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Post by Sprow on Sept 3, 2011 0:37:17 GMT -5
It was the early afternoon hours when Red's portal finally opened up in Deep Jungle. Stepping out of it first, Annalese tilted her head this way and that. She was trying to detect any trace of her elder brother. So far, she sensed nothing. That meant they were safe, at least for now. She didn't know how long that would last though. She hoped that they would evade him this time around but he wouldn't give up easily. He would try until he found her.
Even still, she was happy Red had at least listened to her for once. It managed to put her mind almost at ease. Stepping aside, she watched as the others walked through the portal and out into the jungle.
Jean peered around at their surroundings. Compared to the other jungle, this wasn't anything different. How did they know they didn't just come back to the same world but just a different spot? As she looked around, her mind was racing a mile a minute. With each day that passed, it brought them ever closer to that point where she would have to face Silver again. In fact, didn't she only have two days left?
The thought of having to fight that thing bothered her. What it did and expressed last time didn't bode well with her at all. Still, she had to save her father from that thing. The issue was, could she even manage to do it? How would she prevent him from possessing anyone else?
She hadn't told any of them but Jean had been keeping a close eye on them all for any signs of oddities. She figured when they ran into Silver unexpectedly that he would have removed any creatures like himself from the rest like he had done to Jade. Knowing they were alive, she guessed for now that neither of them were possessed. Still, she was watching to ensure that Silver didn't decide to take an extra body behind her back somewhere along the lines now that he knew what her friends looked like.
After that last encounter, she was uneasy about this upcoming battle. Was that his way of trying to psyche her out? Or did he really mean what he said? If so, then that meant she had far worse troubles to worry concerning that creature. She didn't like Silver one bit.
As her mind swam with these troubling thoughts, a hand suddenly resting on her shoulder nearly made her leap out of her skin. Pulled from her thoughts, Jean turned to look at whom had set their hand on her shoulder.
It was none other than Rowen who she found looking back at her. There was a slight hint of concern on his face as he looked at her. "You going to be okay, Jean" he questioned her. Jean blinked back at him before nodding.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." She knew deep down that she probably wouldn't be but she'd rather not worry the others over it. Seeing the others had started walking off, Jean followed them. As she did so, her mind turned to the subject about Artemis and Red being related by some means. They had to be brothers! Now, should the discovery even be spilled just yet? Or should she wait until later?
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Meanwhile, while Annalese was more at ease, the real reason why she hadn't been at ease earlier flitted through the trees. He wasn't in their current area but he was making swift progress. He wasn't close yet but in time, he would be. His anger was what had fueled him. Vampires were naturally quite speedy.
After all, he wanted to know why his younger sister didn't bother to meet with him this year like they had arranged for it. It was true that he didn't exactly care for her but he had made a promise to their mother that he would at least visit her now and then. That was the only thing that kept him from actually killing her off like he had so many other vampires and humans alike.
Moving at the speed of light, the tree canopy concealed him from view below as he searched for Annalese. He knew she was here, the problem was locating her.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2011 1:17:33 GMT -5
What Red noticed first about the jungle was that it was hot! He had thought that the island back in Port Royal was bad. The heat was almost twice as much. There were trees everywhere! And the ground seemed to go up and down as if it was filled with swamps and the such. Yep, The Deep Jungle was exactly as Red remembered it.
Red needed to train. He knew that he needed to go on his own and make his own way for a while. How did he know this exactly? Well that's hard to explain. Some part of him just knew that if he wanted to reach his potential, he had to do it alone.
They had appeared in a small clearing in the jungle. In fact Red could see where a tent had most likely once stood. "Well this seems like the best place if any to meet up."
Lakari was the first to question him. "Going somewhere are you?" The old man's tone was curious and his eyebrow lifted when he asked.
Red nodded. "I'm going to go train. I'll meet you guys back in two days." Jean seemed to be preoccupied in her own thoughts so Red figured it would be the best time to take his leave. He knew she'd probably try and stop him if he didn't leave now. So he gave Sain, Dyne, and Ryu a nod before turning about and disappearing in the trees.
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Artemis sat in a tree. He had no plans of any training. In fact all he planned to do was rest and relax! It was the one thing he hadn't been able to do at all since meeting Red and Jean. They lived that sort of roller coaster sort of life. There was always something happening around the kid. It was odd how that seemed to work.
Spotting Annalese he noticed that the vampire seemed almost.... thoughtful. Which was odd for someone like Annalese. "The less I know, the less I have to deal with." With that mind set he shut his eyes for a tad.
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Post by Sprow on Sept 3, 2011 1:53:02 GMT -5
Unaware of Red's intentions, Jean had gone back into thought again. Her new debate on where, when and how to tell Red and Artemis the news. It wouldn't be anything easy to discover. After all, Artemis had tried to kill Red several times. Then again, they were all on good terms now. Maybe that would help ensure they didn't try to kill each other again?
'Hm, later tonight might be good!' she decided. With her mind made up, Jean turned toward the group. She looked around in worry when she hadn't seen Red anywhere in sight.
"Guys? Where's Red?" she questioned them, her voice uneasy. Dyne made several gestures, Sain and Ryu nodding in response.
"Red wanted to train, he'll be back in a couple of days!" Ryu told her. Jean felt like her heart was going to stop. Of all things, he goes and wanders out alone and for two days! Breathing, she tried to let it go. Maybe she was being too restricting in having Red stick close all the time? Well, with the life they ran, one couldn't really blame her. She did worry about her younger friend's sake. She wouldn't be a caring friend if she didn't.
"Relax, Jean! He'll be fine, we're not anywhere close to any known trouble right now and Red seems to know his way around...I bet he's been here before!" Sain deduced. Dyne and Ryu looked over at Sain before nodding in agreement. Out of them, only Sain would be that observant and make almost spot on deductions.
"He does have a point though, now would be a great time to train!" Ryu stated, Dyne nodding next to him before fist bumping Ryu's shoulder. "Sure, Dyne. I'll train with you and Sain for now." With that, the three headed off, leaving Rowen and Jean behind.
'Why do I get the feeling they did that on purpose?' she wondered, suddenly feeling awkward. There was a long silence between her and Rowen.
"Well, guess that since we've nothing else to do...might as well follow what the others are doing and train..." Rowen suggested, breaking the silence. Jean knew she only had a couple of days before she would have to face Silver again. Turning to Rowen, she nodded. Locking eyes with him though, she suddenly felt her face flush a little but brushed it off by pretending to wipe sweat from her forehead.
"Yeah...you're right. Um...shall we, then?" she asked him and Rowen nodded.
"Sure, let's do this!" he replied and with that, they began to train.
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Annalese was indeed thoughtful. However, her thoughts usually weren't so focused like they were. Sometimes she could focus if she really felt she had to. It wasn't easy to do but she could do it. Scanning the trees, she wondered if it had been a bad idea coming here? She could sense Artemis in the tree nearby. If she was really her usual self, she would've probably bothered him by now since she wasn't the type to be quiet for long.
"...So he's here..." she muttered to herself. An unpleasant chill went down her spine at that.
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Yes, he definitely was here and he knew that she knew he was here. Soon enough, big brother and little sister would be reunited...and not in the best of ways either. He could smell humans...a lot of them and they were alive. None smelled as if they had been bitten save for one and not recently. Why were they still alive?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2011 14:58:46 GMT -5
While Artemis slept, Red made his way through the woods. He knew exactly where he wanted to go train. It was the place he had ended up before. A dangerous place full of dangerous enemies. The journey there wasn't an easy one. He had to journey through the deeper parts of the jungle.
Making his way he came to a small river. A dangerous river more like. Even as he eyed it, he noticed the creatures in the water. Alligators! And none of them friendly. Of course compared to the real king of the jungle, the alligator was nothing. Red knew his path and the king's would join soon enough. After all it was the king who had sent him running before.
Red could spot their beady eyes above the water. They seemed to have noticed his presence. They dared him! Dared him to swim across. There had to be some way to travel across the waters without actually swimming in it. Perhaps if he made a raft?
Calling forth his keyblade, Red walked over to the nearest tree and started chopping. He chopped the tree into wooden planks six feet long and a a foot across. After he had chopped about five of them he began to gather some of the vines that were growing on the ground around the tree. Using them as rope he tied the planks together and sure enough he had himself a raft!
The first step was to see if the raft even floated. Placing it in the water, Red had to pat himself on the back when he learned that it did! Next was to see if it would hold his weight. That was slightly more tricky. Placing one foot on it first he tried pushing down. So far so good.
Pushing the rest of the body he shut his eyes waiting to hit the water.... It never came! The raft worked! Exhaling a sigh of relief, he pushed himself against the shore and the drift across the river began.
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Post by Sprow on Sept 3, 2011 22:18:52 GMT -5
While Red was off to get his own training, Jean, Rowen and the others were doing their own. Out of the three, Ryu was the one running most of the training in the trio of Sain, Dyne and himself. He would've normally trained with Jean toa dvance himself but Dyne and Sain needed their time to catch up with the rest in skill. They had purposely chosen to train with one another to leave Jean and Rowen alone.
Jean held her swords at the ready as she faced off with Rowen. Seeing him take out his bow and arrow, she prepared herself. It was, of course, just a training session but she wasn't so sure how much stronger her friend had gotten. She had seen some display of energy but not seen the full extent of it. She was cautious but ready for it. Besides, it would help her if Silver chose to try long range again.
"Ready, Rowen?" she inquired. Rowen strung an arrow in his bow and nodded.
"Ready as I'll ever be!" he stated. With that, they started.
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Annalese was cautious once more. For one usually so boisterious and annoying, she was quiet. Someone like her being quiet wasn't normal. Silently, she clambered up a tree and gazed out toward the horizon. She was trying to decipher where her elder brother's presence was. Did her sibling bring along his friends? If so, they would be in even more trouble. Her brother was their leader but with others, he could do twice as much damage than he would alone.
Glancing about at the others, Annalese slipped away. She had forgotten about Artemis as she took off at a pace any human could keep up with.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2011 0:14:47 GMT -5
Red had thought that the raft would fully protect him from the dangerous creatures that called this river their home. He was wrong of course. They could easily pull him off of the raft. And that was exactly what they did. So Red found himself hacking down at the water below. They came at him at all sides. He couldn't rely on searching for them, because they hid under the darkness of the water.
He had to rely solely on his senses. Attack left, swing. Attack right, swing. Attack from behind and upfront. Step, swing. Red fell into a rhythm. It was a state of nothing but rhythm. It was an odd thing. People called it different names, that sort of rhythm. But it was during this rhythm that one could achieve more.
This "more" came during a full front assault from one side. Red simply knew what to do. As they attacked in unison, Red pointed his keyblade down. All four gators sprinted from the water, their mouths opened at the same time. Suddenly A force of energy traveled down the keyblade and exhaled from the bottom. It flew out of the keyblade in all directions, taking the form of bright white diamonds. They collided with each gator and thew beasts were thrown twenty feet in the direction the diamonds had headed.
Then things grew quiet. Red's breathing had become irregular as he dropped out of the state of rhythm. He was tired, yet he knew he had to travel on. So with a sense of enrichment he traveled onto shore.
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Artemis opened a single eye as he watched Annalese begin to walk away from the scene. And just where was the vampire headed? Artemis let out a yawn. He really needed to sleep more. Yet some part of him said to follow Annalese. So, even though he was sleepy, he traveled along the tree and then jumped to the next in near silence. He would follow her.
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Post by Sprow on Sept 4, 2011 0:53:19 GMT -5
While the others were training, Annalese was slipping away from the others. If she met with him and got it over with, she would hopefully keep him from meeting the group. She didn't want for him to turn around and kill any of them. No one would forgive her if that were to happen. Especially when she knew he would be looking for her if she didn't meet up with him the time they had actually arranged to meet.
There was no doubt in her mind that her reunion with her brother would be painful for her. He always hit her whenever she angered him. The only thing that kept him from ending her life was the promise he made to their mother. Her mother's memory alone was what kept him from doing worse.
She had no idea where she'd bump into her brother but she knew he would be here soon. The more distance she put between herself and her human companions, the safer they would be. She didn't know that, while she was slipping away, Artemis was following her despite his exhaustion.
Once she felt she was far enough away, coming out into a clearing in the jungle, she landed in the center of it and waited. Her posture suggested apprehension as she held her hands together and looked about warily. Her hunched shoulders even suggested that she was uneasy. "Any minute now!" she told herself.
Sure enough, a low growl filled the air and Annalese turned toward it carefully. "H-Hello, big brother!" she said nervously. She was answered with a nasty punch to the face that sent her flying back five feet. Annalese sat up, holding where she was hit but made no move to get back up as she peered up at her brother.
"You whelp! Why didn't you meet up like we arranged in Land of Dragons?!" he snarled.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2011 0:35:29 GMT -5
Artemis followed silently from on top. The vampire traveled at normal speed, which seemed to suggest that she had no certain destination. Annalese was the type to not really waste time. Well not waste time when she had her mind set on something anyway. Otherwise that was usually all that she ever did.
As he followed her through the jungle he was surprised when she came to a stop. Making sure to wait a short distance away he watched her. When the appearance of another came, Artemis slowly withdrew his dagger. Was this friend? Or foe?
Not moving just yet he, waited to see how Annalese would respond to the new comer. When she finally did he was surprised by what she said. Brother huh?"[/i] Artemis thought to himself.
How Annalese's brother responded to her was not all that brotherly. When Annalese went flying because of the punch, Artemis found himself gripping his knife tighter. He knew that to simply jump down would be idiotic at the moment. While his dagger did have some qualities that would perhaps help against the vampire, the enemy was much stronger then he.
"I hope she knows what she's doing." He whispered to himself.
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Post by Sprow on Sept 5, 2011 1:49:31 GMT -5
Annalese didn't know Artemis had followed her all the way to out here. She was hoping that she had put as much distance from them and herself. After all, her brother was searching for her. Anyone else was just something for him to kill or abuse to torment her if he knew she was friends with them. That was usually how some friendships had ended for her. He was always taking away the good things away from her in her life.
Right now, all she could do was cower on the ground and hope that he didn't hurt her too badly. Looking up into similar rich purple, cat slitted eyes, Annalese found it difficult to speak. What could she possibly tell him? It wasn't easy for her to remember that far back!
"I...I don't remember!" she stated, her body trembling. That wasn't an answer her brother would like and she knew it. She knew he hated her attention deficit disorder. That was the reason why he treated her so badly. That and her ability to be more accepting of humans to befriend them. He despised her and saw her as nothing but a weakling. She was a disgrace to their family, in his eyes. If mother hadn't made him promise, he would've killed her sooner.
His anger kept him from detecting Artemis's presence as he looked down upon his sister. Annalese didn't know Artemis was there either since she was preoccupied with her brother's intimidating presence.
"You don't even remember?!" he exclaimed. Oh, Annalese knew he was very angry now. It wouldn't be long before she found herself getting beaten again. Shrinking to the ground, still afraid of him, she tried to speak.
"I-I'm sorry, Julian. M-M-My memory's bad, I d-didn't mean t-to...forget!" she said, trying desperately to explain why she couldn't remember as if he didn't know already. He knew perfectly well that she had a memory problem. He never accepted it and always shot her down for it. At a glance, it was difficult to tell they were siblings. Where Annalese was more lighter in hair coloring, and teal his was more a dark shade of purple. The only thing they resembled in appearance was their eyes and their facial structure. Julian was more masculine but had boyish features that resembled Annalese's girlish features slightly.
Baring his fangs, Julian walked over to Annalese and grasped her head in his right arm. Lifting her up into the air by her head alone, Julian glared at her. "You are so pathetic! Is there anything that you can even remember at all?!" he growled at her. Annalese could do nothing except dangle there, flailing her legs and grabbing at the hand that held her head, gritting her teeth in pain.
"I-I'm sorry!" she said, tears spilling from her eyes. If one were to think about Annalese's past, just seeing this would be example enough of how depressing it was. How she managed to be so cheerful amongst their group, when she wasn't amongst her vampire peers, one could only guess.
"...You stink of humans!" Julian said in a menacing tone. Annalese's tears stopped for a moment as she gasped, looking over at Julian.
"Y-You must have smelled m-my recent prey!" she said, only telling him half the truth. Red wasn't really her prey, he was a friend but she had fed from him recently. Julian just glared at her for a moment before tightening his grip a little on her skull.
"I wouldn't doubt it if he was a friend! Pah! Befriending humans?! And you call yourself a vampire?" he roared before throwing her into the nearby tree again like she were nothing more than a rag doll.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2011 13:17:12 GMT -5
Artemis watched the exchange with quiet fury. He watched as "Julian" pretty much beat up his poor sister. It wasn't right. Artemis knew exactly the type of person he was. They were the type who expected everything to be handed to them. They thought they were the "cream of the crop". It was quite clear that Annalese's brother looked down on humans.
And perhaps why shouldn't he? He was vampire. A creature that fed on humans. No wonder he thought he was the cream of the crop. But it was quite clear that Julian knew nothing of humans. Oh he might think himself better then him, but not every human was the same. Not every human would wither in fear of his fangs.
Annalese had not been the first vampire that Artemis had met. In truth he had assassinated two of the creatures before. One was not a pure blood, as they. But the other was. Every creature had its weakness. It was just finding it that was sometimes the problem.
When Annalese went flying into the tree, Artemis was quite surprised to find that she collided into the trunk of the tree he stood in. Well it would be a matter of moments before Annalese's brother smelled him. Best make introductions now, on his own terms. Artemis fell out of the tree and landed like a panther.
Slowly rising, his hand held his dagger to his side. "That's not very nice thing to say."
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Post by Sprow on Sept 5, 2011 16:14:31 GMT -5
Yes, Julian was definitely not making the best first impression. It was very clear here that he didn't at all hold respect for his younger sister. Yet, despite the way he was treating her, he still didn't try to kill her. Abusing her though wasn't that much different. Once he had thrown her, he stayed put and waited for her to try and get back up. It frustrated him that she didn't even try to fight back. If she did, he probably would have respected her a little bit more.
"Look how far you have fallen! You should be able to stop yourself before hitting a tree! You're just as pathetic and weak as a human!" he growled. There was just no way of him cutting Annalese any slack. He was far too furious. Even still, Annalese couldn't blame him. She wouldn't be dealing with him like this if she had seen him sooner, like they had arranged to.
Hurt, though not permanently wounded, Annalese pushed herself up off the ground again as she clutched at her ribcage. He had broken her ribs but they would heal fast enough. Attempting to stand up again, she staggered. "I-I'm sorry, Julian!" she apologized even though she didn't owe him one with the way he was acting. "I won't do it again."
Julian just gave a derisive snort in response to her words. If she thought that would appease his temper, she was wrong. He knew better than to take her word for something like that. She always apologized for things like this and never once had she attempted to change her ways. It was around this time when he began to pick up on something. Annalese could sense it too and she grew very worried. Was it one of her human friends?
Sure enough, Artemis landed in the clearing. As he got up, he had his dagger out and claimed what Julian said wasn't very nice. Already, Annalese feared for the human's life. Julian wasn't one to hold any sort of mercy toward others. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked back at Artemis. Did this human believe that he could stand up to someone like him? "You've some nerve telling me what is nice and what's not."
"No, just go! He'll hurt you if you don't!" Annalese tried to tell Artemis. She didn't want someone getting hurt because of her. Her heart gave a nasty leap when she saw the wicked look on her elder brother's face.
"Oh, so this is one of your friends, Annalese?" he inquired. It was obvious by the dark tone to his voice that he was plotting something unpleasant already.
"L-Leave him alone, Julian! It's just between you and I!" she told him.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2011 17:34:14 GMT -5
Artemis was not normally a person who laughed. But he found Julian's tone hilarious. So high and mighty! He had another thing coming if he thought Artemis would be simple prey. "Did your sister tell you how easily I rendered her useless in a matter of moments when we first met?" Artemis was saying this only for the benefit of Julian. Anger clouded the mind. And Julian was already pretty angry.
As to Annalese, Artemis had no plans on leaving. The vampire was clearly afraid of her brother. Such a thing would only continue if things continued this way. Something had to change. And if Annalese wasn't going to do it herself, then Artemis would have to for her.
"I've killed vampires much more older and powerful then you. All with this knife." Artemis waited to see what would happen. He was edging the vampire on. He was basically saying, "Come on! Try to kill me!"
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Red came to a stop in front of the temple entrance. The same temple he had come to before when he was here. There were all sorts of dangers in that cave. Red knew for a fact that he would be spending his entire time here. Once he entered he would be leaving a different person. Taking a deep breath, he gathered his courage and entered the temple.
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Post by Sprow on Sept 5, 2011 23:17:39 GMT -5
Julian looked back at Artemis not really affected by what he was saying to him. In his eyes, just about anyone could render Annalese useless in a matter of minutes. She didn't have a very good attention span so catching her off guard wouldn't be all that hard if she was preoccupied with something else. Julian just chuckled in response then. "Sneaking up on my sister and catching her off guard isn't all that hard!" he replied rather simply.
Annalese hung her head a little when Julian said that. That and the fact the human had to bring it up made her remember the pain she had endured then. It bothered her so much, she had feared him for a time for it. The fact he brought it up again made her want to shrink away at the memory of the pain.
It also made her wonder if he was really a friend to have to refer to that. "So...does this mean your his slave, Annalese? Hah!" Julian was now beside himself. The fact his sister lost to a human so easily deeply amused him. Oh, how golden this moment was to him! "Even now, Annalese, you have reached an all time low even for you!" he mused.
Annalese just merely lifted her head an inch to glare over at Julian. She was scared of him but she was finding it in herself enough to glare over at him for mocking her. "...I'm not his slave!" she growled, baring her own fangs. The response just made Julian chuckle some more.
Julian then finally turned his attention back onto Artemis. He tilted his head to the side a bit, an eyebrow raised as he listened to what the human was saying. Killed vampires much older and powerful than he? Had he dealt with pure blooded vampires or turned vampires? Or had it been a halfbreed? Whatever the case, the fact this human was challenging him just made him chuckle again. "So, you want to challenge me?" he inquired, an amused grin on his face.
"Why, you're nothing more than a mere child compared to me. You're only...what? In your late teens? Even a human of their mid twenties couldn't handle me! Are you so sure that you have dealt with a pure blood vampire to be so confident? And if so, was it even of royalty?" he inquired. Annalese frowned up at her brother. There he was, throwing around the fact they were pure blood and of royalty. Well, he was anyway really. Annalese had been ousted from Julian in that aspect to nothing more than a mere commoner vampire.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2011 12:55:09 GMT -5
Artemis said nothing. He did nothing. He simply watched the vampire as he went on. Royalty? Well Artemis had no idea what class system the vampire he killed had belonged in. But it was true. The vampire had been a pure blood. Of course Artemis himself had not faced the creature head on. It had been an assassination. Catching him unaware was the entire point.
Twirling the dagger around his fingers he watched the vampire. "You like to talk don't you." Artemis had no need to answer the vampire's question. For the first time since his appearance he turned to Annalese. "Go back to camp and get Lakari. I'll hold off your brother."
He really didn't believe he could defeat this vampire. But he could hold him off for a while. Artemis did not know Lakari all that well. But somehow he knew that the only person who might be able to help would be the old man.
Turning back to Julian he regarded him with a smile. "Well then little vampire. Are we going to dance? Or sit here and talk all day?" Artemis withdrew his sword as well. It was something he hadn't had the need to use all that often.
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Post by Sprow on Sept 6, 2011 13:29:52 GMT -5
Julian raised an eyebrow a bit, his face now neutral as Artemis spoke. Mentioning how Julian liked to talk a lot. Well, he certainly did. His arrogance was quite evident in that. Annalese looked between them uneasily. Artemis didn't have super strength like vampires did. It would be a nasty battle for him to take.
Suddenly, Artemis turned to look at Annalese. Looking back at Artemis, she heard his words. Had he gone insane? "But-! My brother could kill you!" she exclaimed.
Artemis didn't seem to hear her as he faced Julian. Seeing there wasn't any way of convincing him otherwise, Annalese decided it would be best to obey. The fact he wanted her to get Lakari though, she wasn't so sure. "Al...Alright!" she said before getting up and running through the foliage in search of their camp. Hopefully she would find the elderly man very soon.
Julian just looked back at Artemis before laughing. "Alright...it's your funeral!" he stated. With that, Julian made a lunge for Artemis.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2011 18:13:38 GMT -5
Artemis was fully prepared for Julian. As his lunge came at inhuman speed packing inhuman strength, Artemis slashed his sword forward. As Julian neared Artemis, a wall of ash suddenly appeared in front of Artemis, clouding himself from the beast.
Pivoting to the left on his back foot he dodged the vampire's lunge just barely. If it wasn't for the wall of ash the vampire would have seen him pivot. But with the ash blocking the view, Artemis was able to dodge successfully. He didn't have long though before he knew another attack would come.
Electricity suddenly pumped down his body and thickened the air around him with static. If the opponent got to close he'd find himself being shocked. And as the electricity sparked across his arms and legs his speed was suddenly increased three fold. He was now as fast as the vampire!
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Lakari had been laying in the hammock he had strung together when Annalese burst threw the trees. Why did that vampire always seem to bother his peace and quiet! He had just taken out a book and was reading it when he looked up at the vampire. "Is there something I can help you with?"
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Post by Sprow on Sept 6, 2011 18:51:55 GMT -5
Scampering off into the jungle as fast as she could go, Annalese hoped to find help fast. The issue though, once she got help, was to get help to him fast. Lakari couldn't move as fast as she could. At least, that was how things seemed with him.
Flying out of the trees, she glanced around hurriedly. A look of worry was on her face and despite her fast healing, it was apparent that she was banged up still.
She could sense Lakari's presence was nearby. Letting herself calm for a moment, she looked at where she was sensing his presence. She found him resting in a hammock and it looked like he had been in the midst of lounging and reading. She didn't realize that she was becoming a nuisance to him. It wasn't her fault she had a horrible attention span.
Hearing his words, since he seemed to notice her too, she breathed. "The human who likes...shadows is-fighting my...my brother! He needs help!" she stated. Annalese could fight her brother but she wasn't as strong as he was. It would need two to three people to make Julian go away or to take him down.
"P-Please?" she followed up after the request, still somewhat out of breath.
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Julian didn't expect the human to suddenly send ashes up into the air. The feat managed to catch Julian off guard and cloud his vision enough for Artemis to evade him. Darting out of the cloud of ash, Julian looked for Artemis. Before him, the youth appeared to have some sort of energy surround him. "Hm, so you're better than I thought."
Facing Artemis, Julian stalked to the side, his head tilted as he considered him for a moment. He wasn't sure what Artemis had did so he was going to be careful. Where he had allowed his anger to rule him earlier, he had come out of it a little bit.
A hand suddenly became encased in darkness as Julian faced Artemis. A dark energy ball the size of a melon had formed and he shot it at Artemis. It would be only to move in a single direction once it was shot.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2011 19:06:40 GMT -5
Lakari listened to the vampire plead. "The man who likes the shadows?" Lakari thought to himself. Who the hell was the vampire talking about now?
Ah! Annalese must be talking of Artemis. Lakari didn't know if the teen liked the shadows, but he did use them to succeed. Still it was off to see Annalese this worried about something. Perhaps the girl's brother really was a danger.
Artemis wasn't that important. In fact none of them were important in Lakari's eyes. But the fact that such a danger might encounter the boy... Well Lakari could not have that. Lakari stood from the hammock. "If I help you little vampire, I want your word that you will say nothing of what happens in the upcoming battle." That was his condition.
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Artemis cursed his luck. The vampire's anger was cooling. This was not good. Artemis had been hoping to use that anger to cloud the vampire. Emotions were needless weights in battles. They did nothing but hinder.
When the ball of darkness came out, it was thanks to Artemis's increased electricity that he dodged it. If not for that he would have been the victim of the blast. Instead, since it traveled in a single direction, it collided with one of the trees. There was a large hold where the ball of energy had hit.
Artemis gave the vampire a smile. "You'll have to do better then that." He jibed.
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Post by Sprow on Sept 6, 2011 20:34:57 GMT -5
Annalese looked back at Lakari as she held her hands together and fidgeted with them. She was eager to get moving already. If they didn't go now, Artemis would probably be in grave danger. Julian didn't normally let his prey live and she knew it. She almost considered dragging Lakari off at top speed but refrained. The last thing she needed to do was further annoy Lakari. After all, she was still uncertain about their last encounter and if he still hated her over it.
Lakari seemed to finally understand who she was speaking of, since Annalese didn't know Artemis's name just yet, and tilted her head confusedly at his request. Why did he not want her to say what he did in the battle to come? It didn't make any sense to her.
Well, she guessed that she should oblige. If she didn't, Artemis could end up badly hurt. That and she had some confidence that if it were that important to Lakari, her horrible memory span would forget it anyways. "I promise!" she stated.
"We have to hurry! He could be badly hurt by now!"
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Julian was old than Annalese and unlike her, he had his head on straight. His attention span would not be easy to break where her's was. Why Annalese's memory was so horrid was a mystery. She hadn't been born with it.
Seeing Artemis dodge the dark energy ball, Julian wasn't surprised. He knew there was something that this kid was doing but he hadn't yet discovered what it fully was. So, the energy did make him faster. "Only a fool would expect that test attack to hit." He wasn't sure if getting close would be a smart thing to do with that strange energy radiating about Artemis. He would have to resort to better measures, especially when his speed was increased.
Using his own speed, Julian formed two dark energy balls in his hands and tried to catch Artemis off guard by coming only near enough to try and startle Artemis by tossing a dark energy ball in a closer five foot range before darting away and coming up behind to toss another dark ball at Artemis's back.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2011 20:52:09 GMT -5
Artemis watched as Julian went ahead and claimed that his attack was simply a "test". Well Artemis was glad he passed that test then. What came next though, Artemis was not fully prepared for. When the vampire charged head on, Artemis was prepared for another attack, and so slashed once again and summoned a wall of ash.
However the vampire let out more dark energy. Thanks to the fact that he was moving once again the balls of energy failed to miss. But Artemis had not expected the vampire to attack from behind. And so the ball of energy collided with Artemis's back.
The energy threw him backwards and sent him tumbling across the ground. The attack had hurt and it was thanks to the static air that some of the attack was dimmed down. Otherwise there would be a hole in Artemis's chest right about now.
As he came around he expected another attack. So the air around him suddenly began to cool as ice formed over his entire body. If Julian followed the attack with another he'd find it blocked by the armor made of ice.
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Lakari did not feel the need to rush. "We shall get there when we get there child. No need to hurry." Lakari followed the vampire through the woods. As he did he began already to prepare for the upcoming battle. Lakari was much older then both of these vampires. Julian was about to find himself facing a vampire's worst enemy. A necromancer.
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