Keeper: *She watched the glyph flash grey, as it disappeared with all the empty cartons and cups on the table.* "Can you do that?"
Rachael: "Wow.. No."
Keeper: "Then I don't need help. Phrphrphr." *She winked at Rachael and smiled, as she left the table.*
Rachael: "Hehe, okay." *She looked back down, enjoying her time alone.* (Ash...)
*Rachael took the time to recollect everything that had happened in the past week.*
Rachael: "You wouldn't believe the stuff I've been up to. It's honestly a shame I haven't been able to share them with you."
*A man wearing a frog onesie with a small parrot-like Scoldrant on his shoulder, walked past Rachael.*
Man: "She seems drunk."
Parrot: "Drunk she must be, rarhck."
Man: "Niyahaha." *He chuckled and nodded his head, as if the parrot was talking to him in his mind.* "I know! I can't wait to find a guild that will let us join them."
Rachael: *She smiled at the man and his Scoldrant, pretending she didn't notice them.* (This demon-like creature.. It could restore its limbs so easily, how is that possible?)
*Rachael chuckled at herself and took another sip to her drink.*
Rachael: (From dragon sand sculptures to electric arrows, it really isn't that far-fetched.. Call it my intuition, but I have a feeling this might not be the last time we'll see this creature.)
*Rachael stood up and stretched her back, as she readied to leave.*
Keeper: "Ya going?" *She walked past Rachael and maintained eye contact, as she stood next to another table.*
Rachael: (After all this violence, I'm actually not that interested in watching Battling Oxident tomorrow.) *She smiled at the Keeper and started to leave.*
Keeper: *Something sparkled on the table Rachael was at, causing her to walk towards it.* "Rachael, you left-"
*Keeper looked over her shoulder and watched the swinging doors sway in and out, causing her to focus back to the table.*
Keeper: "What in the lost Astragons is this?" *She stared at a condensed ball of pure crystal, as grains of sand scattered on the table around it.*
----------
*Nathan walked into a poorly lit room and started to take his leather-made armour off, listening to Lezard and Karol's snores.*
Nathan: *He relaxed himself on the bed and reached up, looking at the pearl in his hand.* (What am I meant to do with this? Just pour my Neurons and expect something to happen?)
*Nathan closed his eyes and opened them slowly, noticing no change in the pearl.*
Nathan: (Ha ha, what was I thinking? I appreciate the gesture, everyone, but I don't need wishful thinking to be a good fighter.. My skills and hard work alone will defeat those with Rostical.)
*Nathan lowered his arm and tilted his head to one side, as he intended to fall asleep.*
Lezard: "J-Jinkies, not there you naughty sausage." *He mumbled in his sleep.*
Karol: "Zzzzz-nrckt." *He snorted in his sleep.*
Nathan: (I'll show you, champion.. Your Rostical isn't everything.) *The pearl started to flicker and a shroud of golden light poured over Nathan, waking Karol up.*
Karol: "Huh?" *He leant up and rubbed his eyes in a tired-like manner.* "Nafan?"
Chapter 5: Fore Hunters
*A slender young boy with amber-ish coloured hair, dressed in torn up clothing, shivered in a cupboard-like space.*
Young Boy: "L-Leave me alone." *He held himself and shivered, as he exhaled cold air, causing him to look down to his bare feet.*
*The sounds of several boys chuckled in response, causing the young boy to pause in terror.*
Boy A: "Come out of the closet, we dare you."
Young Boy: *He squinted his brown-charcoal coloured eyes, as tears ran down his dirt covered cheeks.* "I haven't done anyfing to you!"
Boy C: *A small tanned boy leant against the cupboard doors with his arms folded.* "You give men a bad name."
Boy A: *He rubbed his chubby belly and shook his head.* "He's sick, not a girl."
Boy C: "A girl is trapped in him though?"
Boy B: "I agree!"
Boy A: "It's a mental illness-"
Young Boy: "Leave me al-" *The cupboard doors suddenly opened, causing the boy to open his eyes in shock.* "Aye?"
Boy A: "Get him!"
Young Boy: *He watched three pairs of hands reach into the cupboard, violently pulling him out.* "No!-"
*All three boys started to hit and kick the young boy to the ground, as only the sounds of grunts and faint laughter could be heard.*
Young Boy: "No!-" *He rolled into the foetus position, rocking to each side due to the different angles of kicks.*
Boy A and B: "Gay boy, gay boy, gay boy-"
Boy A, B and C: "Gay boy, gay boy-"
--
*Blake flew through grey coloured clouds and squinted his eyes in recollection, as he breathed out steam.*
Boy A, B and C: "Gay boy, gay boy-" *Their voices echoed in Blake's head.*
Blake: (They waited for Purge to leave the orphanage so they could pick on me in peace.) *He thought to himself in a spiteful-like manner.*
Scoldrant: "Meeheehee-" *It sneezed in a worried-like manner, as if it could feel Blake's emotions.*
Blake: "Shuddup." *He hissed, causing the Scoldrant to flap its wings harder.* (I was saved once again-)
--
*Blake squealed with his arms over his head, as the boy's kicks rocked him to each side.*
Blake: "Stop it-"
Boy A and C: "Stop it!" *They whined in a girl-like manner.*
Boy B: "Girl!" *He spoke with a chuckle.*
Blake: *He squinted his eyes shut and frowned.* (Help me! Save me! Amy, where are you-?!)
*The abandoned-appearing room started to vibrate, causing the plasters in the walls to crack, catching the boy's attention.*
Boy A: "What's happening?"
Blake: *He opened his eyes slightly.* (The floor is shaking?)
Boy B: *He shrugged his shoulders, as if he didn't care and readied to kick Blake.* "Beat the girl out of you!-"
*The roof suddenly crashed down, causing eerie sunlight to gleam through a growing dirt cloud.*
Boy C: *He stumbled back and stepped on Blake, tripping onto the floor.* "W-Wha-?!"
Blake: *He looked scared and noticed the area suddenly turn to silence.* "I-Is this another one of your pranks?"
Boy A: "Shut your trap, f-fag-" *He spoke in fright, noticing a shadow move in the dirt cloud.*
Boy B: "What is that?" *He stepped forward, causing the boys including Blake to yelp in fear.*
Blake: *A heartbeat-like pulse thumped through his body, causing him to pause in shock.* "What was that?"
Boy B: *He quickly looked over his shoulder, glaring at Blake in a disgusted-like manner.* "Is this your doing, fa-"
*An enormous dragon arm pierced out of the dirt cloud and sliced downwards, directly in front of the boy.*
Blake: *He looked down, staring at a growing pool of blood.* "H-He's in t-t-two-"
Boy C: "I-I-I-It's a S-S-S-Scoldrant!" *He trembled in fear.*
Boy A: *He stared at Blake in thought.* "It's you!"
Blake: "M-Me?"
Boy A: "We don't g-get Scoldrants around here often-"
Boy C: "We have to tell the adults!-"
Scoldrant: "...-" *It silently swayed its arm to the side, easily throwing the boy off his feet and into the closet, smashing the wood around him.*
Boy A: "A-Ah!" *He squealed and quickly stood up, running out of the room.*
--
Blake: (That was the first time the bullies ever mentioned the adults. They always used to pick on me, like, unsupervised.)
*Blake's hair flapped upwards, as the Scoldrant started to descend through the thick grey c
louds.*
Blake: (These were the days leading up to the death of my brother and me and my bitch escaping that unsexy orphanage.)
--
Blake: *He stared at the dragon-like Scoldrant, as it crawled out of the dirt cloud.* (It's huge!-)
Scoldrant: *It glared at Blake and raised its arm, watching him stand up.* "Hermm."
Blake: "G-Get away from me! I never wanna see you again!" *He hissed like a girl and shut his eyes shut, before crawling backwards out of the room.*
*Blake opened his eyes with a gasp and quickly ran out of the rundown house, looking back to notice the large hole in the roof.*
Scoldrant: "Hermm!" *It croaked and spread its massive dragon-like wings, before roaring out an echoing breath.*
Blake: *He scrunched his eyes shut and ran towards the forest.* (Why?!)
*Blake squealed in thought and glanced at the different coloured bruises on his thin, feminine-like arms.*
Blake: (Why is that scary Scoldrant attacking-?)
*The Scoldrant suddenly burst out of the house and flew high into the air, causing an obvious shadow to skim across the ground towards Blake.*
Blake: "No!-"
*Several adults swarmed around the two boys and watched Blake run towards the forest, before focusing their attention to the dragon-like Scoldrant in the sky.*
Blake: *He brushed past several branches and trees, scratching his already bruised face.* "Leave me alone!"
Scoldrant: "Bothersome!" *It roared from above the treetops, scaring off rabbit-like Scoldrants.*
Blake: "Go away!" *He squealed at the top of his breath, causing the dragon-like Scoldrant to pause in mid-air.*
--
*Blake looked at his nails, noticing the distinctive scratches in the polish he used.*
Blake: (I still don't know what that Scoldrant was.. Ever since the children of the orphanage started disappearing one by one, the bullies focused more on me. Purge left me alone quite a lot when he was with Amy..)
*Blake raised his hand in the midst of the grey clouds, noticing a star shaped scar at the base of his pinky finger.*
Blake: (That day was so like, sudden and random, aye.)
--
*The dragon-like Scoldrant flapped its mighty wings and blew the surrounding treetop branches away, revealing a path towards the fleeing Blake.*
Blake: "No!" *He squealed, as if he knew the Scoldrant could see him.* (I can feel its eyes on me!)
?????: "Get away from him!" *A young teenager squealed, catching Blake's attention.*
Blake: "S-Stop! It's too dang-" *He looked to the side and watched a wave of white hair blow past him.* (A gurl?)
?????: *She frowned and faced the dragon-like Scoldrant.* "Die!"
Scoldrant: "You think you could defeat me, bothersome human child?"
?????: "I'm not a child! My name is Isabella!" *She straightened one arm to her left and started to form a glyphic-like pattern with her right hand in front of her.*
Blake: *He hesitantly moved backwards, as he glanced at Isabella in confusion.* "You gotta get away from that-"
Isabella: "A Scoldrant-" *She frowned at the dragon-like Scoldrant in disgust.* "Waters of the West, I feel the calamity of your soul and I shall bring that forth, Soul Link pull to the left, Shaman Flash-Flood."
*Isabella pushed her right hand forward and a wave of green water crashed on top of the Scoldrant, causing it to drop to the ground.*
Isabella: *She looked down in shock.* (The ground shook? Was it that heavy?)
Blake: "I don't know who you are, b-but we have to get outta here!"
Isabella: *She faced Blake in a proud-like manner.* "Our powers are fully activated once the Soul Link has fully been integrated, a mere Scoldrant doesn't have the power to-"
Scoldrant: "Bothersome!" *It roared and the wave of green water burst backwards, spraying water into the air.*
Isabella: "Bwah?" *She gasped, surprised, facing the Scoldrant.*
Blake: "You only look a few years older than me, that fing is scary!-"
Isabella: "I'm one with the world, my age isn't determined by time." *She straightened one arm to the right and started to wave a glyph-like symbol with her left hand in front of her.*
Scoldrant: "Bothersome!"
Isabella: "Airs of the East, I feel the fragility of your passion and I shall bring that forth, Soul Link pull to the right, Shaman Wind-Wave."
*A wave of green wind swirled on top of the Scoldrant, pushing down its magnificent wings, halting its movements.*
Isabella: *She focused on the green air, amplifying its power.* "Stay down!"
Blake: (I remember glancing at the Scoldrant in the eyes.. Despite being bullied, tormented and even bashed, I never felt an anger like that before.)
Scoldrant: "You disgust me." *It roared and attempted to flap its wings, distorting Isabella's wind.*
Isabella: "I disgust you? I hear that all the time!"
Blake: "Who are you?"
Isabella: "Don't you get it?" *She spoke to Blake like he was an idiot, but kept a sense of playful-like respect.* "I'm Isabella, and you're going down!"
Scoldrant: "An alpha like me?"
Isabella: "An alpha? I can sense a Soul Link that has yet to be tethered-"
Scoldrant: "You don't know anything, bothersome human!" *It struggled to lift its wings, causing Isabella to grunt.*
Isabella: (I've challenged many Rostical Users, even those that are with wind affinity, and-)
Scoldrant: "Come here-"
Isabella: (If that doesn't work, then I'll try this!-) *She raised one hand up in the air and started to cross her left hand in front of her, causing the green air to stop pushing down the Scoldrant.*
Blake: "Why did somefing like that come here?"
Isabella: *She frowned, as if she was trying to keep her focus.* (The kid's right. This type of Scoldrant shouldn't be close to the salt filled air-) "Lands of the North, I feel the strength of your pride and I shall bring that forth, Soul Link pull downwards, Shaman Dust-Drought."
*Isabella pushed her hand forward and a wave of green sand fell on top of the Scoldrant, causing it to roar.*
Blake: (She controls ground, wind and water..-) *He thought to himself in shock and amazement, as he still twitched in fear.*