Quite suddenly, Kith found himself spirited away. He had been on his way to Kimi when the world went dark, and he felt himself being carried away somewhere. He supposed that he should struggle, but his limbs felt too heavy to move. He couldn't even hear Nankojiva anymore. However, he knew that she was with him, so he figured that it must either be okay or that he was in a very difficult situation.

And then the world suddenly became white--a blinding light like new fallen snow against the stark white sky. Kith rubbed his eyes, figuring that it was simply bright since he had been in the dark so long. However, the white remained. He blinked, dazed in the brightness.

"Hello there. I've been waiting long to meet you." Kith saw movement, a flurry. He squinted and gasped. It was a woman so white, so pale that he could hardly differentiate her from the whiteness surrounding her. The only way he was able to glimpse her was when she moved.

Nankojiva was next to the woman--black and white. And then there was something else... It wasn't the woman, it was too close to Nankojiva's size. Then he saw it when it walked past Nankojiva--a white cat, a splitting image of its black twin but inversed.

"Where am I? And who are you?"

"Your benefactors."

Kith arched an eyebrow.

"Love, we don't have much time to explain. We've got a night, and we somehow have to make you into something that can stand against the royal court."

"That's what Red and Silver were teaching me--"

"But they can't help you like I can--like we can. I am Nankojiva's creator, and this is her twin. Now do you want our help?"

((.... I have no inspirations. O.o))

Kyoushi stared at the chess board before him. He carefully moved his pawn forward. "Checkmate," he announced to himself. Ligar looked at him. His master was playing chess again... by himself. Nothing strange an unusual yet.

Kyoushi chuckled to himself. Yes. Everything was slowly coming together. His pawn was in place. Now to just wait for the fireworks to begin.

Ayame paced back and forth, clearly agitated. Her bit mirrored her mood, the fox's tails twitching. Tier's foot jigged ever so slightly. He too was anxious, but more controlled.

"Rawh! Where is that boy?" Ayame slammed her hands down on the table.

Tier sighed in something that seemed to be annoyance but could have been helplessness. They needed to leave an hour ago in order to get to Devil's Isle on time.

Asher was tracing the designs in the carper with his toes. "I'm bored. Is it time to go yet?"

Ayame whirled upon him, ready to unleash a barrage of verly unfriendly words when the phone rang.

Tier picked it up. "Hello? Yes. What? How? Fine. We'll see you there." He hung up the phone and stood up. "Time to go."

Ayame and Asher just stared at him blankly.

"What are you waiting for? We're already late."

Asher bounded up, ever eager and unaffected. Ayame remained in her seat and stared at Tier. He sighed and offered a hand to help her up in mock courtesy. "Yes, princess? Do hurry. Everything will be explained when we get there."

Ayame refused the proffered hand and got up primly. She maintained the exaggerated dignity throughout the entire walk to the boat where she promptly sat herself next to the rail and sulked while staring at the sea.

Hotaru eyebrow raised as she started at the screen. Interesting. She wasn't sure how, but somehow that boy... Kith was it? was already on Devil Isle. She wasn't exactly sure how the boy got here, not without a both at least and the sensor didn't show anyone approaching the island within the last four hours.

She wasn't sure where on earth Ayame found this boy, but it would prove interesting indeed.

"Air are you in place?" she asked.

Kai's voice came over the microphone. "Of course Tenshi. Earth, Ice, Fire, and Star are as well. I'll be the first ambush."

Hotaru smirked as she noticed the boat coming into dock. "Let's see how long they last." It's been so long since they had to test a Royal Court member.

Kai frowned. The screen had said that Kith would be here, but there was no boy. The clearing was empty except for the occasional flitting shadows, which he attributed to the multitude of birds that roosted here.

The clearing seemed devoid of any human beside himself. There was only the soft dappled sunlight, the rustling of the leaves, the sounds of birds' wings, and the dead bird falling from the sky.

Now that was definately not natural.

Kai sprang into the trees to pursue the perpetrator, but found no one there. An eerie sight lay before his eyes. Millions of dead birds strewn throughout the trees, arranged in a mockery of their roosting. He bent down to examine a bird. There were claw and teeth marks in them. The wounds, however, were old. Whoever killed the birds had done so before and was now long gone. Kai frowned.

He pulled out his cellphone and dialled Hotaru. "He's not here. Bunch of dead birds though."

Silence came through the line, but Kai could see Hotaru's smile spread just as his own spread on his own face. It had certainly been long since they tested for the Royal Court. It had certainly been long since they had anyone present any sort of challenge.

This would be fun.

(Can you tell that I'm avoiding fight scenes? xD But there is a reason for that! I'm not just avoiding them because I don't want to write them, but I don't exactly know how your characters fight... I'll let you have Asher go through some people first, so I can figure it out. I promise I'm not just trying to avoid writing fight scenes~ I'll write some. I promise~~ xDDD)

(( XD I'm pulling this out of the hat too you know *has no clue what to do* Just realized you used Kai isntead. xD <3))

Asher looked around. It was kinda creepy. "What is this place?" he asked.

Tier ignored him. Ayame grinned. "Your worse nightmare really."

Asher didn't have time to response before a blade of air tore past him. "What the?!" Asher turned towards the source. In the trees, A man with blue hair and blue eyes stared down at him. On his shoulder saw blue dragon. The man smiled. "So this is the World Champion no?"

"Yeah what about it?" Asher challenged.

The man smiled. "Nothing really. I'm Air and this is my partner Ria. Let's see how well you fair against me. Ria Wind Blade."

Another razor vacuum flew at Asher and Zephyr. Ayame who had leap away from the danger wave to Asher. "Have fun!"

(I used Kai because you said he was supposed to be the first ambush... >_> And I really don't know what to do either. xD)

"So what exactly is the point of this game?" Kith was moving through the shadows in such a way that avoided all detection. He could quite literally do this for hours without anyone finding him.

The point is to win.

"And what exactly does winning mean? Defeating some big boss? Avoiding fights? Scaring off all of my opponents by leaving behind disturbing scenes of dead birds?"

Are you so eager to fight?

"Not particularly. I don't exactly want the royal title or anything. I was happy just being the street kid."

Is this so bad?

"It's not bad. It's just that... Well, it's not exactly simple. But I don't suppose I mind it. It's fun to have you as my bitter conscience."

Che. Bitter. Me? Well, perhaps. I suppose it's not so bad having an idiot boy like you for my possessor.

"You didn't say 'master.'"

Of course not. I am the master of myself. And if anything, I would be your master first.

"Che."

See, I even taught the boy a new trick.

"Che."

Good boy.

(oh. xD <3 For some reason I thought you were talking about Tier and oh well. xD Proof the I need more sleep No longer comprehends things))

Asher stared at Ayame. "What do you mean have fun?"

Ayame waved. "Have fun. We'll meet you later if you survive against Air." she and Tier disappeared into the night.

"Hey!" Asher started. Another wave of air blew him across the ground.

"Your fight is with me," Air stated.

(AWEINLKFSDJWEIFJDS.YOUHAVEAREDANDGOLDDRESS. *_* ...wait, you have two dresses don't you? -.- How much time do you spend on here, woman? xD ...and I still don't know how any of them fight. *flees from the fight scenes*)

This was beginning to get irritating and just a tad disturbing. So far, Kai had found eight groves of dead birds, all exactly like the first. The strange thing was that they all seemed to have been done at the same time, yet they were spaced too faraway for one person to have accomplished it all. Either the bird killer had accomplices or was incredibly fast.

This was both worrisome and exciting.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around to see a boy garbed outlandishly and grinning like a cat.

"Hello. I was just wondering what the point of this whole game was."

Kai stared. Not only did the boy seem completely different from what Ayame had told him, but no one should have been able to have sneaked behind him without him knowing, especially when his senses were wired like this.

"The point is to defeat your competition and let nothing stand in your way." Kai signalled his bit to attack.

"Right. So I won't bother with you then." The boy nodded sensibly and seemed to meld into the shadows. His bit crashed into the area that he had disappeared into, but came back out.

"Nothing there."

Kai frowned. Normal people shouldn't move that fast. Ayame had only mentioned a boy with potential, not an unnatural boy. Surely Ayame would've mentioned such unnatural speed. Surely they would've been warned. ...surely this wasn't an imposter?

But no. The boy fit the description. Average boy. Brown hair. Gold eyes. Skinny build. Black cat bit--wait. Where had the bit been? Kai realized that he hadn't actually seen it. Although bits could become extremely unobtrusive to the oblivious eye, they couldn't become invisible and it would be suicide for bit and owner to separate on Devil's Isle.

Yet another complexing detail. Kai started heading back to Hotaru. There wasn't much else he could do.

(Why is there no fight scene? Because it ran away and hid beneath a two ton rock that I can't move. xD No, but it's really because I don't know who has what bit and what their attacks are. Post a list in your next post please~ ...or you can forget and I can just avoid the fight scenes entirely. xD)

((You know what? Air = Kai. Which means we both have Kai in two different places. xD <3 *is too lazy to change it* Alright for the record Seika AKA Ice is attacking Asher and Kai aka Air is tracking Kith xD Yes I have two dresses, way too much apparently? Nah I spend most it writing 20g long post xD <3 I don't either I give fancy element attacks xD <33))

Asher grunted as he hit a tree. He barely got to his feet to avoid the slash of two katanas. Who the heck was this girl? And why on earth was she attacking him like this? Asher knew that Street Battling was dangerous but he never recalled anyone actually trying to kill him.

He glanced at the sky to see Zephyr holding his own again the girl's snow leopard BIT. No time to think, as Ice kicked him into the arm. Asher covered his face to block some of the blow. It wasn't working.

'Shit, she's really strong. Think Asher think! How are you going to get out of this. If you don't think of something soon, you're going to get killed!'

Asher whirled around, desperately looking for something to help him. At that moment, his shadow seemed to flicker. Something erupted from the darkness and pushed the girl back. Her eyes widened in surprise, and he had a feeling that was the only reason why she was overwhelmed so easily.

As quickly as it had pinned her, the shadow rolled off and began to head towards him. As it moved, its shape bacame more discernable. Asher squinted. It was a... monstrously large black cat?

He didn't quite get the chance to identify it as it seemed to engulf him. He was somehow being carried. He wasn't quite sure how, but he was surely being spirited away by some great beast. He tried to look back at the scene to see his BIT being taken in a similar manner by... another shadow? But that couldn't be. Shadows can't talk, and this one clearly said, "This is not your fight. This is my opponent." And then the light of his vision flickered and he knew only darkness.

* * *

He awoke in darkness, but not still. He felt as if he was ever moving. He squinted and found that he wasn't in total darkness--he could discern shapes if he tried, but they never resolved. Everything wavered and nothing was certain.

"I have a deal to make with you."

The voice seemed familiar, yet not. It was like the voice of a friend distorted. "What?" He had meant to demand answers to who, what, when, where, and why, but the strangeness of the place and voice made his mouth feel thick.

"You want the title. I do not. I couldn't care less. If you're wondering why I'm here, well, I just am. It was a series of events that simply happened. As it is, I could defeat you easily. Right here. Right now."

Asher opened his mouth to retort.

"Do not argue with me. You saw how easily I took you. Don't you understand that I could have just as easily defeated you then as now? Think. Where are you? Can you see me? Do you even know who I am? You can't answer any of these questions. You have no where to run, no way to fight--you can't win."

Asher made a discontented noise.

"But I could let you win."

Asher raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "And why would you do that?"

"Out of the kindness of my heart; because of my great benevolence; it will serve my own ends in a fashion. My intentions are a secret to you and shall remain so. Do they really matter? Let us simply stage a magnificent fight, in which I will let you win. ...Deal?"

Asher mulled it over for awhile and reasoned to himself that it wasn't such a terrible deal. He would be able to fight this strange phantom once and as a bonus avoid fighting all the other battlers on the island once he won. There were no possible drawbacks.

"Deal."

(Yes, Kith's character has somehow changed completely. xD)

Ayame watched from the distance. "They're really predictable aren't they?" she mused.

"You're the only one who thinks that," Hotaru answered. Seika called to tell that she had lost the two boys.

"Darkness. Whoever create Nankojiva, has a talent," report Tier.

"Perhaps more then me?" Ayame grinned. "Interesting, I've never seen anyone take the struture of a BIT and modify this far. Not only does the cat have control over darkness, apparently she has the ability to change her size as well. I say nanomachines in her body allow her the change the size. I'm not sure of the darkness. I can't tell if it's an illusion of our minds or it's really darkness."

"What is that suppose to mean," Hotaru asked.

"Hmmm basically in scientific sense, to create absolute darkness is impossible. You would need to remove all light sources, including the sun for that to happen. Especially outside, it's never been done before. So either Nankojiva has that ability to block all light sources, or some how she's creating the illusion that there is nothing around us but darkness.
I'm leaning towards sound waves that messing up our senses, especially our eyes to give the illusion of darkness. I won't know until I meet her creator or she lets me examine her," Ayame explained. She hummed to herself at the thought of this new puzzle. "I think I'll have Soyala mimic that next time around."

Hotaru and Tier shook their heads. "Well at this rate both too invaluable to leave to behind," stated Hotaru.

"Yes. Looks like we're about to redefine the standing of the Royal Court again no?" Tier mused.

(I had a long, beautiful section all written, and I was about to post it, but then Demetri died on me. TT.TT I lost it and became depressed, and so have stayed away from the RR for awhile. ^^; ...and now I don't remember what I wrote before. I'll just make something up. xD)

Asher felt like he was suspended in nothingness, and then the feeling vanished. Suddenly, the air rushing in his ear became very real. He was falling from an unknown height, and the landing was probably going to hurt like hell.

Something silvery and blue twisted in the air near him. He was being cradled by something--Zephyr. "Thanks." The dragon nodded and spiraled down to earth where it deposited Asher.

Asher let his hand rest on his BIT. Supposedly they had a big battle coming up. However, it wasn't supposed to be too hard. They were guaranteed to win.

He felt cold something slice through the air. It was dark again. The corded muscles of the dragon tensed beneath his hand. The battle had begun.

* * *

"Gah. I thought you said--" Asher was cut off by a backhand from Kith. He was somehow thrown to the ground. He didn't want to think about how many bruises he would have by the end of this. He thought this would be easy. It was guaranteed.

"It's guaranteed, but you have to work for it, you idiot." Kith had him pinned and leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "Think, what would it look like if I just lost so easily? I said we'd stage a spectacular battle. This can't be all you've got."

Asher growled in a wordless rage and flung Kith off who hadn't really been holding on that tightly. He threw a punch and hit empty air. He was too fast. He couldn't match his speed, and there was no way he could go after Nankojiva. Zephyr was having enough trouble with her. The only thing he could do was go after Kith. Sooner or later he would land something, right?

Another missed blow.

Sooner or later.