More than just a falling star...

[Anonymous]

((OOC: Unless you were in the plotting thread, please pm me before joining in.))

Falling stars have always been regarded as signs of great events, the rise and fall of kingdoms, the births of great kings and heroes...the arrival or awakening of mythical creatures.  Such a star had shot over the Draconi Forest several days ago, landing somewhere deep within the trees and vegetation, and of course it had been the subject of many discussions in the villages and towns on the outskirts of the forest.  

Those searching for where the star had landed would be quite surprised, however.  There was no crater, no scorched fields to be found anywhere within the forest.  The star had landed in a quiet little clearing, yet there was no sign of anything resembling a fallen star.  The only thing even slightly out of place were the remnants of a large white egg sitting at the base of a tree.  The egg had cracked straight down the middle, leaving one half intact, with the fragments of the other side scattered around in the grass around the tree.  From looking at the remains of the egg, one could tell it had been large enough for a young child to fit inside comfortable, but there was no sign of whatever had come out of the egg.

Unless one happened to look up, then one would see a young boy sleeping on one of the branches, totally oblivious to the world around him.  He was half hanging off his branch, sleeping face down on the branch, a pair of iridescent white wings hanging limply against his sides.  Was this child what had emerged from the egg?

[Anonymous]

A sound, beautiful but somehow sad, floated through the air and seemed to be coming from everywhere but nowhere at the same time. It was airy sounding, and the song was played slowly. Rather suddenly, two creatures, resembling humans but with pointed ears and each with two tails like kitsune, emerged from a dark shadow cast by a tree. One was taller than the other, and appeared older.He had light grey hair with silver tips on the ends. The younger of the two had a flute in hand that glowed with a soft white light, matching his pure white hair with black tips and gold flecks on the ends. Their hair also sparkled, almost glowed, brilliantly in the light. As the two creatures neared a small clearing, they saw that there was an egg in the field.

The younger one continued playing his song, not noticing his surroundings. The older stared at the egg with an expression of wonder and confusion. "What do you think that is, Silas?" Silas, who was now sitting on an above branch, did not answer. The older joined him on the branch and froze, staring ahead. Silas ended the song and looked at his companion. "What is it, Loki?" Then he followed his gaze and looked in wonder at the sight before him. "Ooh..." Loki stared. "It looks like something out of a story book." Silas nodded. Now, the lines on Silas's face glowed silver; Loki's glowed icy blue. The rather ghostly and oddly beautiful in a way pair looked at the winged boy.

[Anonymous]

Raus strolled through the forest. He had a bit of a carefree jaunt and a slight smile played against his face. His heterochromatic blue and green eyes shined off the light that filtered through the tree limbs. He paused a moment to shift the sheathed sword on his back along with the pack of his other belongings. He wore black pants and a white t-shirt with a black stripe designed. Over it he had a black jacket.

He was in the forest to look for something. Being a mercenary of sorts he was paid to find something that fell out of the sky. He did not know if he would run into his employer here or not, or whether there would be others looking as well. Off in the distance he could here an odd melody. Hmm...odd music is a better clue then no odd music. With that idea set into mind he quickened his pace slightly and followed the musical trail. It had led him straight to a clearing where he could see two human-like people that were definitely not human at all. Odd

"Hallo!" Raus called out with a friendly wave in the air. He wasn't paying attention to the winged boy in the tree. He was on the other side of the clearing and so his view was obstructed.

[Anonymous]

Loki and Silas turned at the same time, and their eyes also gave off the faintest reflected light. "Hello," Loki said, "You're probably looking for the something that fell out of the sky, right?" Silas, out of boredom, took out his flute again and played another melody. Loki jumped out of the tree and walked slowly over twords the other, but stopped on the edge of the trees. 'Wonder who he is,' he thought with caution. 'It probably would be worse if I DID know him,' he thought again with slight amusement. "Because I highly doubt there would be much other reason for a human to be out at this hour." He didn't say this in an unfriendly way, but rather more like he was joking. Silas remained in the tree with a new song playing now, it made you want to stop in your tracks and listen. Loki leaned against the tree he was next to, bored.

[Anonymous]

The boy hadn't so much as twitched when the odd duo appeared, not even when they'd somehow appeared on the branch he was perched on.  Well, he had twitched, a bit.  Those iridescent wings had fluttered, gently rebalancing the child as the branch swayed softly.  But now, the sound of voices was slowly calling the boy back to the conscious world, and those wings were fluttering again.  A yawn, and he stretched, apparently forgetting where he'd fallen asleep, and that was it, his balance ruined.  He slid off the branch, arms flailing wildly, and managed to land on his feet somehow.

All this had passed without a sound, and now the child looked around the clearing, his blue eyes lighting up with delight as he spotted the people gathered around.  Finally, someone to talk to.  Sure, the animals were entertaining, but they didn't talk back, and some weren't all that agreeable.  Yet...the people seemed more interested in each other than him, so he stood still, wings fluttering in an awkward manner.  

"Hello," Loki said, "You're probably looking for the something that fell out of the sky, right?"

Oh, right.  He glanced back at the remnants of the egg, then at the people.  "Umm.  I fell out of the sky.  Well, the egg I came out of did."  And how did the boy know this?  It was simply instinctive knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Raus nodded his head and answered, "Why yes I would be looking for the thing that fell out of the sky that would apparently be that child." Raus pointed to the boy. This made things slightly problematic for him. He was hired to find and bring back an object, not a child. Oh well, everything will work out. At least this is what he trusted. He calmly walked over to the three people with a slight smile.

"Someone hired me to retrieve what fell out of the sky. So this is slightly awkward. Oh well no big problem." Raus chuckled, "Im Raus Kuren, freelance merc."

[hikaru.dream]

((OoC: Oh dear, I'm sorry. I forgot about the thread (>_<)  Would you still mind?))

There was in fact, a rather clumsy girl peering out into the clearing, and her heart was beating so hard that she bet that it probably could be heard.

She had arrived soon after the duo had, not at all as gracefully, but it got her there all the same, so that was okay. As to why she was hiding behind the tree, she didn't find that the little boy (whatever he was) was in danger yet, and she was uncomfortable of the newcomers. She hadn't known that so many people would have known of the poor thing. She nearly managed to go out and catch him when he fell, but she was rather far away and didn't quite make it. He looked okay, at least that was good.


Hikaru sighed, and sat back down against the tree. She was always willing to help people, but at the moment she was wallowing in self pity. She came all the way out here, by herself, just to find the lad she was supposed to help already surrounded by who knew...who, and she couldn't get herself to go up there and say hi. How horrible.

It had all started when some old fortune teller caught her in the streets, and told her she had to go help the falling star. She hadn't been sure whether to believe the lady or not, but that was when Taiga started having dreams, then Hikaru too. She had never understood why it had to be just her, why no one else could come, but perhaps these people were the answer.

Hikaru, who had good hearing for a human, began to listen to their conversation. Then she realized what was happening and jumped out of her hiding place. She kept her head down and didn't bother to see the expressions on the other people's faces. Sitting down seiza style, she gently wrapped her arms around the boy. Man, he must be freaked out, she thought, nearly laughing at herself. Unless he saw some crazy dream that I was his guardian or something.
"I'm sorry," Hikaru said aloud, looking quite miserable at what she was doing. She still had her eyes locked on the ground. "Who exactly hired you sir? For what purpose? I-I'm sorry sir, I know it's your job and stuff but I think you shouldn't take him. It is a big problem."
She didn't look up, she didn't want to. They probably had some sort of weapon faced at her anyway.
"Oh," she added. "Hi."

[Anonymous]

((OOC:  I was hoping you'd show up, hikaru. I'll wait for fearta to reply before I post again, though.))

[Anonymous]

Silas had been ignoring the conversation, but stopped playing his song with a quick end when the winged boy had fell, and jumped down from his branch to catch the boy, but froze when a girl caught him first. Thrown off balance a little by surprise, he fell into a sitting position next to the person holding the odd boy. He listened closely to what she said after his small blunder, and called to the other 2, "I really don't think we should take him away,either." Loki nodded. "Yeah...I kinda agree. I think it may have a greater purpose than what it seems.." "And," he said, addressing the man who had been paid to come, "I think something not so good will happen if you take the boy away.....so, what do you think we should do about this.?" Silas looked at the boy as he looked around, then the girl. "hey, who are you guys anyway?" His silvery white eyes were soft and filled with curiosity.

[Anonymous]

That man, Raus, he wasn't quite sure what to think of him.  Hired to retrieve him?  Well, he did long for companionship, and he was rather bored with the forest, so that was alright.  Those other two, they were so strange looking, yet they seemed somehow familiar.  Instinctive memories, perhaps.  He wasn't sure what they wanted with him, though.  He started to take a step towards Raus when yet another person emerged from the trees, and came straight up to him and wrapped her arms around him.  

And now they were all disagreeing with Raus.  He stood quietly and watched them, his wings fluttering gently in the still air.  Glancing back at the girl that held him, he smiled.  "Hi."  

Some part of him wondered what the others were here for, at least Raus had introduced himself and told them all what he was here for.  But they all seemed so relaxed, so it was okay.  He leaned against the girl a little, his wings finally stilling as he waited to see what would happen.

[Anonymous]

With the sudden arrival of the girl Raus' instincts forced him to take a step back and raise his hand towards his sword. However he stopped his hand halfway up to his chest where he held it for an awkward second before turning it into a wave. He frowned due to what everyone seemed to be saying. "Ahh lighten up a bit people! This IS a small problem, just a small one with an elusive answer. I mean im no slaver, so im not just going to haul a child away for who knows what reason. I don't know the exact name of who hired me or what they want. However I cannot just abandon a job." Raus held an expression of thought as he rubbed his chin. He paced around quickly in a small circle before smiling. He crouched down to be even with the sitting girl and said in a friendly manner, "But it IS okay to drop a job if I get bought out. So....buy me out."

[hikaru.dream]

Hikaru blinked at the boy in her arms. She hadn't expected anyone to reply to her. "Hi," she repeated, and smiled back.

She thought her heart would pop out when white haired... whatever it was, dropped right next to her. She was glad that she had been too surprised to move, otherwise she probably would have shrieked. That was girlish, and a little wrong in her opinion. She didn't like being like those ladies that started screaming at every little thing.

Hikaru stared at the man suspiciously. What had his name been? Roose? No, Raus. Why was he waving?
She didn't move a muscle while he talked, the only movement was her eyes which were following his every move. His friendly manner was making her ache to smile, like she always did, and get along with this stranger like she always did. But his words stopped her, and she remained still, with her short arms still around the boy.

You're no different from a slaver, Hikaru wanted to say. Besides, you're contradicting yourself.
Perhaps something would have changed if she hadn't bitten down those words.

"Well," she said when she was sure she wouldn't start yelling. "I can do all kinds of things for you. Whether you'll find them useful or not, it's up to you. Unfortunately, I can't give you money, which is probably what you want the most. I don't have enough that would cover whatever you've been paid to capture someone else for money. I don't see why you can't just take back what's left of the egg. It's the egg that they asked you to get, no?"

Hikaru frowned.
There was a risky way to satisfy this man. Although it was something she wouldn't like to do at all. But that was up to the white haired boy.
"Do you want to go with him?" she asked. "It's not going to do you any good at all. You'll probably be locked up somewhere after he sells you to whatever. They want something from you. Don't ask me what, I don't know. But if you want to..." she shrugged. "I'm not going to stop you, but I'm coming along. And I will get you out of whatever mess you get into. To the best of my ability, anyway."

[Anonymous]

Slaver?  The word was unfamiliar to him, and for some reason, he didn't like the sound of it.  And being sold, and locked up?  He recoiled, leaning away from Raus and back against the girl.  "Don't wanna be sold.  S'posed to be free."  Let the man take the egg, he didn't want to go with him anymore.  

He glanced up at the other two, then turned back to Hikaru, placing one of his small hands on top of hers.  "I wanna go with you."  She was nice, she wanted to help him...much safer than going with Raus.  He didn't like the idea of being sold at all.

[Anonymous]

"Ah" Raus let out a sigh of disappointment and lowered his head to look at the ground for a second before looking back up.

 "Like I said. I dont want to sell the boy and Im not going to no matter what. And I don't want money or anything like that. I have no real use for it." Raus said and then paused before continuing, "Pay me by not acting so bummed out. We then can just call it even." He had a simple expression without a smile, as if that was purely logical and obvious answer that was clear all along. After another second the corners of his mouth turned back up into his smile.

[hikaru.dream]

((I'm sorry, I didn't get my notice mail so I didn't know of the new posts DX))

Yay, Hikaru thought, as the little boy placed his hand on top of her own. She didn't smile though, it wouldn't be proper, especially at a time like this.

"Oh," she said, looking at Raus. She cocked her head. She did not understand this man. First he said he had to take the boy away, and then he said he wasn't? Perhaps that was only what her confused brain could understand, and there was more to it than she had thought.
"Well then," she said, scooping the boy up in her arms and standing up. He was lighter than she had expected. "That's settled, then. Let's get out of here anyway. There's probably going to be more people coming to fetch you."

There was one problem though.
Where to go?

[Anonymous]

Wait, Raus didn't want to sell him?  He was confused now, not quite sure of what Raus wanted now.  The man had been so straightforward, and now this was confusing.  He wrapped an arm around Hikaru's shoulders as she lifted him, his wings fluttering lightly.  "More people?"  He glanced around the clearing, then back up at Hikaru.  "Where're we going?"  He asked, his tone cheerfully light.  Clearly the boy didn't really care where they were going, he quite liked Hikaru already.

[Anonymous]

Raus was a smart person. He could tell that the others didnt quite understand what he meant. That was ok though. It wasnt necessary to explain the politics of mercenaryhood and having to do a job and if you didnt like it you had to find a loophole,which he did. He shrugged it off and stood up.

"Yes, moving would probably be a good idea. No one just sends one merc to do a job. There WILL be others. Any idea where we should go? Im not familiar with the area but I could get out just fine. But cant just ditch ya now can I? Thatd be a jerk thing to do." Raus pondered and looked around the clearing, trying to think of what direction would be the best way to go. Hed almost just wing it but knowing himself, hed have a 50% chance of leading them to somewhere safe and a 50% chance of intentionally leading them towards violence where he could act. And he didnt trust himself to make the right choice between the two.

[hikaru.dream]

"Whatever," Hikaru replied, but it wasn't really in a rude manner. She just simply wanted to express that she understood. Maybe it wasn't the best word for it, but it what she found herself using a lot.

"Hm," Hikaru said softly. Then she began walking forward. In a totally random direction. "This way," she said. She figured that going to the nearest town wasn't the best thing. It would be what people expected them to do.

So, she would lead them in a random direction. Danger was going to come whichever way they went, so they might as well move forward. At least they had something to do now.

[Anonymous]

Maybe Raus wasn't so bad after all.  He was offering to help them out now.  And where exactly were they going?  He didn't know, and truthfully, didn't quite care.  At least the girl knew where they were going.  At least, she seemed to know.

Oh, right...

"I'm Dragon."  A cheerful little introduction, though it wasn't really his name.  Or was it?  It was simply what he was, and no others like him were around, so Dragon was a good name for him.  Unless someone gave him a name he liked more.

At any rate, he was quite content to let her carry him around, since she was rather nice.  And Raus was okay.  Maybe.  

((OOC: Sorry for the delays.))

[Anonymous]

Raus nodded and followed after the girl. The hair on the back of his neck was prickling. He was getting a bad feeling, he didnt like those feelings cause quite frankly he enjoyed them. As he moved he closed his eyes and felt out with a sort of seventh sense(the sixth being the sense of motion and location). It was a bit like magical echolocation, feeling the vibrations of existence to obtain a sense of bearings without the need for sight. Dragon and Hikaru naturally came up as hot spots due to to their sentience but something was odd. He couldnt pinpoint it and so dismissed it. The reason why he was using this is because others would show up as 'hot spots' as well. A bit like a radar.

"Dragon eh? Thats nice and simple, a bit like a title too." Raus commented out loud as he moved. "Would you perchance know how or why you showed up here?"