The Undeclared War. (The War. 1.5.)

[Enizo]

The waves were devastating, rocking the Allorum Guardian warship in all directions. It was amazing that the warship was holding together at this rate.

The crew did their best to tie down any loose ropes, secure any of the supplies that was on the top level and generally do their best NOT to go overboard. Enizo was soaked to the bone and with all the clothing he wore it felt like he was in a chain armor.

"HOLD STEADY!" The Captain yelled as a wave swept in, throwing water onto the ship's deck. The Captain looked over at where Enizo was doing his absolute best to stay still, "The gods boy, where did this storm come from!? The skies were clear a moment ago!"

Enizo looked up at the skies and felt the rain on his face. It was familiar somehow, much the same as Roccia... the sky crying in fear.

"I have a feeling I know..." Enizo mumbled as the Captain gave a him a 'what did you say?' look, Enizo shook his head and yelled back to the Captain, "Can the ship survive this!?"

"Yes, of course, we'll get through this as long as we don't loose all the crew in the process. We're not far from land now!"

Enizo nodded before slowly making his way to the hatch to lead him below deck. He opened up the hatch and jumped down into it.

"How's everyone doing down here?" Enizo asked as he made his way to the rest of his allies, "Well not a worry at all, even if the ship broke in a million pieces we're so close to land we could swim there...! You know, uh, I think." His words of encouragement seemed to be lost so instead he decided not to speak anymore and just give a thumbs up.

[Volkmar Gamlxltoe]

Volkmar rolled his eyes as Enizo spoke his words of 'hey, we might survive this'. Volkmar joined the group as they were leaving. He found out what had happened, and was urked that he missed a battle because he wasn't wanting to attend the wedding. So he joined in hope for more adventure and fighting.
He stood up and looked though one of the port side windows to see the land and the storm. "Violent looking storm..." He said, "Seems unnatural to me."

[Enizo]

"It was just like this in Roccia..." Enizo said as he took off his brown cloak and put it over a chair to dry. His long ponytail was like a sponge and he twisted it to get all the water out, "Right before his forces attacked... I've never seen anything like it, how can a man twist nature like that?"

Enizo placed his blades to the side of him and took a deep breath, before the ship tilted to the side and knocked him right off his chair. As the ship regained balance Enizo sat the chair back up while giving a low grumble before he once again sat down, "I hate the ocean." he bluntly stated.

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand had found minimal comfort down in the cargo hold where the fierce waters and winds were at their least noticeable. If there was one place he'd hated the most it was the sea, and no more so than during a turbulent storm. After all what good would his abilities do him out here, aside from weigh him down to the bottom of the sea faster.

So this is what you needed to be you for to do huh? A.B.A. pestered him, her thoughts sounding less than pleased with the outcome of Seigmand's interference.

Yes, because all you were going to do was mope and worry until they all left you alone in that castle, and once more you'd be back to square one. Just stay quiet till I tell you to, and you'll thank me for it later. Seigmand retorted with annoyance, though truth be told anything that distracted him from Enizo's less than inspiring word were a welcomed reprieve.

"How much longer is this going to be? I don't think I need to tell you how open we are to attack should our enemies want to hit us now." He called up to the deck, hoping someone would hear him over the winds.

[King Roxa Hiaten]

"Believe it or not... I'm with Seigmand." Roxa admitted, sat atop a barrel with his eyes closed, his swords crossed in his lap and his black cloak draped over his shoulders. "I doubt we'll draw too much attention to ourselves, but still, we need to be prepared for every eventuality." He scratched the back of his neck and opened his eyes, his neck had been irritating him for a while now, the circle around the small tribal mark which held Ave in place had been giving him annoyance ever since the attack on Roccia, no doubt something to do with how dangerously close to releasing his loving sibling he had been.

"I just hope we get there fast enough... We know we're walking into a trap, so the sooner we can get in there and clean up this mess, the sooner we can be done with it and figure out where Duo, and hopefully, Alessia are."

[Enizo]

"Trust me, Seigmand, if there was a better way to get here than on this ship I would take it." Enizo said while turning to Roxa and Seigmand, "And yeah, we are walking into a trap. One way or another we're going to get hit, no sugarcoating it."

It was sad, but what was the other options? Sit around and wait for Duo to make another move?

He frowned and casually watched as a mouse ran between his feet before looking back at the two, "Anyway, I think it's twenty minutes from the way the captain was speaking. Like I said, we're not far from the shore."

[Bang Shishigami]

Below deck, within the confines of the cabin, was no place for a man of action such as myself. True, I did possess a rather gregarious nature, and would have appreciated the chatter of my comrades, but somehow the idea of being cooped up in a small, cramped space with such a serious lot made the idea of running the ship along with the Captain and his men somehow more favourable.

Mind you, it was not because I had labeled any of my companions as unfavourable, but rather that I found myself almost locked on the thoughts of how harsh life can be when around them, and found unfavourable thoughts of my own past weaselling in. Thinking it best to distract myself, I chose to fight against the harsh rain and weather, doing my best to guide the ship to safety along with the crew, rather then weather my own thoughts. But even so, as I bounded from bow, to stern, to keel and back, securing sails, tethering the deck crew's safety lines, and assisting in any other way possible, I could not escape my past anymore then I might have dodged the falling droplets that beat upon my chest.

Climbing my way up to the crows nest, I gently placed my hand upon my comrade that sat in watch, and looked onward myself, staring more so into the nothingness of space, loosing myself temporarily in sweet reminiscence and memories of loss; the tears I shed in remembrance quickly becoming but a few more drops in the unending downpour.

[annabelle]

The door below deck suddenly swung open and in marched Annabelle, giving out her famous 'evil eye' to all the men.

"Cozy, are we?" she cooed icily, large grin to be shared with the occupants of the room before she heaved a 75lb. sack of potatoes in the middle of them all, "while you're all lazing about bellyaching like little girls, work isn't being done! These potatoes don't peel themselves!"

[Enizo]

Enizo, dripping wet in freezing water, simply stared at the older lady before shrugging and grabbing a potato. He slipped out his knife and began peeling them, they weren't pretty but they weren't supposed to be.

As he was slowly peeling them he could he more movement on deck than usual, before suddenly they could feel a quick jerk as the anchor hit the bottom of the ocean. Crew members opened the hatch above and yelled down to the group.

"Land is in view! You'll have to take rowboats ashore!"

"Eh..." Enizo blinked while looking up at the man, "What about the docks?"

Because the capitol was located inland there was a small dock built to take goods for the capitol. The plan was to dock there and go further to the city from there.

The crewman shook his head and frowned, "It's not there, sir."

"Not... there?" Enizo echoed while taking a small glance over at his allies. There wasn't much that could be said as Enizo boarded one of the rowboats and waited to be lowered down.

They'd see soon enough.

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand shot the old nag a dirty look before scowling at the bag of potatoes. There was a lot of crap he'd been putting up with since he'd been wrenched from the throne, and it looked like being given cabin boy duties was just one more to chalk up to it all. Forming a blade out of the thin layer of stone armour he'd taken care to surround himself with before they'd left he worked with idle boredom on the spuds.

"So...Roxa." He didn't look up at the boy, realizing he was needing more concentration than he'd care to admit on peeling potatoes. "Perhaps it might be a good time to explain exactly what this mess is all about in the first place? I know you had connections to the Saints, and I know the Saints had connections to Duo. I've heard tales that some of the Saints were responsible for killing their leader in the middle of their mission. What I'm wondering is if this is all just a big revenge plot against the people who helped kill his brother."

Yet before he could bother to stay and hear out Roxa's answer the mention of a missing port gave Seigmand something far more immediate to investigate. Moving quicker than the geomancer was usually known for he bolted up the stairs and hung over the bow attempting to see what they were talking about. Had the port really vanished? The prospect of a trap was getting higher and higher by the moment and Seigmand wasn't going to be caught unprepared.

With a snap of his arm the knife he'd been using moments ago flowed out further to the mast of the ship. Moving like a whip it snapped around the sturdy pole before solidifying as a stable rock hard connection from the ship to him. If they were going to be attacked, the last thing that was going to happen was for Seigmand to be sent into the waters.

[King Roxa Hiaten]

Sonorc's knife was already Roxa's hand, peeling potatoes before he had climbed into the rowboat with Enizo. He wished that his blades could be of more use, but in the confined space of a boat, they'd be more of a hindrance than a help to be honest, so the old sandman's knife would have to do. He looked up at Seigmand who was securing his position on the ship and gave a small nod. He was a geomancer, and he guessed that water and him didn't mix all that well, something he may want to keep in mind for the future. For now, he glanced across at the Allorum Guardian and gave a nod.

"This is too convenient to be true, we'd best be ready for anything when we get there, if not Bart, Duo himself... I doubt that he'd make a move too quickly, but there's not harm in preparation..." He licked his lips nervously. "If it is him, I guarantee we're nowhere near prepared enough to fight him... So I want you to get the hell out of here, and make sure that next time he shows up, you are ready, alright?" The look in his eyes said he wasn't exactly planning on taking no for an answer.

"No buts, either. Even I don't stand a chance one-on-one, but I'm the only one capable of buying us a proper amount of time..." He looked down at his marked hand. "And even then, the cost will be severe." He smiled grimly. "But hey! If it's just Bart, go crazy!"

[Enizo]

"Oh is see..." Enizo began as the rowboat was lowered into the sea, the tough waves shifted the small boat around too much, Enizo grabbed the two oars and pushed off into the sea, "So if Duo appears we tuck our tail between our legs and let you die, hm? THAT'S EFFECTIVE!"

He yelled the last bit of his sentence as a wave splashed right into his face, he coughed, gagged and spat out water before declaring: "I HATE THE SEA."

As they neared the land they began to see small pieces of wood floating around them, then they got bigger and bigger and soon enough they saw human bodies floating along in the waves. They were rowing through what was left of the docks.

"Shit..." Enizo gritted as he put more strength into each row in his best attempt to push through everything, "What does he gain by doing this?"

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

THen, something strange began to happen.

Across the stormy sea, towards the shore, a light appeared to reflect from the water, yet no light could be seen, yet. The reflection, the sourceless glow, grew stronger at each moment. The sounds of the storm, still existent, grew quiet, then silent... and the glow seemed to have its own sound, almost.

The chime, perhaps, of a bell, or a note on a deep-voiced string instrument, or the soft, eerie voice of a soprano.

A wisp drifted from one of the floating bodies, then another, all in that deathly silence. More, and more wisps... they didn't crowd, but there were many in that space, as if for a brief instant, this world and the next were close eough to touch and the barrier became indistinct.

THe wisps came together, swirling, lighting in a large mass on the now-visible beach; when they parted, there lay a figure, as if they'd been swarming to him. Spread out, underneath him, shiing with glowing lines of energy, was a red coat; at hand, next to him, was a polearm-style weapon, somewhere between a cross and a scythe, with a glowing crystal set into the crossbar. Glowig, transparent, wisp-colored wings spread from him.

Then the light died; the wisps dissipated, slowly, ito the air, and the strange half-sound was overtaken once more by the sound of the wind and rain of the storm.

((Okay, I did get Mark's permission to do this, I swear, dun kill me! D:))

[Enizo]

Enizo pulled the boat ashore and took out one of his blades. Could this be it? Could this be the attack Duo was planning?

Enizo wasn't going to wait until they had another chance, holding up one of his hands he swirled dark magic into his palm. "This is for all the people you've killed!" Enizo growled before letting the magic go, it slipped and spun around the area before clashing into the figure.

It seemed the person was swallowed into the void of darkness...

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

The first thing that I realized as my mind slowly surfaced back on this side was that, yes, I did hve a physical vessel again, because that physical vesssel was cold, and wet.

The second thing that I realized was that I was getting attacked.

The third thing I realized was that I'd bee a bit slow on the uptake of that second one because, oh yeah, the attack was already here, and instead of asking for permission from my conscious mind, instinct took over. The energy that had called me here, more death than I wanted to really think about, swirled into the palms of my hands, and my wings grew, wrapping me, protecting me from the blasting swirl of dark mana that washed around the sudden barrier, swallowing me whole until I stood, opened my wings again, shedding mana like rain away from me, scattering it harmlessly in all directions as my un-bound power reacted instinctively to the threat.

I turned towards the source, that same eergy pulling out from my wings and into the palm of my hand, ready to return fire... before my softly-glowing eyes blinked, took in the figure who had shot the energy and - I belatedly realized - yelled at me about killing people.

Travel between this World and the Next leaves my brain a bit disoriented. The varicolored light in my palm died to a soft glow, and I tamped down on the Moonlight starting to concentrate from m body.

"....Enizo...?" I asked, finally, after having come up with the name that belonged to this figure. A name vaguely associated with the Lunar Conflict... and far, far, far too much beer.