11-18-2009, 07:52 AM
The explosion rocked the entire bunker.
Without delay, heads began to cautiously poke their way out of the bunker door to see what happened. Ashe walked out of the large smoking cloud, her skin covered in dust, with a sheepish grin on her face. In some ways she was embaressed. Fortunately for her, the excitement overtook her as she poured out what happened.
"Kaden! Kaden! I did it! I just... well, I did something!" she spilled at one time.
His jaw hung open a bit as he slowly looked around at the settling debris. Branches were snapped and the grass had been lain flat, but other than the damage itself, he couldn't figure out what exactly she had done. "Like?" he prodded, unable to figure it out.
She opened her mouth a moment before pausing, her smile fading a bit as she tried to figure out what to say next. "Well..." she drifted off, confused. "I'm not entirely sure," she decided, her grin returning to her face as explosively as the blast had. "But it was freakin' awesome!"
"I don't understand," Sophia said with a look of confusion to match Kaden's.
The courier took a breath and slowly began to grin. "I'm going out on a limb here, but did you manage to-"
"You just tried to kill us all! I saw it all! Well, I'm not going to let you use your demonic power to-" Belle screamed, sticking his head out between the priestess and Kaden.
"Oh come on, Belle, are you-" the courier began before biting down, reevaluating his word choice. "How'd you see what happened from all the way in there? Weren't you trying to sleep or something?" he accused, wildly thrusting his finger into a darker corner of the room.
The boy pushed his way through them with enough force to stumble his way to the ground before turning around, opening his mouth to argue defiantly before even considering what he was saying. "Yeah, I was! And she was clearly trying to kill all of us in our sleep! But I know better and you are lucky that you have me to look out for you-"
The courier pounced, leaping forward and clamping his hand down over the boy's mouth to shut him up. Unfortunately for him, Belle bit down until the blond haired man snatched his hand back. He immediately shrunk back a bit. "Are they taking over your mind or something?" he asked, jumping to the wildest conclusion that popping into his own mind.
Kaden's palm found a way to entirely cover his face before he apologized to Ashe through spread fingertips. "I'm terribly sorry," he offered, before removing his hand to continue talking. "So what did you manage?"
The girl hadn't stopped beaming, although the scene before her had made her feel a bit more awkward. "I uh, well... Like I said, I'm not really sure, but I managed to gather energy. It was a lot more sudden than I expected, though, and it was a lot more powerful. I mean, as soon as it all came together I just kind of freaked at how much was there. Just earlier I couldn't get anything to happen at all and this time I had a massive... I don't know, large ball of energy that just kind of surrounded me a moment before suddenly blowing out in all directions. I didn't really mean for it to happen that way since all I was trying to do was just create a small ball of energy in my hands, but even still it rocked!" Everything spilled out at one time, leaving everyone else to sort out the details in their heads.
Sage tilted her head to the side. "You can use energy?" she inquired.
Ashe simply shrugged. "Well, I don't really know. I mean, yeah, I think I can. I don't really know how, but... Well, check this out!" she breathed suddenly, thrusting her palm out.
Belle immediately jumped back and vanished into the bunker. The others just watched patiently as the girl stood there, her eyes staring intently at the center of her palm as she flexed her muscles a bit to conjure out the previous torrential energies. Seconds passed and absolutely nothing happened. Not even the tiniest spark of ki had appeared, leaving her anxious grin to break down into disappointment.
"I don't get it..." she finally acknowledged, biting down on her lower lip as she let one arm drop to her side, staring hopelessly at her right hand. "I just don't get it."
The courier had walked forward without her realization and grabbed her hand, lowering it down before tilting her face up by the chin to look him in the eyes. "Hey, by the smile you gave everyone a moment ago, I'm sure you managed to get something to happen," he comforted, bringing her to smile again. "We'll just have to work on it more so that you have some control over it."
Sophia tossed Ashe a towel that she had retrieved and encouraged her to wipe the dust from her face. "Congratulations," she complimented, taking the towel back from her as she finished wiping off her face. "You should probably head back inside and get more cleaned up." The doctor nodded beside her and the group ushered her back through the entranceway.
"What about-" Ashe began, promptly getting cut off by Kaden.
"I'll go handle Belle real quick," he said, darting down the hall to search the kid out.
---
"Hey, Ashe, you awake?"
The girl rolled over in her bed and rubbed her eyes, pushing herself up to a sitting position. "What's up?" she asked, looking at him through blurs.
A dark shadow moved in the room wearing Kaden's jacket. "I really hate waking you like this, but we should probably head out."
Her voice rose sharply in panic for a moment as she kicked the covers to her feet. "Huh? Why?"
"Shh!" he shushed quickly, looking around at their sleeping companions. Coming closer to her, he lowered his voice once more. "I'm just worried about getting locked into another fight with this particular group, you know?"
"I guess."
Taking her reluctance as her catching his point, he motioned to his bags. "I've got my stuff together right here. I didn't touch any of your stuff though," he amended quickly.
He couldn't see her shrug. "Its cool. Everything was already bagged up again anyway," she sighed, dropping down as quietly from the top bunk as she could. Rising back to her feet, she pulled her bag out from under the beds and latched it onto her shoulders. "Do you even know where we..." she paused a moment, covering her mouth to stifle a yawn. "where... we are going?"
"Of course," he replied, having absolutely no real plan in mind.
Saying nothing further, the two of them made their way out of the bunker, opening the door as quietly as possible before Ashe slipped through. Kaden turned the knob before pulling it shut to reduce the sound from it, but as he did, another hand slipped around the doorframe, pulling back against it.
"Kaden?" a faint whisper called through.
"Sophia?" he recognized, pushing the door quietly back open. "Sophia-"
"I want to come with you," she interrupted. A small smile crept over her lips as she motioned to the path ahead. "Besides, you guys might need a healer to help out."
"Well, I kind of expected you to take care of Sage," he trailed off.
She shook her head before looking back into the room. "I think that whatever it is that she's looking for, she wants to make the journey herself. My presence seems to be doing her more harm than help, I'm afraid." She pushed her way forward and pulled the door quietly shut behind her. "And Ashe is already halfway up the path," she pointed out, gesturing at the stumbling girl ahead.
"Is she sleepwalking?"
Down the path, the pink haired girl stared at her open palm, focusing as hard as she could on igniting her inner fire once more. "This is harder than they make it look," she whispered to herself.
Without delay, heads began to cautiously poke their way out of the bunker door to see what happened. Ashe walked out of the large smoking cloud, her skin covered in dust, with a sheepish grin on her face. In some ways she was embaressed. Fortunately for her, the excitement overtook her as she poured out what happened.
"Kaden! Kaden! I did it! I just... well, I did something!" she spilled at one time.
His jaw hung open a bit as he slowly looked around at the settling debris. Branches were snapped and the grass had been lain flat, but other than the damage itself, he couldn't figure out what exactly she had done. "Like?" he prodded, unable to figure it out.
She opened her mouth a moment before pausing, her smile fading a bit as she tried to figure out what to say next. "Well..." she drifted off, confused. "I'm not entirely sure," she decided, her grin returning to her face as explosively as the blast had. "But it was freakin' awesome!"
"I don't understand," Sophia said with a look of confusion to match Kaden's.
The courier took a breath and slowly began to grin. "I'm going out on a limb here, but did you manage to-"
"You just tried to kill us all! I saw it all! Well, I'm not going to let you use your demonic power to-" Belle screamed, sticking his head out between the priestess and Kaden.
"Oh come on, Belle, are you-" the courier began before biting down, reevaluating his word choice. "How'd you see what happened from all the way in there? Weren't you trying to sleep or something?" he accused, wildly thrusting his finger into a darker corner of the room.
The boy pushed his way through them with enough force to stumble his way to the ground before turning around, opening his mouth to argue defiantly before even considering what he was saying. "Yeah, I was! And she was clearly trying to kill all of us in our sleep! But I know better and you are lucky that you have me to look out for you-"
The courier pounced, leaping forward and clamping his hand down over the boy's mouth to shut him up. Unfortunately for him, Belle bit down until the blond haired man snatched his hand back. He immediately shrunk back a bit. "Are they taking over your mind or something?" he asked, jumping to the wildest conclusion that popping into his own mind.
Kaden's palm found a way to entirely cover his face before he apologized to Ashe through spread fingertips. "I'm terribly sorry," he offered, before removing his hand to continue talking. "So what did you manage?"
The girl hadn't stopped beaming, although the scene before her had made her feel a bit more awkward. "I uh, well... Like I said, I'm not really sure, but I managed to gather energy. It was a lot more sudden than I expected, though, and it was a lot more powerful. I mean, as soon as it all came together I just kind of freaked at how much was there. Just earlier I couldn't get anything to happen at all and this time I had a massive... I don't know, large ball of energy that just kind of surrounded me a moment before suddenly blowing out in all directions. I didn't really mean for it to happen that way since all I was trying to do was just create a small ball of energy in my hands, but even still it rocked!" Everything spilled out at one time, leaving everyone else to sort out the details in their heads.
Sage tilted her head to the side. "You can use energy?" she inquired.
Ashe simply shrugged. "Well, I don't really know. I mean, yeah, I think I can. I don't really know how, but... Well, check this out!" she breathed suddenly, thrusting her palm out.
Belle immediately jumped back and vanished into the bunker. The others just watched patiently as the girl stood there, her eyes staring intently at the center of her palm as she flexed her muscles a bit to conjure out the previous torrential energies. Seconds passed and absolutely nothing happened. Not even the tiniest spark of ki had appeared, leaving her anxious grin to break down into disappointment.
"I don't get it..." she finally acknowledged, biting down on her lower lip as she let one arm drop to her side, staring hopelessly at her right hand. "I just don't get it."
The courier had walked forward without her realization and grabbed her hand, lowering it down before tilting her face up by the chin to look him in the eyes. "Hey, by the smile you gave everyone a moment ago, I'm sure you managed to get something to happen," he comforted, bringing her to smile again. "We'll just have to work on it more so that you have some control over it."
Sophia tossed Ashe a towel that she had retrieved and encouraged her to wipe the dust from her face. "Congratulations," she complimented, taking the towel back from her as she finished wiping off her face. "You should probably head back inside and get more cleaned up." The doctor nodded beside her and the group ushered her back through the entranceway.
"What about-" Ashe began, promptly getting cut off by Kaden.
"I'll go handle Belle real quick," he said, darting down the hall to search the kid out.
---
"Hey, Ashe, you awake?"
The girl rolled over in her bed and rubbed her eyes, pushing herself up to a sitting position. "What's up?" she asked, looking at him through blurs.
A dark shadow moved in the room wearing Kaden's jacket. "I really hate waking you like this, but we should probably head out."
Her voice rose sharply in panic for a moment as she kicked the covers to her feet. "Huh? Why?"
"Shh!" he shushed quickly, looking around at their sleeping companions. Coming closer to her, he lowered his voice once more. "I'm just worried about getting locked into another fight with this particular group, you know?"
"I guess."
Taking her reluctance as her catching his point, he motioned to his bags. "I've got my stuff together right here. I didn't touch any of your stuff though," he amended quickly.
He couldn't see her shrug. "Its cool. Everything was already bagged up again anyway," she sighed, dropping down as quietly from the top bunk as she could. Rising back to her feet, she pulled her bag out from under the beds and latched it onto her shoulders. "Do you even know where we..." she paused a moment, covering her mouth to stifle a yawn. "where... we are going?"
"Of course," he replied, having absolutely no real plan in mind.
Saying nothing further, the two of them made their way out of the bunker, opening the door as quietly as possible before Ashe slipped through. Kaden turned the knob before pulling it shut to reduce the sound from it, but as he did, another hand slipped around the doorframe, pulling back against it.
"Kaden?" a faint whisper called through.
"Sophia?" he recognized, pushing the door quietly back open. "Sophia-"
"I want to come with you," she interrupted. A small smile crept over her lips as she motioned to the path ahead. "Besides, you guys might need a healer to help out."
"Well, I kind of expected you to take care of Sage," he trailed off.
She shook her head before looking back into the room. "I think that whatever it is that she's looking for, she wants to make the journey herself. My presence seems to be doing her more harm than help, I'm afraid." She pushed her way forward and pulled the door quietly shut behind her. "And Ashe is already halfway up the path," she pointed out, gesturing at the stumbling girl ahead.
"Is she sleepwalking?"
Down the path, the pink haired girl stared at her open palm, focusing as hard as she could on igniting her inner fire once more. "This is harder than they make it look," she whispered to herself.
Quote:Ashe, Kaden, and Sophia have left the Forest Sector and entered the City Sector.
![[Image: Ashe.jpg]](http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af298/symbiosychotic/Ashe.jpg)