Raidou

A blur of whirling thoughts that scattered behind a pair of lenses that played the part of tether, a line in a storm that anchored him to a tree. Lest he blow away in that swirling tide of invisible hands and voices. Another jostle of the lenses that held to his brow, as a fair size gem of pure purple. An amethyst or something similar, lands beneath him with a clatter and thud. Coming to a stop, taking its place near the other shades in equal unclean carving. A bit of static riddled the fibers of his hands and arms, a slight jerk of power left unused. An ode to his strength and a personificati

Still she lingered on his friends list, the guild roster and even still Raidou didn't know where she belonged or how to palette what she meant. The wanderer was always the last to process his own feelings, although he acted like an exposed nerve when it came to those around him. Always concerned with every life excluding his own, a slight twist of the lenses on his brow. Struggling to be convinced that those that spoke as if it wasn't an actuality, as if he wasn't rolling near some grave eager to accept him into its confines. A dark embrace awaiting soil to cover it. A glance toward that gem,

Allowing all the little thoughts that rattled around behind his eyes to weigh in and check against what it was he capable of, what wasn't possible and what he could utilize in his own methods. A man unconvinced that there was nothing more to learn, although some things wouldn't allow him to grow he could increase his mental capacity. Understanding his opponents and his peers, exploiting what was available for him to peruse. A method that he'd practiced on the regular, and although others didn't quite see the value in it: his malleability it was his greatest strength. Sliding a single held and

Counting back the steps as on autopilot he plucks free another emerald, building it and drawing it out like a mathematical equation. Adjusting stance, location and trigger point. Blade location, when the energy would need to be applied and the skill triggered. What degree the attack would need to be placed for execution, everything being placed into the formula. It would need cleaning, refinement and some testing before it was utilized. But it was worth a thought, learning from those around him was where his strength stemmed. Curious still how to focus it into something meaningful, optimal. Th

As his mind raced building a semblance of choreography in that theatre behind his eyes, another step. Like a waltz, putting the equation together. A horizontal cleave from a strike, that connects to a blade held from handle and blade. Slamming into it with a shower of sparks, a metallic grinding and a flash of light. A flutter of a robe as he pivots and jams the blade through a chest exposed. A sudden jerk as he abandons his grip, around the target and grabbing the point that stuck through its back. A violent pull sees it dug deeper and punctured fully through imaginary armor. An ode to the gi

Again there was a tone, a monologue of voices ringing in Raidou's ears as that simply never stopped. No one understood what it was like to be him, or so it seemed. They just assumed his silence was some form of complacency or what have you. But the truth was he was always listening, recording what was spoken. It was in these sort of places, where he was alone. Excluding Nemo, that he'd reflect inward and start to process what was spoken to him. NIGHT, Baldur, Kiluia. The voices bubbled up from the cauldron, mixing and working their way toward an epiphany. But not just words but actions, what w

Raidou was no stranger to plants, and given the guild no longer a stranger to collecting other more obtuse objects. Although they wouldn't serve him directly, they all had a purpose and an owner. Nemo began to move from the plants to the stone that Raidou had destroyed. Looking to it with a grimace before he realized the pieces he had left were beginning to fuse together slowly, like a bone healing. By leaving half of it behind and only taking the richest pieces, it sped up its respawn timer considerably. Always thinking of the big picture, Nemo couldn't help but smile as his uncomfortable fee

It proves more solid then he wished it to be, as he worms that extension of steel into its body. A bit more pressure and the blade slips just a bit in, taking care not to bend too harshly. Else he'd risk damaging his sword, which although the thing was almost perfection he'd not risk it. The thing had served him well to this point and he'd not mistreat it. Raidou was always the sentimental sort. Protecting what he had, taking care of what was under his grasp. That sentiment was true in all he did, and there would be those who would not share it. Others were so quick to discard what he consider

That same routine he had developed and need not change, for it was developed over days that quickly became weeks. Another solid thud at his feet, a large ruby equally misshapen. Shuffling it over with his toes, best not allow it to unstable his footing. It clatters with the other, the beginnings of a small pile as his attentions shift back to the wall. Another plant of his weapons point into that roughness, aiming carefully and shoving that golden metal in like a wedge. Cutting deeper into the stone, it cracks and breaks as the alloy breaks and tears away at its surface. Small billows of white

A twist of that blade sees the edge into the wall, using the point as a wedge. Sliding in but a few inches and Raidou begins to rock, wiggling the point in the surface of stone. A scattering of pebbles and shards begin to fall as he uses his weapon like a chisel. A solid thud soon after sees an uncut and oddly shaped diamond fall to the floor, the first of many that he'd line his pockets with before this trip was through. Thoughts advance to Kasumi who could surely use what he'd find. Ripping clean his blade and planting it slightly off kilter where it was first inserted. There was more to be

Ushering that sack to his left hip and hooking it to a belt that lay there, a brass clip that that linen rope is affixed to. A fair portion of metals to match the portion of plants that littered the bag on the opposed side. Weapons and potions, on to the next in sequence. Practiced and practical meditation with purpose two fold. To the far wall, that same signature glimmer along the rough stone. Nemo was on to his own devices and working away clipping and cropping. Even still he couldn't help but eye Raidou, looking for some malicious intent but was still unable to find any. Drawing his sword

There was little in the way of sound in this place beside his thoughts, and the soft white noise of a dancing trickle of water at his side. The chorus of his mind was drowning out most of what he could hear, perceive and his hands acted without input. Amassing a nice size query of metal rich stones, leaving a fair amount to tote back to the guilds vault once he was completed with the days tasks. Finding the amount sufficient, Raidou removes from his inventory a burlap sack. Empty but not for long. He begins to pluck and store the ones worth carrying into the lining, causing the bag to stretch

It was an amazing thing to see, a proof that all he aspired them to be and all the possibilities that he saw in them a truth. The same change in them as he saw in himself after taking on his own reflection, as if that quest held some secret to a raise in strength, and most of all a strength of spirit. Course was now clear, even through the opaque cloud that Shadow had cast over their very heads. They'd see this through without any hesitation. It was only a matter of understanding where they stood and what direction to head. The rhythm of clattering stones at his side created a drumming, as he

His Gemini, the one that no one ever had the pleasure of meeting. One that he had buried long ago after it was left alive. It hadn't become known that he ever had such a thing, and even still its abilities still lingered. It was why he knew so much about what defeating such a thing, how much it would change you. The very reason why he had dragged those founding members up the side of that mountain, offered them his arm and allowed them to face it. It was the means to an end, one that none of them could have foresaw. They were growing faster than he could keep tabs on them, even more so under t

Lightning, and thunder. The gemini. The one that none had seen. His. As Raidou lifts to his heels and shuffles to a large hunk of stone. A slam of his weapon as that static washes his blade in yellow. A thunderous crash and fragments from it as it collapses. A smattering and scattering of shards that ricochet off of every nook and cranny that they could reach. A kneel after a sheathing of his blade, digging through the wreckage as he began to pluck and pick what was rich enough to take. A few lines drawn in goldish green, some unknown to him metal that would surely suit Griswold's pursuits. So

His mind raced with all these questions as his hands continued to burn away, pluck away and claim more and more of the stuff without any input from him. Practiced to the point where he could dive into this sea of strung thoughts and still remain functional and to the naked eye, he'd seem perfectly unfazed. Nemo hadn't even noticed this tangent, as there was never any pause in his movements. This was where his mind was allowed to wander as such, when his feet were not in motion and his mind was allowed to beat that path. Sharpening and cutting through what was fact, deducing the conjecture and

What would they do if those with the will to stand and fight all expired? Would they become weak and choose to accept the hand that fate had dealt them. Look to those cards and choose to fold? Allow that overseer to enjoy in their pity, their self doubt and allow them to play the part of farmer or ants in the glass? Raidou was not convinced that he would allow such a droll existence of them all, growing bored of his play things that would no longer stand and fight against the war he had planned. That was a fact that most had not thought about, hadn't allowed to cross their minds. If they were

It wasn't just them though, it was also the multiple waves of enemies he had faced. Byakko, Hebinishu, Absolute Zero. Every boss put these goals and lessons to the test. Time and time again they were proved as fact, as he mirrored them all upon those battlefields and walked away clad in crimson unscathed. Proof to the ideal, proof to the voice and proof to the teaching. He could not put to words, lace it with silver and get it to strike true through the fog of disbelief that others found so readily racked the thoughts that clouded their vision. They wouldn't understand what it meant to be wher

They were cast upon this stage to play contestant against the malevolent force that wished to put them to the knife. Raidou was playing the part of scribe, of book keeper. Baldur, Shield, Mari. Crozeph, Yuki. He was simply the paper that carried their stories, the extension of all they were willing to teach. Without knowing, they had forged the blade he held. Cast it and sharpened it, he lived in their images. A raised fist, a battle cry. Although it never came out quite how he had planned, whenever he spoke he was racked with that inhibition that broke away his strength. But it was their voic

Consumed by those very crashing waves that played on repeat like a static of white noise. How many more in a different strand of fate would play the part of captains in this guild. Would he have ended up elsewhere? A question with no answer, for it was simply conjecture. But each of them held that same spirit, that refusal to bend or break to the status quo and what was placed in front of them. To stand in defiance of what was presented, as one uniform force against that tide of black. That very same that had changed everything. The one he perceived quite some time ago when he looked to that b

They were not the only ones, no, there were a few that he had met in his travels that carried the same gravity and weight in their words and ideals. Bahr, the hot start albeit aggressive had a personality his own. Only but a few words, there was a dormant resolve that was not shared that was obvious. The refusal to submit to what the game considered fact, and to push the boundaries of what was possible. Lessa, that blonde with Riker, who cared what befell the simplest forest on floor 6. When Raidou called to Nemo and spoke of one that would equally guard eden from harm, it was to her he was re

Eruda, the girl sprung at the front of the pack. Then Freyd. Growth that was almost cataclysmic and harsh like a break, where most dwindled and fizzled out they were the two that seemed to create a vacuum. A break in the resistance of air, cutting a path for which the others could follow suit. Haine, in her humility she was all too prime for the position she was placed. She was leagues past the small girl that was so lost before, purpose found and with it strength. Kiluia, a dear old friend that was still his equal and was just as strong as the day they met. Raidou was in pleasant company with

Weighing through the knowledge he used to keep, the litter of players that were members of the guild. The very one he founded on a shared sense of community, and how they could have grown now. They were magnifying into strength that he was silently fostering from a distance. They were his equals, and this was proof of the very fact. The silent decree of snapping plants continued on excess allowing for no total quiet to take this place. This newly formed garden of Eden, this place that had since sprang up and was created out of thin air. An old soul confused by all that had transpired. Confusio

His thoughts danced on that notion, recalling just how magnified his skills seemed to be in that moment. They all detonated at once, as they screamed back into clarity. His swing from the blade he once knew that was sense transformed by the system as well. It was different, he was different. The damage he pumped out was far greater, he was curious just what else could have followed suit. There was a silent meditation as he continued to work his appendages on autopilot, a concentration in motion. This was working to refine his mind and plans into a finer point, something so simple as gathering

He shifts his hips, assuming that the reason his were so malignant was due to his proximity to Shadow when it fell. He was but a few feet from the titan once it expired at Orgoth's hands. That was the only thing he could think of that would rationalize what had transpired. There would be a learning process, where Raidou would ask to reinspect the members of the guild. The more information he had, the easier it would be to plan around it. But that would require another meeting, and more resources to make changes. Which discerned exactly why he was were he was, what he was doing. Step 1 in the p