Another realm of Tnemele exists on a different rift, join the Borne's quest to find the key to close off the rifts from the invading demons.

Spirit Fire

Spirit Fire: Ch 3

Spirit Fire - Stats
The RPer's Alliance - Home



Spirit Fire: Ch 1
Spirit Fire: Ch 2
Spirit Fire: Ch 3
Spirit Fire: Ch 4

The Gods and Goddesses:

- Element - Sex - Name -

- Wind    - Female - Zephire
- Water   - Male   - Azullion
- Rock    - Male   - Maeloid
- Sand    - Female - Dobsk
- Venom   - Male   - Siam
- Light    - Female - Josefene
- Ice      - Female - Frore
- Lightning - Male  - Thian
- Dark    - Female - Ink
- Void     - Male  - Patir
- Fire     - Male  - Embar
- Flora    - Male  - Cory
-Multi     - Female - Krissin

NOTE: Just for those who don't know, which will probably be most of you, Elemental Darkness is an RP at ET and it was so popular that I decided to make a branch off of it here.

For questions as to how and what the elements are and key info about the transformations, message me. ([Aeolynn])

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Sen stared hard at the newcomer with a strange glow in his eyes. Time seemed to freeze in that moment as the two Bornes squared off and finally Sen broke the contact with a slight smirk, "A Flora... I haven't seen one of your likes for a few years now..." He bowed gracefully, sweeping aside his long hair to see her with both eyes. "I hold respect for your kind... I am Sen Pyrestorm Fireborne, you regrow after fire performs it's cleansing magic."

"And we are the rest of the crew" Warwin said outloud as he crossed a bush; lowering his voice he introduces himself. "I am Warwin, Waterborne."

"I am Lee'tak, Lightningborne."

Following Lee was the small Lightborne, still transformed with fiery red eyes, "I'm told my name is Kali and I am a Lightborne. Who are you again?"

"Vaera, Floraborne." She nodded to them all in turn. "These Bornes," she said indicating the lifeless Voidborne, "I now owe you my thanks. I had been following them, but now you have spared me a fight."

"What did you want with them?" Warwin asked.

Kali shook her small head, making her silver hair glisten and sway, "These Bornes have been here for the past year, how could you have been following them?"

"Plus you would not have been able to take them alone... that would have been a very foolish... and a last act." The Fireborne said quietly, his crystal blue eyes locked onto Vaera.

Vaera looked quickly over the Bornes once more before returning his stare unphased. "You say that these have been here for years? Then we are speaking of different things. I was following two, a void and an ice. They were quite weak; I would have had little difficulty in defeating them. Their trail is several hours old where it comes here, perhaps they came and passed before you met these three?"

"Great! Another Void..." Lee'tak comically complained looking above.

"Shouldn't present that much of a problem." Warwin reassured. "IF we run into them. Again I ask, what is your business with them? Have they wronged you in any way?"

"Oh, only if you don't consider burning as an act of friendship," Vaera said dryly. "They where just passing through, but I followed them to keep an eye on them. They were traveling in a secretive manner, keeping off the trails, which of course made me suspicious. I followed them further and learned that they were smuggling something out of the woods; a sapling of a species of tree that can be used to amplify the power of a skilled Borne. Part of my duty as a Floraborne is to regulate the use of those trees."

"Even better!" Lee'tak pressed on the comical comments. "a Voidborne on steroids!"

Vaera, taking him seriously, corrected "He isn't using it. I said that it could only be used by a skilled Borne. These were neither very strong nor very skilled. I guess that they were getting it for some other Bornes, ones with more power."

"Well, maybe our... Voidborne right here was using it..." Kali suggested quietly, before moving to stand by the Lightningborne.

Sen however kept his attention on Vaera, flicking his hair out of his eyes to be able to see her clearely. Pointing to the Voidborne's arm on the ground, "Do you know what that scar means? Do all of you know what this means?"

Lee'tak put his hand on Kali's shoulder and looked at her for a second to smile, and then asked, "Bad taste?"

"Don't be an idiot Lee. You know that represents the demon."

"Demon's a very loose word Warwin." Lee'tak said. "What demon exactly? Who?"  

"We don't know... I don't know..." Sen replied, "I almost want to send summons to Krissin because of this." His face was emotionless but his inside's were in turmoil and he closed his eyes briefly to keep down his stomach.

Vaera glanced penetratingly at Sen while his eyes were closed, but by the time he opened them again she was looking back at the Void's arm. "Demons. Brilliant. You are actually considering summoning Krissin?"

Kali glanced up at Lee with a weird look then connected her eyes with Vaera's, "She resurrected me from the dead..."

"-And she has been getting weaker..." The Fireborne whispered, but he did not mention the rift gate to Vaera.

"She as in Kali, or She as in Krissin? Kali I wouldn't be supprised at if she has been brought to life recently...Krissin...." She lapsed into silence briefly. "How did you end up being brought back to life?"

"She foolishly killed herself to bring ME back to perfect health. Krissin showed up and brought her back, minus a lot of memories apparently, which is why I explain this and not her." Warwin explained. "And Sen was talking about Krissin. On that topic, I have been cut off for 2 years and he has not. He is undoubtedly informed beyond my knowing."

"So you were 'cut off' for two years, were in bad health, Kali healed you and in the process killed herself, she was brought back to life by Krissen, and then you ran into three Bornes... that had been here for two years. Connection?" Vaera asked.

"-that seems a fairly accurate summary." Leetak began.

"Let me finish. So now we have a demon, possibly others about, and a power tree at large. Have any of you thought that maybe the tree was for a demon?"

"Look ladie!" Lee'tak said firstly. "We only found out about the power tree thing some seconds ago. And I'm not able to think about stuff while I'm talking interesting conversations."

"Calm down Lee." Warwin ordered, "In fact, let us all calm down. We defeated the bornes but there's still a few dozen men and the matter of interrogating someone that came from that fortress. I have some worked up anger..." Lee'tak laughed hard at the comment, then pointed out in between that it was a private joke.

"Anyways...Sen, have you any means of contacting Aesha?" The Waterborne asked.

"Of course, Aesha and I share the common mind link that come from certain... things... Anyway, yes I can contact him if need be." Sen said with a few coughs before he tried to look uninterested in his surroundings.

"In that case, we should call them back, finish up our sweep of their stronghold and the surroudings and THEN talk. When we are safe and sound. Discuss things through."

"Now that is the most reasonable thing you have said the whole time. I'll see where my Bornes have gotten off to." With that Vaera back tracked to where she had left her Borne's trail and began to follow it.

"No, I think you should not follow them alone. I was talking about sweeping the fortress and the souroundings for enemies Vaera. Separating now does not seem like a good i..." Warwin was interrupted by a long distance scream, a screech his eagle was pouring out to him.

"Trouble?" Lee'tak asked.
"No, that one is for friendly bornes." Warwin pointed out.

"Alright then, things have just changed. Let us separate; me and Sen will check them or he or her out and retrieve our little friends. You three finish the sweep."

"Fine by me." Lee'tak said.  

Kali nodded, watching the area around them before settling her gaze on Vaera, "We are to search then?"

"Alright. Lee'tak help me send the signal then." They do the exploding water thing again which is followed by the eagle's aproaching cry.

"Ok, let's go." Lee'tak said, turning around and walking off. "We'll start with the compound itself."

"That sounds good. We can meet back here once we've finished," Vaera amended as they moved apart.

The three move away from Sen and Warwin who, 5 minutes later, witnessed the descent of Warwin's pet eagle. She landed carefully on the ground closing and opening her wings indicating warning.

Bursting through the underbrush, Aesha landed awkwardly and tripped before righting himself and barking softly to announce his presence.

"Oi!" Sen called pleasantly, waving the Pyre fox over.

"Very well now. Show us where to go."

Vaera suddenly bent to the ground, peering at some bent grass. She looked up at Kali. "Someone has been this way very recently. One, maybe two, it's difficult to tell...but they aren't my Bornes. What do you think?"

"I think they're Warwin's bornes. Let's keep heading towards the fortress."

"Alright now, where are these bornes of yours?" Warwin asked as he patted Llyre's chin.

The big water eagle turned her neck around and pointed towards the trees and bushes.
"Alright then, lets go Sen."

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Enne yawned and sat against a tree, exhausted. She flipped a few stray strands of silvery hair out of her face, tucking the tresses behind her ear. She had been traveling for a week now, walking all day and far into the night, and waking up within an hour of slipping into blissful sleep.

She was being drawn towards something, what- she didn't know. Enne always followed her instincts, and now they wouldn't let her alone until she found what it was that they wanted her to find. Sighing she took out a small canteen and drank the last of her water before standing, adjusting her pack, and beginning her weary march once more.

A dozen yards ahead of her, Twilight stood with his mouth forced ajar from looking at the overcast sky. Though he had places to perloin from, he was captivated by the sky and couldn't help but ponder it.

Enne noticed the man before her and moved swiftly towards him, "hey!" She called curiously, "do you know the way through this village?" To put it bluntly- she was completely and utterly lost there and needed some sort of guide.

Twilight slipped out of his trance and turned his head to look at her. From his cloak emerged a singular arm pointing towards town. "I'll lead you if you like." His voice was quiet from lack of use.

"That would be wonderful!" She sighed with relief and brought out a small money pouch, "I'll even pay you if you like." She said softly.

"I have no need for payment." he walked off.

Enne shrugged, glad at least that she could keep what little money she had. She made a note to find some kind of food stand as soon as possible.

"Please don't dottle." Twilight asked of Enne as he was a fair distance ahead of her.

Enne shook her head to clear it of thought and ran to catch up to Twilight.

"So, what's your business in the city?" He asked.

Enne shrugged, "I really don't have any business here." She replied casually, "But I'm... looking for something." Her violet eyes sparkled brightly in excitement, "there's just the problem that- I have no idea what I am looking for." She smiled faintly as she finally caught up to Twilight and began to walk casually beside him.

"Hm," Twilight stopped, "then how am I to guide you."

Enne shrugged, "well, perhaps this way I can find just what it is that I am looking for. And I would rather not get lost in this village you know." She said, "by the way, my name is Sierienne, but I go by Enne. What's your name?" She glanced at him out of the corners of her eyes.

"It's of no importance." He needn't any hesitation before his apprehension for he knew quite well the policy concerning names in the outside world.

Enne shrugged, "To each his own." She said without hesitation, "if I can't know your name- is there something that I can at least call you? That way I don't end up yelling something like 'hey you!' and have everyone looking at me as though I were insane..."

"Twilight is good enough." He was somewhat surprised he said that seeing what it meant to him. It was a joke about tyros to his people about their inexperience with their dark powers.

"Alright, Twilight it is then." She said, "do you know where I can stop to get a bite to eat?" She asked, "I'm starving." Enne smiled brightly, "I can even treat you to something too if you wanted."

"I don't normally eat out." Which was true due to the relation to society promoted by his clan. All interactions should be business.

"Hey, thats alright... I didn't really have enough money for more than a few pieces of fruit as it is." She shrugged, "and it's not technically eating out you know... just snagging something to fill an empty stomach."

"You do know theft is a crime." Twilight became suspicious.

"Who said anything about stealing?" Enne asked curiously, "my appetite would be quenched with a few pieces of fruit- and possibly bread should this village not have very high taxes on the food." The last part she muttered with a flare of frustration, apparently annoyed with the taxes of the previous village that she had traveled through.

"You really aren't familiar with this part of town, are you." Twilight sighed. "Here, people eat only what they can steal. If your looking to buy anything without getting pick pocketed at least thrice, we'll need to keep going."

Enne shrugged, "hey, I adapt easily enough. I suppose if one must steal to eat I can manage it just fine." She grinned, "Besides, let someone try and pickpocket me- I would welcome a miniscule challenge." She gave a small wink, "nobody's managed to succeed in it yet without my winds of wrath descending upon them." She gave a small chuckle at the pun that she had just used.

"Wind elementation is one of the two elements common to my people." From some strange fate, Twilight hadn't recieved such power, though the opportunity was apearent from his parents.

"It sounds great you know- to actually have a 'people'." She gave a rueful sigh and stared up at the sky in sudden silence.

"Well, you possess the main component to the divine winds." Twilight recalled many times when thieves would regale their latest heists. However, the summoning of the midnight winds was only a reference point he knew nothing of till he had witnessed the attack for himself when the "Sunny Sides," as his people called them, attempted a raid. The grace of its devastation was beyond magnificence, but he only truly understood by the pain he felt from the collision of midday and midnight. Though he was a mere greenhorn spectator, he almost fell to the same fate those two recieved, complete insanity. However, such mental strain was downplayed by their now useless bodies.

"'main component to the divine winds'?" She cocked her head questioningly, "what're you talking about?" And then as if just having an apiphony, "hey! Using my wind to snag some free food, that'd be great, and easy too!" She grinned to herself.

His remniscent state was broken with dissappointment. "The devine winds are devastating attacks merging wind with either darkness or light, midnight and midday respectively. In fact, the collision of the two is enough to drive everyone who sees it insane before brutally ripping the life out of them."

"Wow, that sounds very..." She couldn't find a word to describe it, "well- in any case I've never heard of it before, but it's good to get this kind of knowledge beforehand- you know?" She said, sending a cool breeze towards a heated vendor who had his back half-turned from a fruit cart. Gently she eased a handful of the nourishing sustenance from the cart and it fluttered almost gracefully to her near empty bag- hardly pausing to let her open it.

"You are such an amateur," Twilight sighed, "but I suppose it wasn't bad. You might want to make note that in a less sleazy part of town, such tricks wouldn't work."

"It was a decent enough first attempt." Enne said defensively, "it'd probably have been better had I not been self taught you know..."

"Are you asking for something?" Twilight asked.

"Nope, just explaining my imperfections is all." Enne said, taking a fruit from her bag and chewing it thoughtfully, "do you want one?" She asked.

"I lack for nothing." Twilight declined, though his words weren't exactly true seeing as how he needed time and seclusion long enough for the theft he currently should've been performing.

"Hey, suit yourself." She said lightly, before adding thoughtfully, "I'm not detaining you or anything, am I?" She felt rather guilty now at the thought.

"I have more intrest in this project than my other. The midnight winds are much more important than some idol."

"Idol?" Enne asked, intrigued, "what idol?" She took another refreshing bite of fruit and felt her hunger calming.

"It's not important." Twilight was beginning to think Enne might be to bright for this to work, and her working with the Sunny Sides wasn't too far out of sight.

Enne sighed heavily- and her light mood disappeared with it. Instead she chewed on the fruit in thoughtful silence.

Twilight sighed. "Well, if you want we could go steal it right now."

"So you really meant to steal it?" Enne asked with a smile, "It sounds like fun- what's your plan?"

"Well, unlike most jobs, this one needs to be… blatantly obvious. The Sunny Sides took the Idol from one of my benefactors. Basically, we're going to get in there undetected, and blow the hinges off the safe. Depending on how our morals hold up, we could even take some of this elite's money." Twilight briefed.

"Gotcha." Enne nodded, "How far are the "Sunny Sides" and what does this idol look like?"

"Attention to detail, now your catching on." Twilight laughed. "I do believe I'm having a bad effect on you. Anyway, this is actually one of their affiliates down here, which is why we have to make sure to spook him. If we don't, he's likely to call in the Sunnies, and we don't want a war. Anyway, they're bound to set decoys, but to save time, I'll handle that."

"How're we going to spook him?" Enne asked curiously, "do you know what they're afraid of, or at least this particular one's fear?"

"How, that's simple: the midnight winds." Twilight grinned. "At least a fraction of it; we don't want any irreprable damage, but even a portion is good."

Enne nodded, "just one question- how do we create it exactly?" She flexed her fingers lightly, tossing the fruit's core into her bag- fully intending on disposing of it later.

"Oh, right. You don't know." Twilight sighed. "Just use the wind on the darkness and blow it. They should mix, and the results differ."

"O-kay..." She didn't quite get what he was saying, but was rather loathe to ask if he'd speak simpler and in a more step by step manner.

"It's like a flamethrower only with darkness." Twilight put it in lamens terms.

Enne nodded slowly, "So I just kind of meld my wind with darkness..." She said aloud, "So I pretty much just blow it out like one big breath?" She thought that perhaps she was beginning to understand..

"That's what the Angles did."

"Okay then, let's get started." Enne said brightly, as prepared as she would ever be. This was going to be quite interesting.

"Very well then." Twilight ducked in a crevass between two buildings where, by means of short bursts of vigor and acrobatics, he ascended the wall. 

She moved a little closer to the figure so that she could get a better view of the target. Enne immediately did as she had been instructed, though it took a few tries,- combining her wind with the darkness and sent it forward in one deep breath and lasting breath.

"What are you doing? You do not innitiate the devine winds except when needed. One, it attracts too much attention. Two, it drains too much. Three, someone's going to need a pace maker. I thought you were refering to starting on the theft." Twilight screamed, which was strange given the weak whisper he normally used.

Enne grinned quite suddenly, "notice that the guy hasn't moved? I was merely using an illusion technique. I can't use it very often, but I was only testing to see if I could do the divine winds technique, I use my illusion technique soley for the purpose of trying new abilities when I don't want to be seen practicing... Now lower your voice before someone hear's you."

His expression was unkown due to the mask over his face. "Come on."

She brushed back a stray strand of hair and followed, "So how far is this place anyway?"

"It's the big building." Twilight said.

"Okay." She walked silently beside him, enjoying the occasional light breeze that descended upon them. The sky now held only a streak of bloody red on the horizon- the last remnants of that day. She thought it to be a rather foreboding sign, whether it were meant for them or for somebody else she knew not.

Twilight looked at the horizon and immediately associated it with the Kers of myths. It seemed they were getting restless. "We haven't much time," he said as he hopped to the next roof.

Enne followed swiftly, and with more grace than she thought possible, she leapt to the next rooftop as well, "So what made you want my help anyway?" She asked, cocking her head slightly as she settled to a brisk jog beside him, "and what is so important about the idol anyway?"

"I didn't need you, but I've wanted to summon the midnight winds for some time now. With your wind to complement my dark, I'll have some of that satisfaction." Twilight crooned.

"There's one question down- now are you going to tell me what is so important about that idol?" She leapt another gap between buildings with subtle ease.

"It's religious,when was the last time something religious was really important." Twilight scoffed. "It's the arrogance they showed in stealing from a church. Even heathens consider that a sin."

"Oh." Enne said simply. She turned her attention away from talking and onto the task at hand.

Twilight jumped to the side of the tower landing neatly on the side. He used his abilities to silently break a window for access.

Enne leapt from the top of the building she had been on silently to the ground below, glancing around to make sure that nobody was patrolling in their vicinity.

Twilight was like a ghost weaving through the halls. He passed guards without the slightest delay. Though he knew where the safe was, he decided to go along a different route to the sentinel's locker rooms to get some laundry.

Enne followed him closely and without sound. She hid their presence from any that might sense it and kept silence- knowing full well that this was not time for talk.

"Put these on, you're too conspicuous." Twilight tossed some garbs at her before exiting out of courtesy.

Enne shrugged out of her clothes and quickly slid into the ones that he had given her before folding up her old clothes and putting them in her bag. She heaved a silent sigh and stretched briefly, loathing the looseness of what she now wore. It would hinder her fighting ability to some extent.

"You done?" Twilight asked while crouching on the ceiling. His cloak somehow kept its position instead of hanging down.

"Of course I am." She said softly, "do you know where they are keeping that idol?"

"Of course, even buildings in the sleaziest section of town have their floorplans documented at city hall."

"Great, so lead the way then." Enne said, her eyes flashing in the darkness, "is there a certain time frame in which we need to get this done?"

"Not any I'm sure of." Twilight ran along the panneled ceiling towards the safe well protected by not only the vault door, but also a system of sensors and traps.

"Okay, I'll stay out here and keep watch." Enne said softly, concealing herself in a dark corner. She watched as Twilight entered the vault before turning her attentions to the entrances to the room.

"Alright," Twilight declared after weaving through the sensors, "I'm in place. It's time for the winds."

"Where am I aiming?" Enne looked through the vault curiously from the doorway, she didn't want to do something stupid after all...

Twilight looked back. "Me."

Enne took a deep breath and did what he had instructed her to do- she let the winds out in a large and lasting breath- aimed straight at Twilight.

The winds approached their target, who left all guard down, but as the gusts licked at his back, he transformed without warning tainting the wind with darkness. The two writhed as they mixed, but soon the two had merged and could focus on the vault door. The blast coiled as it hit the door, and consumed the metal leaving only a blackened image untouchable by any mortal.

"Sweet!" Enne checked herself, and instead of exclaiming this she let it out in an excited whisper. Quickly she turned back to the room to continue guard duty and to wait for Twilight to come back through the vault.

Twilight passed through the shadow left by the attack and looked through the safe. He was disappointed on how a rich man could only spare enough for four decoys, but four thousand wouldn't matter, he was familiar either way.

Enne sighed, she thought that in a place as large as this one was there would at least be some guards... She shrugged, maybe looks were decieving in this case. Even as she allowed her mind to slip, she kept her eyes focused on the entrances.

Twilight easily found the idol and departed from the vault.

Enne stood up when she heard Twilight approaching- she was slightly apprehensive, but shook the feeling off simply as nerves. She shook off the last wisp of thought and tucked the annoyingly loose sleeves of her shirt above her elbows.

Twilight whipped through the security and held up the idol: an orgre with wings.

"Leave now?" Enne asked quitely, hearing the thud of countless booted feet just beyond one of the doors.

"Hm, I wonder how they figured it out?" Twilight pondered. "Well, I suppose there'll be time for that later." Twilight ran off.

Enne followed swiftly, glancing back over her shoulder occasionally to glance at the shadows on the wall that indicated that their pursuerers were just around the corner.

Twilight used the corridoors well to evade oncoming forces, but they knew the halls more given their experience walking them, which blueprints could never hope to match. He snuck in a room that should have been empty seeing as how only the sentries would be on this floor.

Enne ducked into a random passage and pressed herself against the wall firmly to remain hidden. She had lost sight of Twilight some time ago, but didn't much care at the moment.

Twilight noticed Enne hadn't come in. "I hope those clothes help." He mumbled as he prepared to go back out.

The last of the group passed and Enne found herself moving back into the hallway. She found another door and moved quickly to open it- hoping that there was at least a window that she could use.

Twilight peeked under the door, and it was obvious he wasn't going out. He sighed and decided to simpy go outside.

She stepped into the room and shut the door quietly behind her, moving towards a window that appeared to be very small- perhaps even too small for her. She shuddered, hoping that it wasn't. Enne moved towards it and opened it, staring at the small space almost hopelessly.

He walked over to the outside wall and tapped it to hear what was in it. After careful judgement, he decided to pass through it.

Enne resolved her internal conflict and boosted herself up onto the ledge and tossed her bag outside. She then proceeded to shove herself through the small opening- biting back a bout of curses as the baggy clothing caught on a nail, tearing a thick piece of fabric from the shirt before she managed to pull herself loose and tumble without much grace to the ground below.

Quickly she stood and shouldered her bag, taking a deep breath of the fresh evening air.

Twilight slowly sank into the wall to emerge on the other side.

Enne stood up casually and slung her bag over her shoulder. She looked around to see if Twilight had made it out as well.

A dark patch bubbled on the outside wall, and from it emerged a wiry figure. Twilight detatched from the wall and fell towards the ground.

Enne saw his form emerge from the wall and she moved immediately towards him- glancing about nervously from time to time as she moved. "You alright?" She asked as she made it to his side.

Twilight spattered on the ground, but reconsituted himself easily. "Naturally."

"Well then, might I suggest that we slip off of these grounds before one of the Borne's that these people have hired find us? I have a feeling that they won't take to our presence lightly."

"Is that supposed to be a pun?" Twilight asked before leaving.

"You know. that'd make a great pun! I didn't even think about that." Enne said, grinning as she took long strides to keep up with Twilight, "So where are we going now?"

"The church," Twilight removed the idol from his cloak, "they'll want this back."

"Okay." Enne nodded, "I think that I will be continuing on my way in the morning." She said decisively, "I originally planned on staying a day or two, but I have a feeling of urgency that I ought to continue a lot sooner than I had planned..."

"Farewell, I have what I need." Twilight walked a ways till he got to the church. He pushed the large cypress doors ajar and entered. After placing the Idol in its rightful position, he silently left.

"Well goodbye then." Enne huffed as he left her before glancing around at the darkened street rather nervously, "ah damn, I've no idea where I am." She sighed and began walking.

Twilight smiled as a breeze blew his cloak, "Who says you can't learn it."

"Gone so soon? I figured that you'd have disappeared into the night by now." Enne said without vehemence. Instead she allowed a small smile to play curiously on her own lips.

Twilight pointed due East. "There's an inn at the end of the street. It may seem dubious, but they're the most lawful people this side of the track."

Enne nodded, "hey, thanks." She said lightly before sobering up to some extent. She swallowed inwardly, "by the way- is it really fun to simply stay in one village for a long period of time? Or for more than a day?"

"I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with the day, but things are interresting enough at night."

"It seems interesting enough." Enne said agreeably, "But I was actually wondering if you'd like to accompany me on my 'quest'..." She said bluntly with a small shrug. "I could use a travelling companion as well as a comrade in battle- should one ever arise in any case."

"I have a curfew" Twilight said.

"A curfew?" Enne blinked curiously and gazed at him.

"At sunrise I must away."

"Oh..." She said in surprise, "why do you have a curfew? I had thought that you were older than I was by about two or three years..."

"All of my people stay in during the day." Twilight said. "We wouldn't want the sunnies taking advantage of us. Besides, everyone needs sleep."

"You know, it's well known that if you learn to endure an element, you build up a sort of immunity to it. Besides, isn't it boring? Staying in all day and traversing the streets at night... I'd say you've got a dracula complex."

"Regardless, I'm not going out."

"Hn, suit yourself then." Enne shrugged, "I'd certainly enjoy company but if you're too frightened to leave the village that's not my fault. I'll be on my way out of here near dawn- should you wish to accompany me, you can meet me near that large tree over there." She finished, pointing at said large tree, whose branches hung low to the ground.

"I don't think you understand that I could very well die if I go out in the day, didn't you wonder about the garbs? They're meant to protect my identity, but I think they could tell I was a member of my sect judging from the lack of social skills and pigment in my skin. I'm guessing using darkness would make it even more obvious if it wasn't enough already. You don't understand what it's like to have leagues of men ready to kill you on sight. I don't want to deal with that."

Enne blinked, "Of course I do, and not just men either. Occasionally, for some reason, I get a demon or two as well. I think that there's something very bad about to happen. Getting away from here would probably be best for you too- I mean if there're tons of people after you, it would probably be best not to stay in one place for a very long time, you know?"

"They don't encroach upon our time." Twilight admitted.

"So, will you come with me then?" Enne asked quickly, hoping that she had at least made some progress in cracking his resolution.

"I don't want to die, but these demons, how can you be sure I'm not one? You don't know my intentions."

"I don't." She said simply with a shrug, "But I suppose that I don't really care. Your aura doesn't exactly scream 'demon' or 'evil' though, you know..."

"The evils to be aware of are the ones that subtly miander into your life." Twilight harped.

"Huh?" Enne cocked her head, slightly- well more than slightly anyway- confused at his speech.

"Whatever, I'll go." Twilight sighed

"Awesome!" Enne grinned broadly, "I've been dying for some company for months." She yawned softly, "heh, but first we'll need to get some sleep."

"I'll meet you in the morning." Twilight faded into the darkness.

"See you later then." Enne sighed and shook her pitiful money bag, "Ah well, I prefer sleeping in the moonlight anyway. She moved over to the tree and climbed it expertly, nesting herself in the crook of several branches and drifting immediately into a dreamless slumber.

Twilight went home where he could take off his garments without prying eyes, and get a few hours of sleep.

At one point several voices below her tree nearly startled Enne into falling into their midst. From their aura she could sense that they were a Voidborne and an Iceborne. What they were talking about she found herself quite uncertain, but they reeked of darkness and hatred. She shuddered and her branch shook, both looked up at her immediately and she froze.

"Uh-oh..." She breathed as they readied to attack.

Immediately she leapt from her branch and over their heads, landing in a slight roll and taking off at a groggy run. The two followed, obviously intent upon silencing her.

Used to the nightlife, Twilight easily fell asleep with the noise of the city.

A wave of ice chilled Enne thoroughly and she turned down an alley to avoid the brunt of the attack and kept running, being smart enough to avoid using her element (due to the Voidborne) yet being smart enough to attempt and preserve herself.

She leapt upon a ladder and climbed it vigorously until she stood upon the roof of the building, her chest heaving slightly from both excitement and exhaustion. "Come on you fool, catch her!" There was a voice below and she heard them climbing the ladder.

The roof above him shook. "What now?" Twilight asked with aggrivation as he put his robe back on.

She avoided a barrage of icicles, only to find herself meeting with the Voidborne's fist. Enne felt herself rolling across the rough surface of the roof before leaping to her feet and racing forward, pulling her sais from their sheaths.

Enne's method of attack was simply to attack, back away to avoid an attack, and attack again. She turned and leapt to another rooftop, and they immediately followed. An icicle pierced her shoulder. She fell backwards and pulled it out before standing shakily and glaring at both bornes, sais extended defensively.

Twilight fell from the sky with his robe bulging in the air. He landed with his straightened hand in the Iceborne's neck. "Could you guys maybe keep it down?" He grumbled obviously half asleep.

Enne blinked and the Iceborne growled, "Hey, where'd you come from?" She questioned curiously as the ice borne thrust Twilight off of him.

Enne took the opening to leap forward with her sais again, "perhaps you should have stayed inside..."

"I'm angry now, that guy should've pretended I was a bear and let me maul him a bit. Now I'm going to kill him cause he shouldn't have touched me like that." Twilight reached into his gut and grasped his intestines. Twilight kinked and cut them on his gauntlets before tearing at two of his ribs.

The Iceborne howled in pain and pulled himself backward, hands clutching at his wounds and glaring at Twilight. "So you've got the Iceborne then?" Enne asked with a small smile, "then I'll take care of the void."

She ran at the Voidborne, who in turn drew a sword from its scabbard at his side, he countered her sais with the blade and brought his knee up, cracking her in the chin. Enne could taste blood but she didn't let up.

One of her sais pierced his side, but he paid it no heed as he brought his sword down in an inevitable arc at her head. Enne rolled to the side to dodge it.

Meanwhile the Iceborne was quite weak from bloodloss, but he sent waves of ice at Twilight nonetheless, as well as freezing his wound to keep it from bleeding anymore, this was one of those times that he wished he had the healing gift.

Twilight grinned with his hands frozen in the wound, "You know, that ice isn't good for your bones." He pulled the Iceborne from his feet and bashed him against his associate till the ice shattered allowing Twilight to claim the ribs he had his gauntlets on.

The Iceborne growled once more and sent a wave of ice into Twilight's face, "Leave go of me!" he grunted in both pain and rage.

The Voidborne lunged at her clumsily and Enne saw her opening. She shoved her sai deep into his chest even as his sword pierced her right leg. The borne's eyes bulged and he gurgled deep in his chest before collapsing on her.

Enne shoved him away and pulled his sword from her leg, standing shakily and looking to see how Twilight was faring- he seemed to have a thin sheet of ice on his face, but otherwise seemed to be just fine.

"I'm pretty well insulated, but my hands are still frozen to your ribs. Good thing I ripped them out" Twilight chuckled as he sunk the tips of the ribs he had into the borne's eyes before pulling them apart.

The Iceborne died shortly after his first encounter with Twilight, he crumpled to the ground almost immediately. "Wow, these guys certainly were pretty weak..." Enne murmured, ignoring her own wounds, "That was almost too easy, albeit the fact that I was caught off guard once or twice- I mean, after all I was still asleep before they showed up..."

"It's kinda hard to move in this ice." Twilight stood in a slouch holding the ribs and making sure not to rip his weighted robe.

"Well- how are we going to melt it? Do you perhaps have a fire going wherever you are staying?" Enne asked, looking at his hand with a small shudder.

"Not really, a fire would be too noticable at this hour." Twilight moved his good up.

"Well then, you'll either need to start one or let it melt on it's own." Enne said with a shrug, wincing slightly as the wound in her shoulder stretched. "Eh, you can't get away from them all unscathed." She muttered, limping over to him and looking more closely at it, "It's not as solidly frozen as I first thought, if you heat it up well- perhaps with warm water or simple body warmth- it shouldn't take too horribly long for it to defrost."

Twilight grinned, "Body warmth?"

"Don't be getting any ideas." Enne said, flushing slightly in the darkness, "now out of curiousity- are you staying in one of these buildings? You ought to be getting inside and taking care of your 'wound'."

"What are you talking about? I'm not wounded. Besides, I can't very well just march back in my house. Someone might see me." Twilight was stubborn, still is.

"Hey, suit yourself. And if someone might see you- why did you come out? It's nighttime isn't it? You should be able to slip inside easily enough." Enne said with a shrug.

"Not covered in light reflective pannels."

"Well then, where do you suggest that we go?" Enne asked, refraining from crossing her arms.

Twilight pondered, "I can think of a few places."

"Then lead the way, because I have absolutely no clue on how to get around this place either way..." Enne said.

Twilight slithered off.

Enne followed quickly- or at least as quickly as she could. She found that she was limping rather badly but ignored the burning pain that raced up her leg.

Twilight hopped, but didn't account for the added weight. He hit the ground making the ice shatter around him.

Enne, although slightly worried for his safety, was relieved for the moment of rest. She stopped, favoring her injured leg.

Twilight chuckled, "Well that took a bit of weight off." He hoisted himself to his feet.

Enne released a sigh of relief and couldn't help but release a small chuckle as well, "that it did." She said agreeably before sobering slightly, "are you alright though?"

"I'm gonna go lie down." Twilight snuck into his house.

"Dawn then," Enne said simply and to no one in particular as she made her way back to the tree that had caused her so much trouble before. She reached into her bag and grabbed several medical supplies, wrapping her wounds as best as she could in the dark before climbing back into the trees lower branches and slipping into sleep once more- hoping that there would be no more disturbances until there needed to be.

Twilight repeated his sleep patterns and went back to sleep.

She woke up roughly one hour before dawn, aching and finding her muscles to be rather loathe to obey her at first. Enne stretched and climbed carefully to the ground, gazing about herself to see if anybody was yet wandering the streets.

Twilight awoke and dressed in old clothes that were in good condition, a nice pair of cargo pants and a poncho. He put on a hat with a wide rim and set out to the tree.

Enne set herself to stretching to relieve the stiffness of her muscles while she waited for Twilight to arrive. Her stomach began to growl after a few minutes and she immediately dove for her bag, devouring a lucious piece of fruit in minutes.

Twilight sat beneath the tree and drank some ginsing tea.

"Here already?" Enne had already disposed of the core of her fruit and was now tossing her bag almost carelessly over her shoulder, "are you ready to go?" She asked him.

"Well, you saw me easily enough." Twilight muttered. "It's way too bright out here." He flipped open a pair of shaded spectacles.

"That's what you get for skulking around in the dark." Enne grinned, "you'll get used to it- and I'm certain that not all places are so very bright you know..." She finished, "now then, off we go!"

"Normally, I sleep during this juncture." He moaned as he stumbled forth.

"No need to complain, I doubt that we'll be in the sunlight for a whole lot of the day. The wind is blowing rather ominously- a storm is on the way and should hit sometime after noon." Enne said simply.

"So, do you have any companions or such?" Twilight asked while it was in his scope.

"None, I've travelled alone for somewhere around a year or so. After I left home I lost all track of time." She seemed rather depressed at this.

"What does time matter when events are all that matter?" Twilight mused.

"That's true." Enne said softly as the sky grew clouded, "ah, the rain comes soon." She said, relishing in the light breeze that had begun to blow.

"Good thing I have a sombrero." Twilight said.

"What, don't you like getting wet?" Enne cocked her head slightly as she continued to walk, ignoring the twinge of pain that raced up her leg from to wound caused by the borne the previous evening. The only reason that her shoulder wasn't absolutely on fire was simply that she had used the last of her numbing salve earlier that very morning.

"It doesn't bother me, but I'd prefer dryness." Twilight said, "It's harder to trace movement without rain."

Enne shrugged, "Whatever," She said as a few fat rain drops descended upon her shoulder, "well, it looks like the storm has arrived a little earlier than I predicted..." She grinned.

"Eh, what does it matter?"

"It really doesn't." Enne said, "It would have been nice to make it to that forest about three or so miles up the road though..." She shrugged, "Oh well, the rain is clensing and refreshing."

"A forest made dark by canopy. T'is a good place for one like me."

"It makes for good cover, though you have to constantly be on the lookout for bandits and the such." Enne picked up her pace slightly.

"Oh, them. No matter, normally they'll spook if they feel you're strong, and I've got the whole dark outlook which should give them a feel of a horrid fate." Twilight analyzed the situation.

"Either that or they're just too stupid, or arrogant, to back down." Enne shrugged nonchallantly, "I had to kill and bury, it would be rude if I just left their bodies to rot so that the next person that passed would have to deal with the situation, at least thirty bandits and possibly another dozen or so bounty hunters-" She didn't, of course, clarify on this, "just on my way to the village where I found you."

"Bounty hunters?"

"Heh, yeah..." She rubbed at the back of her head wondering why in the hell she had mentioned the bounty hunters in the first place.

"Did you commit some sort of crime? That I can understand, but I cannot be caught with someone who'll let herself be known" Twilight lectured.

"Crime? No, the humans from my village are not bornes, and they did not accept me when they found out about my abilities." She frowned distantly, "I was disowned and condemned." Enne sighed heavily and kicked her heal in the dirt, "Needless to say I escaped certain doom and have been traveling ever since. The nobles of my village are rich and continuously hire bounty hunters simply for the purpose of my destruction."

Twilight frowned, "I don't buy it. Nobles don't kill bornes, they hire them. The only cases where a noble would try to kill a borne is if they're some upstart hero or working for a rival."

"If you've ever been to my village you wouldn't say that." She said ruefully, "it's not the same everywhere. My people are terrified of bornes. There was an incident sometime before I was born when our village was attacked by a group of them. Now the villagers don't take any chances- should a child show any such abilities they are killed immediately and without second thought."

Her eyes transfixed themselves upon a small, fox-like creature in surprise. They twinkled brightly and she nearly let out an exclamation of adoration at the small creature.The creature was slightly bigger than a regular fox, with a short bushy fire tail and wide ears that crackled with flames. It was it's eyes that were the most noticeable to her own roving eyes; they were a deep crystal blue.

Enne rushed forward- rather slowly actually- and crouched down several feet from the creature, extending a friendly hand, "come on cutey," She coaxed softly.

"A rarity, animals this close to humans." Twilight whispered. "I wonder if it's affiliated with anyone or if that pigmentation means anything." This thought led him to ponder if animals could be bornes too.

Enne continued to try and coax the fox-like creature too her, "do you think that animals have the tendency to become bornes too?" She asked, looking back at Twilight for a moment.

Twilight finished his pondering. "I don't see why not. It's not a completely natural mutation; I'd say it's more… divine. So, it should occur in other species to."

"Yeah," Enne sighed, "that's very true. I wonder how many have the gift- is it rather rare as it is in humans, or is it quite common amongst them? Perhaps they are also intelligent enough to keep their abilities hidden from undeserving humans who seek to only corrupt and misuse that power. Smarter, by far, than most humans..." She continued to muse quietly to herself.

"I would say, given the nature of animals, they would use the power in subtle ways or in desparation." Twilight theorized.

Enne sighed and stood up, sopping wet having forgotten about the rain that was pouring down a little stronger. She shivered slightly, "get yourself home." She said to the animal, "it's raining, not very pleasant weather for you to be roaming about in."

"Might I suggest you both get under the sombrero?" Twilight suggested.

A screech sounded out suddenly. Above, a blue shodowy figure flew around in circles; she screeched again and flew away in another direction.

"What was that?" Enne shielded her eyes and looked to the sky in amazement, "there is a rather large bird circling overhead, Twilight." She said wonderingly.

"Oh! It's moving away," Almost in a daze she followed, craning her neck upwards to continue gazing at the bird as she followed it curiously.

"Hm, I wonder." Twilight pondered the presences.

The fox-like creature darted out in front of them, seeming to glance over its shoulder at them before it disappeared into the brush... in the same direction the eagle had gone.

Enne blinked, "you know... it seems, strangely enough, that they are trying to lead us somewhere." She looked back at Twilight, "so how about we try following, hm?" Without waiting for an answer she continued to walk forward.

Twilight walked forth.

Enne stopped after a few minutes, rather uneasy, "You know," She murmured, "this could be a trick of some sort." She finished, watching the retreating forms of both animals.

She allowed her hand to wander to her wounded shoulder, wincing slightly at the touch, "Oi, stupid bornes," She muttered, "I'd be fine if they hadn't been talking right below my tree,"

"C'est la vie," Twilight sighed and, for some reason only he would know, he decided to continue speaking in French, "mais il n'est pas d'importance. Nous devouns chercher les animaux." After a moment of thought, he decided switching to a foriegn language was probably not the best idea. "Oh right, let's just find the animals." 
(Twilight is pretty much saying: That's life, but it isn't important. We must seek the animals.)

Enne paused momentarily before speaking, "Français d'ampèreheure, une langue que je sais... tellement ainsi." (She's pretty much saying: Ah, french, a language that I know... so so.) She said softly with a small smile, "alright, we'll go. We'll have to have our defenses up though, be cautious."

"Eh, I'm built like a weapon, sharpened steel cuts deeper than monster maw." Twilight boasted.

"Hn," She said simply, drawing her sais and holding them in a tight grasp, re-opening her shoulder in doing so. Enne ignored the dull throb, much the same as she was doing her leg. She couldn't very well go bemoaning her mild injuries after all, even if the wound went clear through. She grinned to herself and shrugged, life wasn't always perfect.

"We could see a medicine man if your hurting that badly." Twilight said noticing her pain.

Enne quirked an eyebrow, "I needn't see a medicine man." She said simply, "these injuries will not kill me, nor will they ache more than a few days." She shrugged and continued on, "besides, we're on a 'mission' remember?"

"You could use some gause at least."

"I just need a refill on my medical supplies is all." She grinned lopsidedly, "we can do that at the next village."

"Fine," with that he hopped off through the trees.

"Tch," Enne said simply before following suit, she knew that whatever the animals were leading them to was close, how close she did not know.

Twilight really didn't care where the animals were going as much as he wished to observe the forest, so he often stopped to view certain things he viewed poetic.

She stayed a small distance behind Twilight, occasionally stopping and examining rare plants that she hadn't seen in years with surprise, "Jeeze," She said, touching the blood red petals of a large flower, "I thought that these went extinct years ago..."

"People don't know what's going on. They cover the world with a grid, but still can't plot a thing." Twilight chuckled.

"A grid?" She chuckled drily, "no, they don't create a grid." She released the plant, "this is probably the work of a Floraborne, probably somebody who is experienced and knows the climates that work best with plants such as these. The work is impeccable, but not fully natural."

"I was refering to their uban area, but you can marvel at that creation some other time. we have steps to put behind us." Twilight moved on.

"Tch, I don't have time and yet you do." She sighed and stood, giving a last wistful look at the plant, "flourish once more," She whispered in prayer before standing and following Twilight swiftly.

"The reason I have time is because I don't really mind if we lose track of those animals. You, on the other hand, prompted our following them." Twilight explained.

"Only because they were prompting us to follow." Enne said stubbornly, "now where did they get off to?"

"Hold on," He shot through the canopy for a moment to get his bearings off the eagle. "East."

"East we go then." She said simply and promptly began to walk in the general direction.

Twilight sped off by rebounding off of trees.

Enne raced along the ground, catching sight, finally, of the small fox-like elemental creature and slowed up slightly to follow it leisurely once more.

Twilight plunged to the ground at the sight of the creature, and as he did in the city, he made a last minute correction to his fall to allow him to stand upright.

"Tch," Enne rolled her eyes, "show off-" And yet, she continued running after the two animals, who were now both in plain view.

Twilight ran as he always did, normally elegant and undefined due to the shroud that normally encased his body. However, it seemed akward without it.

She was slightly nervous as to where the small elemental creatures were leading them, she felt that it was foolish to continue running so openly and with few defences in place.

Twilight felt much too akward running without his shroud, so he reached in the small pack on his thigh for his cloak and mask. He pulled them on over his garments and left his sombrero lax on his back.

Enne watched as the eagle, some distance ahead of them, descended and knew that their trek was coming to an end. "Alright, Twilight, we're almost there." She said, putting on an extra burst of speed.

"Why exactly are we running?" Twilight asked as he ascended into the foliage.

Enne shrugged, "curiousity I guess," She said, "and apprehension too. Why wait and give potential attackers the time to set up or activate a trap?"

"Well, I kinda like to take things slow. See the world, y'know. Besides, rushing through life will just get you in a grave faster."

"My death will come when it is necessary." She said both solemnly and wisely, "no sooner and no later. I fear it not."

"Death is a natural part of life. Besides, who would I be to complain if it were to take me, I've cheated it many times already. However, I'd still like to see how long I can keep it up." He chuckled.

"As have I, I'm afraid." Enne said mildly, "come now, the time for conversation has ended, we've got to be silent now..."

Shrugging, Twilight dispersed in the leaves.

"Hn," she bit her nail thoughtfully as she stopped and looked behind her, "perhaps we should have thought of covering our trail while we went... even my little brother could have read it." She sighed and reached into her pack, knowing that Twilight was some distance ahead of her.

Enne pulled out a clean set of bandages and hid herself in the upper branches of a large tree. Quickly she removed her injured arm from her shirt and began to tenderly unwind the bandaging that was already thick with fresh blood, "I shouldn't have let my guard down to such a weak Borne..." She hissed as she finished unwinding the used bandage.

Quickly she rewrapped her shoulder tightly and with shaky hands, "this isn't life threatening, so there should be no need to see a healer any time soon." She muttered to herself before turning to the injury on her leg and doing the same. Carefully Enne placed the used bandaging back into her bag and descended to the ground easily.

"Woah!" Sen said as he barely stopped before running into Enne and taking out a tomahawk, forced Enne onto her back with him ontop and the weapon at her throat.

"Who are you!" He hissed, his face in an unearthly snarl.

"They are the Bornes. Whether dead ones or allies it still remains to be seen." Warwin said, looking to his right. "I can see you." He told Twilight.

Enne's sais, which had been clutched tightly in her hands were set firmly against his abdomen, "I am no more enemy than you are." She said cooly, "-now if you would please just get off of me before I am forced to remove you myself." All this was said cooly, though a wave of dizziness had swept through her the moment that she had been attacked.

"Normally, those changing bandages aren't treated as hostile foes." Twilight swooped down. "Sorry about that, I was a bit preoccupied."

"Well, the day is just weird. You're the 5th and 6th Borne we have met today. 7th and 8th I have met today. I apologise for our violent caution, though I would ask why were you heading our way."

"I might ask how you knew Enne was a Borne and I was traveling with her." Twilight examined Warwin and Sen.

"My elemental creature warned me about Bornes this direction." Warwin said pointing back. "Her tone of voice when pinned by a more skilled warrior." Warwin said, pointing to Enne and Sen. "You hanging out a tree." He looked above. "Clear signs as to what you are, but it was the warning I had. Now shall you answer me?"

"Your animals drew us out, though I would have been just as satisfied ignoring their luring. Enne, however, was taken in by them." Twilight explained.

Sen rose smoothly to his feet, slipping his weapon into it's specific loop and opened his hand to Enne's use, "Sorry little miss, for my entry. My name is Sen Pyrestorm Fireborne... at your humble service."

Enne took the offered hand gingerly- ignoring the comment about her size, "Searienne Nysta Windborne. I'm quite thankful that we don't have to fight you. We had a run in with a few borne's ourselves this past evening." She said smoothly as she hoisted herself up.

Vaera came up and stopped short at the sight of the stangers. Seeing that Sen was treating them as friends, she nodded to them each in turn. "Vaera, Floraborne. Did I hear you say that you met other bornes recently? What kind?"

"There was a Voidborne and an Iceborne," She grumbled, "they woke me up talking about some weird plant I think... they were fairly easy to beat, though I was rather careless at first." She was having trouble speaking and felt as though her mouth were filled with cotton.

Enne fell to her knees quite suddenly, the world spinning rather strangely about her. She carefully unwrapped the bandaging on her wounded leg, which had begun to throb strangely, and examined the deep wound. Veins of silver protruded from the opening, and when she looked at the back, where the sword had not fully punctured, she saw a single black star, arcing into the silver veins' carress. These had not been there when she had changed the bandaging recently, either that or she had not noticed in her rush to finish and anxiety to find out where the elemental creatures had been leading them. “No wonder those bastardous bornes survived for so long... I had thought that they were weak and was shocked at how long they had survived. I should have known that their weapons were dipped in poison. And yet, Zephire's graces must've descended upon me if I've survived it for this long.” All this was said under her breath as a cold sweat broke out on her brow and her breath came in erratic gasps.

Suddenly, a small figure flashed into view, kneeling next to Enne with fiery red eyes and shining gold hair. This all faded back to her almond eyes and silver black hair as she smiled triumphantly. "Hah! Lee told me he didn't feel a Borne in pain anywhere close, but I did!" The little Lightborne cackled insanely, momentarily forgeting about the people surrounding her.

---

To go on... Spirit Fire: Ch 4