Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Chapter preview, secondary joint project with friend
The energy bolt hit the barrier with great force, pushing Lisa back a few feet. She made a mad dash for her staff, dodging a second blast. She dove and rolled into a bush, staff in hand. "You are not going to win this time." She called from behind the bush.
"Don't be so sure. Intre!" Rumi yelled back as she sent another energy blast at a tree; its trunk shattered and it fell on the bush Lisa was behind. She barely got out of the way.
"Nice move," Lisa yelled standing up, "But it won't help you." She put up another barrier and faced Rumi, "Intrat!" Lisa cut the air with her staff sending a wave at Rumi.
"Kya!" Rumi flew back when the wave broke through her barrier. She hit a rock near the creek bed, "Damn it." She grunted as she staggered to her feet.
"Egrage." Lisa called from the forest, hurling a large fire ball at Rumi.
"Vastra." Rumi commanded causing a column of water to rise and put out the ball of fire, "I'm not defeated yet."
"Don't get to full of yourself yet!"
"Oh, don't worry," Rumi started to set a trap spell, "I'm not even half full yet." She finished the last character, "Why don't you stop being so scared and attack where I can see you?"
"I'm not going to fall for that again." Lisa smiled to herself, "Levra." She whispered, making her float. She cautiously moved through the tree tops watching the ground below. She ducked when a tree blew up nearby.
"I know you are around." Rumi yelled playfully, “So don't think you can hide from me."
"Catra!" Lisa made the ground under Rumi shake, "Crator." Rumi got nicked by the spire.
"Cheap!" Rumi called up to Lisa as she tied a piece of cloth on her wound, "But now I have you. Grani noma sen." The trees around Lisa started to close in around her, caging her in, "Constrain!" Vines wrapped around Lisa's limbs and neck.
"Nicely played." Lisa said after a few seconds of trying to break free, "You expected me to take the high ground after your almost win last time."
Rumi smiled and opened a small hole in the tree cage, "Actually, I almost thought you'd over step it."
Lisa sighed, "So it was luck."
"Yep." Rumi untied Lisa, "You got me pretty good." She showed Lisa her arm, "The spire is new."
"Learned it last week." Lisa rubbed her neck as Rumi helped her out of the cage, "I've been waiting for the right time to use it."
The two lowered themselves to the ground and sat down on a nearby rock. Rumi tilted her head back and let out a quiet scream, "Sometimes it just feels so great to spare like this."
"I know what you mean." Lisa agreed as she wiped sweat from her face.
Someone started to clap, the girls looked around for a few seconds. They didn't see anyone. The clapping stopped and a shuttle decloaked; at the door stood Leona, "That was amazing." She said with a big smile; the girls blushed. Leona showed off her new arm, flashing the jewel Nagie put in it, "Look, isn't it pretty. Lady Nagie said it will protect me." She did a couple movements with her arm, "It's like it was never gone."
"Is Lady Nagie on the shuttle with you?" Lisa asked
"Nope, just Omoikane."
Omoikane stuck her head out the door, "I gave in to her bugging. She said she wanted to show it off a bit."
"Come on over." Leona waved to the two. The two got up and walked over to the shuttle, Leona helped them in, "They just put it on."
"Risa is one of the best." Lisa took the towel Omoikane offered her, "Wouldn't expect any less."
"Did you see the whole thing?" Rumi asked before pouring some cold water on her head.
"They never taught us any of that when I was training." Leona sat down at one of the stations.
"Well, I did say our maiden types are different." Lisa leaned against a consol opposite Leona, "We are like archangels, we can either save or take lives."
"But doesn't that keep you from being pure?"
"Pure," Lisa said with a hint of scorn, "There is no such thing as pure."
"Lisa," Rumi walked over to Lisa and put her arm around her, "Four years and you still feel that way?"
Lisa shook her head, "Sorry, it's just..." She closed her eyes and sighed.
Leona's hands fiddled in her lap, "I should have never assumed."
Rumi smiled, "One thing that Lady Nagie tells us all the time is, 'When it comes to purity, it is only in words. That is why a true maiden is never pure.'"
"I see." Leona looked out the shuttle window, it was filled with stars. She could see the ship in the distance.
"When I was young," Lisa had collected her thoughts, "My dad walked out on my mom because she didn't always listen to him. I was afraid to ask my mom why he left, so I asked the priest at my old church. He told me my father wasn't pure of heart. When I asked him what that meant, he told me that I had to look within myself to find the meaning. I was a stubborn kid, so I asked my mom what if meant to be pure of heart. She told me it meant to always love unconditionally." She laid her head on Rumi's shoulder, "So, since then, I've always believed that purity is nothing more than a word, because no one can love unconditionally. We all hate at some point; even the holiest of holy."
The shuttle shook as it landed in the ship's bay. Omoikane got up from the pilot's chair, "Vermillion said something similar to me when he was young."
"Would that be the reason he let me join the crew?" Lisa asked as the four got off the shuttle.
"I'm not at liberty to say."
Lisa smiled, "Yeah, right."
The bay doors opened and Nagie walked in, she was wearing a light blue sun dress and had red ribbons in her hair, "I heard you two were sparing."
The two girls bowed, "You missed it." Rumi said.
"So it would seem." Nagie looked at Leona and smiled, "Morning child, it would seem Risa worked her magic."
Leona smiled and bowed respectfully, "Thank you very much for the charm, Milady."
"No need to thank me, little one. You should thank my husband."
"The Captain?"
"Yes, it was his idea."
"Will I ever get to meet him?" The group started to leave the bay.
"I'm sure Vermillion will turn up at some point to check on you."
"So what's on the agenda today?" Lisa asked casually.
"Agenda rock." Omoikane corrected.
Nagie sighed and shook her head, "Nothing special," She looked at Leona, "Since she's been released, I figure we should give her a grand tour. We also need to get her a place to sleep."
Omoikane pulled out a piece of paper from her jeans and handed it to Nagie, "I talked with Jun and she said that they could make room in their house for Leona."
Nagie put the paper in her pocket, "What say you, Leona? Would you mind shacking up with my daughter and her friend?"
"You mean I'm not going to stay on the ship?"
Nagie laughed, "No, no. I would never have you stay just on this ship. Present company excluded."
Omoikane glared at Nagie. The lift doors opened, "Bridge." She ordered. She looked at Leona, "Think the best place to start is for you to meet Shinobu."
"Who's she?" Leona asked as the lift stopped and the doors opened.
Rumi pointed to the back of the captain's chair, "Our second captain."
The group entered the center of the bridge; Shinobu peeked around the chair when she heard the footsteps, "Morning, ya'll"
Nagie waved, "Morning."
"Morning captain." Rumi and Lisa said in unison.
Shinobu stood up and stretched, "Well," She looked at the group, "Showing the new girl around, I see." She walked over to Leona and extended her hand, "Name's Shinobu. Nice ta meet you."
Leona shook her hand, "Leona."
"So, you like it here so far?"
"This is only my third day, but it's nice."
Shinobu pointed to the main screen, "Take a good look. You are one of the few from your planet to see another world."
"It's beautiful. When Omoikane took me down to watch Rumi and Lisa spar, I felt overwhelmed."
"Yeah," Shinobu sighed, "If there's one perk that comes with this job, it's the sights you get to see."
"I figured it would be getting to help people."
Shinobu laughed, "Honey, it ain't much of a perk if it is the job."
Leona looked around the bridge, "There are a lot of women on this ship." She bit her lip, "I didn't mean to say that."
Omoikane leaned against Leona's shoulder. "I would have to agree; it's quite the harem."
Nagie held back a laugh, "There are other men, just not on this ship."
Leona looked at Nagie, "There's more than one?"
"Officially there are two," Shinobu said as she leaned against the back of the captain's chair, "Hence the two captains. But off the record there are three more. We exchange crews once in a while."
"I see." Leona looked at the main screen, "And they all travel around the universe helping people?"
"I wouldn't say the universe."
"More like universes. Plural." Omoikane added.
“The whole dimensional thing, right?” Leona asked.
“Yeah, at least that’s what we think he is doing.”
“So how long has the Captain been doing this?”
Nagie scratched her head, “A while I guess. I’m still a newbie compared to him.”
Shinobu laughed, “I’ve been around him, in the past, when he’s done it; but I’m still quite new as well.”
Nagie looked at Shinobu with thin eyes, “I think you have a few more years on me.”
“And that helps?”
“No.” Omoikane answered.
Leona listened dumbfounded as the women talked about the captain. They looked at her, “What?”
Lisa giggled, “Don’t worry, the two of us are fairly lost as well.”
Rumi smiled, “But I think that no matter how long you know the captain, he’ll always be a mystery.”
Leona looked out into space, “You all seem to love him a lot.”
Omoikane sighed, “Probably since the moment we met him.”
Shinobu laughed, “You shouldn’t talk about your father that way. It’s taboo.”
“What? Can’t a girl fall in love. It’s not like we’d be scraping the bottom of the barrel.”


NNM
*cue action movie preview guy*
Two friends embark on a journey for epic LULZ. Their friendship put to the test. Will their love be enough? Or will a misunderstanding cause the two to fight.
This summer, the most epic of epic journeys will start!
Alice and Marisa's Bogus Day
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