Casting Shadows

[Grave_Guardian]

Ha Ha nice and bloody Mini. Keep it up I thought it was good befoe but its only getting better.

[DarkMagician]

Of course! Did you doubt him? Albert is one of the best at fanfics on this site, if not THE best!

...I'm mildly jealous...

[Mini_Bert]

Wow thanks peoples.

Why didn't I post this earlier >>
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Chapter 11 - Battle Scars
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Veron opened his eyes drowzily, the blurry image in his eyes went black for a moment, then came up again. He saw the burning flame of a fire a little distance from his face. Veron shook his head, and let his eyes focus. On the other side of the fire, he saw Darren, sleeping under a blanket. He looked to his left, to see Gaia, examining his sword, tilting it in different directions. He looked to the right, to see Zent attempting to bandage Idris, but as he applied a sealer to the wound, he let out a scream of pain.

"Are you trying to heal me or kill me!" Idris got up and yelled at Zent, then he gripped his wound again and fell to his knees.

"Oh shut up dammit. You're lucky to be alive at all. Now take the sealer or my holding spell will wear off and you'll go through the pain of losing that piece again!" Zent yelled back as Idris sat cross legged, and nodded. Zent applied the sealer, Idris wincing in pain. He wrapped the large bandage around Idris' body, covering the wound and half his chest. "Let it sit for about half an hour before you put your clothes and armour back on." Zent said as he got up to check on Darren. Veron looked around again, where was Carissa?

"Finally awake, huh?" A soft voice said from above him, Veron swung his head around to look up. Carissa's smiling face was looking down at him. Veron smiled and placed his head on the ground. Carissa placed a wet cloth on Veron's forehead, walked over to Darren and did the same. "They exhausted themselves." Carissa said softly as she stood up and walked away form Darren. Zent nodded as he got up and walked towards the fire, away from Idris. Gaia didn't move, only continued to examine his sword.

Zent grabbed one of his claws and poked a coal in the fire, kicking up embers and letting a stronger flame burn through. Carissa sat with her knees to her face, looking from Veron to Darren occasionally, in case they were waking up. Gaia continued to examine the sword, Zent watched the odd warrior tilt his sword around.

"What are you doing, Gaia?" Zent asked curiously, Gaia stabbed the sword into the ground, kicking up dust. Gaia stood up slowly from his cross legged position.

"I don't know. Something felt different about my sword, though it seems nothing has changed...." Gaia let his sentence drift off. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Gaia said loudly as he grabed his sword, strapped it to his back and walked into the deep forest.

"What's bugging him?" Carissa asked quietly, Zent shook his head. Idris let out a small whimper of pain, Zent got up and tended to him.

Gaia wandered around aimlessly in the dark forest, a million thoughts past through his head. Who was talking to him? How was it that they were talking to him? Was it all a dream? What was wrong with his sword? His thoughts were interrupted as the leaves rustled in a nearby tree, a shadow jumped quickly out of the tree and to another. Gaia tried to follow the shadow, but he lost it as it jumped quickly from tree to tree. The shadow appeared behind Gaia, and rose his arm into the air, the blade glinting off the moon light.

Idris' eyes opened quickly, and he jumped up, knocking Zent on his back. Idris ran off into the forest. "What are you doing?!" Zent yelled as Idris ran into the forest. Idris saw it, him, DarkFire. He was attacking Gaia, he had to make sure Gaia was alright. He heard the clanging of metal in the distance, he drew the KaoKara, and ran forward.

Gaia swung his sword horizontally, DarkFire jumped over the attack and above Gaia, upside down. DarkFire thrust his handblade downwards at Gaia, he finished his attack by swinging the sword aboce his head and holding it there, blocking the attack. Idris burst through the bushes, and he saw DarkFire standing there.

"YOU!" Idris yelled, as he lunged forward at DarkFire, he thought quickly and jumped into a nearby tree.

"Some other time, boy." DarkFire said, the sound muffled by his face mask. He jumped off from tree to tree, out of sight. Idris ran after him, Gaia tried to stop him, with no sucess. Why is it he ran when Idris came? Gaia shook his head at the odd thought, and started back to the camp, knowing Idris and DarkFire were too far off to catch.

"I will get you, Nirnyandin DarkFire. You will not escape me. These battle scars hurt, but the scars you left on my family hurt more." Idris said quietly to himself as he continued running after the slippery asassin.

[DarkMagician]

You didn't post it earlier because of HER I bet...

[Mini_Bert]

That's a distinct possibility. No offence, but SHE comes first ^^

Anyway, you guys are about caught up....then you'll have to wait for me to write them like everyone else xD

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Chapter 12 - Where the Road Splits
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"He WHAT!?" Zent yelled at Gaia as everyone awoke that morning. Gaia stuck his finger in his right ear and rubbed around, as if it had deafened him. Veron arose, yawning, he turned and jumped to see Carissa, just waking up. Darren slept soundly, even with the loud yelling of Zent.

"He chased after DarkFire." Gaia explained, pulling his finger out of his ear. Zent threw his arms into the air.

"I spend a nght healing his wounds, and he goes off to try and kill an asassin. He's going to end up like his parents!" Zent yelled loudly, Veron and Carissa looked at him, shocked. Gaia shook his head.

"Something wasn't right, DarkFire ran when Idris came. Meaning DarkFire has no intention of killing him." Gaia explained, his voice still the same. He went over to Darren and flicked his forehead to wake him. "We should get moving. It would take days to find Idris and DarkFire. If we're to reach our destination--"

"You mean YOUR destination." Darren interrupted Gaia, everyone turned to look at him. His arm bandaged, his mace still against the tree. "Carissa, and myself need to return to our king. We must inform him of our victory. Our remaining warriors have no doubt already prepared the boats." Darren explained, picking up his mace and strapping it in its case. Carissa nodded as she looked at Gaia, then Veron. Veron set a sad look on his face, then loked at Gaia.

"I'm going too." Veron said, as he shifted his look to the ground. Gaia looked suprised at Veron, then he looked over at Carissa, then Darren, then the sky.

"Veron...." Gaia started, Veron opened his mouth, but Gaia cut him off. "I understand. I am the only one who needs to be here anyway. Zent and I will continue to Belaria. I hope we meet again, Bladen Knight." Gaia said, as he nodded to Zent, and began to walk off. Zent waved good bye to the three warriors and caught up with Gaia. The three warriors turned, and walked in the opposite directionm to the boats.

The sun beat down heavily on the town in a small meadow. The houses were made of wood, tightly tied together. All made with materials directly from nautre. The residents of this village appeared to all be deeply tanned, making their skin fairly dark. Children ran around playing with vine whips and sticks, pretending to be warriors in a battle. The adults talked lightly, about random things. Some others did a few errands, improving the houses, retrieving water from the nearby river. A peaceful and small village. Beyond the small, sun bathed village, stood the Belarian mountains. Cold and desolate structures, standing tall. Englufed in a cold wind and a snowy blanket, it was hard to believe that there were still people there. A tall teenage man, with tanned skin and brown eyes walked out of the forest. His fiery red hair stood in spikes upright, some occasionally draping over his headband. He wore loose clothes, with what seemed to be claw marks painted on. Similar markings came in on both sides of his smiling face, covering his cheeks. He was dragging a dead creature with his left hand, and carried a bloody spear in the other. The spear wasn't normal though, it's handle was made of very thick wood, decorated with multiple carivings and paint. The wood curved into a crescent moon covering some of the spear, lined with a sharp metal for cutting. The bloody spear head was thick, and blood dripped from its point. He walked towards the village, dragging the large creature.

Gaia and Zent walked quietly, knowing the group they once had they might not see again. Zent began to stare out into the sky between the treetops, wondering what became of Idris. His thoughts were interupted as he triped over a rock and stumbled out into the small meadow. Gaia shook his head and went to help Zent. Zent sat upright, looking at the beautiful village, as Gaia came out. Gaia looked at the pleasent village, then looked at the Belarian mountains beyond it.

"We're almost there...." Gaia said quietly, then he shook his head snapping back into reality. He offered his hand to Zent, who used it to pull himself up. Zent nodded, and began to walking to the village.

"Yep. We can spend the night here and then head off to the mountains." Zent said as he made his way closer to the village, Gaia grabbed him by the shoulder.

"We're going to get there, today." Gaia commanded, Zent brushed his hand off.

"Fine, then lets at least eat." Zent said, as he looked at the meat cooking over hot coals in the middle of the village and walked forward. Gaia looked at the meat, shrugged and walked with him.

The teenage boy with the spear looked up as he ate his piece of meat. He waved to Gaia and Zent happily. "Afternoon strangers. What brings you here?" the boy asked playfully, as he grabbed to pieces of meat for them. They both sat down, and Gaia took a chunk of the meat.

"Oh we're just passing through. We're heading to the mountains right after my friend Zent here fills his greedy stomach." Gaia explained, eating a piece. Zent used one of his claws to cut the meat into small pieces and began to use it to pick up and eat the meat.

"Those mountains?" The teenage man laughed, "You go up there now and you'll freeze!" The man laughed again, "Not to mention you'll get lost and buried in snow!" The man continued to laugh. Gaia and Zent looked at the light hearted man.

"Who do you think you are?" Gaia said angrily, the man held out his hand.

"Iiar Dragurez. At your service." He smiled innocently as he held his hand out, Gaia shook his hand.

"Well, Iiar, it's nice to meet you. But we'll be gone in the morning. To you have a place we can stay?" Gaia asked, as Zent stuffed more meat in his face. Iiar smiled and stood up, pointing to a rather large wooden house not far from where they were.

"You can stay at my place. Just no messing it up." Iiar explained. Gaia got up to examine the home, Iiar stopped him. "You're going to need a guide to lead you up the mountains." Iiar said, his voice still care free. Gaia nodded in approvement, and went off to examine his resting point, and to gaze at his destination.

[Grave_Guardian]

I normally don't like to read to deep into stories but Mini keep posting.

[Mini_Bert]

Chapter 13 - Chilled Wind
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Gaia layed on the bed, staring at the ceiling. It had to be nearly midnight, and he seemed to be the only one in bed. The yells and laughter of the villagers, and Zent, were still active not far away. Gaia blocked them out, and let his thoughts flow out. Gaia had many questions, just like every other night. Who is it on the mountains? How will they help? Why did DarkFire run away? his thoughts dragged on, until his eyes grew too heavy to stay open. He pulled a blanket over himself, faced the wall and shut his eyes. The laughter of Zent and Iiar came closer, away from the crowd. As they came in through the door, Zent wobbled slightly as he stepped inside, and Iiar laughed.

"I had no idea small villages were so busy." Zent said as he fell to his bed, Iiar smiled and laughed.

"We're not busy, that's what gives us such a positive outlook on life." Iiar said happily as he walked over to Gaia's sleeping body. "Sound asleep. He's not much of the positive type, is he?" Iiar asked sarcastically, Zent sat up.

"Nope. I don't really know him well, but he seems to always be serious. I don't think it's possible for him to lighten up either." Zent fell to his bed and pulled a blanket over his head.

"Ha, you're such a wimp, Zent. If I didn't have to take you guys up the mountain I'd sit here and laugh at you." Iiar said as he climbed into the third bed, leaving a fourth open. Zent finally noticed the amount of beds.

"Why do you have four beds in here anyway?" Zent asked curiously as he removed the blanket from his head. Iiar sat up, smiled pathetically and laughed quietly. Zent shook his head, and drifted to sleep. Iiar did the same.

Zent rose from his bed, to see that Gaia had already gotten up. He also noticed a girl sleeping next to Iiar, he shook his head. "How does he do that...." Zent said as he grabbed his claws and threw on his robes. As he stepped outside, the sun beat down on his sky blue hair. Zent stared into the sky for a moment, then began to look for Gaia. He walked around the eerily quiet village, looking for Gaia, until he saw him standing by the forest, looking at the mountains. Zent walked next to him.

"Not morning people, are they." Gaia said quietly, still fixated on the mountains. Zent nodded, and before he could open his mouth, Gaia spoke again. "Go wake Iiar, and tell him to leave his girlfriend behind." Gaia commanded, his gaze still unmoved. Zent nodded and headed back to Iiar's house.

A few minutes later, the girl stormed out of Iiar's house, followed by Iiar chasing after her, followed by Zent who caught Iiar by the collar with one of his nails. Iiar still scrambled to catch her, arms flailing, until he gave in and fell, depressed. He stood up and hung his head sadly and walked over to Gaia. "Let's get going...." Iiar said sadly as his spear, strapped to his back, passed by Gaia. Zent and Gaia followed the pathetic Iiar through the forest, until reaching the base of the mounatin, a cold and desolate field, where the grass was yellow and a chilled wind blew softly. Iiar took the depressed look off his face and regained his normal care free look.

"That was fast." Gaia said, not suprised. Iiar turned and put his pathetic smile back on.

"Yes...well....Moveing on!" Iiar said, trying to change the subject. He began to walk up the side of the mountain. The mountain wasn't very steep, at least for the first hour. The chilled wind blew harder as they progressed up the mountain, and the easy walk soon became much more tilted. After another half an hour of walking, the three companions ran into a straight up vertical wall.

"Oh god no...." Iiar sad to himself, "I've never been up this high....sorry, I didn't know. Guess we can just head back." Iiar said pathetically and turned around. Gaia stuck out his arm to stop him, then pointed to Zent; he had his claws dug into the side of the snowy wall, and began to climb up one step at a time. Gaia pointed to a rope tied around his waste, then held up the end for Iiar. He laugh quietly, hung his head and tied the rope on.

The chilling wind was now more of a gale, piercing the clothes of the companions and chilling their skin. They were almost to the top of the vertical wall, and had gotten there with Iiar only falling twice. Iiar lost his footing and dangled from the rope, three times. Zent was straining himself to move forward, slowly. Gaia looked at the exhausted Zent, who could barely hold on.

"We're all going to die." Iiar pestered, Gaia looked down at him angrily as Zent tried to hold on.

"Guys, I'm slipping...." Zent said, his voice strained. Gaia tried to think, and Iiar held on.

"Like I said, we're all--" Iiar started to whine, Gaia interrupted him.

"Oh shutup Iiar! I'm trying to concentrate!" Gaia said, as he closed his eyes, and let go of the wall.

"What are you doing?" Iiar yelled as Gaia dangled, the sudden excess weight strained Zent who let out a yell of pain, and lost grip. They all began to fall, but their fall was cut short as a large sound, like shifting rock was heard, and they landed on a large plate. "I don't remember this being here..." Iiar said, Zent lay down, exhausted. Gaia still kept his eyes close, clenching his fists. Iiar stared at him in wonderment, thinking, what the hell is this guy doing? But his thoughts were cut short, as the sound of shifting rock resounded, only this time it was above them, and happened multiple times. Iiar looked up, too see plates of rock just like the ones they were standing on. He shifted his gaze to Gaia.

"Well, better get moving." Gaia said, as if it was nothing. He got up and boosted himself onto the closest rock plate. Iiar shook his head, and began to wonder who this guy was, and why didn't he do that in the first place? Zent was thinking similar thoughts, but he continued gasping for air. Gaia was already far ahead of the other two, and as he jumped up to the top of the wall, he stood looking at the log cabin with lights burning inside. Zent and Iiar pulled themselves up onto the ledge, and watched as something came.

[DarkMagician]

No offence, but SHE comes first ^^

NANI!?! Before even ME!? BAH! You shall pay...with HER BLOOD!

*Runs off to kidnap Celia*

[Mini_Bert]

You will not try to harm her, or story production will cease

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Chapter 14 - The Gale and The Ice
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As the three companions stood in the freezing cold of the Belarian mountains, snow falling down, two dark figures rushed toward them, jumping from the roof and appearing from behind a snow mound. As they came into vision, Gaia made out the two shadows. One was very tall, about as tall as he was, and the other was very short, barely five feet tall. Both wore heavy brown hooded cloaks, draping down reaching their ankles. The two figures stopped a distance from the companions and seperated from eachother.

"Nice cloaks. Are you trying to become potato sacks?" Iiar asked sarcastically, the two figures looked at eachother form their dark hoods and nodded. They turned their attention back to the others. "What?" Iiar asked cautiously, a long blade hit the snow from under the tall ones cloak. "Uh oh" Iiar said cautiously, as he took his spear off his back and held it with two hands. Gaia reached back and took his sword of his back with one hand, then holding it diagonally downwards across his body, Zent gripped his claws tightly.

"Great job, Iiar." Zent said sarcastically, Iiar put his pathetic smile on and laughed slowly. The short figure rushed at Iiar, now holding in front of him a double sides saber, blades coming from both sides. The odd weapon was a dark blue for the hilt, spreading to two white blades on either end of it, wrapped around with a sharp blue metal that stuck out from the blade. He swung the blade diagonally up at Iiar, immediatly followed by the other side as he spun. Iiar held up his spear and blocked both blows but moved slightly backwards.

"Wow, fast for having such short legs." Iiar said sarcastically as he took a forward stab at the short man. The short man looked over his shoulder and caught the spear with one hand on the wood part. Iiar looked shocked; the short man used his weapon to boost himself up and used Iiar's spear as a balance to kick him in the face and take his spear.

"These short legs are all I need to beat you! Stupid jokester!" The short man yelled at the fallen Iiar, who lay on the cliffside rubbing his face. He threw the spear into a nearby snow drift. The short man jumped into the air, spinning his weapon above his head and lunging down at Iiar. Iiar looked up at the figure and weapon closing in on him, he rolled to the left, running to the snow drift. "Get back here and die you jack ass!" the short man yelled.

"Simmer down Kyogan." The tall man said quietly as he picked up his long sword and showed it out from his cloak. The sword had a long silver blade, with a dark blue hilt and a black crystal embedded in it. He started at Gaia and Zent, swinging it horzontally at them. Gaia blocked it with his sword, and Zent caught it between his claws. The tall man quickly let go of his sword and sweeped Zent's legs with one kick, catching his sword as he fell. He swung the sword at Gaia quickly, he easily deflected it with his large sword. Gaia followed the block with a horizontal swing, the tall man jumped up and landed on Gaia's sword, swinging his sword down vertically on Gaia. He thought quickly and let go of his sword, sending the man to the snow.

"Worry about yourself, Kyojinn." Kyogan replied as he made a jumping stab for Iiar's hand, who was reaching for his spear. Iiar pulled his hand back in fear.

"You little midget! Watch where you swing that thing!" Iiar yelled at Kyogan. Kyogan rolled his eyes at the pathetic warrior.

"What kind of fighter are you?" Kyogan said, and began to spin wildly, spinning his weapon on either side of him. Iiar jumped towards the snow mound and out of the way, Kyogan ran into a mountain side, making a rather large impact on it, cracking a large hole.

"A much better one than you shorty." Iiar said sarcastically as he picked up his spear and threw it like a boomerang, spinning at Kyogan. Kyogan turned quickly and sent the spear into the air, but where was Iiar? Kyogan suddenly fell on his face as Iiar slid at him knocking his legs off the ground. He smiled and stood up, catching his spear. Kyogan got up, enraged, with his hood now down and snow on his face. Kyogan's hair was very faded blue, almost white, hanging down loosely around his head. His eyes were also a light blue, but they were angry eyes, his face was in a scowl.

"Nobody puts my face in the snow!" Kyogan yelled as he attacked Iiar, who matched him blow for blow.

Kyojinn stood up, his hood off too. His hair was like Kyogan's, but it was all brushed up and over to the left, covering the left side of his face. A collar covered most of what was left of his face, a white collar to match his hair and eyes. His eyes were the same colour as Kyogan's, but they appeared timid, gentle, calm. He swung horizontally at Gaia, who blocked the attack with his sword. Kyojinn didn't let up, he kept swinging in different directions, Gaia blocking them each time, slowly moving backwards. Kyojinn was moving faster and faster, Gaia was having trouble keeping up his blocks, until he hit the edge of the cliff.

"Good bye." Kyojinn said as brought his sword for a horizontal slash, Gaia closed his eyes. Kyojinn swung the sword, but before he could make contact...

"What the?!?!" Kyogan yelled, as he watched Kyojinn fly through the air, and as he looked at the obstruct pillar sticking out of the ground.

A fairly well built man sat at a table inside the cabin, sipping tea and sitting safely by a fire. He looked out the window and saw Gaia launch Kyojinn into the air. He smiled to himself, and put his tea on the table. He walked over to the window and nodded to Kyojinn, who nodded back. Kyojinn fell downards, off the cliff.

"Kyojinn!" Kyogan yelled as he bashed Iiar out of the way and ran to the cliff side, Gaia and Zent did the same. They all leaned over the cliffside, to see Kyojinn fly back up, and stop just above them, looking down at them. He floated in the air, standing there, as if it was nothing. Gaia and Zent stared on in wonderment, Kyogan smiled, and Iiar got up to brush the snow out of his hair.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long." A strong voice said from the doorway of the cabin.

[cOoLdUdE]

How about you copy and paste all chpters when your done onto a website and put the link on your sig