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Snippet #2674735

located in Sanctum City, a part of Gatewatchers, one of the many universes on RPG.

Sanctum City

None

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Damion Gray Character Portrait: Nathan de Vries
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Damion was wondering where everyone went. After all, it seemed like they had all scattered. Then again, with what just happened, and the fact Eastern HQ got smashed, he realized that should have been expected. After all, the world just got a whole lot more crazy. Still, he had gotten some new, useful weapons at his disposal. He decided to try one out. He used his growth magic to summon the talking tree. It used a bit more mana then he expected, but it worked. Then, it smacked him. "What the hell?"

"Seriously? One focus is all you used to summon me? If you want to summon me at full power, you should use more focuses" the tree replied. "I am an Ultimate Summon after all. And my name is Arborroot. Got it?"

Was Damion getting scolded by his own tree? "How are you...?"

"Let me guess, first time summoning a creature with self intelligence right? Well guess what, yeah, I still have partial control over myself. I mean, I am still bound to you and am inclined to help you, but seriously, you need to learn this stuff!" Arbotroot told him. "Now, you should probably go find some friends. Behind you, five O clock, strange van".

"Yeah, with several people inside disrupting the natural mana around them. Given how their mana is affecting natural mana, probably Black Mana users. If any are as strong as Rose, I am screwed if I face them alone," Damion replied, as he recalled the tree. He made his way to the next Gatewatcher building, but shortly after entering, was knocked to the floor after being run into by someone. As he pulled himself up with help from him, he could see that this guy was a Gatewatcher too. "Yeah, I am fine. I would be a lousy Gatewatcher if a small fall could hurt me. Damnit though, I still need to get stronger. Today was just a slaughter".

"Oh, I thought I'd bumped into you!" The orange-haired kid let out a silent sigh of relief, but a troubled look crossed his face when Damion mentioned what had happened earlier. "Yeah, it was." Orange-hair kid nodded, as if he had seen the wreckage. A shudder ran through him before the kid gave Damion a smile, although Damion couldn't help but think that it looked a bit forced. "But the other Gatewatchers can handle it, right?" The kid said optimistically. "We're strong! If we worked together then we can handle whatever comes next, right? Although I'm not sure if I'll be of any help..." Orange-haired kid gave a small sheepish laugh, although he seemed a bit downhearted about that.

Damion shrugged a little. "Takes more then teamwork, given the enemy we are up against. We need to get stronger. What's your name anyways? I don't recognize you".

"Oh, I'm Nathan! Nathan de Vries, but you can call me Nate! Nice to meet you, Damion!" Nathan gave Damion a bright smile before turning around to seeing anyone was around before answering the question. The hallway was empty except for the two of them. That meant it was ok to tell, right?

...

"Can you keep a secret? Because this is a secret! It's important! Nobody should know!"

"Eh, sure. Stop looking so scared, I already said I wouldn't tell anyone, right? What's up?"

"an You'll remember, right? And I... I've sparred a lot!" Nathan said brightly, although he kept his voice low. He bit his lip awkwardly, unsure how to explain, but he gave it a shot anyway. "I... It's not that I'd... Lose... Exactly..." Nathan's uncomfortable look and hesitant words made it clear that he wasn't telling the truth. Damion looked at Nathan sceptically, and Nathan's expression and shoulders droop like a wilting flower. "Alright fine I lost every match I was in and I'm not suppose to tell anyone." For a moment, Nathan looked dejected, but then he forced a smile on his face. "Sorry. I don't know what went wrong... So!" Nathan now looked determined. "Could you please help me out by sparring with me so that I can compare data?"

"Sure. I need to test some things anyways, not to mention get stronger myself after what happened today".

"Uh." Nathan's eyes went wide, as if he hadn't expected Damion to say yes. Then they began to sparkle. "Really?! Thanks!" The wide beam on Nathan's face was like the sun, bright and blinding and absolutely pleased as if he couldn't believe his good luck. "Thank you so much!" And with that Nathan glommed Damion in a tight hug.

"Uhhh." Damion tried and failed to struggle out of the other child's hold. "Lego of me - which ways the facility again?"

"Ah, I know the way. Here!" Nathan said enthusiastically. Grabbing Damion by the wrist, he teleported them to the training facility without asking. They landed outside the entrance without a hitch, and Nathan smiled brightly and looked pleased with himself. "No need for walking this way." He explained to Damion, waiting for the inevitable vertigo the brunette kid must've been feeling to wear off. Taking Damion's wrist in his hand again, Nathan took the lead. "This way!"

Damion couldn't help but smile a little, taking his own fighting stance. "Alright then. Eternal Forest!"

Suddenly, Damion slammed his hands to the ground, and a small forest grew inside the training room. Damion immediately went to gain the advantage, by turning the battlefield into one that supports his magic. With a Yelp, Nathan hurriedly summoned a fire-glyph to burn the forest as the tree roots began to ensnare him. He dodged back as the symbol glowed a bright red on the tree roots before bursting into red-hot Flames that set the trees on fire, the heat of the Flames warming the room as Nathan waved the smoke away from him with a cough.

Damion was immediately wary. After all, Runes and Tri-Grams were basically the same thing. It was a very flexible and adaptable type of magic.

Shocked, Nathan sent a wide-eyed look at the rapidly burning trees. Remember what you learned from Father and Mother, he reminded himself. Damion was looking warily at him, and Nathan steeled himself as he imagined the disappointment (anger) on his parents faces. They wouldn't like it if they found out he lost. Shoving away the shock from the suddenness of the battle, Nathan's expression hardened as he slammed a hand against the floor.

He couldn't lose.

Thinking quickly, Nathan slammed a hand against the floor and sent out another rune. The circle appeared underneath Damion, and Damion barely had time to dodge out of the circle before dark squiggly lines rose up and out like paintings coming alive, wriggling like thick black rope worms to wrap around someone who was no longer there. Damion only barely managed to land on his feet. "Ensnaring Vines!"

Suddenly, vines ensnared and entrapped Nathan. He let out a yelp of surprise as the vines wrapped around his waist and legs, hands frantically scrapping at the plants like a surprised cat. The plant didn't budge, but before Nathan could think to try anything else Damion was yelling another spell. "Energy Drain!"

Nathan winced as the vines began draining him of his energy and mana. Thinking quickly, Nathan drew the first rune he had used in the fight, his hands shaking as he traced the figure on the thick green vine trapping his waist. The rune glowed red as the plant burst into fire and turned to ash, but the damage was already done - Nathan could feel a slight emptiness in him from the drained magic, like someone had taken a sip from a Nathan-shaped drink. Biting his lip, Nathan rapidly traced another shape in the air. The rune was filled with simple curly lines, free and twisting like leaves in the air, and gusts of wind began to pick up as he drew, sending the two combatants hair flying in all directions. A large gale of wind blew Damion's hair out of his face as the wind tried to blow him off his feet, but thick brown roots ruptured from the ground and wrapped themselves sturdily around Damion's feet and ankles, keeping him steady on the ground.

Nathan bit his lip, trying to think quickly. Don't wanna hurt him, don't wanna hurt him - I know! A way to merely cause hurt instead of harm! A grin broke out on Nathan's face as he rapidly traced some runes in the air. Six runic circles appeared around Damion as he endured the gale, surrounding and covering his small body from sight in a rough dome.

The circle on the right - the one with what looked like a ball etched in it - glowed, and before Damion could even blink a small dense ball flew out of the center of the circle like a cannonball, clipping his arm before rebounding back from the tune behind it and zooming so close past Damion's ear he could practically hear the wind. Damion had barely enough time to bring up a barrier before the ball began to whiz around like a sugar-rushed child with cabin fever trapped in a small room, rebounding from each rune it touched like a trampoline. Every time it touched a tune it got faster and faster, banging into the barrier with loud thuds.

Damion then had an idea. "Alright! Ultimate Summon, Arborroot! I need your help!" Damion yelled as he summoned Arborroot. Arb then launched several roots at Nathan. Flinching, Nathan tried to burn and slice them away using Runic Magic, but found the roots to be stronger then he expected. They were at least as strong as steel, the roots, and they moved a lot faster then normal Growth/Nature Magic controlled and summoned trees. Additionally, one of the roots didn't just grab the ball, but completely engrossed it with roots, stopping it from moving entirely.

Nathan immediately knew this tree was anything but normal. This must be the tree Damion wanted to test, Nathan decided, dodging a branch to the head. He studied the tree. It looked huge, scary. It reminded Nathan of Tolkien's Elk's, although the tree seemed like it couldn't move. Leaping above a tree branch aimed at his shins like a high-jumper, Nathan missed the vine creeping towards his waist until it wrapped around him with a whip-like crack while he was in mid-jump.

"Agh!" Nathan struggled, kicking his feet and trying to pry open the vine trapping his waist, but to no avail. Still struggling, the boy was brought up closer and higher to the tree until he was close to the trunk of it. Wriggling and preparing a rune in his hand, Nathan brought a hand up, ready to use it in an attempt to escape, but got caught by surprise as what he'd thought were holes in the bark moved, blinking at Nathan as if registering him for the day.

The tree spoke, in a deep and barky voice like a hoarse man. Did you really think you could dodge me boy?"

"Whoa!" Nathan stared back in shock, but rapidly gained his meals back. "You can talk?!" Nathan announced in shock. He'd heard about talking plants before, but this was the first time he'd come across one. Was it really capable of conscious thought?

When the tree nodded proudly, Nathan beamed widely, eyes going so wide that the light could be seen sparkling in them like multiple stars. "That is so cool! How long have you been able to talk?! Were you born with a consciousness or did you gain one over time?" Questions were tumbling out of his mouth as Nathan asked everything he could think of, momentarily forgetting that the tree was trying to get him. "Oh yeah!" Nathan gasped, remembering another important question. This was the most important one! "What's your name?!"

"Well." The tree looked nonplussed at the beaming sparkly-eyed kid in front of him. Nobody had really asked it questions like that before, unless you counted being prodded at like an experiment questions. Mostly they just tried to kill it or ran away screaming or tried to kill it while screaming in fear instead of asking things like "Do you grow fruit?!" And "What're you called?!"

That might have been why he halted the attack momentarily. The branches stopped inches away from Nathan's back, and the tension in the atmosphere seeped back as the tree opened its jagged mouth. "Name's Arborroot," he answered hesitantly. "And, er, I don't know." The tree answered reluctantly. "I've never tried it before?" A branch curled up against its bark in a manner resembling someone scratching their head. "I've got flowers I think, but..."

"Ooo!" Nathan's gleam brightened as Damion stared with growing disbelief. The orange-haired boy shot a sunny beam at the tree, bouncing up to it cheerily. "I'm sure it looks pretty! Can I see?!"

"Are you serious," Damion muttered under his breath, staring at the pleading, 'please give me a stick to catch I promise I'll be good' puppy-eyed look Nathan was giving Aborroot in complete disbelief. Aborroot had been in charge of the Gateway for years! He'd killed scientists with evil laughter going on in the background! He'd have killed Damion if Damion hadn't killed him. And what's more, they were in the middle of a fight! Surely the tree wouldn't actually answer the other kid, right?

Apparently he would. "They don't look pretty, kid, they look badass!" It boasted, straightening its branches with a shake. Setting Nathan onto the floor, Aborroot loomed to its full height. "All the lady trees lo-"

"OI!" Damion yelled, interrupting the conversation. He stomped towards the Aborroot with a scowl. "What're you guys doing?! We're in the middle of a fight aren't we?!" Damion scowled at them, crossing his arms. "And you!" He barked at Nathan. "Don't ask trees what's up with them in the middle of a fight!"

"Oh," Nathan blinked, then remembered the situation. "Oh! But -"

"Hey, I can do what I want, you brat!" Aborroot growled at Damion, waving its branches around. "I already told you - if you don't use enough Focus I'll have free will, dumbass." It chided Damion, waving a vine side to side like a nagging finger. "Use enough focus and I'll do your bidding, but if you don't you'll need to communicate nicely if you want us to help you. Like with that kid over there." The tree continued in a lower tone, waving a root in Nathan's general direction. "Make us want to help you out instead if you can't overpower us, got it?"

Damion then focused his mana, and Arborroot cringed for a moment before getting better. "Arborroot, I was TRYING to be friendly. Please return the favor, or I won't be so nice. Besides, you still owe me from earlier. I am trying to push past the you trying to eat me, after all".

"Now you're getting it. Sorry, kid!" The tree loomed up to its full height, and Nathan gulped as he readied himself, taking a step back as he realized just how scary the tree looked. Quickly, he drew a few sharp defensive lines in the air that appeared in black at the top of his head.

A protective sheet appeared around him like a see through dome not a moment too soon. "Steel Leaf Whirlwind!" the tree yelled as it shook its branches, and Nathan raised his arms over his face instinctively as green leaves sharp enough to slice like steel knives flew out of the greenery towards his face only to be repelled by the barrier. The tree sent out more leaves in retaliation with a bloodcurdling yell, and Nathan was soon in the middle of an ever-increasing leaf storm that left him blinded to what was going on outside him.

Notgoodnotgoodnotgood. A glance up at the shield rune revealed that the thick dark lines that made up the rune to be cracking under the assault, although it could still hold on for a while more. "Need to get rid of the leaves," Nathan muttered worriedly to himself, rapidly drawing the rune he needed with a jerky hand. The rune glowed red as it appeared above Nathan's head and intersected with the barrier dome rune, causing the dome to turn a translucent pale red. Nathan breathed a sigh of relief as the leaves began to burn upon contact with the barrier. The burning leaves spread their fire to the other leaves, and after a blaze most of the leaves had burnt to ash, leaving the battlefield clear once again with a thick ash floor.

Warily looking around, Nathan had just enough time to realize that Damion was missing before hearing something crack. His eyes widened as the barrier dome finally gave out, cracking and shattering silently like something going through a glass pane. Realization flashed through him like a bolt of lightning but before Nathan could turn around, something smacked harshly into his back. At the point of impact, Nathan could also tell that Damion had focused a large amount of magical power into the hit.

"Waagh!" Nathan let out a yell filled with both shock and pain as a leaf-covered Damion slammed into his back like a cannonball. The leaf storm had been a diversion - it weakened the barrier Nathan had set up and blocked Damion from view, allowing him to sneak up behind Nathan to send him flying towards the tree. Nathan let out another yell of pain as the tree slammed a branch into his back to send him back to Damion, as if the two were playing volleyball and Nathan was the ball. It hurt, just like those times! It hurt!

Could he give up here?

As if in response, his father's deep voice echoed in Nathan's mind. Remember, child. Never lose.

Before Damion could send Nathan back for round two, Nathan disappeared from sight. Both Damion and the tree looked side to side immediately - only for Nathan to reveal that he was in the air above them when he yelled "Runic Fire Blast!"

Gone was the hesitation to attack. Nathan's eyes had hardened, replacing his soft expression with a determined one. Defending wouldn't help Nathan win the match (What would his parents say? Would Damion still be a friend if he lost?), so he'd have to deal damage to his friends even if the thought made his stomach shake. Bringing his hands forwards, a complex rune appeared in front of him, thick red lines swirling and curling with sharp explosive edges; thinner lines fiery and unwavering with sharp jagged edges. Biting his lip in concentration, Nathan slammed his palms forward through the rune. "Runes: Fire Dragon!" Nathan yelled, and the rune glowed red.

A small dragon made from flames shot out of the rune towards Damion and Arborroot as if they had disturbed his slumber, scales gleaming a dark reddish tint in contrast to its orange body, shimmering from pure heat. It opened its mouth and roared, fire bursting out of its mouth as it slammed right ointo Damion and Arborroot. Both of them got knocked down by the dragon, knocking Damion back and doing severe damage to the tree as it rammed into it hard enough for it to explode in a shower of sparks. Landing lightly on a runic circle like a platform, Nathan sent another flaming dragon at them.

Damion managed to bring up an energy barrier for defense, but the heated ash and sparks still hurt like hell. Grabbing some gravel off the ground, Damion's hand crackled with energy as he flung them towards Nathan as hard as he could. The pieces of gravel transmuted into blunt steel spears designed to cause massive bruising as they flew towards Nathan, but the orange-haired boy merely dodged. The runic circle carrying him moved as if responding to his thoughts, and the soaring metal bars failed to land against flesh as Nathan moved around as if he were riding a UFO.

That wouldn't work. Damion gave a tch under his breath as he dodged another fireball, running variables through his mind. Nathan was too high above Damion for him to do anything but run around, while Nathan's runes gave him great range. Still crouching on the circle, Damion squinted up at the figure close to the ceiling...

The ceiling? The ceiling that was connected to the walls...

Damion hissed as his ankle got seared by a weak fireball, designed to cause temporary burns rather than or prolonged pain, but his eyes light up as a plan slotted into place in his head. Bingo.

"Arborroot!" Damion dashed up towards the tree, assessing its condition with a cool eye. The tree was in bad shape. It's trunk was burnt black, and it's leaves were almost all gone or charred almost to ashes, along with some of its branches on the peak of falling off. It wouldn't last long. Still, despite being in what must've been unimaginable pain the tree was still alive and kicking, expression perking up in a scowl as it noticed Damion. "Whaddaya want, kid?" It creaked, speech a bit slurred.

Damion leant in close to whisper. "Listen..." The tree's expression brightened up in surprise at Damion's plan, then grinned. "That's a good one!" It chuckled, sounding like the rustling of the trees in a breeze at night. "I'm starting to like you, kiddo! But now -" Arborroot's face turned serious. "Scram."

It pushed Damion out of the way of another cannonball. The ball grazed Damion's side before landing against the wall with a crash, landing with a thud on the floor before rolling to a stop. Up above them, Nathan spread out his arms as he casted another rune, and this time a gale began to grow, blowing their hair away from their faces and rustling what was left of Arborroot's leaves.

"No you don't!" Grabbing more gravel, Damion flunked it at Nathan. Energy crackled like electricity as the gravel began to shine and spread, turning into light but blunt discuses that fought against the wind. Bringing himself up a few feet higher, Nathan redirected the gale to deflect the few discuses against Damion, who dodged and began to throw more objects at him.

It was a bit like playing attack the invader on both sides. With the help of a shot put, Damion aimed to shoot Nathan down like a hunter aiming for a goose in midflight, while Nathan weaved through the flying objects on his flying rune platform while shooting down blunt objects like hail. Nathan was grinning worriedly, pleased but unsure about what was going on, while Damion's face was serious, almost blank as he carefully shot another discus towards Nathan, who weaved to the right.

If Nathan hadn't been too focused on the battle and trying not to get knocked out of the sky like an apple from a tree, if he'd thought back about all the efforts Damion had made at using him as target practice, Nathan would have noticed that most of Damion's efforts were carefully calculated to miss. He'd also have realized that Damion was making him go higher and higher with every few throws, as if he'd wanted Nathan near the ceiling. As it was, Nathan didn't notice when exactly he shot so close to the ceiling that his hair nearly grazed it, so he also didn't notice when Damion shot a glance at Arborroot while slamming another discuss towards Nathan's face.

It was an error he was going to regret.

Weaving to the left, Nathan craned his neck as the discus flew through where his head had been a few seconds ago - and promptly got entangled as thick brown roots erupted out of the ceiling inches above his head and grabbed him.

"AAAGGHH!" Nathan screamed in both shock and fear as he felt himself engulfed by living wood. He struggled to get free; fingers clawing at the bark instinctively, but smaller roots just came over and restrained his fingers apart so that he couldn't draw a rune that could get him out of the bind he was in. He made to kick at the bark desperately, but the tree grabbed hold of his foot before he could move more than an inch and restrained his feet together. Trapped like a crucified thief, Nathan squished his eyes shut and waited for a blow; a hit; anything to land.

It didn't come. Nathan squeezed his eyes shut for a few more seconds before opening his eyes in confusion. Huh?

"Checkmate" Damion said with a grin, as he had a hand full of energy pointed at Nathan. "You give up now, or do I need to make the final move?"

"U-Uh yeah! Yes, I surrender!" Nathan squeaked. The pressure against his throat decreased, but his body remained tensed as he was lowered to the ground. A few seconds after he landed and Damion was doing nothing more than stare at him cluelessly, Nathan relaxed and let out a small sigh of relief. Resting his hands against his knees, Nathan panted for breath.

Then his face blanched as he remembered that he'd lost. Crap, they're going to get mad - but Damion said that he wasn't going to tell them! So they won't find out I lost! with that reassurance Nathan's color began to return, but the worry and fear remained, a twisted feeling in his gut that added to the disappointment of his defeat. He really was worthless after all - he'd have to work harder. ...Right?

"Damion!" Reaching up a hand, Nathan grabbed Damion's shoulder hesitantly as if he weren't quite sure that he was allowed to; expression filled with worry and anxiety with a hint of fear. "You remember promising not to tell my parents about this fight, right?!"

"Don't worry. Thats up to you, hope your in a good enough state to pretend like it didn't happen" Damion mentioned with a grin.

"Oh, ok then!" The weird mixture of emotions on Nathan's face washed away at Damion's reassurance. "Phew. Wanna get something to eat?"

"Yeah, might as well. I could use some food, but we better hurry. Its getting late, and after this I need some rest" Damion told him. "Anyways, good to meet you. Nice to have another friend in this line of work".