Welcome to Gaia! ::

((So, I was watching scrubs and they played Hallelujah. I almost cried ; ;.

It was well past midnight, but not quite morning. The land was in complete darkness. Drake led the group to where the Hueron forces were located. They reached the camp after about an hour. Smoke was still rising from the now put-out campfires. Everyone was asleep, save for two men keeping watch. "It wouldn't be honorable to attack now." Drake said to them.

"Honorable no. Smart....yes." Zedo responded.

"They are my kin....to attack and kill them is dishonorable enough. We should at least try to recruit them to our cause. And if they don't, we should at least give them a chance to fight back. Besides, it's more fun that way." Ace said, trying to form a slight smile. They all nodded in agreement, and made their way down to the camp. As they walked, one of the guards saw them, and sounded the alarm....well....he yelled, "INTRUDERS!" loudly. The warriors scrambled quickly from their beds, grabbing their weapons and armor in a hurry. Ace and company stood silently and watched themselves be surrounded.

"Stop, do not harm them yet." Said a voice from the crowd. A few men parted, and a beautiful woman walked through. By the way the men knelt as she walked by, she appeared to be the one in charge. Her elegant long hair was almost a light lavender, up in a ponytail and her green eyes sparkled in the moonlight. She was lightly armored and carried an axe. A tiger followed her closely. She strapped her axe to her belt and ran at Ace, throwing her arms around him. The others stood in awe and disbelief. "Ace! Is it really you? Oh I thought you were dead!" Rayne said, choking back tears. Ace hugged her tightly, remembering how he had missed her touch. "Thank God you're back. No one can stand against the empire now."

Rayne.....Damnit.....why did it have to be you?

Ace paused and forced the words out of his mouth. "Rayne...I do not follow the empire."

"What....did....you say?" She said.

"I do not kneel to Vance Felch. He murdered the only father I've ever known and only wishes to see more death." By now, he was speaking more to the entire crowd than just Rayne. "You follow a greedy, powerful man who won't stop until the world is his."

"But he is finally bringing glory back to Hueron!" Rayne retaliated.

"Yes, and murdering innocent people." Zedo said back.

"Oh Zedo! You're here too! It's just like old times." Rayne said, hugging him.

Zedo held her for a moment, and then pushed her away. "Yes, except my country is at war with yours." His words slapped her across the face, bringing her back to the reality that they were enemies.

Ace stepped forward. "Rayne, it doesn't have to end this way. Come with us. Please." He drew his sword. Several others in the crowd did the same. Rayne's tiger crouched low and began to growl. "I....I don't want to do this. I'm telling you, you're on the wrong side. Come with us. We can fix this. Vance Felch will die by my hand, or I'll die fighting him." He gripped Excalibur tightly. "The less of my friends that I have to kill....the better."

A tear fell from her eyes. She drew her axe. Zedo and the rest followed suit, drawing their own weapons and moving in closer to Ace. "Ace....I'm scared, but I will do what I have to do."

"As will I." Ace said.

Rayne looked up at him, tears still in her eyes. "I love you, now and forever."

The air was filled with tension. Neither side made a move. Stalemate. Drake stepped forward, speaking loudly. "Warriors of Hueron. Let down your weapons. Do you not realize that you strike against your own prince? The rightful heir to the throne of Hueron?! Where is your pride!? Let down your weapons, and come with us. Any of you that do, I promise will be protected." Every....single....person gripped their weapon tighter. Vance Felch was a very good speaker. His speeches had brainwashed them all.

"You see Ace." Rayne said. "They are all loyal to the empire," She hung her head, "and I am loyal to Hueron." She looked up at Ace and winked. A wink he recognized firmly. Ace struck the nearest person to his right, stabbing his sword straight through his heart. Rayne's tiger leaped into the crowd, crashing against at least 5 of the warriors from Hueron. It clawed wildly, ripping into flesh. Rayne herself was occupying herself with her axe, attacking the men she was supposed to be leading.

The rest joined the fray, still not quite sure what had happened.





********************************************************


"Cure!" Aleril shouted. He felt his body tighten, refreshed. He stood, staring the still nameless samurai down. "We finish this." He said to him. Aleril sheathed his sword and held his arm in front of him and shouted, "Flash!" A blinding light burst from his palm, hitting the samurai and making it hard for him to see. Aleril charged forward, drawing his sword and taking advantage of his opponents plight.

Sogue plodded quickly into the fray, scowl covering his face as his blonde hair swished and flew around the air, hacking, slashing with his blade. He ran a man through, knocked him to the ground. Decapitated him. The enemies were still too stunned to fight back, but one man made a retaliatory rush at Sogue. The warrior turned to meet him, their blades deadlocking. The warrior glanced over his shoulder to see another man approaching. He was hit with a fireball before he could reach him. Sogue glanced at Mitus, who nodded and returned to casting.


Sogue broke the deadlock, headbutting the enemy soldier. He spun to the right, cutting him down. He kicked another man as Drake appeared near him. They shared a look as they both dashed forward, slashing into Hueron soldiers.

----------------------------------------------------

Serph leapt backward, pulling his blade, sheath and all out to cover his eyes. He slipped it back into his belt in one quick motion as he got some distance between him and the paladin. He could see shapes, but blindness had taken effect. He reached into a pocket of his kimono and threw the small flashing item into the air. His eyes buzzed with a strange sensation as they Eye Drops took effect. He could see clearly now.

Mitus saw that Sogue and Drake, his party members for the moment, were drawing away from him. He drew his rapier and slashed through the advancing soldiers easily enough, meeting them in the battlefield.

He drew his arms up, firing blasts of wind back as Sogue dashed forward, dodging beneath an enemy blade. He slashed with all his might as the enemy was pushed backward.

"How long do you think we can hold this up?" the warrior questioned.

"A lot longer if I conserve my strength toward healing..." Mitus whispered as he conjured another fireball.

Serph was knocked backward with the shield. He bit his lip as he was stunned backward, still having his katana sheathed.

"Attack me. If you're still alive and concious when you're done i'll consider this battle over."

Even though Ifrit was strong, speed was not his ally. Skyre was doing dances around the mighty beast. sending in a quick jab now and then. he threw shuriken into his legs to slow the beast even more. Ifrit let out a bellow. "NO MORE HOLDING BACK!!" Skyre worked himself in a frenzy and became even faster. He then got behind the beast jumped up and slashed down its back. he then began throwing shurikens at Rilryn just trying to mess his focus up. "your tricks dont work a second time." he smiled. He did his best to not try and do major damage to RIlryn just enough so he would worry about himself. he then made a fatal death strike on Ifrits neck jumping off his arm.

Skyre saw the fire enclosing him. he jumped as the fire sought after like predator and prey. he got his backside burnt but he got back up from the sand.((dude you forgot about the shuriken thrown at him.)) Skyre ran at Rilryn and performed nerve attacks on him so that he was paralzyed. He then waited for ifrit to attack. ifrit lunged at him and he jumped aiming for the stomach he tried to slip through ifrits arms and ifrit gave him a head butt into the sand. Skyre not giving ifrit the win. he rised. pulling shuriken after shuriken he keep chucking them at ifrit aiming for the eyes, pressure points and crippling in the hamstring.becoming fatigued with his injuries, kept on going for ifrit would have to break every bone before he gave up.

Skyre places his fingers in a positon and says hojo. he used this art on Ifrit. He then follows that one up with Utsusemi. he has the other three go after the two opponents and then he cast the parazlying justus again on rilyn. he then uses the other two clones to distract ifrit while he uses the water jutsu on the giant beast. hoping that they will stay down.

((Yes, I'm posting from a girl's perspective. Deal with it.))

In the matter of a month, my king has been murdered, I was led to believe that the love of my life was dead, only to find out that was a lie. I was promoted to a general of an army and then not only did I abandon my post, but I killed the men I was supposed to be leading and instead, I'm now with 4 men from rival countries and a man marked dead. What the hell is happening to my life. What am I doing?

"You okay?" Zedo's voice brought her back to reality. She looked up and and saw that everyone was looking at her.

"Wha....yeah...I'm fine." What a stupid thing to say. They continued walking along the path back to Zein's capital. They had sent a body of a dead Hueron soldier back to Hueron on a chocobo, a flag of Zein tied to the body's wrist. I just hope I'm not making a mistake. She passed out. The last thing she saw was Ace reaching for her.