didn't bother Luce because he was always one for letting people be friends with anyone. He didn't care if someone interacted with someone he didn't like, but then again, he never even gave poor Joker a chance. The person, or thing, was saying something about the quest being amusing.

“You would willingly hinder our quest of glory if this isn’t amusing?” Luce called out as he turned his back to the rest of the class.

"What are you called?" came the voice of the obnoxious one. Luce turned around again and stepped back in surprise at the sudden appearance of Joker. "I be Joker, what be you?"

"I be one who is serious about this and will have no problem dishing out discipline to those who need it. I don't know very much if Tokumaru remembers from our short time together in the past, but you will all learn that I will, no matter what, assert my position as a leader. Master Kyô can run this thing, but I have the right to suggest as well. If anyone takes that from me, then I'll just assume that you don't need me and I'll find the Kiramaern on my own." The others looked at him, regarding the whole thing as a fool's rant, but Tokumaru considered his words.

"I don't know what you people want the Kiramaern for, but I guarantee that the gods would look highly upon the one with the best purpose. I'll tell you right now that I do not wish to obtain this artifact for myself, but for a friend who I owe much to. If there is any better reason to obtain something than to give it to someone in need, tell me now." This was a very awkward thing for Luce. Never in his life had he had equals, until now. There had always been a commander, but he was always more powerful and took orders only out of respect for his king. This whole trip looked like it was going to be a nightmare.

The other students had mixed feelings about the veteran. His young age made it hard for some of the people to take him seriously.

"It may be ranting, or bragging, or whatever; but I am going to tell you all a little story," Luce continued, his eyes moving in the direction of Tokumaru.

The Heavenflame Samurai gave a slight nod.

"I think it would be a good idea as a class for everyone to tell everyone else about their past; it would help us understand eachother more. Of course, it is optional, and completely up to you. I for one, am going to share something with you so that you all know about me. I am Lucien Spearseten, grand general of King Michael Adams' army. I have been known for my crafty betrayals, but those days are behind me. I started out as a food who decided it would be fun to tag along with Zarrox Zephyr, King of the Buffalo Vikings. The bastard made me his lap dog, and I was put in charge of almost all affairs of war.

He paused for a breath, unfaltering as some might while speaking to people who's opinions mattered.

"The fool was an incompetent ruler that I knew I would someday overthrow, but I did it in a far different way than I ever expected. Once I had heard that the Buffalo Vikings were heading east to advance their forces, I decided that I should sneak away. I found a home with a young commander named Vladmir. I never learned his surname. That whole episode ended very quickly when we decided to go up agai-" he was cut off by a growling.

"I don't care about your stupid story. I came here for my own reasons, and not to listen to why or why not I should take orders from you!" It was Aleena. "Let's get on with the damn quest!"

Luce let out a sigh and dropped his hands to his sides. "Fine. If you don't think it would be good for us to learn about eachother, then I won't even bother."

Tokumaru shook his head, despairingly. This wasn't how he wanted his students to get along at all...

OoC: This post will be rather confusing. PM me with any questions.

BiC: Tokumaru ruffled his wings as a chill ran down his spine, a gust blasting across the field. His students, apparently, weren’t the greatest bunch to hang around with when together, but the Dome had chosen him for his job. This was the life he was to live, and this was how he was to live it; with bickering students and no wages.

Ignoring the negativity lingering in the air, the Heavenflame Samurai trudged on towards the mountains, his students following attentively. A large group of dark gray clouds started to head in from the west as the group made its way across the prairie, the grass growing thicker and higher every couple of minutes.

After awhile of trekking, Tokumaru spotted a small village a few miles in the distance. However, just as he turned to face his students to tell them, he felt the powers of the Dome reaching out to him. The angel looked to the sky.

“Alright,” he said quietly, as if responding to the Dome, and turned around. His eyes fell upon Sylva and Lyra.

“Sylva,” he said, “and Lyra. As much as I would have liked to see you all complete this journey, I’m afraid it is time for you to go.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said that finding the Kiramaern was the only means of returning to the surface world?”

Tokumaru nodded. “This is true, however, unlike most realms the Dome leads to, Inscarem is actually within the Dome itself, deep within its basement corridors. Therefore, the Dome still has jurisdiction in here, and similar to how things are when in the normal Dome, it controls when you leave. It feels that your training here is complete, and so it will now be calling you back for your final test.”

“But you’re our teacher,” Sylva said. “Who will give us this final test?”

Tokumaru smirked, and turned around. “Oh, you’ll see. Farewell.”

And in a blinding flash of light, Lyra and Sylva were whisked from the realm of Inscarem. Tokumaru continued walking; his students seemed to understand the predicaments, and continued with him.

“There is a village ahead,” he said coolly. “I feel that Lyra and Sylva’s replacements are already on their way.”

“Replacements?” Luce said wryly, walking up beside Tokumaru. “What is this, a reality TV show?”

“I think it’s safe to say,” Tokumaru retorted with a chuckle, “that I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

Aleena stared at Tokumaru and shook her head. “And I think it’s also safe to say that you know just as little about this place as any of us.”

Tokumaru laughed again, and fluttered his wings. “Patience, Aleena. All of your questions will be answered as we traverse.”

Aleena’s face perked up. “How did you know my name? I don’t remember telling it to you.”

“You will soon find that as a teacher here at the Dome, I am relayed a lot of information subconsciously. For instance, the reason I knew it was Sylva and Lyra’s time to go was because the Dome tol—”

Joker laughed, interrupting Tokumaru. “Angel man is talking to a building? Haha! You must teach Joker how to do this!”

“Perhaps another time, Joker,” Tokumaru said with a smile. “But we must continue on.”




After another few hours of travel, as the sun began to set, the group arrived at the village. It was empty, seemingly unused for ages, but provided a nice amount of shelter for the night. Luce looked around, running a hand through his hair, and began to drift about towards one of the empty houses.

“This place would be interesting to explore…” he said. Tokumaru shook his head.

“Surely, but stay here a moment. New friends are arriving.”

Just as those words exited the samurai’s mouth, a portal similar to the one Joker and Aleena had come through opened up just in front of the group, and two more students poured out. One of them, a half-elf that Tokumaru was very familiar with, looked up.

“Tokumaru,” the half-elf said, standing up, “is what the Sôryûsen said true?”

Tokumaru nodded. “Yes. The Sôryûsen and I are one consciousness, so therefore anything that happens in his mind happens in mine, and visa versa. Now, before I explain more, let me see this other student…” the samurai looked over to the other man who had fallen through the portal. “Your name is Maru, correct?”

“Aye,” the man said, standing up. “And would you mind explaining just where on Earth I am?”

“That would be rather hard, as we aren’t on Earth as you know it. You have been chosen by the Battle School known as the Dome for training under my wing. I am Tokumaru Kyô, one of the many teachers here. The Dome tells me you are lost, and wish to find shelter. You will find it with us, however… we are not quite in the Dome—Rorand, listen to this as well.”

Joker jumped. “Prepare to be confused!”

Tokumaru then began the long explanation of Inscarem and the Kiramaern once again.

OoC: Confusion, confusion, confusion. There will be no more advancies for awhile, I can say that with certainty. DZH and Rising Light, I’ll be working on you all’s thread today as well--you all are excused from this thread from now on. As for Maru Nui and Masked Legend, you all will be next in the order. It doesn’t matter which one of you posts first, but once you both post, it will set your place in the posting order. Again, if anyone is confused, I am a PM away.

As Maru looked around at his new surroundings, he could feel the gazes of the creatures around rest upon him. Being self-concious at this point, Maru felt he needed to adress their stares.

"Excuse me, Turaga Tokumaru, but I feel like I must adress something I feel this collection of," Maru scrambled for a word, "beings, to be interested in."

"Of course, Maru, proceed."

"Thank you," said Maru, he then turned to adress his classmates, "I know I probably look bizarre to you, but you look just as bizarre to me. So I'd appreciate it if you didn't stare. Thank you."

"You're right, you are bizarre," laughed Joker. Everyone chuckled a little at this remark. Maru didn't think it funny.

"And you are the most bizarre out of all of you."

"Joker takes your point, and would like to point out your height. Clouds get in your face much?"

Maru laughed at this, hoping to realieve some tension.

Tokumaru began to be impatient. "Can we continue, please?"

Maru adressed his teacher with humble respect, "of course Turaga."

~MARU~

Everything... was a constant wave and darkness and light, snaking together. It was an empty tunneling void, two patterns colliding into one, all meeting at the end which seemed to never come. Rorand looked at his gloved hands. Bits and pieces of his hands flew from his body, as if he were wasting away. He glanced to see the rest of himself in a transparent haze, he felt like he was being erased from the world. Wolven, his best friend and companion, was nowhere to be found.

Rorand looked toward the end of the spiral darkness to see a gaping maw of pitch black open. He approached, wondering if he was still going to live after what had happened. He lost consciousness when the void swallowed him.

A rough breeze licked at his body, helplessly lying on the ground. Rorand tried to open his eyes and squinted to adjust. He felt growing grass underneath him, crushed by his fall. Rorand looked in the sky. Thick dark clouds began to conquer the wide, darkening sky. Once more, the breeze blew by and the grass ruffled, like a pebble was dropped in a perfectly still pond.

The half-elf rose to his knees and his eyes finally adjusted to his new environment. He noticed he was in the entrance of a village, the growing grass turning to stone paths. The sun was about to set behind the mountains, relieving them of the light of the day. Rorand saw Wolven collapsed nearby an adjacent, run-down house. He strode over and found he was only sleeping.

"C'mon, get up," Rorand said, patting Wolven on the head.

"Ugh... I was in such a peculiar dream, my body felt like it was fading away,"

"I felt the same," Rorand agreed. "You wouldn't happen to know where we are now, would you Wolven?"

"Not a clue, I was hoping you would," the wolf admitted.

"Well, let's look around then," Rorand said.

To Rorand's surprise he saw several people staring at him and Wolven. With them was Tokumaru, his teacher in the Dome.

“Tokumaru,” Rorand said, “is what the Sôryûsen said true?”

Tokumaru nodded. “Yes. The Sôryûsen and I are one consciousness, so therefore anything that happens in his mind happens in mine, and visa versa. Now, before I explain more, let me see this other student…” the samurai looked over to the other man who had fallen through the portal. “Your name is Maru, correct?”

“Aye,” the man said, standing up. “And would you mind explaining just where on Earth I am?”

“That would be rather hard, as we aren’t on Earth as you know it. You have been chosen by the Battle School known as the Dome for training under my wing. I am Tokumaru Kyô, one of the many teachers here. The Dome tells me you are lost, and wish to find shelter. You will find it with us, however… we are not quite in the Dome—Rorand, listen to this as well.”

"We're in an... alternate dimension... in the Dome?" Rorand asked, looking at the surroundings a bit closer this time. "After all we've been through, that seems believable."

"I thought so," the samurai chuckled. "These are my other students here in the Dome. We are in search of the Kiramaern, a source of power in this underground twilight of Inscarem, a realm split between worlds. It is our only means of returning to the real world if we survive it's trials."

"Survive it's trials?" the man named Maru asked.

"Yes, but we must not waiver any longer and it'd be wise to seek shelter somewhere in this village," Tokumaru counseled.

"Yes Tokumaru," Rorand said before him and Wolven joined with the group and they all continued to search inside the abandoned ghost town village for a suitable shelter. Rorand wondered why he hadn't met or seen any of these other students before. Maybe they have separate rooms or didn't take the same trials and training as Rorand had.

"Yet another mystery of the Dome..."

Joker looked over the two new students hoping they didn't take his teasing too seriously as some of the others seemed to. Maybe he should tone himself down lest they try to murder him in his sleep...

Sighing quietly he looked at their surroundings, noting the broken buildings and how weeds were growing rampant everywhere. It trully was a broken down little village.

"Joker wonders what happened to the previous occupants. It seemed like a nice land so far, so where did they go?" he queried to no one in particular, poking around the inside of one building. It seemed to be a mess, decayed items thrown around everywhere and basically looking like the previous occupants had left in a rush.

"Are all the buildings like this? Left in a rush?" Joker called to the others who had split up to look inside each of the little homes.

"It seems that you might be on to something, Joker," Tokumaru stood at the center of the buildings, glancing at the surrounding trees. Twilight was falling quickly upon them and the darkening of the sky lengthened the shadows in the area.

"Well, if they left because of some threat in the area we can't do much about it," Luce spoke with the experience of his many days in the field, "leaving now would only make us open to attack. I suggest we stay here, in one of the buildings that is the most defendable and keep watches to make sure nothing sneaks upon us. With a group of warriors as large and varied as us we should be better off than the previous inhabitants."

Tokumaru was nodding at that suggestion, one that the others found to be acceptable. Joker had his own suggestion to make.

"Would anyone here have special powers of defence? If shielding is too much for one person, we could put up warning spells around the area so that a lookout isn't our only defence... and this is hoping that spells or powers aren't nullified in such a place," Joker added looking around the group.

In his mind Joker was hoping that this would bring the group together in some aspect. While he had only himself to blame for igniting a few negative feelings in the group he had been a bit saddened to see Luce's attempt to get to know each other fail. It only made sense that a group of seven people ought to know a bit about one anothers strengths and weaknesses so that they could work together.

Then again the two new comers seemed to be friendly at least, if a bit nervous at their new surroundings. Maru indeed was peculiar to look upon but Joker had seen far more unusual things in the Dreams of those from realms vastly different from his own, he wasn't going to discriminate against the man he would travel with.

Coming back to the present situation Joker grinned at them all, "Joker can open rifts in the ground and make pits to surprise any enemies that get too close," so saying he got out one of his daggers and stabbed it into the ground a few meters away from their house.

"Open the earth," he commanded softly and his dagger glowed as it absorbed his order. When Joker dragged the blade, slicing into the ground it sliced deeped than it should have, creating a deep chasm in the dark earth. Grinning he looked back at the others along his shoulders.

"Come on, slowies~! Create our defences! Who knows what lurks in the dark!" giving a witch like cackle Joker strode off to create another deep pit elsewhere, waving his dagger before him like a torch.

"I wonder what we'll do for food...?" one of them voiced up.

"Joker doesn't have anymore fish upon him~!" was Joker's reply from where he was making another trench.

Aleena watched as the one named Joker proceeded to create magical pits around the building. Hmm, guess he isn’t a complete idiot, she thought remembering his words about setting up defenses. The rest of the group, however, was discussing the ever-important subject of food. As the others discussed the menu, the half-demon’s thoughts were on the sky. Despite it being in a realm created by the Dome, she was sure that night would have the same effect.

The half-breed then broke her silence, and addressed the group saying, “While you all bicker, I’ll just go and collect some firewood. After all, what good is food unless you can cook it?” However, her words were lost to the incoherent babble escaping from the group. Aleena shrugged it off and went about her business, if there was trouble, she could hold her own until she could get to them anyway.

The sunlight of day had given into the twilight as the young woman ascended a small hill in the mountainside village. What had forced the previous occupants to leave had been on her mind for a while now, and she was quite sure it was either some monster, or a demon. Then she remembered that humans, for the most part, saw them in the same light. That was when she remembered the night was coming. Aleena reached into her pocket and withdrew some blue contact lenses. She hatred wearing them, but for now she had no choice.

With her contacts in her eyes, the half-demon went back to the task at hand. On the other side of the hill grew two tall, white trees. Obviously dead, thought the youth. Oh well, at least they I won’t be the one killing them. Aleena slowly walked up to the two trees, unsheathing her Katana as she did. The half-breed slowly lined up the blade to the trunk, then carved a small gash so she would know where to hit. After a couple of test runs, she grabbed the sword with two hands and swung with all her might. However, the sword did not chop the tree down in one strike.

Aw, screw this, thought the lunar demon acidly, kicking the trunk in her anger. Time to go for the big guns. Aleena then adjusted the tree’s gravity to make it, literally, as light as a feather. Pulling the tree from the ground, she then proceeded to chop off all of the roots and small branches. By the time she had finished both that tree and the other, night was already upon the entire camp.

Now, there was just the matter of lifting the two hulking masses back up the steep hillside. Normally, this would not have been a problem. However, she had forgotten until that moment it was the night of the New Moon, the night where all lunar demons were at their weakest. Naturally, because she had just lifted two trees from the ground, a semi-difficult task for her in its own right, the half-demon found herself exhausted.

Her legs collapsed from her own weight because she was so tired. Aleena would have to rest for a few minutes before moving again. That was a scary proposition in a place like this, were death seemed to sneer at the living. “Why did I have to forget?” The lunar demon asked the clouds above her. Any second the other members of her the group would notice she was missing, find her laying next to two tree trunks, and then help her to the building and carry the trunks for her. How embarrassing, she would not be able to live with herself for the next couple of months. That is, if they even cared.

OOC: Safer has given me permission to post. By the way, Maru is barely even humanoid, see the pics in his profile, that's exactly what he looks like.

BIC: Several minutes had passed since Aleena had gone to get firewood, and Maru was debating whether or not to go tell her he could cook their food without firewood. He decided it would be okay, and might be appreciated if he did. So he started walking toward the edge of the village that she had vanished from.
"Where are you going?" Luce called to him from where she was talking with the others about the issue of food.
"Firewood isn't necesarry, so I'm going to go fetch Aleena," Maru called over his shoulder as he continued toward the edge of the village.
Tokumaru called after him, "Be careful. The last thing we need is for anyone to get lost."
"Relax, if I get lost, just look for fire in the sky!" At that, Maru began to run. As he reached the edge of the village, one of Joker's trenches appeared in front of him.
"Beware the pit!" Maru heard Joker call from behind a nearby house.
"It's a little late for that!" Maru called out. Instead of stopping to go around the gap, he sped up, and once he reached the edge, he leaped. He wasn't going to make it across. He focused, and released a sharp burst of flame downwards, propelled himself to the other side and then some, gaining a great deal of speed upon reaching the other side.
"Be back in an hour!" Maru shouted as he sped toward a nearby hill. He easily scaled it, only loosing a fraction of his speed. Upon reaching the top of the hill, he promptly crashed into an uprooted tree.
"Nice entrance."
Maru looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice.
"Down here."
He looked down, where he spotted the prone form of Aleena. Maru crouched down to be closer to eye level with her.
"Didn't see you there."
"I wouldn't expect you to."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment." Maru bent over and scooped Aleena into his arms and started heading back to the village.
"Put me back!"
"Why?"
"It's bad enough you found me, I don't want the others finding out."
"Riiight, and leave you to be eaten by muaka or some other beast that might roam this place. I don't think so. Your pride comes second to your safety, and it doesn't seem you're in a position to be making demands."
"Hmph."
"Did you pull up those trees for firewood?"
"Yeah, I overestimated my strength and wound up the way you found me."
"I'm impressed, the most I could do to those trees is burn them down, but you do realize that we wouldn't be able to light one of logs on fire the way it is now."
"I don't really know that much about starting a fire."
"My people know how to start a fire almost anywhere."
"Are all your people like you?"
"Hardly."
Several minutes passed without another word, when Aleena spoke up.
"What's a muaka?"
"Huh?"
"What's a muaka?" she repeated.
"A muaka is a large feline creature that feeds on other rahi. I've only seen them rarely. I only know what I've been taught about them."
"Okay, what's a rahi?"
"A rahi is a creature with no sentient intelligence, driven by pure instinct."
"An animal, you mean."
"No, I mean rahi."
"Have it your way."
The rest of their trip passed in silence. When they reached the edge of the village, they found Joker about to create another trench.
"This is the last pit Joker has to dig," Joker said.
"Wait!" Maru called out.
"Eh?"
"Don't make that trench, we need to get through."
Maru could feel Joker's stare focus on Aleena, and could feel him about to make a comment.
"Don't."
"What?"
"Just don't."
"Joker said nothing!" he protested as Maru walked past him.

~MARU~