Dreams and Nightmares

[Ryan - Loki]

Slowly but surely Ryan’s eyes began to open, squinting and blinking his eyes to partially block out the blurred bright light of the mid-day sun, which was beating down directly upon him. Groaning as if he had just awoken from a lengthy sleep he continued to blink his eyes in a slight attempt to help them recover from being so blurry and adjust to the light. It was almost as if he hadn’t opened his eyes in several days and now he was paying the price for not using them. What was going on?

Up until this point he hadn’t even attempted to speak, I was just one of those morning quirks that almost everyone suffered from, and he wouldn’t until his eyes at least focused properly. He closed his eyes and laid there for a few brief second before he finally opened them and his vision fell upon the leafy branches of a tree above him; everything had come into focus. …A tree? his eyes and mind wasn’t lying to him, it was in fact a fully alive tree that he was laying under.

He quickly shot up into a sitting position. Could everything had been a bad dream? Could all this truly be real? What had happened to master Reiaz? Was he real of just a figment of Ryan’s dream? Hell, was he still dreaming? Or even worse, had he died and gone to heaven? These were just a few of the immediate questions that had rushed into and through Ryan’s mind as he surveyed the surrounding area. He was back, back in Western Parmecia. For as far as his eyes could see, in every direction, were prairie grasslands and hills covered with lush green grass and beautiful plant life. Taking in a deep breath of air he could immediately tell the difference between Western Parmecia’s normal state and the smoke filled air of the cindered version his nightmare had thrown him into.

Laying back down in the shade of the tree he looked up at the branches above him, a squpnic (a small Dragonian squirrel type creature) darted across the branch into its home within the trunk of the tree with an acorn in its mouth. “It was a dream…” he let out a sigh of relief, closing his eyes and merely listening to the cool, fresh breeze as it blew through the branches of the tree. “It’s all over…I’m back.”

[Garoten Reklor]

In the midst of the peaceful afternon air, a purple gash suddenly appeared from nowhere, carved into existence itself by the tip of a sword. After a moment, the 'tear' expanded wide enough for one brown-cloaked man to step through, followed by a bird the size of a large horse, then disappeared. Falkan Reval sheathed Rhiannon, then drew back his hood and looked around.

Just the way I left it...

He wasn't really sure how long it had been here in Dragonia. The time between the two worlds - or planets, as he now understood - was hard to gauge. In - or on - Faeredone months had passed, in which the climax of all the events there had been fulfilled. The forces of evil had finally grown so strong that his own absence was no longer tolerable, even with the great hope of having a wish granted. In the final battle, it had turned out no such wish was needed. Somehow, the outnumbered and outgunned armies of Hargania, Reval, Canland, and Centryia had driven back the hordes and emerged victorious! Help had come from the stars, of all places, but the real work of the victory had fallen to Falkan and a few other heroes.

But all that was over. With Faeredone finally at peace and the V'alcan throne was in the hands of a more capable heir than himself nothing remained for a lifelong warrior to do. Reval was free to roam at will, but he had been surprised that Dragonia was first on his list of places to return. Something deep inside had drawn him here, as if the need for warriors here was just coming to its greatest. Given that feeling, this peaceful scene wasn't what he'd expected to find. Still, Dragonia was a big place, and if there was a threat, it wouldn't necessariyl be easy to track down. Refreshed and feeling better than ever with a victory behind him, Reval was eager to take up a new cause. Perhaps the man across the meadow, clearly a warrior by his dress and the weapons with him, knew something...

[Archer]

Hmm… Squpnic…

A soft wind blew playfully over the plains of Parmecia, lush green leaves and budding pink blossoms being swept this way and that. The airwaves had their own agenda, brushing past the soft grass and around great tree trunks. It was cool, but not cold, and breezy rather than gusty. Especially considering the events that some had thought befell the planet but a few moments ago, it seemed the perfect day on Dragonia.

The samurai Ryan Jiaoimasu lay peacefully surrounded by grass and flowers, contemplating what had—to him, at least—occurred over the last few days. Had he really seen the planet destroyed? Was this all just a mysterious dream, or was it a fickle twist of fate? Did these thoughts enter the mind of others on the plant? However, for now, these questions were not to be answered, instead a new one to be asked: What the f*** was that?!

To him, it would merely seem as if a gust of air streamed overhead, a blur of black and brown in its core. However, a few seconds later when the rush of air ceased, and a crunch of bone on bone announced a splash of blood against the tree bark, this could not be pegged as simply an anomaly of the air. If he were to look forward, he would see a creature clutching the tree’s trunk, nibbling at the remnants of a small Dragonian squirrel type creature with glee.

After successfully disposing of its prey, the creature turned from the tree and fell to the ground, sprawling on the ground for a moment before regaining its composure. Standing up to its full height, it seemed to be great Eagle, its brown feathered wings spanning a fair few feet from tip to tip. Opening its great yellow beak wide, the creature let forth a beastly belch, before hunching over to remove a small animal bone from its wings.

It was only then that the bird noticed the figure of Ryan Jiaoimasu. Its eyes seemingly widened for a moment, before it quickly ducked its head behind its wing for a moment. When it emerged, a small pink tie adorned its neck.
”Awfully sorry,” it said plainly, ”Did you want that?”

[Ryan - Loki]

Ryan had hardly been relaxing in the cool midday breeze for no more than a few seconds when already it seemed that things were going back to normal. Just off of the horizon he had already sensed another presence, a somewhat familiar one, but another presence nevertheless. It seemed that solitude wasn’t all it used to be cracked up to be, or so he was starting to believe that may of the beings both on Dragonia, and throughout the universe, all thought. At any rate he had unexplainably linked the familiar stranger with placid neutral alliance, so Ryan remained in his horizontal position and decided merely to wait for the stranger to come over, as he believed he more than likely would do so.

This would have been a great plan, a few more seconds to relax and bask in the peaceful bliss that this isolated - or at least previously believed to be isolated - spot within Western Parmecia to regain his train of thought and perhaps even grasp a small idea of everything that had come to pass over the last few days, however this was not to be. In the blink of an eye a rush of air darted over him causing Ryan to sit up and grasp the hilt of a Reaver, but before he knew it a large, brown and black ball fell upon the ground directly in front of him.

A birdman? this truly was a first for Ryan. He’d never heard of a bird influenced race on Dragonia, this had to be an forwarder, but that had n indication on whether or not this birdman was a threat or not, Ryan didn’t sense evil within this being. Ryan released his grip on the Reaver, despite the fact he might soon need it if he was in fact wrong about the stranger on the horizon, and pushed his body backwards against the trunk of the tree. “Greetings friend,” he began with a slight bow of his head. “I’ve never come across you, or any of your kind for that matter. Are you new to the world of Dragonia?”

[Garoten Reklor]

Reval was still contemplating whether he would disturb the man underneath the tree when something entirely unpredictable happened. At first he thought the shape that came screaming in from nowhere was Vi'drek, but it was too small and far too fast, even for a Sarstou. Besides, he could hear his loyal 'steed' hopping along behind him. The man under the tree, whom he now recognized as Ryan - not knowing his last name from the Dramanius encounter - suddenly stood. It looked like he was talking, but the only other living thing that Falkan could see or sense was a smallish bird...what was that around its neck?

Just another day on Dragonia.

He arrived at the tree just as Ryan was introducing himself and rested his left hand on the hilt of Rhiannon. This would at least be an interesting diversion...

[Archer]

((Sorry for the delay guys))

Although at this moment he was quite obviously the centre of attention, the bird-like creature was far more interested in cleaning out small chunks of dead rodent from it's feathers, running them along it's beak and then snapping them shut around the spare meat. Once Ryan's statement had been issued, he withdrew his head from beneath his wing and looked him in the eye.

"I'm not exactly a foreigner to these parts, but neither am I local. My name is Razion, a member of the Avian species. he spoke, before dislodging another cube of pink flesh and swallowing it whole, "And yourself, sir? I do not believe I've had the pleasure."

Although it seemed strange that he was issuing a query that had already been answered, but if one were to follow Razion's gaze, it would not lead to Ryan anymore, but to the figure stood steadfast behind him.

[Garoten Reklor]

Falkan eyed the bird-like being for a long moment before responding. Behind him, Vi'drek clicked and hissed quietly, as if expressing his disapproval. Sensing the possibility of a problem, Reval waved a couple of fingers upward, and the giant bird obediently took to the skies. He was used to scouting an area for his master upon arrival anyway.

With the potential problem dismissed, Falkan turned toward the two by the tree and lowered his hood.

"I am Falkan Reval, Warrior of the V'alcan lands, Prince of the City of Reval."

He bowed graciously and turned to Ryan, allowing Raizon some privacy for his cleaning. V'alcans spent most of their lives around large birds, and it seemed safe to assume the same rules of conduct would apply around speaking ones as the normal varieties.

"A pleasure to see you again, and under better circumstances, if memory serves correctly. I apologize for disrupting your solitude, but you seemed like one who would know. Has anything...unusual taken place since we defeated Dramanius?"

It seemed like such a strange question, on such a quiet, beautiful day - but his warrior's instincts screamed that something was wrong, or had been not so long ago.

[Tidus Revok]

Nishaio Shimato moved slowly - for a Tenju - through the open fields of Parmecia. It was a rare thing, but he was a little distracted as his mind turned over the events of the past few days. At least, he thought it was days. Could have been months since he and his trainee had passed out for no good reason, but it felt more like days.

His student...the boy was sharp, but it turned out he wasn't quite ready to become a full-fledged Tenju warrior - especially after the sudden disaster on Dragonia to which the two had awaken. The ruin of his planet, mostly his hometown, had taken a huge toll on Garoten. When they had encountered two other warriors, the young man had wavered from diplomatic to aggressive with little strategic reason, not handling the pressure of the situation favorably at all. Finally, they had re-awakened in the jungles where the training had begun. Hours passed before either spoke a word, but eventually...

"Nishaio, I want to go home."
Nishaio looked at the boy - to most his face would appear expressionless, but Garoten saw clearly the mix of understanding and disapproval in the warrior's eyes.

"Sir, you know it too. I'm not ready to carry a rank like yours. I'm sorry, but I have to be sure my mother and my friends are okay. I can still do good there - I'm not the same as when I left..."

Still no response from the teacher, but Garoten felt he was being heard and understood well enough.

"but I'm not ready for this. If being a great warrior means facing that kind of loss, then..."

Nishaio drew a sword and drew six hash marks in the ground, still saying nothing. The meaning was clear.

"Yes sir, I understand. In six months we'll continue?"

A single nod.

"Thank you, Sir. I promise I'll be ready then. I'll work hard and train, even while I'm visiting. I just..."

It was then that Garoten remembered...Nishaio didn't like long conversations. He dodged the point of the sword that whizzed over his head and stood with a grin.

"Six months then. Where we first met. I'll see you there, Mr. Tenju."

It wasn't easy to accept, but the battle-hardened Tenju warrior felt a sense of loss at the boy's absence. Training someone had awakened a part of him that had been long dormant. He'd been a trainer once in Civea, but only for a week. When one out of two hundred top recruits survived his program, even the commanders had agreed his methods were too hard. Garoten Reklor was much stonger than he realized, physically. That was why he had become so convinced the boy was worth training. Who else could face Falkan Reval, armed with the android Pravent itself, and hope to win?

Suddenly his feet came to a stop. Had he really been so lost in thought? Only the thought of his adversary, Pravent, and the man who harbored his last remains had jarred him back to reality...because that man was HERE. Standing under a tree a little over a mile away...he was only a dot on the horizon, but the trained eyes of a Tenju could recognize a person's distinct body language from farther than that without a strain. Who the other two energy signals belonged to, he didn't care...just the one with a certain android's sword at his side. He fingered the ring on his right hand for a moment, then clenched a fist instead. The sword would be his one way or another, but he wouldn't use THAT technique yet...Of course, if he failed now, six months could be a long time.

[Garoten Reklor]

Even as he waited for a response from the Samurai, Reval felt a sudden change in the air. Nothing so notable as a distinct energy signature...just a sense that something was different. Most would call it intuition. Turning quickly, he caught a glimpse of a small figure, far on the horizon still. Another shape circled high in the sky above the figure - clearly Vi'drek exploring the newcomer. The spot dropped altitude and shifted direction quickly, sparking Reval to shift his stance so he could watch both of the characters next to him, Vi'drek, and the inbound person all at once. His bird's flight pattern suggested urgency, meaning several things all at once:

It recognized the distant figure.
The figure was heading this way.
The figure presented either a threat or someone of great interest to Falkan.

Since nobody in particular was of any great interest on this planet, the conclusion was fairly clear. Without being obvious, Reval checked his gear and set his feet into a solid stance. Maybe a fight would be the best way to gain some information, if that was what the newcomer wanted...

[Archer]

It seemed, for now, that Razion had been discarded from the conversation; he did not mind this, as the pair before him obviously met each other recently and under difficult circumstances, and things needed to be cleared up. The Tomahawk Avian stretched his beak wide, pink tongue lit up with light reflecting from the metal lining of his beak, and yawned. However, he was far from lazy.

In this short bodily function, Razion's eyes were darting all around him. With his advanced avian eyesight, it was quite clear to read one of the men's body language, indicating unease and preparation. However, it was equally simple to see a figure crouched in the distance, and a large bird-like creature circling overhead. He bore these things no mind, for now. Being only recently introduced to these men, he was unsure whether he was on their side or not. They seemed friendly enough, but some things are never what they seem.

[Tidus Revok]

Nishaio crouched for a long moment, very much aware of the giant bird sweeping through the skies above, but completely unconcerned. Even with his limiter on, such a creature stood no chance of catching him when he moved. His target shifted position just a little, but he knew what it meant – he’d been discovered. But that didn’t mean the element of surprise was lost.

In the blink of an eye, he launched forward, swords drawn, and dove for Reval’s midsection with an X shaped cut. Then he brought both feet upward and moved to kick backward, either off Falkan or the tree, whichever was still there. In a smooth motion, swords were sheathed and the bow was out, and before he hit the ground twenty feet away three infernal arrows were soaring in for Reval’s head, torso, and legs. Upon landing, Nishaio dropped his power level and activated his amulet, effectively disappearing completely from detection.

Without spectators or ridisulously powerful enemies around to slow him down, this battle would be over very, very quickly.

[Archer]

((I'm unsure of something, so can someone help judge as an external presence (to prevent bias). Can someone read the description of his Amulet, and then my Full Polychromatic Vision; would I be able to see Nishaio, or not?))

[Tidus Revok]

((Yeah, Nishaio's culture calls it 'magic', but I never really decided how the amulet works. Um...it makes sense that your special vision can see him. I just don't want everyone coming up with some exception. Razion will be fine though.))

[Archer]

((Good man-- Just wanted to check before I just did it.))

In a burst of insane speed, the figure in the background shot towards the group with intent of violence; however, the average-- and for the mots part, extraordinary-- humanoid holds no speed in comparison to a trained Avian. The instant the figure set off on his attack, Razion had spread his wings and taken off into the skies, his nonchallant nature about the whole encounter making it seem as if he'd simply got bored and departed; indeed, neither of the other pair would realise they were under attack before they realised Razion had left, no matter how fast the enemy was moving.

Circling the airways above this encounter, Razion kept his eyes darting around the landscape beneath him at all times. He was very much aware of another bird-like creature also occupying this airspace; a type he had never encountered before. Not aiming them at anywhere in particular, Razion let loose a few short bursts of shrill cries; Are you Friend, or Foe? Hopefully the creature would respond; Razion felt it important to at least know his standings with any creature. And hence, he would not leave this scene quite yet...

Casting his eyes down to the ground, he saw the attacking figure crouched care-free in the grass. Razion, with his advanced full-polychromatic vision, could see him clear as day, but logic was also his friend; such an assailant would not simply be crouched, observing calmly, behind no cover whatsoever, if he knew he could still be seen. The warrior must be using some form of cloaking device... Interesting.

Intrigued, Razion kept circling overhead. It would be worth seeing how this encounter panned out.

[Garoten Reklor]

It was the blink of an eye – faster – and the peaceful scene was gone. The dot on the horizon seemed to disappear, and the next heartbeat a sharp pain ripped across Reval’s chest. Almost before that feeling registered in his mind, the V’alcan was sent reeling backwards by a double-footed kick. His head cleared from the surprise of the attack in that moment, and though it took some focus, he caught the blur that must have been his newfound opponent moving away. The motion was so fast, though, that any further attacks would be nearly impossible to defend against. He hated to rely on something besides his own skill, but this was one of those times…

As quickly as possible, he unsheathed Rhiannon and leveled the blade at three red streaks coming at him. The sword pulsed, and the streaks skewed right, left, and up off the shield that appeared just in time. A second later, three explosions rocked the area as the arrows made contact with the ground. In the meantime, the opponent was gone again, leaving no clue to his position. Reval could see, hear, or even sense no trace of the attacker, but the sheer speed of the attack was too much to be anyone but Nishaio Shimata – one of a very few opponents who had earned a place in Falkan’s memory. The man who had become known as the Silent Warrior during the tournament had disappeared afterward, but he clearly felt that there was some unfinished business with the V’alcan. Even in the tournament, he’d fought as if there was something much more serious at stake. If only Falkan could figure out what that was…

Fortunately, the wounds on his chest were already healed. Unfortunately, the V’alcan Warrior had no clue where his opponent had gone. The ball was definitely not in his court, by any stretch. He turned in a quick circle, aware of the bird-like creature’s disappearance and new position high above, Vi’drek turning in a wide figure-8 style search pattern, and Ryan still by the tree…but no Nishaio. All he could do, it seemed, was wait for another attack.

For his part, Vi’drek was surprised, in his own bird-like way, at the call from another creature. The dialect was unusual, but the message was clear: Are you friend, or foe?

He chirped a short, but friendly response. His master had shown no sign of aggression toward the other bird, and the problem at the moment was the red-cloaked warrior, now missing for a full ten seconds…eternity in a battle.