A small, white, cat-like creature pads in from the northern avenue, poofy white tail swashing loftily in the air behind it as it comes to a stop near the one of the benches; it looks up toward said bench, as if considering though he should bother climbing up onto it or not.

Tyrranis rests on a bench, covered in dirt and minor scratches. As soon as he sights the cat, the giganto nods to it. "Hello Wish-Granter"

The cat-thing looks up, blinking a neutral gaze back at Tyrranis. "Ah, Tyrranis. Good to see you alive and well. How fares the fight?" He pads toward Tyrranis, if he isn't already near enough to him already.

Tyrranis keeps a similarly neutral emotion towards the cat. "Indeed. You collect used seeds, correct?"

Kanato looks to the cat and the man talking, but does not interfere.

The cat creature's mouth does not move as he speaks, yet the voice designated to be his still resonates from him as though it were normal. "I felt that you had something for me, yes. I would gladly take them off your hands thusly."

Tyrranis holds out his bat, and pulls a cork out of the butt of it. He taps the bat to loose something, and then slides two seeds out of the back of it. "The Yoma, and the Spider Queen. Take their memories, Wish Granter. Let them be absolved."

Kanato studies the seeds, wondering what he meant about the Spider Queen.

Kyuubey doesn't say anything, and neither does his expression change; instead, he merely sidles up alongside Tyrranis, and a red circular pattern on his back begins to glow softly. "In here, please." Simply-spoken, as if that was enough of an explanation.

Tyrranis places both seeds into the creature's back, and then replaces the cork to his bat. "Is that all?"

As Tyrranis places the Grief Seed shells on Kyuubey's back, they seem to fall "in" to his skin, within the center of the red-marked pattern; they are swallowed up as they fall into his back, and the pattern promptly stops glowing. "Yes, thank you. And my congratulations as well, you and your comrades are doing a fine job." He sits upright, looking up at Tyrranis with a blank "I'm a cat" look.

Tyrranis nods noncommitally to the cat. "I hope that I and my allies will provide an acceptable service. With any hope we shall do well."

"Indeed. You have not disappointed me in the least, not that I know what disappointment actually is. It is a quiet night this evening, and I feel that I can't say that very often lately. At least, within this region." Kyuubey looks around in silence for a moment, before his attention shifts toward the west, and his ears flick somewhat.

Kanato follows the cat's gaze, hoping to see something interesting.

Tyrranis says ' I cannot be in all places at the same time, so I will leave this to others. I am prepairing something though, something that will help our allies out quite a bit. I hope.'

Kyuubey looks up at Tyrranis, his tail wafting lazily about himself. "I trust your judgment, whatever it may be. You have not perished yet, so I have no reason to do otherwise."

Kanato looks to the cat now, seeming very interested in it.

Kyuubey casts a sideways glance at Kanato, wherever he currently is, but does not prolong the gaze, instead looking back toward Tyrranis.

Tyrranis gives the cat a vague smile. "I am not used to being trusted, I suppose. It is something I am working on. Do you have some kind of input however? An idea for furthering our survival?"

Erica, staying off in the distance, watched Kyuubey and the giant converse. A smile creeps on her face as she watches them. Oh how she loved the idea that eventually no matter how hard they try, they are all going to be doomed.

Kanato looks to his feet and waits, believing this was the one he was searching for.

"Survival? I would say that as long as you continue what you are doing, you should have no trouble. Always have someone watching your back, and pick your fights carefully; not every foe will be easy to take down by hitting it with a stick. Make sure you know when to resign a situation to its loss, so that you may fight at a later time." Kyuubey pauses for a moment before he continues. "It is a chance you all take; I have come to understand that nobody lives forever. But whenever that time is, you should accept it as an inevitability. The compromise is that you should do what you can while you yet live. This is why I grant your wishes, so that you may utilize your potential to its full extent."

Tyrranis says ' These things are understandible. I thank you Wish Granter. It is more common that people talk to me these days, but it is always nice to speak to older friends. However, I must go for right now. There is more work to be done. I trust I shall see you again soon.'

"As long as you draw breath, this is a certainty. Good luck in your endeavours, and I thank you for your trophies." Kyuubey remains where he is, even as Tyrranis bids his verbal farewells.

Tyrranis stands, and nods to the cat's sage advice. He travels north slowly, already thinking of other things now.

Kyuubey glances again toward Kanato, following Tyrranis' departure. "Do you require something of me? I sense your curiosity. Indeed, it is powerful."

Kanato looks back to the cat. "Yes. Are you known as Kyuubey, the Wish-Granter?

Kyuubey regards Kanato indifferently, looking him up and down. "I suppose I am."

Kanato says 'Then I ask of you a wish. A sword, one that will last 10 lifetimes, and then some. Are you able to grant this?'

Kyuubey stares blankly at Kanato, not saying anything. Then he stares some more, not saying anything for that length of time, either.

Kyuubey says, evenly, "A sword. Ten lifetimes. And then some?"

Kanato thinks for a moment, then says, "Yes. And I mean timewise, not how many lives I end with it, so as to be able to pass it on when I am ended."

Erica looks blankly from her hiding spot at the new wishborn. "A... sword?" Such a simple wish kind of annoyed her slightly.

Kyuubey perks his ears at something just then, quickly looking off towards the southwest-ish. He keeps his attention there for a good few moments, before apparently remembering Kanato. "I do not feel this is wise. Furthermore, I feel that you are lacking in something. Something important."

Kanato says 'I am missing nothing of importance. I have a great skill already. My mind is not corrupted, and I have no connections to evil.'

Kyuubey says "I could care less of your affiliation. You perception of good and evil is of no consequence to me, not truly. But I sense that your survival would not be sustained for any real length, following this wish. You mortals are all the same, and if I could feel sympathy, you would be the taker of a large portion. I almost wish I could understand what it is like to be so simple-minded. But, then again, no I don't." His expression remains indifferent through all this; even his tone is level.

Kanato considers this for a few seconds, then states, "I have slain many with a blow. I have escaped from some of the most difficult situations ever. I have no doubt about my survival."

Kyuubey stands on all four feet at this time, and begins heading south. He looks over his shoulder at Kanato as he passes by. "This is not a good choice. I implore you to find another destiny, since I do not feel that you belong intertwined with the rest of the Wishborn. Call it intuition, but I am usually correct."

Kanato glares at the cat, then walks to the darkest corner he can find, unsheaths his flute, and begins playing a somber tune.

Kyuubey exits to the south, hastening his pace as he reaches the edge of the region and hurrying in that direction.

Kyuubey runs through Guardia fields and toward the southwest, passing through several regions as he apparently has a destination in mind; in a short while, he reaches the entryway to the majestic Orbonne Monastery; strangely, the lady knight Agrias is absent from her post, but the sounds of fighting can be heard not a long distance away.

Orbonne Monastery - Grassy Knoll
White stones, pressed into the earth, form a quaint path to the
northwestern chapel and the eastern monastery gates. Cheerful wildflowers
dot the wayside and brighten up the patches of shade beneath the sparse
trees. A slender crack in the outer wall can be seen from here, noticeable
but far too small to warrant any attention to repairs.

Kyuubey continues on into the courtyard, and toward the source of the distress. As he comes within closer earshot, he slows to a walk, coming to a stop nearby and simply sitting down, indifferent-like despite his rush to get here. He gazes upon the sight in front of him, at this time:

Alongside the Monastery exterior's wall, a fight is apparently nearing its end; the body of a Monk is thrown against the building's wall just as Kyuubey is within sight of the battle, and a horrible -crack- issues from him, the sound of a fatal collision. The monk does indeed fall to the ground in a slump, not moving elsewise. Agrias is nearby, breathing heavily, with a great longsword unsheathed and in both hands, and a young boy is close to the Monk, also in a fighting stance, albeit with a smaller-sized blade.

The young boy, looking to be between 11 and 12, is apparently unharmed and not even short of breath; he has a determined but possibly frightened look on his face, and his weapon is coated in blood; Agrias' remains untarnished. The two, knight and boy, look between each other, taking in what has just happened wordlessly.

Erica had followed behind the cat with a sense of a enjoyment at knowing the urgancy of where he's going. She knew if Kyuubey's attention was drawn to it, it had to be magical-related. Possibly a new witch? Hell if she knew, she just loved the chaos.

Kyuubey remains where he is, just around the corner of the Monastery's front wall, as the boy and Knight move in close and begin inspecting the body of the monk. Agrias looks fairly upset, and the boy still has a stern-yet-apprehensive expression, as he wipes his weapon off in the grass nearby. His red eyes flash, and his short midnight blue hair rustles in an incoming breeze.

Crossroads found her way into the area not by following Kyuubey, but by seeing a vision and responding to the pulsing of her gem. Unfamiliar with the area, she was moving blindly through the trees towards the threat.

The Soul Gems of any present (or nearby) Wishborn are glowing softly within the region, with the threat it holds not visible at this time. However, shortly following the monk's demise, this glow would fade gradually, until the pulsing reverts to the normal light of the Wishborn's jewelries.

The boy sheathes his weapon as Agrias continues looking over the dead monk's body, and the former looks around, apparently searching for something. He spots Kyuubey, and stops. Like, stops -cold-.

Kanato slowly wanders to the area from a southernly direction, and sits on the ground, a large orb of darkness that he had charged on the way here in his hand.

Lorastine felt her crystal pulse and followed the signal to the monnastrey. Cross and Kyuubey were here already there along with two boys. She had arrived either too late or just in time.

Crossroads was out of breath from running by the time she showed up. When she came clear of the trees and she glanced to Lorastine who seemed to have arrived jast as she did, then quickly surveyed the situation.

The boy draws his small blade again, and advances threateningly on Kyuubey without hesitation; Agrias looks up from the monk's corpse, not seeming to know what's going on. Kyuubey, himself, sits idly where he is, not seeming intimidated by the boy's advances on him.

Kanato looks to the conflict, seperates part of the shadow orb from the larger portion, and lob the smaller orb like a grenade at the group.

Lorastine blinks and notices an orb flying at them and steps in the way spreading her arms out forming a shield to reflect the orb in a safe direction away. She didn't know what it was but she wasn't taking chances.

Crossroads, who had fully transformed in her run to this location, rushed forward towards where the monk had fallen. "What happened?" She asked still trying to catch her breath.

Ambience continues advancing on Kyuubey, completely disregarding Crossroads as she runs past him toward Agrias and the monk; he reaches Kyuubey in a very short time, and without prelude, performs a quick overhand swing at Kyuubey where he sits, his entire body flashing with a brief green aura as the attack occurs!

Agrias looks up at Cross as she approaches, looking a mess; she isn't injured, but her hair, normally in a tight braid, is frizzed a little in front from the encounter, and she stammers as she speaks. "I.. I don't know! One of our monks, he just attacked us! From out of nowhere! I saw what looked like a tattoo on his neck.. but it's gone now. We're trying to figure out why."

Kyuubey looks up just as Ambience swings, his catlike expression remaining unchanged; in fact, even as Ambience's attack severs the creature's head from its furry shoulders, its expression remains intact. The severed head bounces off to the side in the grass, as the rest of the body falls over, lifelessly. No blood spills from the wound, and for all intents and purposes, Kyuubey's body looks like a beheaded stuffed animal.

The orb would veer towards the beheading one, firing and morphing into a bolt, and Kanato looks to the cat and says, "Slight sympathy, but not much"

Erica watches from her hiding spot as Kyuubey was beheaded and smirks. "Always with the drama, aren't you Kyuubey..."Erica wonders if the others knew a certain irritating quirk about the wish-granting feline.

Crossroads looked at Agrias wondering why she felt as though she had seen her face before, and then as the flash of green caught the corner of her eye, it all struck her; she visibly paled. Eyes widening, she turned her head away from the monk and took in her surroundings. This was the place! She had seen it when she had looked into her death. This was the place where she was going to die!

Agrias looked up at Crossroads, noting the mounting horror on her face as she took in her surroundings; however, she seems to be more inclined to focus on the dead monk's body, turning his head slightly a few times to look for the aforementioned mark, but finds nothing.

Ambience looks up from the slain cat-creature's body, and looks over his shoulder at first Crossroads, then Lorastine. In that moment that he turns, the dark glob-turned-arrow tinks off of something unseen, just before a tiny, tree-shaped girl bursts into view with a flash of green, floating in the air at the spot where the bolt was deflected. Her tiny face is equally stern.

Ambience looks like he was going to do something further, but hesitates, looking first at the little tree-girl, then at Crossroads, his expression softening as some kind of exchange seems to take place between the former two.

Kanato takes advantage of the darkness, and forms an even larger bolt, then launches it at the decapitator, but not before seperating the bolt into two and launching the other one at the dryad.

Lorastine looks over in horror as Kyuubey was beheaded, but something was odd about it. She looks over at the cats slayer with a look of shock and surprise. Her luninescent wings gave off enough light to allow her to see the incoming bolts of darkness hurling in her diection once more. "Stop this!" She shouts as she reestablishes another barrier around the group. They weren't witches so she'd protect them no matter what.

Crossroads sees Kanato's intentions and moves quickly, closes her eyes pulling forward herself from the different timelines and different choices. All these choices were similar of course and all were intending to protect Ambience. Four different versions of herself step outside of the current spot she is now turning and standing in. All of them, including herself, manifest their bows draw arrows, aim and shoot at the child's attacker without bothering to give a warning.

Agrias is frustrated at her lack of evidence, but noting the attentions drawn elsewhere, she resigns herself to having to take care of the dead monk. She shifts her weight as she stands, hoisting to body over her shoulder and, with one last glance, heads north toward the barracks and housing area.

Ambience seems at a loss, himself; as soon as Lorastine leaps to his aid and extends her shielding, the Dryad gives a silent gasp, poofing out of sight with another green flash. Ambience himself is unsure of what to do; his earlier anger is stunted now, his attention caught between both Lorastine AND Crossroads assisting him against the unknown assailant.

Kanato stands suddenly, dashing away from his previous position, summoning a wall of darkness to protect him from any redirected arrows.

Lorastine watches as Kanato retreats behind a wall of shadows. She draws her bow, not to kill, but to threaten. She didn't know this newcomer, but she wasn't going to kill him unless she needed to.

Crossroads didn't hesitate, this guy had shown himself to be a threat already so there was no point in trying to wave around her bow and try to look mean as Lorastine seemed to be doing. She was all for killing this guy right now. The barrier however turned out to be an irritance. Another round of arrows was drawn from their sheaths, but Crossroads held on firing them. She could bet he couldn't keep that barrier up forever.

Ambience's expression changes all of a sudden, as if a brilliant realization suddenly formed in the turning gears of his brain. Gripping his small blade tightly, he speeds out from behind Crossroads and Lorastine, blazing a trail toward the shadowed barrier (and Kanato, by proxy) as his form begins to glow green once more; this aura hangs, however, lighting him up like a short green lantern as he charges Kanato!

Kanato simply dashes towards the building, and climbs up the wall, the wall following him to block arrows.

Lorastine watches as Kanato escaped over the wall. She didn't know what to make of that kid. It worried her a little.

A localized explosion takes place just infront of Kanato, suddenly and without much reason. Just visible inside the smoke, a shame unfurls itself, large and skeletal. Red photoreceptors pierce the smoke, and Knochen emerges from mess, his chassis glowing cherry red. He surveys Kanato, and roars at the man before him.

Crossroads simply stares at Knochen as he steps forward infront of Ambience's fleeing attacker, wondering just what in the heck is going on here.

Ambience comes to a stop, and his aura disperses immediately following. He lowers his weapon, not really sure what to make of the newcomer, but considering what was happening and who the skeletal... 'thing' was roaring at, he figured he'd just let it have at Kanato. Ambience turns, hurrying back to the two Wishborn still presumably at the Monastery wall.

Ambience keeps running past Lorastine and Crossroads, his expression a flicker of uncertainty as he silently gestures them to follow him, around toward the front of the Monastery.

Kanato stops and brings his wall closer, so close that it creates a cocoon around him.

Knochen sets his arm to the ground at the bottom of Kanato's box, and a large gout of flames erupt from the weapon on his arm, and raises the ambient temperature beyond normal human limits.

Kanato super-insulates the cocoon; unfortunately, this was not the smartest of actions, as the temprature inside the cocoon increases exponentially as Knochen's flame proceeds to bake Kanto to a charred shell; within mere minutes, there is only a pile of ash there the cocoon of darkness once stood

Knochen's flame disperses immediately following, and within the confines of another contained explosion, he is gone.

Erica sighes and gets tired of waiting around. She walks over to the group, making her presence known and grins at the group. "I'm surprised Kyuubey hasn't decided to make his return yet. Its not like him to just lay over and die." She shows no concern for anything else. She only smirks at the group.

Crossroads raises an eyebrow, "What do you mean by return?" She sees Ambience gesturing for them to follow and decides to put her inquiries on Kyuubey on hold for the time being as she follows after him.

Lorastine looks over at the new girl who waltzed onto the scene. She was just as confused as Cross when the girl mentioned Kyuubey returning.

Ambience comes to a halt around the front side, and frowns softly, not having said a word this whole time. He apparently wanted to get away from whatever mess was taking place back there, and oddly enough, despite all his recent running and sprinting, he didn't seem to be out of breath in the least.

Ambience finally turns to address those that had followed him; he doesn't look happy, but not with the same "I'm going to obliterate you" expression he had in regards to Kyuubey, earlier. "Why? WHY?" That was all.

Crossroads frowns and hangs her head, thinking of the fallen monk. She wants to reach out and comfort the boy, but she cant seem to bring herself to do it. "I'm sorry, Ambience." Her voice is quiet and she doesn't look up.

Erica looks at Ambience, then at where the fallen monk had been earlier. Even if she didn't know what had happened, she cracks a smirk knowing that more then likely it was caused by their little feline friends contract gone bad. She laughs a little, wishing she could take credit.

Lorastine felt bad thats she couldn't do anything for Ambience. She doesn't know how to help him. That new girl was starting to bug her though, she wonders if she was also a magical girl. It would explain how she knows about Kyuubey and how she ended up here.

Ambience doesn't hesitate; in a flash, he draws his weapon again and points it within inches from Erica's face; even despite his short stature, his menacing expression returns, though the erstwhile Aura does not return with it. "Leave. Now. I won't ask you again."

Erica smirks even with a blade inches from her face. "Awww... did I offend you?" She said with a mocking laugh. "Should watch that temper of yours, someone might get hurt."

What had just occured was nothing to be smiling about, and Crossroads tilts her head just enough to glance at the woman. "I don't know who you are, but under these circumstances perhaps it is better if you leave."

Ambience keeps his weapon held, though it trembles just slightly. However, a green aura gradually begins to encompass his body, burning with a light hue. "You're right. And if you don't do as I said, you can be the first one." This is apparently not the same boy Crossroads had met some few months ago. Ambience's stance is harsh and unrelenting, and he'd already used his weapon once. He was obviously willing to use it again.

Erica looks over at Crossroads and smiles. "Leave? I'm here because I'm supposed to be here. I'm one of you after all, or say I was. Its kinda hard to tell these days."she replies with a sigh as if she was trying recall a memory. She flashes a grin over at Ambience, "You're annoying." She snaps her fingers telports in a flash of slivery light creating distance between her and him.

Lorastine looks at Erica with her bow drawn. "Was?" sticks in her mind, repeating itself over and over.

"Maybe you were supposed to be here when there was a threat, but now that threat has passed. You have no reason to stay and clearly you are not welcome here." Crossroads said voice lacking in emotion as she grips her bow, ready to support Ambience should she need to, "Go back to wherever you came from and prepare for the next fight."

Ambience lowers his weapon and his aura as the woman retreats, returning it to the sheath at his waist. He looks... unhappy, to say the least. He glances between Lorastine and Crossroads before merely shaking his head, and turns to leave. "I'm going home. I'll have to help lady Agrias tomorrow, as it is."

Erica smiles and sighs. "I wasn't all that interested in a fight today. It seems like another witch already had her fun here. No point in trying to burn ashes."She says seeming almost disappointed. She waves to the group, "I'm sure we'll cross paths again."With that she disappeares in what looks like a cloud of silver butterflies.

Lorastine didn't know what to make of all of this. She felt an eerie chill down her spine. If what the girl said was true, then there was more then one witch out there now. "Why did that witch seem so normal compared to the last one?"

Crossroads shrugs to Lorastine, "I don't know. But if the three of us were the only ones who showed up then it seems to have escaped." She chews on her lip for a moment thinking carefully about the situation. "Regular people cannot fight them from what I have seen. I think it would be best to stay in this area for the time being in the event that it should decide to come back." She thought maybe it would be in her best interest to talk to Ambience as well, but nothing she could say to him would comfort him.

Ambience doesn't seem at all inclined to stay and listen, anyway; he makes a rather hasty exist southward, heading back into Oreyndur Forest.

Lorastine nods and looks around at the carnage that the monnestery underwent. "A place like this attacked. Its almost unreal."

Crossroads shakes her head. Lorastine couldn't see what she had seen in their future. Though it may have changed now... She could have sworn she had felt something earlier when they were protecting Ambience. Eventually she says "Could you do something for me, Lora? It might be a good idea to tell Tyrranis and Kyrk that I am going to be here for a while."

Lorastine looks at Crossroads and tilts her head slightly. While she agreed that it would be good to let the others know what happened she didn't approve of seperating in case the witches came back. "Um.. yea, but I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone."

Crossroads smiles, "If you let them know what is going on maybe you send one of them down here." She had to admit that she was worried about facing one on her own as well.

Lorastine sighes and nods. "It probably would be best for Tyrranis to help or someone."

Crossroads nods, "Both Kyrk and Tyrranis have lots of battle experience from the looks of it. So as long as one of them is with us, we should be okay."

Lorastine nods and flaps her wings to become airborne. "I'll tell them, just be careful ok?" She says before taking off back towards Truce to go find Tyrranis or Kyrk.