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Rusty sighed and shook his head when Dakota disappeared into the growing darkness of Asper’s streets. He still didn’t know what he was going to say to her in the morning but there was no doubt in his mind that thing will go better then than what just happened. He just wished nothing else would come up that could screw thing up even more.

The street flames were being put out and the electrical lighting dimmed as the night’s celebration came to a close, giving the city and sleepy, almost ghostly blue tint. The music from the stage slowed and dropped down to almost a whisper for anyone who wanted to enjoy the late night a few minutes longer, though Rusty decided that heading home would be the best option after having so much excitement, despite it not being the excitement he had hoped for. He grabbed a pebble and held it in a fist as if to focus all the frustration into it. He felt it get warmer as he held it longer, and then he spun 180 degrees and pelted the pebble at a nearby tree, a small flame flicked out of him palm as the pebble soared. Rusty watched it bounce off the trunk and settle in the grass under the tree as if it had never moved. His eye then trailed up the trunk into the branches. They were gently swaying in the night breeze without a care in the world. Rusty noticed that there was one section of branches that hung lower and swayed less than the others. This, for some reason, drew a small smile on Rusty’s face. Maybe it was from the unbalanced and out-of-place look that the tree had as a result of the branch.

Rusty gathered himself and started for the center of town where he’s then head for home.

Sissmuth was hugging the branch for all he was worth. He was just about ready to doze off when a rattling at the base of his trunk shook him to confusion. Immediately wrapping his tail and arms around the branch, he glowered down at the young fox who'd supposedly hurled the stone at his tree. But looking down at the trunk, Sissmuth could see that a small, burnt hole had scarred itself in where it'd hit. There was a small sizzling sound and the smell of charred wood whiffed up his nostrils. He coughed slightly.

A pyrokinetic.

It seems that just about every anthro in Ekleron had some magic capability, he thought, feeling a bit discouraged. He wanted to shake the earth a little from underneath the young fox, just to startle him into going away, so he could come down and search for Cyrus. But when he tried, he felt nothing, and remembered with a sinking feeling in his stomach the major downfall to being a geokinetic -- he could only use his magic while his feet were touching the ground.

The only weakness, thought Sissmuth bitterly. And of course, it had to be now.

Finally, the fox reeled around and started back for the city. When he was an ample distance away, Sismuth shuffled out from the branch and tried to swing to the floor...

The branch snapped.

Sismuth plummetted down and fell on the tip of his tail. His eyes widened and he clamped his hands over his snout to keep from screeching out. When the ripples of pain had subsided, Sissmuth got up, caressing the tip of his tail and closed his eyes... listening.

The ground became a smooth landscape pitter-pattered by the footsteps of distant anthros. He detected the movement of the young fox returning to town, people shooing away the pesky onlookers begging for a free morsel before they closed their shop, and the dancers finishing their last score. Only a handful of footprints seemed to be coming his way, and he hoped one of them could be Cyrus.

Why Cyrus, he wondered. He'd only met him tonight, it'd be a lie to say he knew him enough to call him a close friend. He scolded himself for becoming so attached as well as a number of other things that had happened tonight. Shaking his head to the sides, he finally told himself that it all was in the past, and by morning, everyone would forget it ever happened. He could go on without Cyrus, but with a heavy heart, he realized he didn't want to travel alone. The trip to Asper seemed like the longest in his life, and all for an experience he would've passed up anyway. He had to keep moving on, but if he were to experience anything more ALONE, what joy would it be? More disappointments, he thought. Maybe he shouldn't have expected so much when he left his village.

With a sigh, Sismuth leaned against his tree and stared out with his back to the city, staring out at the long road that lay ahead. Staff clutched readily at his side and cloak waving out to the breeze before him, he stood there... watching... listening... for anyone that came his way.

Dakota seem to brighten up a little and took off her hat sitting next to Akari on his bed. "Your welcome Akari I'm glad that you had really enjoyed it" she said but grabbed his hands so he can't escape.

"Now you be able to enjoy the same kiss from me once again but with out the alcohal or the curiosity of onlooker around" she said and smiled kissing him again as the moon shone through the window. She ended up pushing him onto his bed. There were no worries that went through her mind only the fact that once things were repaired with him and Rusty, she could be able to start a relationship that she would be able to feel happy about. She nuzzled his chest lightly and closed her eyes. I just wish that night wouldn't end, she thought.

Rusty heard a tink of a can as he passed a mouth of an alley. He stopped and looked into the abyss but he found nothing out of place. It could have been just some small animal looking for an easy meal; Rusty shrugged it off.
But as he resumed walking a sound of rustling garbage and movement met his ears. It ceased when Rusty stopped again, this time turning his whole body to face the alley. He tightened his right hand into a fist and then snapped the first two figures up, igniting the tips in flames. He focused the light into the alley to get a better look at what was causing such a disturbance, but nothing seemed to be out of place and alley was unoccupied.
Rusty shook out the flames and turned back on the walkway. As he took the first step something he had not seen ran into him from the front, throwing him into a stumble past the thing and to the left. He did a wired dance-looking step to save himself from meeting the floor.

“Oh, sorry about that, mate,” said a man who was recovering, but not from such of an extreme unbalance that Rusty had faced, “didn’t mean to run into you like that. Should’ve watched where I was going.”

Rusty straightened himself. “That’s alright.” He said forcing a smile. “No harm's done.”

“That’s good, mate,” The man replied, then his eyes caught something and began gleaming with interest at an object on Rusty’s person. “Would you look at that, mate. You have a stone,” he said pointing at the arrowhead on Rusty’s necklace, “Tell me, is it true that you can use magic with it?”

The question surprised Rusty. He had figured that everyone, at least everyone in this part of Astrainina, knew that fact already, but he wasn’t compelled to not tell the man. “It’s true.” He lightly grasped the arrowhead with his left hand and held his right hand out flat. After a moment a small flame grew out of his palm, but the man still had his eyes on Rusty’s necklace. “See?” he said, shaking out the flame. Truth be told, he didn’t use any of the stored magic in the stone for the demonstration, that magic is for emergencies, at least, that was Rusty’s policy.

“That’s great,” the man said, a sudden glee smile grew from the ends of his mouth. “And with fire, too. You make me a bit jealous of you, mate.”

“Umm, thank you.”

“So jealous, in fact, I want it.”

Suddenly, another man stepped forward from the blackness of the alley behind Rusty. Startled, Rusty turned to face him, turning his back on the first man. The second man a large muscled man with a black shirt and tan shorts.

Realizing the danger he was in, Rusty reached for his belted dagger underneath his jacket but was hit hard from the right and pushed into the alley by the second man. He managed to keep from falling but the stinging pain that was left in his side made him flinch with every movement. He took several steps back to gain distance from the assailants.
‘What rotten luck.’ Rusty thought to himself, still retreating while the men advanced on him. ‘This would have been perfect for the bow, if I had it.’ He also cursed at the fact that he didn’t yet know any ranged magic techniques that could help him; the flame darts were just too weak to do anything against these men.

Rusty found himself against the back wall of the alley; there was only one more window to escape, and he was going to take it. Adrenalin rushed through his body at the thought; the pain in his side seemed to have subsided, and Rusty made a fist with his left hand for a fire and drew his dagger with his right. He drew in a quick breath and then lunged forward at the men to go through them, reeling back the dagger to strike as he got close… then the crackle of electricity filled the air around Rusty and the two men.

Rusty shrieked from the sudden pain that engulfed his body. His legs and feet seemed to have abandoned him and he tumbled to the ground and skidded to the two men’s feet from the momentum he had.

The men stood over him with success in their eyes, like a hunter’s when he caught his prey. The first man kneeled down and got close to Rusty. He grabbed Rusty’s necklace. “I’ll be take this little beaut’ with me, mate,” he said, playing with it with his fingers before yanking it off the leather strap and stuffing it into his pocket. He made a small gesture with his hand and the two men left Rusty and turned the corner out of the alley

Rusty desperately wanted to cut and burn them and steal back his necklace but his arms and legs were numb and he couldn’t move them. Helpless, all Rusty could do was lie there and wait for the feeling to slowly come back to his limbs while those two thieves make off into the night with his magic charged necklace.

Sissmuth was still listening, but reading footprints was a lot like feeling the small bumps when a blind person reads Braille; although he couldn't actually see as far as he read, the ripples of movement trailing through the ground were only up for Sissmuth's skilled interpretations. And what he read was this...

There was a distinct scuffle of footprints not too far off... the same direction that the young fox disappeared of in, actually, now that he thought about it. It sounded louder over the softer plit-plats of normal steps. There must've been at least three participants pounding the ground so carelessly and in no pattern at all. Certainly not like any dance he'd seen before.

The footprints sounded stressed. Panicked, even. He wondered if he should go to investigate, but didn't know if it was quite safe to go back, yet. He could...but, what if Cyrus came back while he'd gone? It may be another group drunk Anthros... or worse...

"It can't be," wondered Sismuth allowed. Squinting his eyes tighter, he focused more on this one section, feeling for even the faintest vibrations travelling through the earth. From what he was feeling, two sets of footprints were leaving the scene... he could tell these belonged to humans, by the way their feet stomped the ground harder than most Anthros did. One was staying behind... he focused harder.

Sissmuth was pushing his eyes closed so shut, it began to hurt. But he didn't let up. Was someone in trouble? He thought... that would certainly be a legit excuse to use his magic... And then he felt it... the slight ping-ping-ping of someone's breathing as they lay on the ground.

Either this was trouble, or a dance he simply HAD to watch. What the heck, he figured, it certainly beat standing around and waiting.

Finally opening his eyes, Sissmuth began to take the first uneasy steps towards where he felt the scruffle...

Akari, somewhat surprised by Dakota's actions, calmed down a bit when she finished kissing him, and rested her head on his chest. At least I know this is for real... he thought.

The tender moment he was enjoying, however, was suddenly broken when he heard a scream in the distance. His ears pricked up and angled towards the direction where it came from. He lifted his head up. "That didn't sound good..." he said to nobody in particular.

He heard a knock on the door moments later. He could hear his mother open the door, and a dialogue ensued. It sounded calm, but then it was cut off suddenly, and the back door of the house was forced open, and his mother screamed. Akari instinctively got up, and unsheathed one of his swords from off the floor. “Dakota,” he said, “whatever you do, do not make any noise... these guys could be loose cannons for all I know...”

Akari got off the bed and reached under it, pulling out a Kevlar vest. He only had one, so he held it with his left arm like a shield. He looked at Dakota, and motioned his head down towards the steps, and then headed quietly down them. When he got to the bottom, he peered around the corner, and saw something he didn't quite expect: A human reeling on the floor in pain, clutching his ears, which were bleeding from the inside, and another one who was slumped against the far wall, either dead or unconscious. “Mom!” Exclaimed Akari, “what happened?”

“Thieves,” she replied, “they wanted my ruby bracelet, and tried to take it from me by force. However, they clearly didn't know me, and they're now wishing that they hadn't tried to invade my house...” Her voice was calm, which was surprising for a situation like this. In truth, she had dealt with worse trauma than that.

“Glad to know you're OK,” Akari said, sighing in relief.

The man who had his eardrums broken got up and ran out of the house. Good riddance... Akari thought. “What happened to the other guy?” he asked.

“He's probably meeting his maker, since a tornado-speed wind at a few hundred miles an hour blew him at the wall. Either way, I've called the police to take him away.” Akari's mother paused for a moment. “Are you all right?” she asked.

"I'm fine," Akari answered.

"So am I", Dakota said looking out past the door, "but this is why I hate humans coming into our town on celebration days like these". She was thinking about something on her mind which bugged her until she started to remember what it was. She wanted Akari to stay with her at her penthouse just until the day of the trials which happened to be tommorrow. Her shotgun was still hung up in the closet and she really had to get going because she wasn't quite packed yet to go and there were specific equipment she had as gifts to Akari and Rusty.

"I hope you'll be ok Mrs. LaKoth" she she said grabbed her new shotgun out of the cabinet. As she left the Lakoth's home, she turned around and looked to Akari. "Hey Akari before I head for home do you mind staying over the evening with me I have something for you and Rusty that I forgot to grab"

As Cyrus came to the crest of the hill he saw the strip of pines about 100 yards away. He stood scanning them for a moment, until he spotted the tree he was looking for. Feeling a little proud of himself for remembering where it was, he started down toward where he and Sissmuth had met in the chaos of the evening. His excitement soon faded, however, when he saw that no one stood under the tree. When he arrived at the spot, he looked up into the branches with a small hope of finding Sissmuth there.
Nope. But he was sure this was the right place. He had no idea where else Sissmuth would be. Disappointed and frustrated, he plopped down against the base of the trunk.

Now that he was sitting still he could hear the noises of the night, and he was glad for the relative silence. He caught a glimpse of movement in the grass beside him, his eyes darting to the area to discover a cricket. By chance his gaze moved to a spot in the dirt next to where the bug had landed. There was a footprint, and a rather large one at that. Upon closer inspection he made out its shape to resemble a lizard's track. Sissmuth had been here!

He shot up and looked around. Still no one in sight. Great, now he definitely thinks I left him. Cyrus figured that his new friend had waited here for some time then left, discouraged. It was a safe assumption to make, he thought, since there would be no other reason that Sissmuth had come here. With this notion, he began to search the ground for additional tracks. Maybe he could see which way he went, and hopefully catch up. There were a few more in the dirt, heading generally toward a dark part of town that was fairly close by. After a few steps the prints stopped, having met thick grass. Cyrus looked up and began to follow the direction they had pointed, picking up the pace in a hurried jog.

Akari thought for a moment. "I'd love to... but I'm worried about Rusty. That screaming I heard earlier sounded a lot like his voice..."

He stopped abruptly. What if that was Rusty? he thought, rather panicked. Akari donned his Kevlar vest. "It's not going to be too safe for him out there if there are more guys like them..." he said, "Hold on a sec."

Akari ran up to his room, gathered his standard equipment, and re-did his shirts so that his armor was under his shirt, and then fixed his normal sword sheaths to his back, and pocketed his throwing knife. He hurried downstairs, back to the door. "Mom," he said, "I don't think these guys will try the same house twice, if there's more than two of these guys, but make sure you warn everyone else around here." His mother nodded.

Akari then turned to Dakota. "Dakota, I'm worried about Rusty... Uh, how about you come with me to go check on him? I... I am really concerned for him, right now." He paused. "Or... how about this: I know his phone number offhand, so I'll call him, and find out if he's OK."

Akari immediately got his cell phone out of his pocket, and dialed Rusty's cell phone number. He put the phone on speaker, and listened to the ringing at the other end.

Sissmuth was taking slow steps, he head occasionally twisting and cocking to the sides in bemusement...

Surely, Cyrus should be at the tree by now... perhaps I should turn back.

He gave the thought a moment to live before brushing it aside. He'd just take a peek. And when he approached an alleyway from which he'd heard the strange rackus, he was certain a peek was all it took.

There was a lump on the ground. It wasn't moving. Wait a second... yes. Yes, indeed, it was moving. But only slightly.

"Sssargath omiethusss disss sssieron...? [What in bloody hell...?]," he hissed as he approached closer. Sissmuth slowly slithered up to the figure lying on the ground. Cautious by nature, the lump began to take shape until he could distinctly make out that it was definitely the fox he'd seen at the bar and under his tree.

That makes this the third time I've seen his face, he thought. Then, with another shake of his head, he muttered, "Sssamon ighisss [Young people.]."

He heard a rustle behind him and he snapped his head to the side, but no other being was in sight. His eyes narrowed before he turned around and as one final test, he prodded the young fox with his staff a couple times, as if it were a diseased carcass on the side of the road. And then a splitting noice. A high-pitched ring-ring-ring.

Instinctively, Sissmuth jumped back with an irate hiss. The ringing continued. And on the third chime, he gathered his senses enough to approach again. There was a device strapped onto the fox's belt, producing the noise. Some kind of flip device... what in Ekleron could it possibly be? Then, realizing he didn't want to know, he flicked the device off the fox's belt with his staff, then stomped on it to pieces.

When he heard a grumble from the fox, he returned his attention to him and sniffed slightly. Oh yes... most definitely the fox from earlier today...

Finally coming to the conclusion that it was safe, he threw his cloak back and slipped his arms underneath the fox's the pull him up to his feet. The young fox looked about ready to collapse in a heap again; he was barely conscious. And for some reason, Sissmuth was glad he was. He realized he didn't want to be seen doing this. Swinging one of the fox's arm around his neck for support, he slowly began to walk out of the alley.

Just get him to a safe location, and then scram, he kept telling himself. Don't look at anyone, don't talk to anyone, don't try to wake him up, just get him someplace safe... it was thoughts like these -- thoughts of taking a problem on, one step at a time -- that allowed him to remain so calm in these types of situations. He kept thinking, Young people, indeed! Give them a night of freedom and see what trouble they get in! Why, in my village, such liberties as a youth were a luxury!

Another rustle, and this time, Sissmuth spun around, his staff pointed out in front of him. No one was there. He tried reading the vibrations through the ground, but obviously... there were no vibrations of the guy's standing still.

Just keep moving.

Sissmuth turned around, fox draped over one shoulder, and picked up the pace. It took him a moment to wonder that if this fox was the pyrokinetic he thought he was... where was his amulet? He could've been mistaken. But then, he remembered the two other pairs of footprints he'd heard exit the allyway, supposedly leaving the fox behind. Human footprints. Sissmuth put the pieces together himself, and the scenario he came up with didn't seem to surprise him one bit.

Head hung, the fox stirred on his shoulder, and Sissmuth hurried forward. To any place in particular... except Hollar's Bar... if luck permitted, perhaps he'd still be able to return to the tree in time to catch Cyrus...

The line at the other end stopped ringing abruptly, and went straight to Rusty's voice mail greeting. If it had rung four times before going to the voice mail, like it normally would, that would be one thing. But cutting off during the middle of the second ring was something else! "Ashthan!" [a swear word, but could be re-worded as "this is bad!"] he exclaimed, "That can't be good!" Akari turned to Dakota. "Listen, I'm sorry that I can't go to your place now. This is my best friend who's life is most likely in jeopardy!" Akari paused for a moment.

"Come on, Dakota. If you think about it, what better way to make amends to Rusty than help care for him when he's injured, or help save his life?" Akari smiled a bit. "C'mon, this chance doesn't come too often. Where was the last place you saw Rusty?" he asked, but in an urgent manner.

What to do, what to do, what to do... surely, there must be SOME place where this fox would be missed, he thought. He grunted at the weight on his shoulder as he scanned him over; he seemed just like any typical anthro, but as he continued to shuffle out onto the now deserted streets, he couldn't help but notice that the topazes on his armbands were glowing again -- more illuminously than before. He could've easily used them to light his way, if they didn't already attract too much attention.

"Sssimien [annonymous curse word]," scowled Sissmuth bitterly. Where were those patrol guards when you needed them? Out, more likely... patroling and barricading streets that probably didn't need an ounce of attention.

But still, Sissmuth was weary.

He couldn't hide the glowing gems on his wrist, and they cut through the dark, whirring about like large fireflies. It was alarming, at how the streets had drained so quickly. Confetti, garbage, and rubble still scattered messily on the ground, this made him even more bitter in mood... didn't these people know how to treat the earth?

A rustle. And the last, Sissmuth decided before he finally got fed up with it. He spun around and raised his staff over his head before bringing it down hard on the ground. He felt a ripple underneath the ground radiate outward. Suddenly, needle-pointed, sharp stalagmites of rock jutted up from the ground, encircling around something in the darkness. He heard a shriek.

With eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring, he strode up to the trapped being, still lugging the semi-conscious fox on his shoulders. When he peeked in between the bars of stone that surrounded his follower, he took in a sharp breath. "...Cyrus?"

Dakota nodded and cocked her shotgun so it was ready to fire at the first sign of any trouble. She focused all of her magic into a wing shape which one was made out of fire and the other water and took off hovering right above him. After grabbing his hands, she flew Akari right over where Rusty was and saw that he was alone but badly beaten, like he was in a brutal fight. "Akari I'm going to drop you near where Rusty is. I can't sense any magic flowing through his body anymore, he may not have his necklace anymore so I'm going to chase after the guys that took it. If Rusty is ok you have my cell and its on" she said letting go of him two feet above Rusty and flying towards the guys who took Rusty's necklace.

It may have taken awhile but she found the guys with Rusty's necklace and figured to be blunt with her approach landing right in front of them pinning each one to a tree. Her eyes glowed blue and soon streams of water were slowly disappearing the human's bodies. "Look you have something of my friend's he deseperatley needs that necklace you either give it to me now or I complete dehydrate you within an inch of death"

(( Umm not sure what to do XD so i'll just type this. I am also not sure if its day or night my computer is only showing half my screen XD))

The night had gone by faster then Nero had wanted it to "the party must have been somthing" He thought to himself as he got up of the couch even if he had not taken part in the fun and games he had felt like he had been to the party and stuff. " What should i do today" Moaned Nero as he walked around his hut only to head for his room wich was out of order almost as if someone had ransacked it. Nero had payed no attetion to the messy room he had cleaned it before but somehow it always ended up a mess. " Eh gonna have to clean this up later" Thought the black panther to himself as his green eyes scaned the room for a shirt.
"Ah ha" Nero said as he found a black t-shirt with a small X on the side that when put on would go across his chest almost as if a bullseye, Along with findind a pair of Jeans laying down on the floor next to them. Quickly changing out of his old clothes into his new Nero started to head outside and began to sit on the dirt that was underneath his feet. Being near the forest was a good thing and for once Nero had actully taken the time to look around but soon somthing caught his eye a floating as if on air or somthing he could not tell what it was due to how far away he was from the figure " Eh its possably a bird" He mumbled to himself as he turned around. Pausing to think " But birds don't have that kind of shape and form and they don't dtop to float around in mid-air... " "I guess i'll go check it out" He said as he stood up to head towards the woods.

bump I'm sorry!!