Ani pulled her blade from the sheath it hung at by her waist. The blade itself was green and had markings all down the front and back of the blade, engraved. She looked at it, it was slightly glowing green, the poison within. "One moment.." She said to him. The hilt glittered with rubies and pearls. The sword was made by the spirit of the earth, it truly was something old. At the bottom of the hilt, not immediately visible to one who wasnt looking for it, there was a green ruby, it was swirling mystifying in its glass confinement. Ani rubbed the green ruby with her thumb a specific circular crossing was done swiftly, something mumbled from her lips that was not her own voice and the green turned to white, clear. The glowing from the blade was gone and all that remained was a green bladed sword. She handed it by hilt to Ari, "Here you go." She said nodding him on to do his blunting.

"Wow, nice." Ari whistled as he took the blade from Ani, impressed as he first inspected the craftmanship of the weapon. It was truly a masterpiece, even without the pearls and rubies. Crafted by a spirit... What can I say? I just hope that my little knife doesn't shatter under attack. He began the spell anew and let the spark come into life between his two fingers, and ran it up and down the edges twice.

"Here," he said as he finished and handed the sword back to Ari, hilt first. And he promptly began stretching, moving his arms about while he stared at his bow. He didn't want to look a fool in front of all of the others, yet it would be better to start experienment right away, wouldn't it?

Ani smiled her, "Thank you." She said.
She took back the sword and shook out her right arm with the sword. Loosely holding the hilt before gripping it tightly, getting a feel for all the right placed her fingers went. She felt it as an extension of her arm and that was when she knew she was ready. She took her battle stance, her feet apart and to the side, with the tip of the sword digging into the dirt ground. "Ready?" She asked looking up at Ari.

Shan tried not to make any sort of noise at the sight of the scars. They were awful. She was glad Yuki wasn't looking anymore. Realizing she might have stayed quite for a bit too long, she said,"Of course. It wouldn't feel fair otherwise." Pausing for a moment, she finally asked, "Do you need help?"

[[guess who I'm drawing? 8D

EDIT: I'm done for now owo

CLICK]]

[[Oooh, that's a lot different from the original version... at least, it is in my head. Haha.
Dang it, I don't know why I brought this upon myself... I suck at fighting posts lol.]]

Ari thought for a moment as he stretched his arms out one more time. He gripped the hilt of his dagger tightly with his right hand, and the bow his left. Thump, thump. He could feel, already, adrenaline pumping through his veins as thoughts of battle flew in a frenzy past his mind. "Go easy on me?" He asked with a half-smile. Was he joking? "Ladies first."

"Um... what now?" he asked, looking at the assortment of clothing still waiting to be used. He was starting now to be aware that this was some sort of taboo ritual, changing clothes... "Maybe, just tell me what and where, I can do it..." he said hurriedly.

((Better speed this up to a point I can leave it, I leave for Europe on Wednesday morning... OMG PRETTY ARTS!!! Now I want to draw some more >_>))

[[Yeah, it's pretty different, but the colors will be pretty similar >w<

LOL You can do it Fai! (I suck at fight scenes too but there's going to be plenty in here 8D;

OMG Europe *_*]]

Shan helped Phineas out until he was fully dressed. Having to look at the scarring on his body was difficult for her, but she managed not to stare too fixedly. She stepped back to survey the newly-dressed young dragon and smiled. "You look very good," she said, glad she had chosen the right clothing.

Yuki turned around to take a look for himself. "He really does," he agreed.

Phineas preened a little, then pulled uncomfortably at the collar. He'd have to get used to tighter fitting clothes after all that time wearing barely anything. He flexed his fingers around the fingerless gauntlets, which were made to protect his palms while walking and leaving his fingers free for use. "Let us show the others!" He exclaimed. He bounced off the bed in excitement, tumbling deftly into a "standing" position. The clothing shifted with him and allowed him free movement. It was perfect. He grinned up at Shan and Yuki, pleased.

"That's a good idea," said Shan, walking over to Phineas. "But lets not get too close to Ani and Ari just yet. I think They're sparring at the moment. Getting to close could cause unnecessary injuries, even with blunted blades." She took the keys for the rooms. "But as long as we don't run into you-know-who, it will all be fine." She stepped out the door, along with Yuki. "She is extremely....queer."

Phineas followed, enjoying the swishing sounds of fresh cloth on cloth. At the head of the stairs he paused, puzzling out how to handle the descent. He chose to slide down one step at a time, gingerly trying not to get his new pants dirty.

Shan watched Phineas, interested in what he would do to get down. It was good to know he would be taking care of his clothing now that it was new. She followed him closely, thinking about sparring in the meantime.

Phineas reached the bottom step and dusted himself off before standing. He peered around, looking for the scary innkeeper lady. He knew Shan was uncomfortable around her, and even he was unnerved by her smile.

Yuki reached the bottom of the steps with his mother. "Well, she's not here," he said, relieved.

"Alright, then. Let's go before she decides to show up. She's nosy." She made her way to where Ani, Ari, and Kira were along with the two boys. She was quite eager to see what the two fighters would do.

She WAS gone. Thank goodness.
Phineas followed to the edge of the fight and settled on an upturned bucket to watch the action. He felt really good, all dressed and with the promise of weapons soon to come. The sunset broke through the scattered clouds occasionally, and though the weather was not particularly warm, the fading light by itself made him want to bask. He shook out his hair and turned his face towards the reddening horizon, the two small horns on his head bright in the nest of the black hair.

Shan knelt next to him, putting a hand on his head. At least he was enjoying himself, even after that time he had spent traveling, gathering unwanted souvenirs.

Yuki stood next to his mother, head resting on her shoulder. He felt her hand rest on his head too. But even with the security of having his mother next to him, Yuki could not help but feel that something was terribly wrong.

From afar, Layla looked at Phineas's horns greedily. She had wanted to go after the whole group, but that would be too difficult. She would not risk loosing all of them by going after all of them at once. Instead, she would try to get at least one of them. They were all valuable. And she loved money. She had known right away that they were all worth something in their own special way. She always knew what special people looked like. The boy she was looking at now was a dragon, and to top it all off, a dream. The Dream Collector would pay handsomely for a dragon, even an incomplete one. Layla retreated into her room. Now was not the time. Be patient. Be patient.

(( I thought it was night time?
ooo And Europe! Sounds uber exciting. ^^
Very lovely drawing so far Platinum!!))


Ani gave a small laugh, her concentration broke at his request, a moment later her face was back to its normal seriousness. Whether he was ready or not, here she went. She advanced towards him, her blade out and the other arm out as well as a balance. She made two more quick steps towards him and her sword clanged against his daggers blade.

[[Sunset?

And thank you >w< ]]

Shan watched the movements carefully. Even if it was starting to get dark, there would be much to see here. Maybe one day she'd spar with them too.

[[OMg, Europe.

Is anybody watching Euro Cup 2008?]]

Ari grinned sheeplishly in reply to Ani's laughter, but his face was all seriousness the moment she stepped towards him. He was a little tense, and almost laughed at himself - after all, it wouldn't help himself it he was all wound up like a tight spring, now would it? He forced his muscles to relax as he took Ani's hit, letting the jarring force run down his blade and awas almost surprised by the strength behind it.

He spun the blade over the back of his hand, letting the hilt glide smoothly off the back as he pushed Ani's blade away and dodged right, letting it fall and raising his left hand slightly to act as a shield against her attack. His drive, he let it drive through, a stab towards Ani's middriff.

((OOPS... I'll go back and fix it so it's sunset. I am such a dork.))

Phineas pushed his head into Shan's hand, like a cat being scratched.
Then he crouched lower on the bucket, holding onto the edge of it and clenching his hands into excited fists as he watched the sparring. He couldn't wait to see some action of his own, and try his forthcoming weapons. His excitement was not anything like the bloodlust of his dragon mind, it was one that thrilled for adventure, though not necessarily death or destruction.

Ani quickly turned towards Ari and his aim. She backed up as she him coming and used her swords blade as a shield. With the blade in hand and the hilt level, bringing it lower to her midriff, she met the middle of her sword with Ari's blade, the sound a loud clang. In a swift movement she twirled the blade around, hitting Ari's away as she did so. She landed a couple feet from him, her blade once again out and pointed at him her free hand outwards pointed at him as well, it served as a level for her.

((I can't wait to do a battle scene... I'll be out of my element though, I'm only a fencer, so I don't really know much kungfu. HYAH. I could have sworn we were going to leave sooner than this...))

Phineas cringed and leaned forward accordingly as his two friends sparred. Just when he was sure someone would get run through, things would change to the other's favour. It looked like lots of fun.

[[I know what you mean XD

I still need to do some more research on Bagwa Zhang, because it's a big part of Shan's fighting style XD I get the basic gist of it, but I can't describe it in too much detail XD.

NOTE FOR THE OTHERS: I have permission to control Phineas now. I got a note from Steffox yesterday with an idea about what to do while she's in Europe. I'm telling you guys just so it won't come out of nowhere. Hopefully I won't mess up D8; ]]

Shan watched, as eagerly as the two boys, although she was better at keeping herself contained. All those years of fighting made the art a part of herself. Although, she definitely enjoyed sparring much more than a true fight. She liked fighting, she didn't like killing. She turned to Phineas. His expressions were interesting to watch on their own. His face was very vivid.

[[LOL. What's Bagwa Zhang? I think I know what it is lol beause I just sounded it out in Chinese... haha. It's some sort of thing with your palms... lol can't wait to see you write abuot it RP style, ahaha!]]

When Ani came close enough, Ari lowered himself to the ground and aimed a powerful kick at Ani's ankles. Quickly, without losing a beat, he shoved himself off of the ground and hooked his bow around her blade, trapping it from movement less she decides to retreat once again. He, on the other hand, propelled himself forward once again with the bow twisted at an odd angle to force the blade againt the wood. He slashed downwards this time, diagonally downwards to the right.

Ani anticipated his movement and she switched hands with the sword, with her left hand she made a hard jab forward with her swords hilt met with the wooden bow and wrapped the bow's string around the swords blade, she pulled it backwards so that it was pulled from his grip and fell to the floor, switching hands once again, her sword free, she slashed it twice in front of her, adjusting back to the feel for it. She moved quickly with the momentum she pulled a spinning vertical side kick, her foot coming close to his throat.

[[I gots a haircut! >w<

It went from waist-length to shoulder-length XD It was funny when I tried to reach back for it XD

Also: I won't be on much tomorrow, if at all. It's graduation then family time, then Disneyland~ ]]

Shan grew nearly as eager as Phineas, who almost looked ready to fly off the overturned bucket with excitement.