Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Caress felt herself being nudged, and then an anxious voice calling for her to wake up. As her consciousness slowly drifted back, she wondered hazily why her bed felt so cold and hard. Then she realised that she wasn't in bed, but lying on the floor. On the floor ...? How did she get here? And then her eyes suddenly shot open and she sat up straight with a gasp. Tobias! Was he dead? Was he alive? How much blood had he lost while she had slept?

Then she noticed the boy next to her.

"Shade!" she gasped. "Shade, my brother! He's dying - the bubble around him, can you take it away with your Light magic?"

The boy raised an eyebrow at Terran, slightly amused at the attempted conversation starter. Though articulate of speech, the boy was not one for idle chatter, no matter how uncomfortable the silence.

Yelgan butted his master's leg with his nose, and gave the boy a reproachful grumble, prompting him to reply.

"My name is Darin," he replied, "It is, nice to make your aquaintance as well."

Darin stared straight ahead into the deepening shadows that shrouded the path ahead. His guide appeared to have spoken the truth about the straight and smoothness of the path, though the boy admittedly found this fact somewhat irrelevant

"Hmm, indeed," he said at length, "It appears this path was well made."

Before he left with the child, Ristalia smiled at the teenager, pleased with his polite comments. “You’re very welcome, come again if you need anything else I can supply.”

Ristalia waved to the boy standing in the open doorway, “Good luck and safe travels,” she said, continuing to smile. The pair went out the door and Ristalia let out a long, tired sigh as the door shut quietly behind them. She paused a minute at the counter, staring out the windows. It was quite dark at this point and Ristalia tore herself away from her thoughts to pull out two candles from a drawer behind the counter.

She set them on the counter, lighting them gracefully, thoughtfully, her eyes dancing with the newborn flames. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected such a busy evening, filled with so many...interesting...faces. Smiling to herself, she unfastened her cloak and replaced it where it had been hanging just a few minutes before. She flitted to the door, locking it once more and checking to be sure the closed sign was facing out. The shop was so quiet now.

She knew she really should go upstairs and eat something, but she wasn’t really in the mood at all. And she did have the young man’s journal to finish. It was fortunate he had such a distinctive appearance, for in the unusual bustling brink business of the evening, Ristalia had completely forgotten to inquire after his name.

Her thoughts lingered for a moment on the young man, she wondered about him, where he came from, why he wanted another journal, why she wasn’t supposed to look inside the one inside her handbag...

This was relatively normal for Ristalia, most customers piqued her curiosity. It was the result of some lonely pondering, during which she realized that she often looked at customers and passersby on the street and just thought of them as other people and never thought beyond that idea. Upon this realization, it also occurred to her that each of these people led lives as complicated or more complicated than her own. It was quite a mind-boggling concept really. And it made her rethink so many of her actions, worry about how they would affect the incredible web of people’s lives on her street, in Coralie, in the world.

While she briefly wondered a bit about the teenager from the Inn (and what growing up in an Inn was like) and she also thought a bit about the boy and his dog and why they were traveling and why the boy was alone, her thoughts always came back to her first customer of the day. She was absolutely fascinated with the young man who had ordered the journal.

Not because of how he looked or who he was (though she was sure she could get some good hypothesizing in about that too if she wished), but because of the original journal.

Throughout the time that she had been thinking these thoughts, she had pulled out all her dyeing materials and the test cloth and a ream of the paper the young man had selected. Now she reached into her handbag, cautiously, inhaling a bit more sharply than usual as her hands closed around the original journal. It was such a masterpiece.

And what she couldn’t get out of her mind was the beautiful drawing of the she-elf inside.

Gently she set the weathered book on the counter, safely far away from the candles, but near enough so that she could compare colors. She was pretty sure she had already managed to match the browns, which was good, as matching by candlelight took a lot more time and energy, and was just a lot harder in general. Her hands lingered by the book, her fingers outstretched over the cover...just a quick flip and she could behold the drawing again. And what other wonders might the journal hold? She stopped for a moment like that, her hand hovering over the journal, its shadow long and spindly in the candlelight.

No, no, she couldn’t betray the young man’s trust. It was her duty as a shopkeeper to a customer. Clearing her thoughts she set herself on the task of cutting and preparing the cover of the new journal, mass producing the proper shade of dye. Her hands nimbly moving to and fro in the soft candlelight, Ristalia was soon quite lost in a world of shades of brown.

((whoo, yay for a long relatively pointless rambling post. hope you don’t mind that I assumed you followed Twiz’s char, DB. lionheartwitty IS moving, he only has internet access at the library for the time being, so please bear with his absence. everything looks great you guys, thanks for a nice little subplot divine & jade!))

((oh yes. a bit of an ANNOUNCEMENT: with regard to time of day/days: I love the fact that we’ve split into several subplots and that there are several groups of chars involved in their own plots that will eventually form into the main plot and such. I’m happy to have multiple plots going on, but what I will ask is that all characters stay in the same timeframe as everyone else. So please keep an eye out for posts referring to time of day and such. Once it is the next day, it is the next day for everyone and so forth. If that was confusing and you have questions, ask, otherwise yeah just for your information really. I don’t think it will be much of a problem. And Divine this wasn’t targeted at you or anything, no worries! a few hours discrepancy here and there doesn’t matter, I just want to keep everyone at the same point in time! okay, keep up the good work!))

((It was my understanding that it was either night time or right after sunset. Is that correct? At the begining I had thought it was morning, but changed that once I realized the time frame was different.))

(Nooooo! I'm stuck at the inn then. Can anyone be willing to strike up a fine conversation and argument with Fawilyn at the inn? XD)

{ Lilac, it would have been better if you didn't write, "And Divine this wasn’t targeted at you or anything, no worries!" because I would never have thought that it was targetted at me if you hadn't put that *cries*. Anyways, I got confused between sunset and night, but aanyways, it's almost the same thing. Oh and I changed someting!! Clien is Renault's son, not Raynault's!! Sorry, I changed my mind!! }


Shade was startled by the urgency in her voice, then calmed down. After all, this was supposed to be urgent, wasn't it? "Dying??" he gasped. "Your brother?!" Shade glanced at the dark bubble that lay a few feet away from him, and the boy who was engulfed in it.

Shade set a stream of light rocketing towards the bubble. It barely penetrated the shining exterior of the bubble before being forced backwards. Shade had to use a lot of effort just to keep the stream of light in place. "Caress!! I don't know if I can do it!" he yelled. He had no idea why he was yelling. He just knew that he didn't want Caress to lose a brother, like he did. And they seemed so much closer, too. I can't do this, it's too hard, he thought, starting to despair. And with despair, the strength of the light magic decreased, until it was no more than a tiny line of orange light. Shade started crying.

Suddenly, a taller man came towards them. Through his glass tears, he saw a man, gathering a ball of light, his palms facing each other and pointing in opposite directions { OOC: think Tai-chi }. The orb illuminated his face... brown, short hair and shining amber eyes. Lifting one hand, he sent another stream of light in the direction of the black bubble. "Shade!!" he called out. "Remember, you must have hope and faith!"

Shade gritted his teeth. That's right, he thought. I have to have hope and faith so I can save Caress's brother. Saint Helena, please help us. His stream of light grew stronger, and brighter, becoming yellow. I can do this!! Caress's brother won't die! he thought, and the stream of light became white. Together, the two streams worked together, finally totally engulfing the bubble. The black bubble turned into shreds of white flakes and dissolved into the air.

Shade fell to the ground, exhausted. He looked at Caress, then at Clien, and smiled.


{ whether he lives or dies is up to you, jade (obviously). That was a weird post =P Ah, and I had to think of a name for this "divine being" so for now, can we please use Saint Helena (instead of God, as this is a different world, after all). }

((whee, sorry for all the confusion. and seriously Divine, my thing had NOTHING to do with you and I threw that in as an afterthought. so no crying. OK, the RP started at early dusk, now the sun has set, and it is a little while after sunset, early evening of the night. I didn't mean to make the time thing all stressful either, just wanted us to be aware of it. Sorry you guys, hope that helps!))

((Sorry! Just been busy.))
Lerany blinked at the mermaid. She really liked poetry. She said some towards her and the other girl. Was it a question? She seemed to ask where she came from.
"Well, I'm from a small village near here, a magician one." She replied, and looked at her staff. She thought back to Arkel and shivered. A full moon was only a few days away, hopefully she would be able to return home soon.

Caress watched as Shade sent the stream of blinding light towards the bubble. She reeled back, squinting as her eyes began to water a little. She hoped fervently that he would be able succeed, but just as she thought this, he shouted, "Caress!! I don't know if I can do it!" and alarm rose inside her once more. Shade's light was dimming rapidly, until it was nothing but a thread of orange. Then Shade began to cry in his despair, and Caress suddenly felt heart-wrenchingly terrible, more terrible than she had ever felt before, both because she knew she was going to lose her brother forever, and also for getting Shade involved in this, and now he was crying ... tears also began to form in her eyes.

And then, a man sprang forwards, sending a strong stream of light towards the bubble, yelling something at Shade. Caress saw Shade's expression change to one of determination at those words, and then his light's glow strengthening again. The two beams of light overpowered the bubble, and it disappeared.

Caress gaped. Then she leapt up and ran to her brother's body, kneeling down beside him.

"Tobias! Tobias!"

She watched fearfully as Tobias did not move for a few seconds. But then he stirred feebly and his eyes opened. He sat up with much effort, flinching in pain. His face had lost all it's colour, but Caress broke into a smile as she hugged her brother tightly (though carefully, so as to not disturb his wounds.)

"Thank goodness you're alive," Caress whispered.

Tobias sighed, and he gave a small smile as he hugged her back with the little strength he had left. Then as Caress broke away, he rested his palm on the wound above his stomach, closing his eyes briefly as his hand shimmered with a blue light for a few seconds. Then he removed his hand. The wound had been healed and closed, though there was still not much blood on him, some of which had gotten on Caress's clothes as well.

Caress turned to Shade and Clien. "Thank you, Shade, and - sir. You saved Tobias's life," she said softly. "I'm sorry for the trouble this may have caused to get here."

((I live! My move was a success, though it took some determination to buy a cable modem and set myself up with a connection. I am now entirely independant and am eating your bandwidth with my 4 Megs a second. Now for my much belated post. Do pardon me, Lilac. I love you more for your patience. ))

The rest of the conversation seemed muddled by Jackdaw's constant knack of understanding the silent schism that had taken place in the R.W.S. He eventually tired of the so-called conversation and stood, rising to his full elven/fellpool height, while wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin. His meal finished, he merely said, "Thank you for the meal. Do excuse me... Good luck single-handedly assimilating Coralie into the Land of Darkness." Jackdaw then turned nonchalantly, then suddenly turned around, absent-mindedly avoiding a faerie arrow. It flew across the remainder of the room and buried itself in a wall near a dwarven patron's ear.

Jackdaw displayed his unending nonchalant attitude by calmly commenting, "Ah, yes. You were sent to kill me. Good thing I'll die with the best meal in Coralie with me." The entire room heard him, and a good portion of the patrons quietly began to evacuate. The back rooms were full of noise as the owners started packing everything thing could take with them. Some one randomly commented, "About time the Seekers started exterminating themselves," oblivious to the true plot of this drama. "Five on one. Not good odds. You should join us, Jackdaw. If we-" but the elf with the reedy voice was interupted by Jackdaw, whose voice became disturbingly firm since no one but the five betrayers were listening, "The R.W.S. stands to protect Coralie from the Earth Dieties' wills of darkness. Never are they to truly seek the lost land. That is the duty of true seekers, those who were once Captains of the R.W.S. and they who those former Captains choose. You have commited a selfish act and you will one day pay even if you strike me down."

The five seemed phased by this sudden firmness briefly, but they all drew weapons and lunged at him. The rat furre woman first stabbed with her spear, only to wind up in an awkward position as the spear missed. The faerie man fired two arrows, but Jackdaw somehow slipped between their paths. The tall human man threw a chair at Jackdaw, but it was hastily caught. The elf with the reedy voice seemed to throw a bolt of lightning, only to hit a chair beside Jackdaw. It seemed as if Jackdaw had somehow moved the chair in its path and used it as a springboard as well. The former Captain was moving slowly, yet nothing seemed able to hit him. However, the fire nymph ran directly into his path, drawing twin ninja swords in a wide slash. Jackdaw ducked, avoiding them both, then stood and drew his broadsword, knocking them both aside. A small fire had started where Jackdaw had dodged the elf's lightning attack. He danced around it, barely avoiding all manner of deaths without a sign of tiring.

However, he could not escape death alone. He saw this coming.

((Take freedoms on all of my NPC's except for the fire nymph. I want her to be a pain in the future. Oh, and Lilac? May I plot ahead for a second character, Uja? She's on my last post as the betrayed current Captain of the Seekers.))

(This is when bored people get excited.)

Fawilyn was a bit annoyed he hadn't heard her, and opened her mouth to shout at him before realizing what a stupid gesture that would be in a crowded inn. Besides, no one at the table had noticed her, so she could make an exit just as easily. She slumped back in her own chair. Another day. Another drink. Suddenly there was a tickle of goosebumps at her neck. She turned around wondering what at happened and suddenly realized an arrow had shot past dangerously close to her and a very pale looking dwarf. Then she heard the voice. "Ah yes..." Her head shot toward the direction. It came from the very table she was observing but moments ago. "...you were sent to kill me. Good thing I'll die with the best meal in Coralie with me." People rushed past her, all toward the back room in one stampede. No one seemed to notice that she had gone the other way- straight into a dark corner, hiding her with chairs and an overturned table.

Fawilyn herself didn't know why she did that, and any other thoughts of running with the others was now hopeless anyway. She was already curious about these people- this showdown only made her want to find out more. She never even thought of the fact that she was comepletly defenseless and these strangers could be extremly dangerous. She was just... thrilled. She wasn't even caring about the fact innocent people could die, which made her feel a little ashamed when she thought it over again, but her eyes kept watching... and then she knew...

... I really ought to get out more.

But I'll settle for this.

{ yay Lhw's back!! With regards to extra characters, Lilac, may I have one too? I might not have one for sure, but I have a feeling Clien might become a larger part of the story. }


Shade watched joyously as Caress was reunited with her brother, Tobias. He was smiling so hard, the corners of his mouth hurt. He turned to Clien, who stood there, smiling with joy as well. Shade observed his features. He was slightly taller and more muscular than him, although he had a relatively thin and long fast. His brown, short hair seemingly flew different directions messily. And of course, there were those amber eyes, that seemed to gleam, even in the dark. "Thank you," Shade said. "I couldn't have ever done it without you..."

He smiled back, eyes shining. "I couldn't have done it without you either."

They bothed watched in wonder as Tobias used his healing magic, and his wound disappeared quickly. "I'm sorry for the trouble this may have caused to get here," Caress said, softly.

"Oh, don't worry. It was no problem. It was in the prophecy too," Clien stated. Shade glanced at him curiously. "The Peacekeeper would be led by a crow to... a certain girl, and they would join hands and unite against the Shadow. Unfortunately, I forgot what the girl's title was in the prophecy. Anyways, Shade. We must go soon. Raynault will be awaiting our return. But first, the girl's brother needs some water to regenerate his blood supply. Come with me, and we will get it together." He turned to Caress. "Stay here, protect your brother! If you need our help, send for us, although we will only be gone for a few minutes."


{ jade, please think of a title for Caress in the prophecy, whatever you want it to be! Clien will remember it soon =P. Sorry if this is a little god-modding And Lilac, is Saint Helena good with you? }

Terran either didn't notice or simply ignored the pause in the other boy's response. Instead, he chittered along happily.

"Yes, it is. And it's good for business as well, quite a few traveller's come along this way. But then, you're one of them, aren't you? You aren't from around here, that's for sure. And that's a nice dog you have there! What's his name? We have a dog, too, but he's old now..."

He chattered on for awhile longer, speaking of his old dog. After awhile, however, he stopped -- both talking and walking, and stared warily in front of him. In the fading light it was hard to see, but a few feet in front of him was a gully. In brighter light, a path might have been seen leading to the side - worn in by the many wagon wheels that crossed that way. In fact, Terran searched for it now.

"This," he said grimly after a moment or two, "is the rough part. There's a path here somewhere, but it has a rise to it, and there are quite a few rocks as well. It's a wide path, but be careful not to fall in the gully -- especially as it's after sunset."

After speaking this, he became silent.

Janine gazed at Maddox with surprised eyes still, but decided not to lie. "I am Princess Janine," she said grandly, curtsying all the while, "From the palace," she pointed to the largest building by far in the distance. After the words came out it sounded as though she was lying, or making fun. Janine hadn't meant for either but her "princess" title made everything all the different, all the time.