Dimitri was still quietly humming to the girl. He did notice the others but did not care. He was suddenly extremely concerned for her. Why? He thought to himself, Why am I so concerned?
He didn't rememeber this girl, heck when he looked at her clothes they looked newly washed but were in a style that wasn't familiar to him. Who is this girl? Why do I feel like she's someone important to our current cuase? Where did she come from? Why is she here? UGH.. too many questions!

Tali sighed from her seat on top of the rather large horse, the animal being roughly ten times the small girl's body mass. It was raining, and that always put her in a foul mood due to her nature as a Wisp. From her perch, however, she could see the flickering candlelight of the Resistance camp. Stretched out behind her were two hundred armed men, ready to attack and vanquish the Resistance at her command. "My Lady," a man on the nearby horse, Josiah, began. "Begin when you are ready. We'll march down to finish them off at your signal."

Tali nodded weakly in response before beginning her gruesome work. The rain that had been splattering down around her suddenly began to evaporate before it ever got to the ground. The moisture on the ground soon followed suit. The air in front of the king's force warped as Tali heated it to the burning point. Suddenly, the hydrogen in the air burst into flames, the oxygen feeding the fire. This happened several times in a line in front of the force, leaving about six or seven fireballs to float in the air. By this time, the camp had begun their alarm, waking all the soldiers and camp followers up to flee.

But it was too late. With one mental push, the fireballs were flung down to the camp where they collided with tents and people. The screams of the dying made Tali sick to her stomach, and she threw up. She didn't have time to turn her head, so, unfortunately, it covered the front of her shirt and trousers. In a second, the smell of burning flesh met her nostrils, and she threw up again with the same results. Josiah and the soldiers were still looking to Tali for the signal, quite unconcerned that she threw up twice. "No," Tali said weakly, trying to settle her sick stomach. "Let them go. They aren't hurting anyone. And it will help spread fear throughout the Resistance." With that, she turned her horse around, though it wasn't happy at being thrown up on, and began moving back up the road, the soldiers following hesitantly.

About a mile in, however, they were attacked from the bushes. Josiah yelled "Ambush!" but it was too late for the majority of the men. He turned around, fending off several opponents, only to get an arrow to the throat. He died in seconds. Tali looked around in confusion; too stunned to fight back with her fire. Shortly after everyone had been killed, Tali was knocked off of her horse and to the ground. The impact blew the air right out of her lungs. Fear filled her. Thoughts of herself dying filled her mind. A man, a general by the looks of it, grabbed her, hauled her to her feet and threw a fireproof bag over her head before tightening it and tying her hands in front of her.

((I'll edit when I get back. I'm out of time now. :sweat:))

((Okay, here's the continuation. :) I'm sorry it's so long; the ideas just kept flowing. :sweat:))

"There. Now you won't be blasting us to bits," the man declared in a gruff voice. "Hine, get to Kael and tell him we got her. He should understand. We'll be along shortly. Now go!" Hine saluted before teleporting away to the stabling area, where he prepared a horse. He hopped into the saddle and in a few steps had teleported further. He would keep doing that until he got back to Kael and made his report. The man turned back to look at the small girl in front of him. "I'm Corporal Phlanders," the man said brusquely. "And I'm sure you know that this is a Resistance force, traitor." The last word was spat with disgust; the absolute worst thing a Gifted individual could do was willingly work for the king.

Tali could feel the man yank on the rope around her wrists and obediently followed, too timid to speak up. After a minute or two of walking, she could hear the sounds of a horse stable. She could feel the rope elevate on the man's side, and from that concluded that he had gotten on a horse, though she didn't know how she was going to. Voicing her concern, she asked, "Corporal? How am I supposed to get on the horse?"

"Oh, you don't," the man replied, chuckling maliciously. "You might want to run; you're too light to hinder this horse at all. Yah!" The last part was directed at the horse, but Tali immediately started running to attempt to keep from tripping. Fortunately, the horse had to slow down after about two minutes, but Tali was still forced to keep a vigorous pace with the horses' jog. Pretty soon, she was running out of breath, and she couldn't get enough air to her tiny lungs anymore.

"Sir," a young voice said suddenly, seeming to come from the other side of the Corporal. "Can she breathe with that thing on?"

"Who cares, Private?" the Corporal replied harshly.

"Kael will, sir," the young soldier replied. "You heard his order. She's to be taken alive. It wouldn't do for her to suffocate on the way."

"Very well then. Take it off. But if she tries anything funny..." the gruff Corporal replied, leaving the threat hang in the air. He signaled for a halt and the young private jumped off the horse before helping Tali, who had collapsed at the break, get the bag off of her head. She squinted in as the rain spattered against her face, though it was dying off, and inhaled great, deep breaths through her mouth. "Get her on the horse. There's no way we'll make it back today if she keeps running." The young man complied again, picking Tali up and placing her on the great brown gelding like he would a kindergartener. Tali blushed slightly at his help, but was glad nevertheless. She didn't think her legs could support her weight.

As the Corporal got the line moving again, Tali observed her surroundings closely. She wouldn't be able to tell where she was without a landmark though, and so far all she could see was forest. Instead of focusing on where she was, she focused more on who was around her. The Corporal sat in front of her on the gelding, so she couldn't see his face, but his hair was peppered with black in a sea of gray from what she could see. He wore his armor, which, though it was a little dented and rusting, still seemed in good condition for the rebel forces. The private to her left was another matter altogether, however. He had light brown hair in the close-cropped style most soldiers wore, and, though his armor was considerably banged up, he wore it proudly. He looked at her and smiled, bright blue eyes glittering with friendliness. Without really noticing, Tali slowly grew more and more tired so that, by the time the clouds had started to part, she was fast asleep against the Corporal's back.

By the time evening had set in, the convoy had arrived, though Tali remained soundly asleep, just like most children her size would. She awoke to her body hitting the ground rather hard, having obviously been thrown off the horse. Groaning, she rose at the Corporal's command and followed him to a small square building. She was led inside the building and into a small section of the room. Almost immediately she realized that it was a prison cell and looked back just in time for the Corporal to close the door and lock it. Immediately, Tali burned the rope off of her hands and sat down on the bed. "Don't bother trying anything, girl. We've got thirteen Fireworkers right outside your door. Just wait here while I get Kael, who can decide what to do with you," the Corporal said snidely as he left to go get Kael. Tali was scared for her life; the Resistance didn't exactly like her after all. But this fear was over-rided by a sense of elation at being free of the king. All she had to do was convince the Resistance that she was on their side, and she'd be free!

((From here, it's the Corporal's point of view.))

Corporal Planders left the cell, looking rather disgusted at having to deal with the traitor. As he emerged into the dying sunlight, he asked a passerby, "Have you seen Kael anywhere?"

"Yes, Corporal," the youth replied. "He was last seen up around the caverns, sir."

"Thank you, lad," said Corporal Planders as he traveled to the caverns. He looked around them for an entrance before finding the crack in the wall. He knocked and called out, "Kael!? We have the fire-child. You know, the one the king has been using against us. We need you to come and interrogate her or pass a sentence or something." After he finished his decree, he stood at attention while waiting for Kael to respond and come with him. An unearthly scream was coming from inside, but Phlanders figured that it wasn't his business and didn't bother entering. It would have been against protocol anyway; he didn't have permission to enter from his commanding officer.

Zrech, as if in reply to Wyvern's suggestion, launched himself across the room. His hands took the girl's wrists and pinned them, gently enough that he wouldn't bruise the seemingly fragile girl, but strong enough that she wouldn't continue to thrash about and possibly hurt herself.

All of it was unnecessary, almost the instant Zrech touched her, the girl calmed. All panic seemed to slip away, leaving the girl to sleep peacefully once again.


Panic flooded her, she was trapped. It was dark, and cramped, and she couldn't get out. And she fought, fought with everything she had.

And then ... something familiar seemed to wash over her. A familiar presence, a mind, or soul that seemed to react to hers and sooth her until all panic was gone. Slowly, she relaxed, allowing her soul to be dragged back to where it belonged. Because, now that she was calm, she knew what was happening.

She didn't fight it.

Dimitri fell over just before the man jumped at the girl and Planders came in. Out of all the people in camp the one he could least stand was Planders. He was crude and mean. He never gave mercy to people who broke the Resistance's non existent "protocol."

Dimitri had of course heard about the "fire-child." "It's ironic that we condemn anyone who works for the king with powers and then go and use the same powers to kill them. No one thinks that maybe they didn't have a choice in the matter, like all of us. We got out, but so many of the others couldn't. That doesn't make them evil. So many don't have a choice." He said mainly to himself, but he was sure Zrech could hear him.

Suddenly, the screaming stopped. Melora looked over, surprised. The new guy had successfully calmed the struggling girl on the bed.

"Um, Zrech was it? Thanks," Melora said. She never had been good with names, and she tended to stay away from others in the resistance. But she remembered hearing his named once, which is why she said it. "I got a little worried for a while, this has never happened to me before, and she suddenly started screaming..." Melora trailed off after that. She realized Corporal Planders had come in. Even she knew about him and his strict ways.What would he say about this?

"Wow that was pretty good. How did you do that?" Alatheia wondered if he had psychic powers. "Can I examine her, she might have an injury that-" She stopped as she saw the corporal in the corner of her eye. He would probably insist on seeing the girl first, even though healers should be given priority. She couldn't argue with chain of command. She'd see to the girl once he had left, or at least as soon as he was busy with something else. Hopefully the girl could wait.

Zrech pulled away from the girl cautiously, a light frown on his lips. "I don't know ..." he answered Alatheia. "I just ... touched her, nothing else. "You should examine her," he said, turning to look at the healer.

He completely ignored the corporal. He didn't like the man, never had, and probably never would. He just didn't understand that ...

That what? he wondered, but the sliver of thought had vanished, and he had to shake his head to focus back on his surroundings.

((OOC: ANNOUNCEMENT: ALphaWesternWolf has dropped out of the RP ... she may join in later ... and she may not. For now, her character Xavier, is not longer part of the rp))

"Okay." Alatheia pushed past the others and leaned down next to the girl. She lay her hands on her and got into that meditative mode she called 'heal sight'. It allowed her to assess the damage in a person and see what needs to be healed. She carefully went over her bones, looked in her blood for infections or abnormalities, checked her internal organs and then went over the rest of her body, checking for any type of damage. "She seems fine. I don't know why she was put in that state, but it wasn't for a medical reason. Her muscles are a little atrophied, but not even as much as you'd expect for not being able to move around for this long. She should even be able to walk some, although I don't think she should go to far or too fast at first."

Wyvern sighed in relief when the girl stopped thrashing, and was about to say something when she heard Corporal Planders call out. She froze, looking towards the entrance of the little cavern to see if he would come in. It always seemed to her like he didn't like Fireworkers, so she was always wary around him. He said samething about a "fire-child", and she got curious. She left the cage silently, keeping her head down as she walked past the Corporal.

Making her way through the caves and outside, heading over to the prison building, and inside. If this was the fire-child she had heard about, then they wouldn't mind another Fireworker inside for safety precautions. Once she got outside the cell that obviously held the girl, she looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to her, and looked inside. The girl looked young, no older than 6, but Wyvern knew that appearances could be deceiving.

Tali looked up from her knees when she heard the prison door open. Shortly afterwards, she saw a figure come to stand at the cell door and look inside. Unlike Phlanders, she didn't look malicious, just curious. "Hi!" Tali chirped, much more cheerful than would be expected. "Can I help you?" Tali was currently working on warming the cell up with her manipulation of heat, as the guards would just extinguish any fire she created. She had taken off her rain-soaked clothing and was currently trying to warm them on the floor, but for now, she was dressed in simple small-clothes. The top was essentially a baggy tank-top and the bottom were baggy boxer shorts. The king didn't really care if she had clothes that fit or not. Heck, he probably wouldn't care if she didn't have clothes. Her wings were visible, though all that could be seen was the outline and shimmer of heat. They were folded up against her back, making them rather hard to see, but her tail, really just like a phoenix's tail, was wrapped around her waist. The tail was fully visible, but it wasn't on fire; it was just the gold and scarlet feathers.

Phoebe woke up with a frown. All she could remember was her parents saying she had to go somewere. She cried as she thought about her family. She wondered if they were safe. She sat up and looked around her. She seemed to be in a small bed. She frowned. There was some clothes laid out and it was then she noticed she did not have any on. She slipped on the clothes and then stood up looking around her. There was a door an she opened it peering out into the hallway. She did not see anyone in the near vicinity. She frowned. Not sure of what was really going on or what she should do Phoebe just stood in the middle of the hallway.There had to be a way to figure out what was going on here. Perhaps someone would walk by her.

Kael was standing there taking it all in. It was not like he could do anything about the screaming girl seeing as he already used his powers to see her future and that did not seem to work out so well.

The moment Alatheia walked in Kael recognized her as being one of the healers. Often after he used his sight abilities Kael would be checked by one of the healers to make sure he did not sustain any injuries which on occasion he did. Sometimes these sessions were even had to restore him to normal capacity faster so that he could use his power again quickly without being tired from fatigue.

Wyvern was a hard name to place on the next girl that walked in. He listened carefully as she spoke and was able to recall her name. Once he heard an introduction once it took a long time for him to completely forget a person. Kael rolled his sore shoulders and stepped outside to talk to the Corporal face to face.

His attention snapped into shape when Kael suddenly heard his name. Corporal Planders had a very recognizable voice and turning towards the entrance he confirmed his voice placement. Unlike some he held more respect for Corporal Planders. Kael knew a good deal of battle strategy and how hard it was to lead large groups of people. He might not be the head man but Kael respected anyone with rank.

"I will take a look at her but I need some healing or rest sir.", Kael stated with a calm and firm voice, "Also you should know that we found a girl in here sir. It seems she has been in a sleep like state for a very long time. When I attempted to look into the time surrounding her all I received were colors and feelings. The attempt took more out of me than I expected. She has a very complicated future and I suggest that we talk to her sir."

"I will get men up here to carry her to the infirmary immediately, sir," Phlanders responded. "But in all honesty, I think you should check out the fire-child. We currently have thirteen Fireworkers on guard duty, but I don't think it's a good idea to keep them there much longer. If you could pass judgement or an order, it'd be quite a good thing." Using his telepathic powers, Phlanders had sent out a command to the Levitation corps to send four men out to the caverns so they could get the girl to the infirmary.

Wyvern looked startled that the young girl seemed so cheerful. Normally any other prisoners were angry or depressed, the few times she had seen any. "Uh, hi," she said, hesitant to do anything that could get her in trouble. Heck, she wasn't even supposed to be here right now. She rubbed her arms through her coat sleeves, noticing how cold it was, and feeling trace amounts of heat, as if the girl was trying to warm the room. She could see clothes on the ground that looked sopping wet. The girl couldn't be comfortable in the clothes she was wearing; they looked at least 4 sized too big! Biting her lip, Wyvern made a split-second decission, and stipped off her coat, holding it out to the girl. She hadn't been out in the rain, so she would be fine. "Here, you can't be too warm in here." She looked to the side, a bit embarrased by what she was doing. She knew she would get in so much trouble, but she couldn't just leave the poor girl to suffer.

"Huh?" Tali questioned when the girl made to take off her coat. "Oh, no I don't need anything to keep me warm. But it might help me dry up, so thanks!" Tali hurriedly slipped the large coat on, pretty much disappearing into its depth. She also couldn't help but notice the other girl's hesitance. Probably because she's taking a risk helping me, she thought sourly.

"So, what's your name, Miss?" Tali asked, trying to ease the other girl. "Do you have a Gift? I'm a Fireworker and a Wisp. I'm actually the most powerful Fireworker in the world because of that, or so the King says. Do you know him? He's not very nice; he gave me all these scars with his big ornate sword." As Tali finished her rapid-fire statements and questions, she opened the coat and lifted her loose purple tank-top to reveal a motley assortment of scars and a couple of recent bruises.

Dimitri got up and went back to his tent. He had nothing to say and purposely pushed passed Planders as he passed. He really didn't like the man and didn't care if he was yelled at by him.
As he walked toward his tent one of his friends, a water-worker, threw an iceball at him. this immediately made him feel like joking around. He teleported and jumped on the back of the his friend, who began to wrestle him. They rolled around for some time just acting like a couple of kids. This is why Dimitri fought. He wanted to be able to see children, gifted and non-gifted alike, playing games and wrestling with eachother. The boy he was currently messing with was only about 12 or 13 and the Resistence only used children this young for protecting the camp. He never wanted him or the others to ever have to see a real war zone. He stopped fighting the kid and returned to his tent. He looked at the scattered bits of metal that he was using to build his own set of armor. He was once a blacksmith apprentice and knew the craft, although he never got to the point of crafting weapons, although he was getting there. He had finished the chest plate, which ended up looking like a malted mix of metals, mainly because he had to use scraps of metals and they weren't always the same kind. It would take too long to do that and make armor out of it.

Silently, Zrech gazed at the silently sleeping girl and shook his head. His time would be better spent elsewhere. He could always check up on her later.

"I'll come with you," Zrech told Kael. "It might help to have a Reader* around. That way, at least, you'll know if she's telling the truth."

((OOC: ANNOUNCEMENT, PLEASE READ: A gift has been added to the list of gifts, please read it because it can come important to the story later.

As Phoebe wandered down the hallway she tried to figure out what she was supposed to be doing. Her memory was slowly coming back. Gift......prisonment...............training It was all a blur. Someone had to know what was going on. Where was everyone? She continued to walk down the hall. Someone had to help her eventually she was sure.

Kael turned and nodded to Zrech, "Yes it would be a good idea to have you there. I'll ask her some of the questions which you can confirm the honesty of her responses. Then I will dip into her possible destiny to see what it may hold."

"Alatheia", Kael said to catch her attention, "Do not allow me to stop your work. But once you are done examining her if you have the strength I would like you to meet me where we keep the prisoners. I am still fatigued from my last vision and would appreciate your abilities."

He smiled to the group before signaling to Zrech that it was time to go. Kael lead the way to where the prison building. Two guards held the entrance but at Kael's appearance stepped to the side with a salute allowing them to pass freely. Inside he saw all of the fire benders that Phlanders was referring to earlier. Out of their midsts he picked out Wyvern who appeared to be looking into the cell.

Kael approached silently to hear the prisoner say something about a sword. This one sounded very young. Instead of interrupting the conversation Kael gave a non-verbal hold signal to Zrech. He wanted to hear and see what Wyvern would do next. It was not safe to be so friendly with the enemy but Kael was not without kindness to those he considered foes.

Wyvern, a bit overwhelmed by all the questions, only really registered the last thing the girl said, and saw the multitude of scars. "Oh, goddess," she whispered, dropping to her knees, reaching her hand out before realizing what she was doing, and pulling it back to her chest. "Why would he do that to you? Aren't you his most prised weapon? Wouldn't he want to keep you in good health?" She couldn't help but feel empathy for this girl. She looked no older than six, but Wyvern knew she must be older. Rumors of the fire-child had been around since before she joined the resistance.

While examining the marks, she noticed that the bruises looked fresh. "Are those from Corporal Phlanders, or something else?" She didn't know if she wanted to know the answer, but she knew she should make sure the girl was ok. The prisoners weren't always treated the greatest, and even if this girl was older than she looked, her body was still young and would probably get sick easier than most. Adding injuries to that wouldn't help.

Zrech stopped beside Kael, silently watching the two from beside him.

As soon as the two had left, Talana's eyes slid open and she gazed at the ceiling of her cavern. For a moment, all she could do was blink, her mind unable to quite understand what was going on. She tried to move, but everything felt stiff and sore, and a pained groan left her lips. Unfortunately, that sent her into a coughing fit as her lung and throat had not worked for quite some time.

Somehow, she managed to get herself onto her side and curled into a fetal position.


Rounding the corner, a sentry, froze a moment, before lowering his gun at the strange woman. "Who are you," he demanded, warily.

((OOC: Talitha, that's you he's pointing a gun at))

"Huh? Oh, he did it to keep me in line. He really didn't like it when I let some of your fighters go," Tali explained, realizing what the girl meant. "The bruises are from when he didn't have his sword at hand. Except for this one. Mr. Phlanders gave that one to me." She said this, pointing to a bruise located right at her hip, pretty much over her bladder. It was pretty sick-looking, having already turned a grotesque shade of purple, blue, and yellow. Tali pulled the coat back around her to speed up the drying process and try to calm the girl down. She seemed to get excited easily.

Suddenly, Tali became aware of two other heat sources she didn't recognize. "Who's there?" she called out, half-afraid that she'd gotten the girl in trouble by talking to her. Quickly, she stripped off the coat and slipped it back between the bars, hoping they wouldn't have seen her. She was left in her mint-green, baggy tank-top undershirt and pink boxer shorts again, still sopping wet, but a little drier. "What do you want?"

He watched the horrified reactions of Wyvern in silence. From what she was saying it was easy to gather that she was looking at scars of a sort. The prisoner was getting beaten by someone who might consider them a very useful weapon. Mistreatment of the gifted, when they were used by the king's army, was common place. This is why many of them joined the resistance after 'capture'.

The fire-child was someone to be careful with however. Kael had witnessed her in battle first hand and it was not a pretty sight. He was one of the people carrying the most up to date information on her seeing as most prisoners captured by this unit spoke to him after a while in their cell. He would have listened there quite for as long as he was not noticed, it just turned out that Kael was noticed much faster than he expected.

Kael stepped up to speak after asked what they wanted, "Just to ask some questions. You can hand her the coat back Wyvern, if you wish. Zrech can you confirm that the story behind the injuries are true."

He did not wait for Zrech's confirmation or not, expecting to get some sort of nod as an answer instead, "My name is Kael. Like I said earlier all I want to do is talk with you. So what is your name?", he asked with a small smile, "You're actual name."

Even as Kael continued, Zrech nodded, confirming it. His shields were already down and picking up ever stray thought.





((OOC: An OOC board can be found here))