Atonia

The Legend of the Five Rings

An orange sun was beating down on the Deserts of Dainel, not a cloud to be seen for miles. A young girl, no older than 16 was sprinting. Her feet slammed into the sand, lifting up more than she touched with her feet. Sweat dripped off of her brow, gently landing on the sand and evaporating within seconds. Her leather outfit didn't help. She ran, knowing that beast was behind her. Ready to pounce. Ready to kill.


She turned, whipping the Queen Coeurl with the back of her hand. It stumbled backwards, but started to prepare a move. It was an advanced form of Blaster, from what she could tell. The flames on the end of its whiskers grew. She knew what was coming. She desperately lifted her large gun, and listened for the burst shot loading. The enchanted bullet grew and expanded, gradually getting too large for the gun. The Coeurl fired the Blaster technique, but it was too large for even this bullet to handle. Spira fired the gun, and the two attacks collided, combining and growing in size. The Coeurl had the sense to flee, whereas Spira suffered from recoil.

She fell backwards, her gun dissolving. She saw the huge orb that was the combined attack. A Death Blaster, as she would call it. It grew, expanding around her. "I-I... I'm Oka-" She muttered, but was cut off by the Orb imploding, releasing over a thousand types of magic and her own bullet into her body. Smoke and a red mist filled the area.

Eventually, it cleared. Leaving a corpse. It had flesh torn from bone, missing limbs and her armour had been vaporized. The Coeurl was defenitley not Normal. It had oversouled, destroying anything in it's path.

Sadly, it was her in its way.

A young blonde girl ran up some stone stairs in Setsuri, her shoes clacking against the ancient steps. She seemed to enjoy the noise, but wasn't so sure about the other members of the team. She ran to the top, fairly exhausted, but nonetheless waited for the others and acted like she wasn't.

Sezu was being carried by Taiyo, who was even more exhausted than his female comrade. He set Sezu down, and collapsed. He sat up shortly after. "I'm okay. Y-Yeah." He groaned, falling back onto his back.

Khet ran towards a small column with a small, silver ring with a red jewel on it. She stared in awe, amazed that the ring looked like this. It had engravings on the inside. Which was an old Atonian language that nobody could seem to translate. She sighed, but reached out for the ring. "One down! Four to go, Aha-" She laughed, but was cut off by a rumble, and she stopped reaching out for the ring. Sezu and Taiyo looked at the others. "What was that?" Sezu muttered, tightening his hazard suit.

The rumble came again, and this time, Khet stumbled towards the nearest hole in the wall, which showed flames at the bottom of the tower. "Quick! Everyone, we gotta get out! It's going to get really hot in here!" She shouted, gesturing to the hole. "Why is that?" Taiyo asked, standing up. "Someone made the bottom of the tower go boom and it's gonna blow!" She shouted, stomping for emphasis on running away. She was about to speak again, when an explosion hit the room. It sent the team sprawling through the walls and towards the sea below.

Khet screamed, and was launched out the hole she was near. She was sent hurtling towards the sea, worried about her impact.

Sezu was thrown out of a smaller gap in the wall, and was also sent hurtling towards the sea.

Taiyo jumped out seconds before the explosion. What an idiot.

Wow.. Falling again, huh? I suppose I should be used to it after the Machina incident. Haha... I wonder if all our adventures will be like this. Hm.. I suppose they might. I hope, anyway. It's a wonderful thing.. Oh, CRAP! Khet thought, smacking into the water and sinking instantly. Choking for breath, she attempted to swim up, with no avail. A muffled scream for help came from the water, and then the bubbles stopped writing.

Sezu hit the water, but his suit absorbed most of the impact damage. He swam to the shingle beach nearby, and removed his hazard suit. "Ugh!" He shouted.

Taiyo landed on Aeon, whom he had summoned to cushion his landing. He landed on the ground, and Aeon disappeared. "So.. Status check. Who's wounded?" He muttered, met with a few groans from Sezu as if to shut up.

Cian was tired. He concluded that everyone else in the team was also feeling the fatigue, and kept a straight face, eyes on the stairs before him that seemed to stretch forever. Khet had run on ahead some time before, definitely excited about being so close to completing one part of the arduous yet rewarding journey. 

He made it up the unsettling, rumbling stairs in time to hear Khet speaking frantically. Before he could clearly make out what she said, a force he'd been unprepared for blew the room to bits, sending himself and the team flying through the air, and eventually falling into the sea below. He'd hit his shoulder pretty bad on the way out, but thought quickly through the pain nonetheless. 

Cian saw Sezu and Taiyo had landed relatively safely. It was Khet he was worried about. She'd gone right under. No sign of her. Ignoring the gnawing pain in his right shoulder, he angled himself in the direction she'd landed and put his arms out in front of him, hands pressed together. He took and held a deep breath and closed his eyes just before the impact. It would've been more painful, but his position allowed him to part the water rather than smack into it. 

Blinking a couple times to adjust his eyes as much as possible to the stinging salt, Cian immediately set his sights on his companion. Strongly and surely, he propelled himself down to her. She didn't appear to have any air left. With all his strength, he reached under her and hoisted her above him and pushed her out of the water first. Then, he followed, positioning her limp form on top of his back, burdened as well the the scabbards and his swords. Clenching his teeth to the insistent ache in his shoulder and focusing on the survival of his teammate, he gradually propelled himself and Khet to the shore, where others were waiting.

Upon reaching land, he deposited Khet as gently as he could and collapsed to his knees, catching his breath. His shoulder throbbed is berating of his actions as he gathered his bearings. He heard Taiyo speak, but he didn't trust himself to respond. Instead, he used his left hand to gently work his shoulder, shifting it slightly until... Pop!

Cian bit his lip as a sharp pain shot through his shoulder and down his arm as he snapped it back into place. After, he exhaled heavily and tried to stand again.

---

Lorelei and Viktor

---

"Grand Healer Von Faythyr, won't you stay and join us? You could do a lot more here, healing others with healers like yourself, instead of journeying so far...."

"I'm very sorry, Grand Masters, but I have made up my mind. I must go. Viktor will protect me."

"Very well. Remember this, Grand Healer Lorelei Von Faythyr- you are always welcome here. When you return, you may expect to be considered for training on Regen Linking."

"Thank you very much. By your leave, Grand Masters."

Lorelei had left his hometown, a great city where the Grand Master Healers of the world where often located, to travel with a group he barely even knew. However, Lorelei believed in doing the right thing. Besides, he had never ventured outside of his hometown, and was curious to know about the world.

Viktor, however, had more than a few misgivings. He knew all too well the cruelty of others, and wished to save Lorelei any harm from it. He was, after all, the person he pledged his life to. Viktor was prepared to give his life if that meant protecting Lorelei. He would do anything for the boy....

"Hey."

Lorelei was the last of the group, walking slowly up the stairs behind everyone else. He was obviously exhausted, but refused to be carried or to burden anyone with his tiredness.

"Hey."

Jumping a little, Lorelei turned his head to see Viktor slowing down to walk with him.

"Lorelei. I've been calling you. If you're tired, let me carry you." Viktor's face was blank, but Lorelei could tell that he was concerned. The was just a glint in his eye that he always got when he was worried, no matter the look on his face. "Don't shake your head at me. You've been pushing yourself. I'm carrying you. Excuse me..." With that, Viktor scooped up a protesting Lorelei in his arms, carrying him over his shoulder. Lorelei, with a most displeased look on his face, stopped fighting. Viktor was much stronger than he was, so he knew that resistance was futile.

By this time, those at the front of the group had already reached the top of the stairs.

"Viktor, you can let me down now....please?"

Viktor set him down and gazed into the room where everyone else was, leaving Lorelei to lean on the wall of the stairs. However, when he felt the rumbling he quickly picked up Lorelei and ran into the room, just in time for the explosion to blow them all out of the building.

---

Viktor

---

As the initial impact of the explosion caused them to be thrown out, he could feel Lorelei slip out of his grasp. He watched as Lorelei fell into the water, reaching out for him, when he make a split second decision. Quickly, he turned into his Nuri form- a humanoid creature with great, black and white wings. He was part peregrine falcon, one of the fastest birds known to man, and as such he wasted no time in diving towards the water.

But wait, where was Lorelei? He couldn't have just sank, he would tread water....then, Viktor remembered- the boy couldn't swim. As he dove, he prayed to whatever god that existed that Lorelei would miraculously appear.

Apparently, there was a god, for his prayers were answered as Lorelei finally popped up. He was gasping, sputtering, and generally trying his best not to drown before Viktor swooped him up out of the water. However, their troubles were not over yet. Although they had (mostly) avoided the water, now they had to dodge the falling rocks and debris from the building they had been blown out of.

Viktor raced towards the nearby beach, dodging as best he could, although his energy was quickly running out. He could not even call down the thunder and lightning, to perhaps destroy the numerous rocks and debris to make a path. This became even more evident when he was hit, although by then he was already close to the beach. Feeling his energy being expended, Viktor made one last attempt to make sure Lorelei got to the beach safe- he wrapped his wings around the small boy, and plummeted down.

Luckily, he hadn't been too far from the ground, so when he crashed into the soft sands of the shore the only injury he sported was a slightly broken arm. Viktor, his energy all but gone, was no longer in his Nuri form. Other than this, Viktor was all right and alert. Lorelei, however, seemed to be passed out. Viktor sat sup, pushing Lorelei over gently, and inspected him closer.

Lorelei was not breathing. Viktor put his head down to Lorelei's chest, then straightened back up. After a long moment of staring at him, as if he were saying, What do you think you're doing?, Viktor gave him a pound on the chest with his good arm.

---

Lorelei

---

Lorelei didn't remember much. All he remember was falling, cold, wet, and then blackness. When he came to, it was to cough up some water, hacking like some kind of old woman.

"Viktor..." Lorelei tried to speak, his voice coming out raspy.

"So.. Status check. Who's wounded?"

"I'm okay." Lorelei weakly called out. Then, he finally opened his eyes to see Viktor holding his arm. "Viktor, is your arm hurt? May I look at it?" Without really waiting for an answer, Lorelei reached out and grasped his arm. He felt the familiar sensation of pain welling up, and although he was in danger of passing out once again, he held on until he was done healing despite Viktor's attempts to remove himself.

When he was done, Lorelei stood up, swaying in the wind. "Is there anyone else in need of healing?" He weakly called out, "Is everyone okay?"

Isidora, the little, cheerful girl hopped around her brother as they walked up the stairs, their pace was slow mainly due to the heat which was exhausting the-... well was exhausting one of them. All Tzar could do was stare at his sister as she kept hopping around him with her cute little smile. "Isidora... You are going to fall and get hurt..." He grabbed Isidora's hand making her stop immediately, but making her cute little smile quickly vanish as well. Tzar mentally sighed, it had never been easy taking care of his sister, every time he tried stopping her from doing something that may get her hurt, she would simply make her lose all her joy.

Isidora stopped for a moment, finally noticing her exhaustion, she looked up to Tzar with her innocent expression. "C-Can we stop? I'm tired..." Tzar stopped immediately simply to mutter out a few words. "...We must continue or we will lose sight of the others." Isidora sighed as she heard his words, she was hurt from this, but she knew he was right. Isidora once again stared walking up the stairs, but this time she walked in a much more exhausted manner.

Suddenly the tower began to shake, Tzar and Isidora looked at each other before rushing in direction of a large gap in the wall to try and see the reason for this. It was obvious, the tower was collapsing and as soon as they noticed that, Isidora jumped in direction of the water below, simply screaming a large "WEEEEEEE!" Tzar stared with his mouth wide open as his sister jumped, What is she doing!? Tzar quickly jumped after her not wanting to waste any more time watching. He stretched his body completely with his head pointed downwards, trying to get a more aerodynamic position to get to his sister, which was doing what most would call a "cannonball". As Tzar finally passed by his sister he grabbed her and pulled her tight against him. "What are you doing!?" Isidora yelled obviously not understanding that water can hurt as much as the ground at certain altitudes.

Isidora opened her eyes after hearing a large splash, all she saw was the beauty of the water. But after taking another glance around her she noticed that her brother was missing. W-Where's Tzar? Isidora gave one last glance around her to make sure that he really wasn't there. And as she finally realized that he probably didn't come out of the water, she dived into the ocean, she was able to see Tzar who was slowly sinking. She swam, and swam as fast as she could, and finally she was able to grab a hold of Tzar's right leg. Isidora pulled him up, obviously pulling his upper body out of the water as well.

She was terrified for her brother, a tears started rolling down her face as she pulled Tzar to the shore and began shaking him none stop.

Tzar coughed out some water before he adopted a sitting position and rubbed his back, which was in a bit of pain due to the hard fall. "Thank you." He muttered. Isidora, caught off guard by his recovery, hugged him firmly as a larger amount of tears began to fall. "YouscaredmeandIdidn'tknowifIhadlostyouandIwasscaredand... don't leave me..." Isidora held her brother firmly against her as she kept on talking rapidly.

“Lyla I’m bored” Elvia groaned as she headed up the stairs. The large black and white wolf was walking in front of her, leading the way upwards. Elvia brushed her choppy bangs out of her eye and sighed. The wolf was probably no longer listening to her complain and was most likely just as annoyed as she was. “Lyla are you listening to me?” she asked frowning.

The wolf made no response and Lyla abruptly plopped down onto the stairs, folding her arms over her chest. Lyla immediately stopped and turned around, making her way back toward Elvia. Elvia let her hands unravel and pulled the hood of her red cape closer to her face. “Stop that” she hissed as Lyla began to budge her softly. Instead though, she ignored her and continued this until Elvia got up and continued heading upwards.

“You’re so annoying” she muttered rolling her eyes. Lyla let out a soft growl and Elvia stuck out her tongue. Before she could do anything else though, she heard Khet’s voice. Lyla stopped and Elvia looked around confused. “Wha-?” she began but she was cut off at a loud sound and went flying through the air.

Elvia’s eyes widened and as she plummeted downwards. Flying debris brushed past her and she winced as something smacked her across her face. Elvia was about to use protection, one of her many abilities but stopped when she caught sight of Lyla, flying straight towards her. Lyla flew straight into Elvia’s chest, and after letting out a little "oof" Elvia instinctively wrapped her arms around the wolf, holding her tightly. After that, Elvia shut her eyes tight as she hit the water. She sunk down and could feel Lyla slip away from her grasp.

No!

Elvia surfaced quickly, gasping for air and struggling to keep afloat. She panicked slightly as she felt something coming up under her then realized it was Lyla surfacing. Elvia held on tightly to the wolf’s back as she began to swim towards shore.

As soon as the two made it, Elvia rolled off Lyla onto the ground and coughed a few times.
"So.. Status check. Who's wounded?"
For the moment she could feel no obvious bruises. “I’m fine” she coughed.

White boots clacked on the stairs, as Aina and Yumi walked up behind the group. They were silent, walking slowly.

A rumble made them look at eachother as flames and the sound of Khet's voice was heard through the tower. The flames engulfed Yumi and Aina, smoke and fire covering all they could see.


Aina, in a panicked frenzy, fell out of one of the gaping holes in the wall, and landed with a huge splash in the water. She landed in a fairly shallow bit, so she was merely bruised and grazed.

Yumi was hurled out after Aina, and landed in the sand. Her slightly padded armour helped to cushion her fall. Still, she had bruises.

"So.. Status check. Who's wounded?"

The two gave eachother a glance, and laughed slightly. "We're a bit bruised, but we're good." Aina laughed.

Khet's eyes fluttered open, followed by intense coughing up water. She gasped for air, and clutched her stomach. "I... Uh... Who..?" She gasped, before passing out again. Yumi made a strange "She's being eccentric even after drowning. look.

Sezu removed his hazard suit and beckoned to Taiyo. "Alright. Whoever is wounded, find a buddy. Lorelei and Viktor are buddies, for example. Or Aina and Yumi. Or whoever." He muttered, checking his small computer to see if it still worked. Success! It did.

"Alright, team. Let's move out! Go team go! Break onto the scene! Go team FIGHT! Beat the snot out of fiends!" He sang, running infront of the team. In the background, a soft, wispy voice joined him.

"Go team go, La la, la la. Go team fight! La la - la laaa~" Aina sang, which was met by a few strange looks from Taiyo and Yumi.