Two
Sentakus' Familiars
Love is a silly feeling. Overrated at the same time as underrated. Sometimes it is love that makes us do the stupidest, but best things in the world. Sacrifices must be made for the better of another when loves is found. I believe my love for those in my care is what will one day make me do the best and worst thing in my life. Only time will tell.
~Lady Alexandra of Baransu
The group, now trapped within the rock circle, were blinded by a light the erupted from the ditch. The ground below fell from under them leaving them with only darkness in their sights. Slowly as they plummeted each of their figures disappeared from the other's view. The ground that had been above them closed such as a sliding door, and left them in the Shadows.
Zavier’s eyes began to adjust just enough to see the outline of Allisson. He reached out to grab her left hand. The redhead tried to grab for her friend’s wrist and missed by an inch. The two yelled out each other's names before disappearing from other’s sight. They slipped farther and farther into the mysterious tragedy.
The boy felt his head bang against the ground and without another glance or thought his world turned black.
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Allison awoke to the sight of a clear stagnant lake. Crickets and frogs seemed to sing around her ears. Stars reflected beautifully on the still water and the moon shined brightly above the trees. She slowly sat up and felt for her ankle, which pinged with pain as she moved. Her eyes adjusted just enough to see in the darkness she had awoken to. The roots of the tree behind her had got her ankle stuck inbetween. Clutching her ankle she leaned back on the ground and bit hard onto her lip from the pain. What she would do for an aspirin. With what strength she held within her she pulled herself up and tore out her ankle. It gave a snapping sound as it was released with tears forming in her eyes.
Twisting her head around she realized none of the others were in her line of sight. Maybe they were around the corner or something. The last person she had seen had been Zavier so maybe he was the closest by them. Turning her head side to side though she found no buzzcut haired blond. With her arm strength she tried to push herself to her feet. Fate was against her for her ankle tilted to the side. She bit harder onto he lip to hold in her scream of pain as she fell back to the forest floor. Unsuccessfully.
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Zavier opened his eyes to the forest of shadows and star-filled sky. His head ached with pain, and he slowly felt the back of his head. There was a large lump, but no blood. At least not any wet blood. He couldn't exactly see the back of his head. What he would do right now for a painkiller and a coca-cola.
Without another thought he felt his neck for his brown rock; bead necklace luckily it hadn’t fallen off, but it had been shaken loose. Tightening the choker necklace he began to look around. Not a soul was in sight. He rushed to his feet a bit too quickly and put his hand on a tree to sturdy himself. Through the silence of the moonlit forest a shrill scream pierced the air, “Allison!”
What he found following the sound of the scream was heart racking. Allison was curled in a ball against a large oak or redwood tree, “Are you okay?” His face full of worry he knelt beside her. She couldn’t speak through the pain, but she lightly nodded her head with a grin. Zavier helped her to sit up against the tree. Her skin was a bit warm, but she was shivering terribly. Taking of his shirt he wrapped it around her. He was left with a dark green undershirt on his chest.
“You stay here,” Allison gave him a pitiful look of duh. “I’ll go get something to prop your foot up.” Desperately he looked for a log or rock. Walking a good few feet to the left he found a short hollow log. It was small enough he could drag, but thick enough it would be able to prop up her foot. He began to lift it and felt the log twitch to the left and right. With a quiet gasp he dropped it.
“Hey, does no one these days bother to check for a little salamander like me in here?”
Zavier jumped back dropping the log, “Whoa! Sorry little guy didn’t notice-“ A not so small salamander climbed out shaking its head. The teen froze in mid sentence for a second before looking down at the hell-bender, “You just talked...”
The hell-bender squirmed it's tail, “What- I mean you can understand me? Oh master, oh master! I’ve found you, my great... great.. great... great... great.... great... great... great grandfather always said I would.”
“Okay then.. Sorry, dude, but you have the wrong person. Or creature... or yeah whatever you are. I’m going to continue with whatever I was doing.”
“Of course… you’re only the reincarnation of the Sentaku Ryuu,” The hell-bender’s eyes gleamed with pride, “The Great Dragon.”
Zavier rolled his eyes and began to pull the log one again. This whole day was frustrating and confusing him without a talking animal to deal with. Shuffling paw steps rustled behind him. With a sigh he stopped and turned his head to the scampering creature who was trying to catch up with him, “Why are you following me?”
“I am your familiar master…,” the Salamander stopped for a thought giving Zavier a good three feet more towards Allisson, “guess for now just master. Wait it is my duty to be by your side!”
“Zavier, just Zavier. Wait, why I am I telling you this?” He sighed and turned to the hell-bender “Just stay quiet and leave me alone.” There was no stopping this ridiculous, what had it called himself? Familiar?
The familiar sighed with a roll of his silver eyes, “Yes Master Just Zavier. My mouth’s shut tight as a swallowing fungi” With a heave of relief Zavier continued to pull the log. This creature made less sense than when him and Marcus played Call of Duty together. Marcus would go on and on about different techniques for the game. He wondered what his best friend was doing right about now. If anyone could make sense of this mess it would be that goofball.
When the two got to the tree where Allison sat they saw a lime light sparkling. It flew around her in quick circles. It halted right around her ankle and began to tie a vine around the injured ankle. Zavier had no idea what the light was,but last time he had seen a light he had got sucked into a world of nightmares. He dropped the log and ran towards his friend with anger boiling in him.
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Allison watched as the fairy moved around her foot. The fairy had told her that her name was Chihiro a nature fairy of the forest, “We speak telepathically?”
“Yes my lady. All familiars speak to their Sentaku like this. To the two in the conversation it can seem as if they are talking out loud. The brain can fool you into believing things when it does not understand what they ear or see. Oh, I sure do hope that makes sense. I have no mean of upsetting you.” The red-head nodded with what strength she could. The fairy took that as a sign that no harm had been done, and quickly continued with her lesson, “If a Sentaku gets to know another familiar well enough, or if the two Sentakus are connected enough by Soul Links then they can also talk telepathically to each other. It's more complicated than that of course, but I'm not the best at explaining such controversies.”
“No, no I understand completely,” the red head said through her thoughts as Zavier ran up to her. He saw the fairy and the color in his face calmed down just enough to not seem so angry.
“Um is that a pixie?” the boy questioned rudely. Chihiro gave a scowl at the boy and then seemed to catch the eye of the hell-bender.
“Fairy... but close.”
Zavier rolled his eyes, “Same thing, both small and have wings. With crazy tempers! Ankle holding up?” The girl nodded as the scampering hell-bender rushed forward.
Giving a leap of joy the hell-bender wrapped his tail to hug the sparkling creature. Chihiro gave small protests in the sound of tinkling bells, but Allisson heard the chuckles she gave. “It’s Chihiro. Oh Great Meka I knew it! You are the Sentakus,” Zavier smirked at the creature and went back to checking on Allison's ankle.
Chihiro looked over the hell-bender's tail and then backed up slightly. She seemed to be in thought, “Rex? Have you not seen the others?”
“Well, at least three of the six are here-”
“Why does it have to be my stalker creature that talks?” Zavier glared at the ground while he leaned against the tree beside Allison. She sat confusedly at why her familiar was shushing Rex so avidly. Obviously Zavier had no idea that he didn't need to speak out loud.
“Master Just Zavier all familiars talk, but it’s telepathically. You just keep deciding to talk out to the open air.” Rex gave a satisfied look and continued. “Anyways... we should probably find where the others are.”
The blue-haired fairy shook her head as if to change her mind. Something had made her realize that there was a better idea, “If the other Sentakus have returned then our friends will have already met up with them, too. It is not our place to go search for our familiar friends.”
“What are the Sentakus?” Allison said out-loud while looking at Zavier. He gave her a confused looked at her talking out-loud. She understood for he had just been told that they speak in their minds to the familiars. Talk about confusing for him. “We should both talk out loud. It makes it easier to understand what's going. I can't hear Rex, other than his little gurgling sounds.”
Zavier raised an eyebrow and pointed at his slimy familiar, “How did you know his name?” She gave a head nod towards Chihiro. Maybe talking out loud would actually be a good idea., “Makes sense.”
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Where am I? Vanessa opened her eyes to a star-filled sky, and a crescent moon. The moon wasn't right above her anymore, but it also wasn't far off. Slowly she lifted herself up from the grass underneath her that was tall and emerald green. White flowers seemed to glow around her. They looked like roses with a golden lily middle piece. These flowers seemed to reach towards the moon in the distance. She stayed sitting on the ground as she slowly remembered what had happened before she fell asleep. All that filled her mind was a ring of fire and the color purple. Okay so wherever she now sat was definitively no where within her small town in the countryside, or anywhere around it for that matter.
The teen stood up and began to dust off her black jeans. Her ears caught a sound of something of broken bells as she lifted her head to look around. Whatever had made the sound was unable to be seen. On every side around her were tall trees, and behind one side in the north there was a silhouette of a mountain range. This left her in a valley of flowers. A fish bowl of sorts if that made sense to even herself. She began to pull out her iPhone, when the black screen caught a floating orange light behind her. At first she thought it was Zavier's orange mist until the orange light came to be seen as a floating fire. With her own loud scream, and the creature-behind-her's shriek, she fell to the floor. Cracking the phone's screen under her. “Holy sh-!”
“I am sincerely sorry miss, I did not mean to scare you! Oh why am I speaking you will only hear squawks....” At a closer examination the floating flame was actually a swan made out of fire. It's bright black eyes shined with surprise and sorrow. This creature was just as frightened as she was herself.
Vanessa starred up with wide eyes, “Floating fire bird, that talks... someone wake me up!” She began slapping her cheeks, but when she reopened her eyes the bird tilted its head at her. The fire swan continued to flap its wings in a graceful matter to hold itself in the air.
“My dear, first I am not floating... I am flying. Second, You can actually hear me?” The teen girl gave a slow, yet annoyed, nod, “Oh this is wonderful news! Of course you can otherwise you wouldn't have asked me a question,” the bird gave a chuckle that sounded more like broken bells. Not the most lovely sound to be heard. Yet it held an elegance in it. “The time has come for the Sentakus.”
“What the hell? You've got to be kidding me!” Vanessa stood up to find her damaged iPhone. She completely ignored the bird's words about Sentakus. Such nonsense had no meaning for her. The teen started to turn on the iPhone and cursed under her breath. “So much for calling them. No service.”
The bird flew to the ground as Vanessa continued to curse into the quiet air. In turn the flame shape turned into a bright reddish-orange feathered bird. “What is this mysterious object?” The red bird pecked at the screen.
“Hey, back off!” Vanessa brought the broken phone away from the bird. Her face was cold, “What the hell are you anyways?”
With pure humiliation the bird stepped back before it's own anger boiled forward. It leaped into the air and blazed into a brilliant flame. “My name,” the bird's beak brought a furious squawking sound. That tore through Vanessa's head, “is Flare. Daughter of who was the familiar of the Sentaku, Hono, Queen of Fire. On the notion of what I am, I'm a phoenix, you silly child.” As she noticed how the human girl starred in fear she quieted down and landed back on the ground. She lowered her head and nuzzled it on Vanessa's knee. Vanessa slowly lifted her hand to stroke the bird's neck.
She knew she had a fiery temper, but normally kindness in a scold was not what she received in return. The girl felt warmth by her left shoulder, and found Flare rubbing against it kindly. She again petted the bird with a small, and confused grin. A bright light extended from across the field. A campfire in the darkness around them. Flare lifted her head sharply and gave a hissing sound of disgust. “Foul creature trying to reel in prey like that. Disgusting.”
“Hey look at that!” A figure was walking on the far side, and Vanessa paid no attention to the bird's harsh words. This figure was barely noticeable through the tall grasses, but yet he could be seen on the east side of the valley. Flare looked in the direction of the figure and gave a growling yelp. “Might be one of my friends. Link! Marcus! Allison! Zavier! Oh, who ever you are, answer damn it!”
Flare began to tug on Vanessa's navy shirt, “We need to go. Now, my dear child.” The girl looked over in confusion. This bird gave her never ending moments of confusion, “That light your friend is following is going to make him, or her, a hungry creature's lunch.” Vanessa nodded and ran after Flare as she flew in the air towards the light and the walking figure.
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The grass was overgrown, and the flowers glowed in an unearthly way. Marcus had never seen a place so, odd, or beautiful for that matter. Nothing compared to it; in both ways at that. The brunette rubbed the back of his head and pulled out the headphones to his iPod from his ears. The music was the same but he heard the beats more clearly. Probably the fall had knocked his headphones loose, or something to that matter. Awhile back he found himself in a patch of dead grass that was piled pretty high up. Talk about a lucky landing. Now, he was following the campfire light. Hopefully one of his buds had found a spot to stay for the night there. Would help to have a campfire when... well, it was cold out here. Not normal for summer, let that be known.
With the Avenged Sevenfold's 'Blinded in Chains' blasting in his ears the world went silent around him. Not a sound could be heard outside his headphones. If he had noticed that, everything would have been a whole lot safer. The brunette followed the firelight ahead of him and missed the loud calling of his, and his friends' names.
Finally he got to a large mountainous rock. Attached to it was bright fire light. Picking up his cellphone from his pocket he tried once again to call one of the guys. Once again there was absolutely no luck.
The fire lifted from the ground and almost slammed him to the floor. Marcus rolled to the right, but not without having his shirt sleeve scorched, “Aww shit man!” He looked up and rolled away from the greyish brown scaled tail. It left sparks to fly from the edge of the fiery tail. Large mountainous spikes lifted from the ground along with a boulder with sparkling eyes. Dust poured from sides as four large pillars lifted from the ground lifting the mountainous object to stand.
The creature's dark black eyes gleamed as Marcus saw his reflection in the glass of them. Walking backwards he tripped over the stone-like tail. This left his backside to hit the scorched, muddy ground. It would be his luck to be stupid enough to run right into a dragon. The dragon opened it's wings and gave an echoing roar. Marcus's ears rang and his head spun. His whole body became numb and disoriented. Marcus crab crawled backwards looking up at the bright eyes. “Oh, come on I'm not even that tasty!”
A loud eagle shriek sounded from above his head. The dragon roared and flipped it's head up to be met by four large talons to the nose. Brown scales flashed forward as the creature ducked its head with such speed and nearly stepped on Marcus. Just barely being able to roll sideways his top sleeve was torn in the dragon's claws.
“Don't just lay there, run sweetheart!”
Marcus looked around but was pushed to the ground by a flash of white feathers and fur. Feathery wings covered him as hot steam rushed against the sides in bright orange light. The heat could be felt through the feathers and he could smell a slight smell of soot. Something inside him knew if he been standing there he would not have survived the blast.
“Marcus!” Two cold hands grabbed onto his left arm and pulled him behind a large boulder that was covered by a bush. A burst of orange flashed from somewhere he could not tell, and another fiery shape flew through the fire of the dragon's breath. The dragon roared again in pain and tried to slash it's tail at the fiery creature in its face.
The brunette looked to see Vanessa with his chocolate brown eyes and, “Your hair!” The girl raised an eyebrow and then yelled something at the flying flame. All that he caught in his ears was the letter form of Flare. Her brown eyes were the palest blue and he shook his head only to find he wasn't imagining it.
“You do have horrible timing,” she rushed her fingers through the bleach blond hair, “To mention my hair.”
“It's blond! Not my fault I had a surprise of it.” The boy looked up and saw a white lion sized eagle attacking the dragon along with a bird that was completely on fire. The eagle had scorched wings but other than that the four-legged eagle was pure white. SLAP
“Hell, just zone out why don't you! My hair... is blond!” Marcus looked up and then down again. Giving her a look of 'why'd you slap me'?. The dragon stormed away, not wanting this much trouble for the small piece of food. It's black eyes vowed vengeance as it soared into the night sky.
The flaming bird came and landed on Vanessa's shoulder. It's flames burned out and turned to bright red and orange feathers. The bird had a sound of squawks, much like a raven. Yet, also a crocodile growl. He turned around to see a bird... lion.. eagle. Some four legged creature behind him, “You sure are going to bring much trouble aren't you sweetie.” He jumped at the voice that entered his head.
“W-what are you?”
“A Griffin you idiot,” Vanessa rolled her eyes at him and he rubbed the back of his head in confusion. “Come on video-game nerd. You of all people should know that.”
The brunette turned to the griffin, who had saved him in the first place. He slowly lifted his hand out and she nuzzled it with... a purr? Marcus looked over to the white feathered creature with amusement. “You're pretty tough for being so cute.” He grinned and petted the creature.
“Please call me Precious sweetie,” Marcus jumped. The voice had entered his head again. The gryphon looked at him with confusion, “What?” The brunette looked over at Vanessa who was laughing. So was the flame bird on her shoulder, though it sounded more of high sounding bells. Least the bird's laugh was pleasant. The outside was much prettier of a creature though either way. The griffin beside him began to give a chuckle. “I talk to you through your head, you silly goose.”
Well, gee if he had only thought of that earlier. Explained enough now. Then... the voice that had got his attention earlier. That was... “Thank,” he stopped speaking out loud and just thought, “you. I owe you big time.”
Vanessa broke up the gratitude reunion, “What about me, huh? Saved your ass too.” Her phoenix lightly rubbed her head against her cheek. As if to say calm down, he's taking turns, wait yours. The now bleach blonde girl rolled her eyes, but said nothing at the notion. Marcus pulled out his phone and began trying to call the others. “They don't work. My doesn't even turn on.”
“Mine gets signal; I can even call, but every time I just get a busy tone.”
“Are you serious!? Stupid iPhone...” She pulled it out and looked at the scratched screen. “Piece of crap! I swear-”
With a roll of his eyes at her outrage of curses he turned to the forest. “We need to find somewhere to stay for the night. Be reasonable about that at least.”
Vanessa sighed and looked up at the moon. The phoenix beside her whispered something to her thoughts, “I sure hope that you're kidding about that, Flare.” Yet, whatever the fire bird had said would only be known to the blond's thoughts.
~Lady Alexandra of Baransu
The group, now trapped within the rock circle, were blinded by a light the erupted from the ditch. The ground below fell from under them leaving them with only darkness in their sights. Slowly as they plummeted each of their figures disappeared from the other's view. The ground that had been above them closed such as a sliding door, and left them in the Shadows.
Zavier’s eyes began to adjust just enough to see the outline of Allisson. He reached out to grab her left hand. The redhead tried to grab for her friend’s wrist and missed by an inch. The two yelled out each other's names before disappearing from other’s sight. They slipped farther and farther into the mysterious tragedy.
The boy felt his head bang against the ground and without another glance or thought his world turned black.
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Allison awoke to the sight of a clear stagnant lake. Crickets and frogs seemed to sing around her ears. Stars reflected beautifully on the still water and the moon shined brightly above the trees. She slowly sat up and felt for her ankle, which pinged with pain as she moved. Her eyes adjusted just enough to see in the darkness she had awoken to. The roots of the tree behind her had got her ankle stuck inbetween. Clutching her ankle she leaned back on the ground and bit hard onto her lip from the pain. What she would do for an aspirin. With what strength she held within her she pulled herself up and tore out her ankle. It gave a snapping sound as it was released with tears forming in her eyes.
Twisting her head around she realized none of the others were in her line of sight. Maybe they were around the corner or something. The last person she had seen had been Zavier so maybe he was the closest by them. Turning her head side to side though she found no buzzcut haired blond. With her arm strength she tried to push herself to her feet. Fate was against her for her ankle tilted to the side. She bit harder onto he lip to hold in her scream of pain as she fell back to the forest floor. Unsuccessfully.
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Zavier opened his eyes to the forest of shadows and star-filled sky. His head ached with pain, and he slowly felt the back of his head. There was a large lump, but no blood. At least not any wet blood. He couldn't exactly see the back of his head. What he would do right now for a painkiller and a coca-cola.
Without another thought he felt his neck for his brown rock; bead necklace luckily it hadn’t fallen off, but it had been shaken loose. Tightening the choker necklace he began to look around. Not a soul was in sight. He rushed to his feet a bit too quickly and put his hand on a tree to sturdy himself. Through the silence of the moonlit forest a shrill scream pierced the air, “Allison!”
What he found following the sound of the scream was heart racking. Allison was curled in a ball against a large oak or redwood tree, “Are you okay?” His face full of worry he knelt beside her. She couldn’t speak through the pain, but she lightly nodded her head with a grin. Zavier helped her to sit up against the tree. Her skin was a bit warm, but she was shivering terribly. Taking of his shirt he wrapped it around her. He was left with a dark green undershirt on his chest.
“You stay here,” Allison gave him a pitiful look of duh. “I’ll go get something to prop your foot up.” Desperately he looked for a log or rock. Walking a good few feet to the left he found a short hollow log. It was small enough he could drag, but thick enough it would be able to prop up her foot. He began to lift it and felt the log twitch to the left and right. With a quiet gasp he dropped it.
“Hey, does no one these days bother to check for a little salamander like me in here?”
Zavier jumped back dropping the log, “Whoa! Sorry little guy didn’t notice-“ A not so small salamander climbed out shaking its head. The teen froze in mid sentence for a second before looking down at the hell-bender, “You just talked...”
The hell-bender squirmed it's tail, “What- I mean you can understand me? Oh master, oh master! I’ve found you, my great... great.. great... great... great.... great... great... great grandfather always said I would.”
“Okay then.. Sorry, dude, but you have the wrong person. Or creature... or yeah whatever you are. I’m going to continue with whatever I was doing.”
“Of course… you’re only the reincarnation of the Sentaku Ryuu,” The hell-bender’s eyes gleamed with pride, “The Great Dragon.”
Zavier rolled his eyes and began to pull the log one again. This whole day was frustrating and confusing him without a talking animal to deal with. Shuffling paw steps rustled behind him. With a sigh he stopped and turned his head to the scampering creature who was trying to catch up with him, “Why are you following me?”
“I am your familiar master…,” the Salamander stopped for a thought giving Zavier a good three feet more towards Allisson, “guess for now just master. Wait it is my duty to be by your side!”
“Zavier, just Zavier. Wait, why I am I telling you this?” He sighed and turned to the hell-bender “Just stay quiet and leave me alone.” There was no stopping this ridiculous, what had it called himself? Familiar?
The familiar sighed with a roll of his silver eyes, “Yes Master Just Zavier. My mouth’s shut tight as a swallowing fungi” With a heave of relief Zavier continued to pull the log. This creature made less sense than when him and Marcus played Call of Duty together. Marcus would go on and on about different techniques for the game. He wondered what his best friend was doing right about now. If anyone could make sense of this mess it would be that goofball.
When the two got to the tree where Allison sat they saw a lime light sparkling. It flew around her in quick circles. It halted right around her ankle and began to tie a vine around the injured ankle. Zavier had no idea what the light was,but last time he had seen a light he had got sucked into a world of nightmares. He dropped the log and ran towards his friend with anger boiling in him.
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Allison watched as the fairy moved around her foot. The fairy had told her that her name was Chihiro a nature fairy of the forest, “We speak telepathically?”
“Yes my lady. All familiars speak to their Sentaku like this. To the two in the conversation it can seem as if they are talking out loud. The brain can fool you into believing things when it does not understand what they ear or see. Oh, I sure do hope that makes sense. I have no mean of upsetting you.” The red-head nodded with what strength she could. The fairy took that as a sign that no harm had been done, and quickly continued with her lesson, “If a Sentaku gets to know another familiar well enough, or if the two Sentakus are connected enough by Soul Links then they can also talk telepathically to each other. It's more complicated than that of course, but I'm not the best at explaining such controversies.”
“No, no I understand completely,” the red head said through her thoughts as Zavier ran up to her. He saw the fairy and the color in his face calmed down just enough to not seem so angry.
“Um is that a pixie?” the boy questioned rudely. Chihiro gave a scowl at the boy and then seemed to catch the eye of the hell-bender.
“Fairy... but close.”
Zavier rolled his eyes, “Same thing, both small and have wings. With crazy tempers! Ankle holding up?” The girl nodded as the scampering hell-bender rushed forward.
Giving a leap of joy the hell-bender wrapped his tail to hug the sparkling creature. Chihiro gave small protests in the sound of tinkling bells, but Allisson heard the chuckles she gave. “It’s Chihiro. Oh Great Meka I knew it! You are the Sentakus,” Zavier smirked at the creature and went back to checking on Allison's ankle.
Chihiro looked over the hell-bender's tail and then backed up slightly. She seemed to be in thought, “Rex? Have you not seen the others?”
“Well, at least three of the six are here-”
“Why does it have to be my stalker creature that talks?” Zavier glared at the ground while he leaned against the tree beside Allison. She sat confusedly at why her familiar was shushing Rex so avidly. Obviously Zavier had no idea that he didn't need to speak out loud.
“Master Just Zavier all familiars talk, but it’s telepathically. You just keep deciding to talk out to the open air.” Rex gave a satisfied look and continued. “Anyways... we should probably find where the others are.”
The blue-haired fairy shook her head as if to change her mind. Something had made her realize that there was a better idea, “If the other Sentakus have returned then our friends will have already met up with them, too. It is not our place to go search for our familiar friends.”
“What are the Sentakus?” Allison said out-loud while looking at Zavier. He gave her a confused looked at her talking out-loud. She understood for he had just been told that they speak in their minds to the familiars. Talk about confusing for him. “We should both talk out loud. It makes it easier to understand what's going. I can't hear Rex, other than his little gurgling sounds.”
Zavier raised an eyebrow and pointed at his slimy familiar, “How did you know his name?” She gave a head nod towards Chihiro. Maybe talking out loud would actually be a good idea., “Makes sense.”
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Where am I? Vanessa opened her eyes to a star-filled sky, and a crescent moon. The moon wasn't right above her anymore, but it also wasn't far off. Slowly she lifted herself up from the grass underneath her that was tall and emerald green. White flowers seemed to glow around her. They looked like roses with a golden lily middle piece. These flowers seemed to reach towards the moon in the distance. She stayed sitting on the ground as she slowly remembered what had happened before she fell asleep. All that filled her mind was a ring of fire and the color purple. Okay so wherever she now sat was definitively no where within her small town in the countryside, or anywhere around it for that matter.
The teen stood up and began to dust off her black jeans. Her ears caught a sound of something of broken bells as she lifted her head to look around. Whatever had made the sound was unable to be seen. On every side around her were tall trees, and behind one side in the north there was a silhouette of a mountain range. This left her in a valley of flowers. A fish bowl of sorts if that made sense to even herself. She began to pull out her iPhone, when the black screen caught a floating orange light behind her. At first she thought it was Zavier's orange mist until the orange light came to be seen as a floating fire. With her own loud scream, and the creature-behind-her's shriek, she fell to the floor. Cracking the phone's screen under her. “Holy sh-!”
“I am sincerely sorry miss, I did not mean to scare you! Oh why am I speaking you will only hear squawks....” At a closer examination the floating flame was actually a swan made out of fire. It's bright black eyes shined with surprise and sorrow. This creature was just as frightened as she was herself.
Vanessa starred up with wide eyes, “Floating fire bird, that talks... someone wake me up!” She began slapping her cheeks, but when she reopened her eyes the bird tilted its head at her. The fire swan continued to flap its wings in a graceful matter to hold itself in the air.
“My dear, first I am not floating... I am flying. Second, You can actually hear me?” The teen girl gave a slow, yet annoyed, nod, “Oh this is wonderful news! Of course you can otherwise you wouldn't have asked me a question,” the bird gave a chuckle that sounded more like broken bells. Not the most lovely sound to be heard. Yet it held an elegance in it. “The time has come for the Sentakus.”
“What the hell? You've got to be kidding me!” Vanessa stood up to find her damaged iPhone. She completely ignored the bird's words about Sentakus. Such nonsense had no meaning for her. The teen started to turn on the iPhone and cursed under her breath. “So much for calling them. No service.”
The bird flew to the ground as Vanessa continued to curse into the quiet air. In turn the flame shape turned into a bright reddish-orange feathered bird. “What is this mysterious object?” The red bird pecked at the screen.
“Hey, back off!” Vanessa brought the broken phone away from the bird. Her face was cold, “What the hell are you anyways?”
With pure humiliation the bird stepped back before it's own anger boiled forward. It leaped into the air and blazed into a brilliant flame. “My name,” the bird's beak brought a furious squawking sound. That tore through Vanessa's head, “is Flare. Daughter of who was the familiar of the Sentaku, Hono, Queen of Fire. On the notion of what I am, I'm a phoenix, you silly child.” As she noticed how the human girl starred in fear she quieted down and landed back on the ground. She lowered her head and nuzzled it on Vanessa's knee. Vanessa slowly lifted her hand to stroke the bird's neck.
She knew she had a fiery temper, but normally kindness in a scold was not what she received in return. The girl felt warmth by her left shoulder, and found Flare rubbing against it kindly. She again petted the bird with a small, and confused grin. A bright light extended from across the field. A campfire in the darkness around them. Flare lifted her head sharply and gave a hissing sound of disgust. “Foul creature trying to reel in prey like that. Disgusting.”
“Hey look at that!” A figure was walking on the far side, and Vanessa paid no attention to the bird's harsh words. This figure was barely noticeable through the tall grasses, but yet he could be seen on the east side of the valley. Flare looked in the direction of the figure and gave a growling yelp. “Might be one of my friends. Link! Marcus! Allison! Zavier! Oh, who ever you are, answer damn it!”
Flare began to tug on Vanessa's navy shirt, “We need to go. Now, my dear child.” The girl looked over in confusion. This bird gave her never ending moments of confusion, “That light your friend is following is going to make him, or her, a hungry creature's lunch.” Vanessa nodded and ran after Flare as she flew in the air towards the light and the walking figure.
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The grass was overgrown, and the flowers glowed in an unearthly way. Marcus had never seen a place so, odd, or beautiful for that matter. Nothing compared to it; in both ways at that. The brunette rubbed the back of his head and pulled out the headphones to his iPod from his ears. The music was the same but he heard the beats more clearly. Probably the fall had knocked his headphones loose, or something to that matter. Awhile back he found himself in a patch of dead grass that was piled pretty high up. Talk about a lucky landing. Now, he was following the campfire light. Hopefully one of his buds had found a spot to stay for the night there. Would help to have a campfire when... well, it was cold out here. Not normal for summer, let that be known.
With the Avenged Sevenfold's 'Blinded in Chains' blasting in his ears the world went silent around him. Not a sound could be heard outside his headphones. If he had noticed that, everything would have been a whole lot safer. The brunette followed the firelight ahead of him and missed the loud calling of his, and his friends' names.
Finally he got to a large mountainous rock. Attached to it was bright fire light. Picking up his cellphone from his pocket he tried once again to call one of the guys. Once again there was absolutely no luck.
The fire lifted from the ground and almost slammed him to the floor. Marcus rolled to the right, but not without having his shirt sleeve scorched, “Aww shit man!” He looked up and rolled away from the greyish brown scaled tail. It left sparks to fly from the edge of the fiery tail. Large mountainous spikes lifted from the ground along with a boulder with sparkling eyes. Dust poured from sides as four large pillars lifted from the ground lifting the mountainous object to stand.
The creature's dark black eyes gleamed as Marcus saw his reflection in the glass of them. Walking backwards he tripped over the stone-like tail. This left his backside to hit the scorched, muddy ground. It would be his luck to be stupid enough to run right into a dragon. The dragon opened it's wings and gave an echoing roar. Marcus's ears rang and his head spun. His whole body became numb and disoriented. Marcus crab crawled backwards looking up at the bright eyes. “Oh, come on I'm not even that tasty!”
A loud eagle shriek sounded from above his head. The dragon roared and flipped it's head up to be met by four large talons to the nose. Brown scales flashed forward as the creature ducked its head with such speed and nearly stepped on Marcus. Just barely being able to roll sideways his top sleeve was torn in the dragon's claws.
“Don't just lay there, run sweetheart!”
Marcus looked around but was pushed to the ground by a flash of white feathers and fur. Feathery wings covered him as hot steam rushed against the sides in bright orange light. The heat could be felt through the feathers and he could smell a slight smell of soot. Something inside him knew if he been standing there he would not have survived the blast.
“Marcus!” Two cold hands grabbed onto his left arm and pulled him behind a large boulder that was covered by a bush. A burst of orange flashed from somewhere he could not tell, and another fiery shape flew through the fire of the dragon's breath. The dragon roared again in pain and tried to slash it's tail at the fiery creature in its face.
The brunette looked to see Vanessa with his chocolate brown eyes and, “Your hair!” The girl raised an eyebrow and then yelled something at the flying flame. All that he caught in his ears was the letter form of Flare. Her brown eyes were the palest blue and he shook his head only to find he wasn't imagining it.
“You do have horrible timing,” she rushed her fingers through the bleach blond hair, “To mention my hair.”
“It's blond! Not my fault I had a surprise of it.” The boy looked up and saw a white lion sized eagle attacking the dragon along with a bird that was completely on fire. The eagle had scorched wings but other than that the four-legged eagle was pure white. SLAP
“Hell, just zone out why don't you! My hair... is blond!” Marcus looked up and then down again. Giving her a look of 'why'd you slap me'?. The dragon stormed away, not wanting this much trouble for the small piece of food. It's black eyes vowed vengeance as it soared into the night sky.
The flaming bird came and landed on Vanessa's shoulder. It's flames burned out and turned to bright red and orange feathers. The bird had a sound of squawks, much like a raven. Yet, also a crocodile growl. He turned around to see a bird... lion.. eagle. Some four legged creature behind him, “You sure are going to bring much trouble aren't you sweetie.” He jumped at the voice that entered his head.
“W-what are you?”
“A Griffin you idiot,” Vanessa rolled her eyes at him and he rubbed the back of his head in confusion. “Come on video-game nerd. You of all people should know that.”
The brunette turned to the griffin, who had saved him in the first place. He slowly lifted his hand out and she nuzzled it with... a purr? Marcus looked over to the white feathered creature with amusement. “You're pretty tough for being so cute.” He grinned and petted the creature.
“Please call me Precious sweetie,” Marcus jumped. The voice had entered his head again. The gryphon looked at him with confusion, “What?” The brunette looked over at Vanessa who was laughing. So was the flame bird on her shoulder, though it sounded more of high sounding bells. Least the bird's laugh was pleasant. The outside was much prettier of a creature though either way. The griffin beside him began to give a chuckle. “I talk to you through your head, you silly goose.”
Well, gee if he had only thought of that earlier. Explained enough now. Then... the voice that had got his attention earlier. That was... “Thank,” he stopped speaking out loud and just thought, “you. I owe you big time.”
Vanessa broke up the gratitude reunion, “What about me, huh? Saved your ass too.” Her phoenix lightly rubbed her head against her cheek. As if to say calm down, he's taking turns, wait yours. The now bleach blonde girl rolled her eyes, but said nothing at the notion. Marcus pulled out his phone and began trying to call the others. “They don't work. My doesn't even turn on.”
“Mine gets signal; I can even call, but every time I just get a busy tone.”
“Are you serious!? Stupid iPhone...” She pulled it out and looked at the scratched screen. “Piece of crap! I swear-”
With a roll of his eyes at her outrage of curses he turned to the forest. “We need to find somewhere to stay for the night. Be reasonable about that at least.”
Vanessa sighed and looked up at the moon. The phoenix beside her whispered something to her thoughts, “I sure hope that you're kidding about that, Flare.” Yet, whatever the fire bird had said would only be known to the blond's thoughts.