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#1
Old 01-10-2019, 11:04 PM



Silas of Highrose | Over 100 | Celestial Guardian

~ ☆ ~
There is a way to protect the young from the rogue, and so we do.
When you are born, we lower our open arms unto you.
With our right hand we receive your freedom.
With our left, we grant our guardianship.

There is method to the madness.

We protect you as best as we can, for as long as as we can.
And when you come of age, we lift our arms.
With our left hand we recall our guardianship.
With our right, we return your freedom.
~ ☆ ~


Silas stirred in his light slumber. With a brief moment of freedom in the evening he resigned to a chamber nap in which the words of his oath floated in and out of his dreams. When you come of age, he thought again as his light kyanite eyes opened to the thin sliver of gold light that shone in from the hallway through his cracked door. When you come of age...

A shadow passed over the light in an instant. Then suddenly again. Silas sat up and leaned forward toward the footsteps. They were loud, running. He could sense commotion in the hallway. Silas pushed himself to dress sufficiently and make his way into the hallway, after which he heard the voice of a residential administrator of the Highrose clan.

"Silas," she sternly began. "It's the shinigami."

Silas's eyes widened, his brain frozen and unable to process the waking moment.

"Lots of reports," she continued. "In your district, too. I came to wake you but I see you're already up.Anders is on his way now, so go join him and see what you can do."

"Understood," Silas responded immediately. He spun on his heels and reached for his door. There were only a few things in his room that he needed but if he were to interact with mortals he wanted at least identification...

"―And don't let there be any casualties. They're like sharks, you know. With the potential for so many shinigami to concentrate in a single area... A single death could lead to a bloodbath. Remember your oath."

In just as little time, Silas was on the public flight deck with several other guardians, each from different residences and each appointed to different jurisdictions. As the loud breeze and vast nighttime horizon greeted them from thousands of feet below, Silas descended with them from their hidden city in the sky. Although the wind tore way a feather every so often, it couldn't chip away his concern. Shinigami incidents had quickly grown common in recent times, yet Silas had so little information on why. And it didn't help that there were less guardians than usual. They could only spread themselves so thin to keep the Fated Age as high as it was. Even with rigid order as strict as in the Highrose clan. A Highrose guardian could barely protect into a person's teenage years before they were sent to a guard another little one for even less time. It burned him to think that he could face casualties and be forced to choose among lives to save based on the Fated Age. When you come of age...

Silas often hung on this line. It was bold enough to intervene at all on a person's freedom in the name of guardianship. To suddenly abandon that same person at an arbitrary age, he wondered. Who was he to decide that? How many times had he parted ways with someone who deserved freedom earlier? How many times had he left too soon? What was in store for his district on this suddenly dangerous night?

Last edited by YumeBott; 01-13-2019 at 06:54 AM.. Reason: Lost Anders's picture when the bios were moved.

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#2
Old 01-10-2019, 11:09 PM



Jason Reid | 21 | Shinigami

A shinigami in this world is someone who has "sinned" by taking their own life. As punishment, they are reborn as beings who hunt the souls of others without any real purpose. Their memories of their human life erased. If an "incomplete" shinigami should remember, they are doomed to fade away into nothing. Limbo basically.

As a human, Jason remembered two things- one; having a single friend in his life to scare away the shadows that threatened to swallow him, and suddenly having said friend ripped away from him when he became a teen. And two; constantly fighting to keep his nightmares at bay. Something happened one night after he had become and adult, and now he wondered the city collecting the souls of others as a shinigami. The thing is, he's her to collect a single soul.

~*~
There is a day where a shinigami is forced to remember bits of their past, but usually it only applies to complete shinigamis. Just as humans have birthdays to celebrate another year of being born, shinigami's have a date to remind them of their 'sin'. Their 'death-date' or the anniversary of when they died.
~*~

Every shinigami had a partner, at least one. Some had a small group of three, depending on the 'target'. Jason's partner was also his 'mentor' and Lea was currently searching the city Jason, who had disappeared again while the others were tracking those who had their names on a death list, her scythe hanging over her back like a bag. Why the number of names had suddenly increased, no one had a clue. They merely saw collecting souls as a job, nothing more. Most shinigami didn't have a shred of humanity left in them. Why should they? They themselves were no longer of the living. In two weeks that Jason had awoken as a shinigami, his humanity often got in way of his 'job', which is why he hasn't collected a single one yet.

Jason was standing on the roof of one of the many skyscrapers in the city, looking down at the city with dark crimson eyes. There were angels and shinigami's everywhere just about. Why couldn't be just focus on keeping the angels back, instead of taking ones life? Humans didn't ask to die, usually

Last edited by Nova_Alchemist; 01-12-2019 at 02:41 PM..

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#3
Old 01-10-2019, 11:33 PM

Twenty seconds into the descent, the dozens of guardians began to split into district groups. They split in pairs when they could, though short numbers left a handful of guardians alone. Good luck, Silas wished to all of them as the gap between the subgroups widened and the silhouettes of his kind dwindled into the distance.

As the breeze around Silas strengthened mid-dive, he felt compelled to reach for the pair of thin goggles in his side pocket. Once he had secured them over his eyes, he heard the howl of air soften on his left side. He looked over and saw his old friend, Anders, closing the gap between Silas and himself with a tilt of the wing. They had been friends for decades, though recent number shortages meant they spent less time patrolling districts together and more time apart.

"Why didn't you put those on earlier?" Anders called over the wind with a frown. "You're going to fall like that."

Silas opened his mouth to retort, but had nothing to say in his defense. It was important to fly carefully, and that meant no fidgeting on the way down. Especially at super-velocity, a single mistake in wing angle could change a guardian's wind-facing surface area enough to receive a velocity shock and slow to terminal velocity or less. The effect was similar to hitting a wall of various hardness on land, and if the guardian wasn't injured from that alone it could disrupt their landing and even become lethal. It dawned on Silas that he had been extremely careless to head into this type of emergency with such improper form.

"I'm still foggy from a nap―I'm sorry," he responded at last.

"Be careful, you hear?" Anders insisted, creating space between the two again. "I'll be alone if I lose you."

Less than a minute passed before Silas landed with Anders. Silas was good with intuition, empathy, and ground combat, but he was a fool with the celestial tech programmed into the wrist guards they each wore. "Which way first?" he asked to Anders for guidance.

"A lot of them are in an apartment complex....." Anders began. He concentrated on his wrist apparatus and finally fixed on a direction. "Over there."

"It could be a fire," Silas thought aloud.

Anders quickly shook his head. "Look at it. There's no smoke and my xWatch doesn't show any signs of mortality yet."

"A gas leak?" Silas tried again. "It's odd that we have this much foresight on the death count and proximity of an accident. Now if it were an intentional gas leak by a celestial being..."

Anders stared as if Silas had just killed a man. "The shinigami! Move―!"" he exclaimed as he grabbed Silas's arm and yanked Silas toward the building. "When we get there, I'll contact the front desk, locate the gas valve, and evacuate the residents. You figure out where the Shinigami are and don't let them get involved. Let's go!"

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#4
Old 01-11-2019, 12:18 AM

Lea continued to search the city, coming to a halt when she noticed all the angels and and gracefully pulled her scythe up and over her shoulder, so she was properly holding it. 'If they find him... No..! I can't let that happen!' She gripped her scythe and took off again. Nevermind the assingment, her too priority was finding her incomplete partner. She flew in the direction of an apartment complex, where the shingami were gathering like moths to a flame. "Jason!" She called his name with a new found determination.

Being 'tied' to a partner meant you could sometimes feel them if they were near. Jason's head tilted up towards the darkening sky as the sun made it's descendent towards the horizon. He held his scythe in his hand, lowered down by his leg with the top of the sharpened blade poking against the roofing the tall building. The gears in his head were turning, grinding, as he tried to understand the situation at hand.

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#5
Old 01-11-2019, 01:21 AM

Anders sealed his wings away and quickly took off for the complex. He had already switched his goggles over to Night Vision Monocle mode so that he could see in the evening and in whatever dark corner he encountered. A few moments later he was out of earshot and in the complex.

Silas lagged behind as he removed his goggles. He left his wings unsealed in case of an emergency. He lifted his head to the dim evening light and the moon, in front of which he saw a strange figure atop the building. And the scythe.

"Shoot―" he muttered. "One Shinigami on the roof. West 30 yards, up ten stories," he relayed into his communication wristwatch. "I don't see his partner so be careful."

"Roger," Anders replied. "There's no leak report in the building but I'm sending maintenance to check. They won't evacuate."

Silas frowned. He didn't want to start trouble but if things were quiet it would be easier for the shinigami to stage something. If they were planning anything, he thought. With that in mind he summoned a celestial bow. If he could fake an attack it would draw attention and at least disrupt the silence. He didn't want to waste his strength so he left the mirage of the arrow. Not physical enough to harm. Enough to scare. Silas nocked the mirage arrow. He took aim at the silhouette at the roof. He drew in his breath with the arrow...

Fire.

The arrow left a white-gold trail in the sky as it whizzed through the air, sailing up every story to the roof.

Last edited by YumeBott; 01-11-2019 at 03:29 AM..

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#6
Old 01-11-2019, 01:39 AM

Never let your guard down..

Jason didn't suspect a thing, too distracted by his own thoughts, and feeling his partner trying to find him. He did his best to tune out the other shinigami as well. Something off in the distance caught his attention and he turned his head. Red eyes brightened by the lowering sun widen some. An arrow? His eyes scanned for the one who fire the arrow as he brought up his scythe as a means to defend himself, but when the arrow came in contact with his blade, nothing happened. He rose an eyebrow. An illusion. "You're gonna have to do more than that to scare me off!" He called out to no one in particular.

Lea noticed it too, and managed to catch a glimpse at the angel who shot at her partner. Even if he seemed unharmed.. No angel was gonna threaten him so long as they were a team. She changed her direction and flew towards the culprit. "Found you!" Lea voiced with an innocent smile as she drew back her scythe to ready an attack on the line angel.

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#7
Old 01-11-2019, 03:11 AM

Silas couldn't help but smile at the brief confusion his arrow brought the silhouette atop the building. He began turn at the sound of the voice behind him―

It was all Silas could do to brace himself with his bow against the blade. As he gritted his teeth upon impact, the sound of the metal blade screeched against the crystal bow and cracked it into a million shimmering pieces. At the same time it sent Silas skidding backward a few feet.

"Silas! Silas what happened?" Anders asked through the wrist apparatus. "I'll be right there!"

Silas had no time to think or respond so he instead took advantage of his concealment behind the sparkling cloud of the remains of his bow. He drew a crystal katana and arm guard from the air and then steadied himself on his toes, ready to strike again. This time for damage.

"Take your kin and leave this place," he demanded to the girl in front of him. Through the fading glitter cloud he could see her face. She seemed young, which saddened Silas.

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#8
Old 01-11-2019, 04:31 AM

Lea smirked when his bow shattered and she relaxed some as the angel skidded back. She tilted her head when he pulled out a katana from the air. "Me and my kin were here first, Silas." She taunted, holding her scythe by her side as if readying herself for an attack.

Jason could see the shattered crystal if it caught the lightening right, then he saw his partner and immediately opened his black wings and took flight. They weren't here to fight the angels. They were innocent beings! Jason felt his head throb briefly and he lost focus. When he gained focused he barely had time to keep himself from crashing into a window. Glass shattered and he staggered some before propping up against a nearby wall.

Lea suddenly lowered her scythe and straightened her stance. "Sorry about this, I don't have time to play." She said, then opened her own wings and took off for the apartment complex.

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#9
Old 01-11-2019, 05:17 AM

Silas instinctively dashed toward the girl at first when she took off. He lifted his wrist watch to his face. "Anders, watch the entrance. One shinigami on the way to you at nine o'clock from your angle―" he started as he flew.

"Copy that. The residents are starting to evacuate so keep the rest away from the complex!" Anders responded.

"Roger," Silas started to say. Just as fast came a glow from the complex entrance. Anders had begun to channel a beam of light in the direction of the incoming shinigami girl. Silas slowed quickly and lost flight, as he figured that Anders had that much under control.

This is bad, though, he thought. With two of them to keep us busy like this we can't watch the apartment... Silas turned at the sound of shattered glass and folded his wings over himself to avoid the falling shards. Once they had all fallen he poised his wings behind himself and looked to the sky again. He couldn't make out the figure nearby but the dark wings told enough truth. Quickly, Silas de-materialized his katana and re-summoned the bow. Maybe with one down we can get the rest under control... He nocked a tranquilizing arrow and tracked the silhouette of the shinigami on the wall with his aim as the figure moved.

Fire.

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#10
Old 01-11-2019, 05:48 AM

(So far I am already loving this! ^0^)

Lea wasn't so worried about the angel tailing her, as she was worried about keeping the angels from her partner. In fact, she was blind to the glow coming from a second angel. 'Damn it Jason! This is why we need to stick together!' Her thoughts hissed partially with despair. What kind of partner would she be if she allowed them to hurt him? "Don't just stand there.. Fly! " She called to him once she was in ear-shot, causing him to lift his head. "Lea?" He murmured quietly. So, she found him after all..

Then she saw it, a ray of light aimed right for her. Her blue and red eyes widen and she closed her wings around herself like a shield. The blast knocked her through the air and thus begun her dazed free-fall.

Panic crept on to Jason's melancholy face and just as he went to fly after her, before he even had time to flap his wings, something pricked him. Like getting a mosquito bite. Thinking it was nothing, he attempted to 'rescue' his falling partner and descended from the complex floor. "Lea, snap out of it!"

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#11
Old 01-11-2019, 06:26 AM

( Yay! ノシ( ´ v ` )ノシ )

Anders unsealed his wings in a small flash of light and sped into a glide toward Silas. "We got her," he gasped as he jogged out of the glide. As he halted near Silas, he sealed his wings and de-materialized the small channeling orb he had used as a weapon a moment earlier. His bright cyan eyes fixed on the two Shinigami and their descent, though he addressed Silas as if the two guardians were the only beings in earshot. As if the shinigami couldn't hear or speak. "That was enough to change the mortality forecast. She's dazed enough to not try again," he said with a pause and a slight head-tilt. "And I guess whoever else was in the area saw us and fled. I think―"

Silas's bow fell from his hand and clattered on the floor. He stood. He stared at the shinigami who had mostly stepped in to slow the girl's fall. He stood. Wordless. Motionless. Expressionless. "Jason..." he murmured. Then he stepped forward, slowly at first.

"Woah, what are you doing," Anders stammered as he reached out for Silas's arm. Silas tore his arm away and broke into a run. He knew this one. It had been so many years since then. And why is he with the shinigami...?!

"Jason!"

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#12
Old 01-11-2019, 07:00 AM

(Sadly this is my last post ;~; I got stuff to do tomorrow, but I'll be on at some point n.n )

Try as he might as he might, he couldn't reach his partner. "Lea!" He voiced again. Lea lazily glanced at him before realizing that she was falling. She forced her wings open, which caused her falling to halt, and she placed a hand on her head. 'What hit me..?' Her thoughts were humbled and she couldn't hardly see straight after getting blasted. Jason sighed out of short relief, even if she hadn't noticed him and opened his wings fully. "It's about time!" He voiced in a tease. However, his wings soon locked and he felt like someone had dropped a weight on him. Slowly, his vision began to blur and his eyes grew heavy. What..was this feeling..?

Lea blinked and glanced at him in time to watch him begin to slump before falling as if gravity had tied a weight around him. She was caught severely off-guard and all she could was stare like a deer in headlights.

As his eyes began to close, his name echoed in his ears. Someone said his name. No, someone yelled his name, and the voice was unfamiliar..

Last edited by Nova_Alchemist; 01-11-2019 at 12:52 PM..

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#13
Old 01-11-2019, 09:37 AM

( Hey do you want to control a guardian for after this scene? I can control a shinigami or something if there's any place they go home to. )

In no less than a flurry of wind and feathers, Anders put Silas in an arm lock. "Silas! Get a hold of yourself!" he barked. "Remember that we're responsible for defending every action we take that puts us in physical contact with shinigami. You'd better keep your hands to yourself or I'll shut your lights out and make sure they ground you when we get back!"

Silas regained half of himself in that moment, frozen by his legal responsibility more so than by his comrade's grip. Anders slowly released his arm lock and Silas remained still in front of the shinigami pair, unable to compose words for either of them. He couldn't take his eyes off of the unconscious shinigami...

"Hey," Anders called rudely to the girl as if she were more than two yards away. "Your friend wakes up in two hours. There's no time to stay and chit-chat so why don't you take him and go before I change my mind?"

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#14
Old 01-11-2019, 04:28 PM

[I can do that ^~^]

Not wasting any more time, Lea flew towards her partner and grabbed his arm before pulling herself towards him and flapping her wings to slow their descent. She landed perfectly on her feet and adjusted her unconscious partner to better support his weight. Jason wasn't exactly a feather. Lea stiffened when she heard a voice, and her attention snapped towards the angel that called to her. Her red and blue eyes narrowed some as he spoke. 'Two hours..? What the hell did they do to him?!' She turned her head to look at Silas.

"I have only a single statement for you, Silas- you called his name. I heard it. If you know him, stay away from him." She warned as she adjusted her hold on Jason once more, before opening her wings again and flying off.

Their boss wasn't going to be happy about this.. She was wounded, and Jason was knocked out. Not to mention nether of them collected a single soul today.

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#15
Old 01-11-2019, 09:39 PM

( Rrrr I thought I checked here when I woke up but I guess I didn't hard-refresh. OTL Sorry this is kind of late in the day. )

Anders crossed his arms when the girl spoke. "You told her your name?" he asked in Silas's direction, but Silas was still. Once the two shinigami left, Anders put a hand on Silas's shoulder. "Come on," he said as the shinigami left. "Let's finish the report," he began. Then he noticed the tears.

"He's mine," Silas whispered.

"What? Silas, what are you talking about―they're shinigami," Anders reminded him. "We don't have time to waste down here. I'm calling headquarters to let them know we can head back soon."

"He was mine all those years ago," Silas continued. His voice shook. "Now he's with them!" he yelled. He looked down and lifted his hand to his forehead. "He was sick when I left..." he choked.

Anders drew in a slow breath and sighed. "So that's it." He closed his eyes and furrowed his brows together in frustration. Moments passed of silence. "Look," he said at last. When he opened his eyes, he squeezed Silas's shoulder and pulled his comrade toward him, face to face. "It's not your fault. This isn't your fault," Anders insisted. "I know this is hard for you," he admitted. "We can't go after them." Silas looked away, but Anders immediately yanked his jaw back. "I need you to help me run this district. I can't do it alone." Silas glared for a moment in defiance. Then, he lowered his gaze and relaxed his stance. Anders let go of Silas's jaw and his shoulder. "You should head back and get some rest. I can give the update to the complex and wrap up the rest of this."

Silas took a step backward. He trusted in Anders to take care of the residents while they returned to the building. He trusted Anders to file the shinigami interaction statements. Silas knew he could add his mirage arrow statement in the morning before it was submitted. He steadied his wings and put on his thin flight goggles in preparation to leave, though his head kept spinning.

"Silas," Anders said before Silas took flight. "I'm sorry."

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ -

When Silas re-gained sense of time he was already beyond the flight deck. He had landed smoothly for the most part, de-materialized his arm guard, made it to clan grounds, let himself into his living quarters, found his way to his room, set his headgear in its place, undone his wristwatch strap, and changed into nightwear. He sat on the left edge of his bed and gazed out the tall, thin window above his left nightstand. The sky and the moon stared back. He could feel his body aching to sleep but his mind was well-wired. So, he settled for some tea.

Quietly, he slipped into the hallway and made his way to the staircase. He descended to second floor lounge: a small area with warm-colored chairs and coffee tables. It was quieter than the first level―and warmer, at this hour. In the past it was a lively place to enjoy a cup of cocoa with friends, though as numbers grew short and Highrose grew stricter there was hardly any time for that. Silas moved past an arrangement of lounge chairs and headed for the tiny cabinet set on the other side of the room. He found a kettle in a cupboard and and filled it with water from a dispenser nearby. The steam from the kettle rose toward the cabinets and deflected toward Silas's face. It soothed him. He imagined most guardians were asleep so he was careful to avoid making too much noise while he prepared his cup of tea, but he couldn't help wonder if the shinigami incident had left anyone else sleepless.

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#16
Old 01-11-2019, 10:19 PM

(No worries! ^~^ I was out running errands most of the day ^^'

Hmm.. Lea and Jason don't really "go home" but if you wanted, you could play a fellow shingami who was sent to check on them or something? O.o)

Lea carried Jason back to their 'safe house', so to speak. A cozy little two bedroom house with a one-person kitchen with marble counters and white white tile, and a decently sized bland living room. She used her foot to kick in the door and staggered some as her feet touched the floor. She took a minute to regain some strength before approaching the long berry colored couch, and all but dropped Jason on top of the cushioning. "What a pain.. You're really heavy you know.." She murmured quietly as she lowered down and gently poked his cheek a couple of times. Her facial expression softened some and she sighed before straightening up and wandering into the kitchen.

As much as she needed to report to the boss, she didn't want to leave alone, and they first had to make up for failing to complete their orders. Lea started to think about the angel and his relation to her partner. Why did he know his name, and why did he nearly neglect his own code, and rush towards him? She leaned against the counter and raised a hand over her forehead, her mind buzzing with questions as well as searching for answers.

She didn't moved from that spot while her gears turned, she didn't even know if Jason had woken up yet like the angel had mentioned before she carried him off. Had it even been two hours yet?

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~° ~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

(Not really sure what angel to play..so imma wing it xD)
Arael

The night was quiet, and most of the guardians were fast asleep by this hour. A young trainee however was far too awake to sleep. Everyone had heard about the incident, but no one had said anything more about it. Arael huffed quietly as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. 'No use..' Silently, the younger of the guardians slipped out of his bed and wandered to the second floor of the building, just to see if anyone else was awake.

He paused when he noticed the light on and quietly hurried into the lounge with a sense of eagerness rising. Arael blinked when he only saw Silas and tilted his head some curiously. "Welcome home." He greeted quietly, since he hadn't seen him earlier due to some 'training'.

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#17
Old 01-12-2019, 12:28 AM

( LOL WING IT. Also okay! We'll go for someone who idolizes Lea :D )

Silas jumped out of the soothing trance of tea at the sound of a familiar voice behind him. He turned and smiled when he realized who it was. "Arael," he spoke through his grin. "You should be asleep at this hour―" he said as he returned to what he was doing. He opened the cabinet below the counter. "I guess I'm not the one who should be taling, huh," he thought aloud. He searched for a moment and then lifted two boxes of tea leaves onto the counter. He proceeded to crack the upper cabinet open as well. Inside were ivory cups of various sizes. "Want some tea?"

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ -

Mars (Marzipan) tapped her boot irritably against the floor. She sat, one leg over the other, in a cloth chair located in the front room of a surprisingly well-built and well-lit tree house. She had helped build it years earlier and now she shared it with her partner and some friends. "They're usually back by now," she grumbled. She and many of the shinigami had been given assignments earlier in the day. She completed hers―and not a soul short―but she often worried about Lea and the other boy she hung out with. It was late and although Mars had heard about the return of her beloved and her peers, she hadn't heard from Lea. "Uck, I hope things went okay. Maybe I can check again..."

She hoisted herself out of her chair, shook her deep plum hair off of her neck, and brushed her clothes down from her dark tank top to her comfortable combat pants. She wrote a quick note and left it on the table next to the door. "Checking on Lea. Will be back by midnight."

After she grabbed her keys and a few other things to store in her pockets, she left home and headed for Lea's. Mars had a difficult time adjusting to shinigami life, and it was everything she could do to pay her wishes forward to the younger shinigami in her assignment group. She didn't visit all the time, but she tried to make a presence every now and again. Not too much to babysit, but enough to seem like a big sister.

"Leeeaaa~!" she called into the safe house. "Leeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

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#18
Old 01-12-2019, 12:52 AM

(xD also, love it! ^~^)

Arael smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "I couldn't sleep.. Too much as happened today." He explained quietly as he approached the older guardian, but kept so e distance between them. He nodded lightly to the offer of tea. "Yes, please." The younger said politely before stretching his arms behind his head. "You okay?" Arael asked hesitantly, not sure if he should bring in today's events or not then he lowered his head. "My wings are sealed, and boss doesn't know if he can reverse it." He said, deciding to change the topic.

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Finally growing annoyed with herself and the lack of answers she had, she kicked a cabinet below the counter. "Okay! I'm gonna go check on him, and forget about what happened today!" She said aloud, and to no one but herself as she pushed off from the marble and trailed off into the living room. "Jae?" She called sweetly. Relieved by a light groan, she went to him and helped him sit up. "Thank the stars! You nearly have me a heart attack!" She voiced. Jason rubbed the back of his head. " Yeah, yeah.. " He murmured.

Lea blinked at the sound of her name and her attention towards the door, only to chuckle. "In here, come on in!" She called to her friend. Jason briefly covered his ringing ears and semi-glared at Lea.

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#19
Old 01-12-2019, 02:22 AM

Silas removed a second cup from the cupboard after Arael responded. He turned to the sink next to the kettle in order to wash and rinse his hands. "Today sure was busy," he mused. He maneuvered a scoop of green tea leaves into a small spherical cage made of metal and then shut the clasp. Once he lowered it by a chain into the first cup he lifted the kettle to pour water over it. There was the steam again..

"You learned how to seal them?" he asked, and then understood the context. "Oh." He stifled a laugh. "You'll figure it out, I'm sure―if boss won't help you first." Silas was old enough to have befriended most of the Highrose members, even those who rarely patrolled anymore and stuck to training. The thought of some of the trainers―his friends―as bosses brought a warm smile to his face. "Be careful while you don't have them, though. I don't want to find out that you went for a dive without any aerial gear. Here," he said as he lifted the tea cage out of the cup and offered it to the younger guardian. "There's sugar in the cabinet on your right if you like. And honey―they say it helps with sleep."

The calm atmosphere and tea reminded him of time he had spent with mortals. With Jason. Silas's brow twitched into the beginning of a frown, so he stopped himself and turned back toward the kettle to prepare a second cup. "Who do you train with these days?"

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Mars had slipped her key copy into the door already and turned it enough to open. Once she heard a permissive response from within, she gave the door a strong kick. "Lea! Lea I've been looking for you for hours where have you been?" she asked. Then she saw Jason. "What happened to you two?" she blurted as she removed her key and closed the door. She hurried over to the two. "Did everything go okay today? You don't look so good―" she started to ramble.

Then she sighed briefly and instead settled for a glomp on Lea. "Aaaagh I'm just glad you're in one piece! I know you two are learning how to do things on your own but if something bad happens you know you can call me! You hear me, Lea? Call me next time!"

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#20
Old 01-12-2019, 03:14 AM

Arael sat quietly, and frowned at the stifled laughter. When Silas offered him the cup of tea, he carefully held it in both hands. "Thanks." He said quietly, setting down before getting up and searching for the honey where the older guardian had mentioned. The younger nodded when Silas advised him to be careful. "I have orders not to leave here until the seal has been reversed." He said quietly, finding the honey after a few minutes and taking the glass bottle back to the table with him, and used a small spoon to measure how much he wanted. One spoonful should be enough, so he only used that much. Mixing the tea afterwards and picking up the cup once more, just to feel it's warmth.

Arael stared into the warm liquid. "Last week it was Solias, and now I'm training under Ghost. The other guardian got called out for a long job. I like Ghost as a mentor though, even if I'm not happy about being 'grounded' for x-amount of time." The younger spoke, taking a sip from his tea. "To be honest.. I don't think I'm cut out to be a guardian. I don't think !like you guys- I don't care about most of the laws that keep us separate from humans and the shinigami. We're supposed to protect and guide the living, but they were alive once too.."

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Jason grimaced some when Mars kicked the door and began to get on Lea's case. He averted his eyes when she questioned there business, then abruptly stood and left the living room, and ventured outside where he stood on the porch.

Lea sighed quietly at his sudden attitude, then glanced at Mars. "Guardians happened. Two of them showed up at the site we had a job for, and nailed us both." She explained quietly, hugging her when she decided to glomp Lea and pulled her down into the couch. "I can't do this anymore Mars. He doesn't listen, and I can't keep up with him. I totally blew it today, and if not for my blindness he wouldn't be in the shape he's in. It's my fault he got hurt..and.. One of the guardians we faced called him by name."

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#21
Old 01-12-2019, 04:26 AM

Silas pitched the old damp tea leaves in a nearby waste bin and steeped a new bundle in the tea cage. He removed the cage when the tea color seemed right for good flavor and descended into a nearby chair with his cup. He was glad, in a strange way, that Arael had been grounded. Under normal circumstances it was punitive to ground a guardian and it often paired with other disciplinary sentences. Even for guardians in good standing with the clan, an injury that lead to a grounding sentence was detrimental to their ability to protect the mortals in a district. He held the cup against his lips and each swallow of smooth warmth loosened his muscles and relaxed his mind.

Guardians and mortals, Silas thought briefly. Really, they were foot soldiers and children―young, like Arael. Two different trainers, he recounted after Arael spoke. Silas lifted his gaze when the tone shifted.

They were alive once.

He choked, and when he sat forward to put the cup down and catch his breath the abruptness of it all spilled even more tea. Silas jumped out of the seat and snatched a nearby roll of paper towels. He tore off and folded one piece under the cup on the coffee table, pressed another folded piece into the couch, and pressed his foot into a folded piece on the carpet. He wanted to say something about how convenient it was that he hadn't used any sugar. He wanted to joke about how clumsy it was of him to make such a mess at this hour. But all he could do was stand as tensely as he had been an hour earlier. Nothing came out except tears.

They were alive once.

He remained silent for a moment. And then another. "Someone I used to guard," he finally managed. He spoke slowly to keep his voice from cracking as best as he could. "Became a shinigami. I didn't find out until today―when I shot him down with an arrow."

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Mars ceased to speak when she saw Jason begin to move. She didn't bother to follow or see where he went, and she returned her attention to Lea when the girl mentioned the guardians. "That sounds like a rough day," she started to say. "No, girl, those guys get involved all the time. It's nothing you need to feel at fault for." She paused for a moment and looked away to think. "It's odd that any guardian would know any of our names, though... Especially Jason, since he's so new. But I guess they could know how keep tabs on us? Like how we keep track of their higher-ups to avoid them. That's why we move you guys around so much, to try and keep you out of their major policing areas. Although some of them like Solias, Cecilia, and Anders just show up everywhere so it's hard to figure out how to avoid them with our own..."

She stopped herself mid-ramble and looked to Lea again with another re-assuring pat. "Seriously, don't worry about it. Nevra will be mad at the guardians like always and it will seem like she's mad at you or myself but she'll understand. Trust me. Also, are you sure they didn't overhear you using Jason's name? That might be how they got it."

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#22
Old 01-12-2019, 05:08 AM

(Neh, last post for the night~ <3)

Arael sat quietly and slowly sipped from his tea, just to open them once more when Silas had suddenly jumped up to clean some spilt tea. He hadn't noticed him choke seconds earlier. Was it something he said? He wondered as he lowered his eyes back down to the liquid within his cup. In fear of making matters worse, he just sat quietly.

He lifted his gaze when the older finally spoke, and diabetes went wide. 'Open mouth, insert foot. Way to go dummy!' His thoughts scorned bitterly. Arael lowered his eyes once more, unable to think of a single word to say to the older. After a moment of sitting in silence, he remembered an old legend that his first mentor told him about, but he couldn't remember all the details. Totally random, but maybe he could tell Silas about it in the future. He now, the younger sighed quietly and set his cup of tea down, slid down from the chair and wrapped his arms around Silas where he could reach.

"Forgive me.. I don't know what I was thinking.."

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Lea groaned some at her words and glanced at her with a semi-bored expression when Mars began to ramble agsin, and shook her head. "Not a chance, I don't usually address him by his name when we're out on jobs or what have you. Silas.. When he said it, he actually sounded scared for him, after shooting him with a sleep arrow. I mean- I've never seen a guardian ignore their partner to help one of our kind." She explained with an uneasy voice. Lea leaned against Mars and sighed when she changed topics on her, again.

"Yeah, you're probably right." She agreed with a chuckle. "I wish I could just forget all about what happened earlier though." She murmured.

Jason soon came back inside after getting some air and calming down a bit. He waved to Mars and Lea before disappearing into one of the bedrooms and sat down on the bed.

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#23
Old 01-12-2019, 10:40 AM

Silas set down the paper towel on the chair and accepted Arael's hug. "It's okay," he said. He let go and gathered up the damp towels. The chairs would dry soon enough, and with so little water there was no risk of mold. It was good enough.

"There you are," came a voice from behind. After Silas dropped the wet paper into the waste bin he glanced toward it. It was Anders, half out of breath and still in his flight gear with his thin grey goggles resting atop a windy swoop of cyan hair. "You forgot to file a landing report so I thought you never made it back." He gave the older guardian a stern look while Silas flushed and looked away. Then Anders turned toward the younger guardian. "Arael―aren't you trainees supposed to be asleep by now? Silas I thought you were heading to sleep, too."

"I tried." Silas huffed. "I thought tea might help. Arael was awake too so I made him some." Silas turned toward Anders fully, one box of black tea leaves in his left hand and one box of green tea in his right. "Would you like any?" he offered.

In the instant that Anders saw Silas's tear-stained face in clearer light his sternness softened. "Ah, well," Anders stammered. He hoped to avoid further offense, though he would not stray from his intent on getting the guardians to sleep before the sun rose. Time was so short in Highrose and on no watch of his would he risk health over a cup of tea. "Perhaps we can re-schedule for tomorrow evening when the sun is still up? Arael would be welcome to join. I..." he trailed off before carefully, and slowly, un-scattering his thoughts. "Maybe you two spoke of this already, but.. Silas, if you'd like to talk then tomorrow during the day is better than this hour at night. Arael, if you have training tomorrow then I can re-schedule it for you. What do you say?"

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Mars's expression darkened. "Silas," she murmured aloud. "Isn't that Cecil... No, Anders's pet? Or whatever they call each other. Siblings. Something. And you said he knew Jason's name and―" She caught her tongue. Could they be using our recruits like trojan horses? she wondered. It didn't seem plausible. "And he abandoned his policing partner?"

She rubbed her chin. It didn't make much sense, which scared her. Either things were beyond her control or completely random. It was bad enough to battle a better swordsman, but it was just as bad or worse to face a rogue or novice who could potentially outsmart her by pure chance. She shuddered, partly from the cool night and partly out of fear. "Wait, forget about the events..? Lea, why would you want to do that? What did that boy Silas do to you?! Hoh.." she spoke as her blood boiled at the thought. "I'll kill him and his buddies if so. And I don't care what Nevra says―"

Mars caught sight of Jason out of the corner of her eye. Maybe I should ask him about the guardian who said his name... she wondered for a moment. "Lea," she continued, her voice low and hushed once Jason had turned a corner into the bedroom. "How's he taking this? I can go and ask him but he doesn't talk to me like you do. And if he's changing I am definitely not going in there right now."

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#24
Old 01-12-2019, 03:29 PM

Arael slowly pulled back from the hug and lowered his head some. He still felt pretty bad about opening his big mouth. If he had to chose someone he never wanted to hurt, it had to be the guardian standing before him now. The younger guardian jumped some when a voice suddenly sounded from behind them, and that's where his attention turned to. 'Anders?' He listened quietly and tilted his head. 'So that's what happened, he must've been scouting the whole city for him..' He semi frowned when the secondary guardian mentioned him needing to be in bed and went to sit back down so he could finish his tea. He trusted Silas, but not so much the other.

He carefully picked up his cup and sipped from it as Silas explained to Anders that neither of them could sleep, so they were having tea. He did however lift his head at the invitation to join the two for tea tomorrow evening, and Anders even offered to re-schedule his training, if he had any. "I'm free tomorrow- my training has been postponed until further notice. They changed mentors on me." He explained shortly, leaving the part about his wings untold.

"I'd be honored to join the two of you."

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Lea nodded lightly when Mars spoke and averted her red and blue eyes. "That's right." She sat quietly as Mars pretty much repeated what she had just told her, like she was confirming it. Lea nodded again and glanced at her friend. when she noticed her rubbing her chin. She was at a loss as well, it seemed. Lea brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Because I'm scared.. I'm scared for Jason and the possibility of that guardian knowing him." She spoke quietly.

"Jason and I got separated on the way to our destination, and while I was searching for him I saw Silas firing an arrow at him. Of course, I engaged the guardian and caught him off guard. The next thing I knew, Jason had crashed into some glass and that is when those bratty guardians got the upper hand. Anders was hiding out somewhere so I didn't see him readying that stupid light ray of his, I was too damn focused on getting to Jason." She explained to Mars what had happened on their job, having to quiet her voice to keep it steady. "Jason was shot down because I had gotten hit.. By the time I came out my daze, he was already knocked out and Silas had called out to him, completely blowing Anders off. I managed to get a hold of Jason and landed safely on the ground. When I landed though.. Anders addressed me, he told me Jason would wake in a couple of hours and to take him home "before he changed his mind"- I can't stand knowing we lost to them like that.."

She shook her head when Mars mentioned going and talking to him and lifted her head. "Absolutely not, there's no telling if he even remembers hearing his name. I'm not even sure he heard it. I think it's better if we just keep this between us for now.. Don't even tell Nerva- I'll deal with her myself. Please?"

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#25
Old 01-12-2019, 07:30 PM

"Evening works for me," Silas chimed once Arael had responded.

"Good, then let's plan for four o'clock," Anders cheered. "Well. I'm off to get ready for bed but I'll check back here in a few minutes. If I see either of you two here we'll be on worse terms." After a quick spin on his heels he marched out of the hallway and down the stairs.

A moment passed and Silas rinsed his cup in the sink to begin to tidy up. "I don't think anyone is cut out to be a guardian," he said over the water. "We used to have more time to get to know each other and our mortals, but..."

He paused to put the cup in its place before he moved to the boxes of tea. "Even then, it's a tall order to guard someone with your life, isn't it? We paint the role with so many rules but in essence it's about having a heart to protect others. The rest mostly comes with time. And some of it doesn't, and that's okay, too―I can wash that for you when you're done if you'd like." He turned toward Arael.

"I, ah.. I'm sorry if I scared you earlier," he added. "Thanks for keeping me company with tea."

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Mars listened intently and gave Lea a pat when the girl mentioned her fear. "Don't worry, they're probably just keeping tabs on our recruits to try and get at us that way," she insisted. She stopped herself from speaking over Lea once the girl began again. She listened intently.

"Aaaahh...." she thought aloud. "Yeah, I won't say a thing to Jason. That's...." she started again before she trailed off at the end. She didn't want to go on about Anders. It was enough to tell the new recruits that certain guardians were more troublesome than others, but not how. The how was a confidential matter that they would learn in time if they kept up on their assignments. Mars assumed Nevra would explain as much to Lea and possibly require that she not tell the world about the light ray.

"I wouldn't have put you two in that area if it were me in charge," Mars admitted. "Nevra might have mixed up the districts but some guardians move around so she probably just didn't realize that it would end up like this. I'll let you approach Nevra about it―just make sure to tell her everything you told me or she'll come after me for the rest, hahah." Even if Nevra didn't explain much at times, Mars was confident that it wouldn't go over too badly as long as Lea told the truth. That woman was the type to always have a plan.

Mars lifted herself out of the couch and turned to face Lea. "It's getting kind of late so I should head back soon. Do you―or Jason―need anything before I go? You're always welcome to come over if you ever feel unsafe here. There's a crowd of us in the House but it's insulated and out of the way. And you'd be with family."

 



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