A midnight encounter

[Mirai Hogosha]

Darkness. Rain falls from the black, thundering sky. The only illumination present that outlines the glistening leaves in the trees of the forest is from the random flashes of lightning. The numbing sound of the falling rain drowns out the crunching of footsteps--footsteps of a warrior that has long since lost his way.

Black boots crush the ground underneath. A flash of light shines against a tainted blue and white armor vest. An outstretched hand glows with a blue aura, lighting the way through the tall brush. Two bright blue and white eyes dance in the shadows.

Mirai emerges from the forest into a clearing. The lightning flashes bring a mist hovering above the grass into view. As he wipes his goggles with his left hand, his right hand reaches for one of his swords. Walking out into the hillside, surveying his surroundings, he quickly charges a Bolt Grenade and tosses it upward, allowing it to detonate and quickly brighten the landscape. Just as it suddenly dissipates, he unsheathes his other sword and calls out, "I know you're out there! Show yourself!"

Mirai assumes a defensive fighting position, both blades ready to block or attack at any moment, as he begins rotating in a circle to find his adversary.

[Therin]

Three throwing spikes zip out of the trees surrounding the hillside, from three different directions. These are quickly followed by black-masked and black-clothed assassins, streaking out of the forest on silent, black-sandalled feet. Weapons appeared in three sets of hands, glinting in the sporadic lightning. A pair of kamas, a short bo, and a weighted chain. The chain attacked first, whirling his weapon in from farther out than the others could reach, but before long all three were able to pummel the lone warrior on the hill.

[Tobias]

From on a higher mount, he could see everything. He waited patiently, to make himself known. He wanted to test the new warrior of his new abilities, for a warrior of lightning was indeed, very rare in these parts.

[Azurel]

Azurel sits on a limb, the flash from the grenade almost giving him away. He watches as the dark-clad minions attack the warrior. Azurel is certain he will win, so he watches to learn how the blue-haired fighter will fight. A large flash of lighting hits and Azurel falls further into the darkness to avoid bein seen.

[Diablo]

Diablo appears a cave on the hillside side. Diablo walks out hearing the shouting and jumps back when he sees the blue haired fighter. Diablo then climbs the side of the hill to get a better view of the fighter.

[Mirai Hogosha]

Quickly noticing the trio of attackers, Mirai instinctively motions through a series of parries, defending to the best of his ability. As the weighted chain wraps around his left blade, "Mura," Mirai sees an opportunity and charges his sword with electricity, sending blue and white sparks through the metal links, zapping his opponent to the ground, causing him to release the chain.

The bo-wielding assailant charges, attempting to catch the warrior off-guard. Mirai, regaining his fighting stance, thrusts his right sword, "Same," under Mura, hooking the other end of the chain. He pulls Same back to above his shoulder, sending a charge of electricity through his swords and the chain. He then swings the chain on Same around his head, building up momentum, and releases his hold on the chain, sending it directly toward the assassin. The black-hooded attacker tries to parry the chain, but a portion of the link wraps around his arm and electrocutes him.

The villain sporting the kamas stops for a moment after seeing this. As he studies his opponent, Mirai stares down the attacker with his glowing blue and white eyes. Suddenly, wind starts picking up around him and his eyes start to spark outward. The mist that covers the landscape seems to vanish as the fog around Mirai turns an aqua blue color, and eventually envelopes him. He reaches up and moves his goggles off of his eyes and leeres into the opponent's eyes. Without warning, Mirai shouts his attack, "FLASHPOINT!" Two white beams of light shoot out of his eyes and penetrate his enemy's eyes, instantly blinding him.

The assailant drops to his knees, freeing the kamas from his hands, and covers his eyes with his hands. Mirai rushes over to his vanquished opponent while he sheaths Mura on his back. He quickly grabs the fallen combatant by the clothes near his neck and raises him off the ground. As he suspends the helpless would-be assassin, he beckons an answer. "Who sent you to destroy me?!"

[Tobias]

"The Dread lord Azurel has sent him to vanquish you, young warrior." Were the words spoken before hte blinded man could reply. Tobias was already walking up behind Mirai. It was a long time since he had ever seen someone who possesed the abilities of lightning before: "It is good to meet you, but im afraid that we may have to keep introductions short, as i feel the presence of Azurel and another in the near distance." He then comes out closer to Mirai, a small portion of moonlight illuminating the stoic champion and his silver broadsword which was legendary around the planet: "I wish to accompany you through this area, if you wouldnt mind." He walks over to the blinded man, and lays a hand on him, a surge of lightning engulfing him for a split second, rendering him unconscious: "My name is Tobias Reaver...i am sure if you are a warrior of lightning, you may have heard the stories of The Wanderer before?"

Tobias grips his sword tightly, and looks in the distance: "Never mind, actually. I feel their forces coming close, be wary warrior." He unclamps Eden and holds it defensively

[Mirai Hogosha]

Mirai quickly surveys his new fighting comrade as he stands ready to face the forces of Azurel. He sheathes Mura for a brief second while he readjusts his goggles, keeping Same at a defensive position. "You may call me Mirai, Sir Wanderer." He hurriedly reclaims Mura from his back. "What I would like to know is what Azurel wants with me." Tension builds from inside him, causing his swords to emit blue arcs of electricity as they pulsed from the energy surging from Mirai. "Or more specifically, why does Azurel want me dead?"

[Azurel]

Azurel melds into the shadows and is no longer in one place. Everywhere there is a shadow, Azurel is there, and so his voice comes from all around.

"It isn't really something you need to know. Just lay down and die."

Ten shadow creatures emerge from the shadows closest to the two warriors. The creatures have the general shape of Azurel, wings included. On each one's left hand 2 shadow blades emerged from their knuckles. The shadow blades started to melt and drip. All of the blades had dripped off, only to leave real blades behind. This happened for all of them, and two more objects. A shadow-sword appeared, only to drip off into a leaf-blade sword. A tail grew on the small of each shadow creature's back. The tips of these were shaped like pendulums with a spike sticking out of the end. This too, dripped away into a real blade.

Finishing off the creation of his creatures, Azurel turns their bodies into a solid. They were no longer as fluent and weak as a shadow, but rather just as tough as the two warriors they were about to engage.

[Tobias]

Tobias looks at all of the clones: "Why dont you just come out yourself and fight us Azurel...it would make things much less complicated."

Tobias re-clamps Eden, and reaches to his left side of his belt, and pulled off his swordchucks, holding them taught and tightly.