A Hop, Skip and a Jump towards Tomorrow

Big, Red and Hot. Those were the words that came to mind when most people thought of the Red Death. But they were missing the biggest and most irritating feature. Sandy. In the midst of the undulating mass of Red Sand under a cloudless blue sky, a lone figure marched across the pristine surface- marring it with a rail of footprints in his wake. The figure was clad in a a light black cloak that covered him from head to toe, save for his eyes- which were storm grey- as protection from the sun above. The name belonging to the man was Fafnir Rakesh, a man born of the lightning Nation but cast out from it due to the sins of his ancestors. Which was part of the reason he now found himself where he was now- in the middle of nowhere with nothing but his own shadow for company. He'd been traveling for days in this wasteland since coming ashore on this seemingly forsaken continent and only the fact that he didn't need food or water kept him alive.

But the real issue right at that moment was the sand that was getting into his shoes and filling them to bursting. Countless times he had to stop and waste a minute as he poured impossible amounts of and from his shoes.

Why do we insist on doing this the slow way?

The disembodied voice came from within Fafnir's mind, but it was not his own thought. It belonged to the lightning spirit that dwelt within him- sharing his body. Although perhaps 'sharing' was a misleading term. The two- Fafnir and Rakesh (the lightning spirit) were fused in all senses except one- they retained their own individuality on a neural level. In simple terms- Fafnir had a split personality of a rather unusual nature.

"Because we've never seen a red desert before." Fafnir responded out loud, as was his habit when it came to talking to Rakesh. Occasionally this landed him in trouble, but on this occasion there was nobody around to hear and think he was insane. Rakesh's only response was a sulky silence- not something that was easy to pick up on, but Fafnir had the skill mastered by now. But even he was beginning to share his 'brothers' frustration. This really was slow going.. and the sand... that was really bothering Fafnir now. Perhaps irrationally so. "Alright have it your way then", Fafnir said softly, almost as a sigh as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again several moments later, they were a vivid electric blue. Electricity crackled about his body for several seconds before he said to no one in particular- "Lets go." Hs wors were underlined by an enormous cracking sound, like a huge pane of glass breaking and Fafnir was gone. In his place a shockwave was left behind, for FAfnir had not vanished, but rather accelerated at phenomonal speed. As he sped across the desert, sand was flung high into the air that would be visile for miles in every direction. Within seconds, Fafnir had covered dozens of miles and within an hour, he had covered more distace than he had walking for the past 4 days.

Eventually, Fafnir petered to a halt- a feat which is considerably difficult when moving at supersonic speeds. When he did come to a halt, he stood atop the crest of an enormous sand dune- granting him a panoramic view of the horizon. A sudden explosion caught his attention several miles away off to his left. Turning in surprise, he squinted at the now rising sand plume, trying to pinpoint a cause but to no avail. Curiousit prevailing over caution, Fafni again erupted from his position, sailing through the air as quickly as a fighter plane in the direction of the explosion. As he came closer, he slowed as he realized that the origin of the explosion had come from within a small town. Being built from bricks the same color as the surrounding desert, the town was all but invisible from any sort of distance. Now however, he could see it clearly from ground level. The town itself consisted mainly of Nomads- those choosing to seperate themselves from greater civilisation and the technologies that it enjoyed. Some did it for their religion, others simply born into it and others still exiled or in hiding from the law... and at that moment, it was on fire.
Ironic really, being the burning nation at all but the humor of the scene was dimished somwhat abruptly by the screams of unseen people trapped in the flames. But over the top of the screams could be heard clashing metal, gunfire and explosions... the sounds of battle. Fafnir had come across a battlfield.

t that point, Fafnir had a choice. He could stay- either to watch or become actively involved. O he could leave now and pretend he'd never been there. Unfortunately, the illusion of choice was taken awayfrom him as a figure emerged from the veritable wall of flames that marked the edge of the town. But to Fafnir's surprise, instead of a soldier, it was a young girl, blackened by ash with streaks down her cheeks from where she had been (and still was) crying. Behind her, two more igures emerged and this time, they were clad in the distinctive armor of the Burning Nations Miliatary. They both carried guns and as they made it clear of the flames, they raised their weapons in unison to point at the fleeing girls back. Fafnir made his decision in an instant. Reaching beneath his cloak, he then drew it out again, producing two flashes of silver that whistled past the girl on either side. A fraction of a second later, two steel knives blossomed from the two gun wielding men along with a twin sprays of blood as they collapsed in a heap with dull, lifeless eyes.

In the handful of seconds the whole encounter had taken, the girl hadn't stopped running or even taken notice of the events that had just taken place. Fafnir made no move to stop her as she continued straight past him. No doubt she was either too terrified to think clearly, or perhaps there was a safe place nearby. Either way, she was on her own now. Fafnir had done his good deed for the day.

Ungreatful brat...

Fafnir let Rakesh's comment go without a response. Instead, his gaze returned to the flames engulfing the town. What was going on inside? Why were the Nations miliatary trying to kill civilians? One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to find out standing around outside. He'd need to venture inside the flames... "Out of the frying pan and into the fire" he muttered as he stepped through the flames and into the warzone within.

Word Count: 1,140

It took awhile for her to receive some sort of message that a group of 200 Fire Nation soldiers decided to break away from her rule and start looting their own lands. She sat silently looking at the man who decided courageously to break away from them and bring this message to her. As it stood there wasn't enough military that she could afford to send to stop them. "I have one more question for you my loyal soldier." She said while looking down at the man who knelled before her. "What is it my queen?" He asked in an unwavering voice. "Do you know where they were heading?" A moment of silence passed before her answer came. "Yes... I believe their target to be a small village. It's population mainly consisting of Fire Nation people." She paused for a moment thinking over what he said. Mainly the "mainly" part. It didn't matter though. She waved over to a man who was standing over to the side of the throne room. "How many men do we have to spare currently?" The man simply opened up a book that he had hidden within his coat pocket. "As it stands if you were to send anyone from the capital it would be taking from the capital's defense." She sighed and thought carefully. "Let this man rest and give him what he needs. He deserves it for risking his life." She returned to her thoughts quickly. "Thank you my queen." He said before leaving her presence with the man she was talking to earlier.

It didn't take long until she was deep thought into deciding what to do. "This nation is full of trouble... I remember when there was peace in the lands. Why did the previous ruler have to be someone who was so aggressive and uncaring." She sighed. "I guess I'll go myself. Most of those in the platoon he mentioned were no one of great standing. If they haven't done anything yet I guess I'll offer them a chance to return." She stood up and lifted her hand in front of her face. As she did it caught fire completely. "It has been awhile." She said with a blank face and stared into the fire. She dismissed the flames and began to walk out of the throne room and as she did she was stopped by the man with the book. "Where are you going Seigi?" She smiled at the man. "Where do you think Kuro?" He chuckled. "You never really change do you? Don't blame me if you end up hurt." She walked past him and simply lifted her hand above her shoulder waving bye.

Instead of taking the stairs like a normal person she walked onto a balcony. "I better go the fastest way I can think of." As she finished that sentence smoke began to come off her body and it soon caught fire. After a few more seconds her entire body was see through. She crouched down and jumped up and instead of returning to the ground like gravity dictates she flew. After about a minute she was over the capital's walls of the industrial city. Her goal as a queen was to return the fire nation to it's wondrous peaceful old self. Currently as it stood they were at war with lightning nation and since they bordered each other, attacks were frequent. The previous ruler underestimated their power and while leading an assault into their land in an attempt to end and win the war, he found himself dead. Since he had no heir and such she was somehow appointed as the ruler. Though, she would be lying if she said she didn't want it. As she did somewhat set it up a little for her to gain the throne. She saw it necessary to fix the land.

The capital was now out of sight completely and only red sand was below her. It reminded her of her first home. "The place were fire spirits dwell." It never had an official name, but that is what people usually just called hot spots where spirits could be seen. Though, of course, they were a rare sight to behold. All the fire spirits she knew disappeared one day. They always treated her like an outcast because of the form she was born with, but she never thought them to simply disappearing like they did. Even though she was an outcast and they disappeared on her, she liked her form. Because of it she has been able to see so many wondrous things. After she running into a nomad family she decided to follow them and she soon found herself in the capital of fire nation. She watched as the nation grew and changed for better or for worse and eventually the even worse version of worse took place. Fire nation began to be controlled by tyrants and soon over a hundred years the nation became torn and became infamous. Seigi felt great sadness as she watched the nation become such a thing. After sitting around for some time watching how things were turning out she decided to join the nation's military and try to change it from the inside. It was that day she declared she would return the nation to peaceful days.

She was lucky she was able to fly and at decently fast speeds. It is far quicker than any method she could think of and it was fueled by her power alone. Well it wasn't really putting any stress on her since this is her natural form, it was just more convieniant to remain in her human form. Though the speed she was talking about was about to be proven as she was near the village that is close to the middle of the Red Death. As it finally entered her field of vision she saw something that made her worry. Smoke, black smoke at that. Was she too late? She wondered. She arrived at the village, which took her about thirty minutes of her flying. She quickly flew down and sounds of fighting could still be heard. She knew this most likely won't be ended without a fight. She managed to land without being noticed or at least she hoped she hadn't. As her feet touched the gorund her body returned to normal and she ran towards the nearest building. She entered an alley and looked around the corner onto the main street and as soon as she did a voice rang out. "Oh look, the queen of the fire nation! We should be able to have fun with her and even get some money." As the man finished his sentence she felt disgraced that men like this served the fire nation. People like this were people from previous era's and old soldiers, outlaws, and their like would most likely end up sparking up a revolution within the fire nation. She sighed and walked out of the alley. "I can't believe people like you serve this nation." She said with a painfully obvious tone of anger. She noticed that she was also surrounded as there were at least 15 men pointing guns at her. "You dare try to attack me?" These people were now traitors to her, in case they weren't already.

It was clear they wanted to capture her alive, but it was also clear they didn't know how strong she was. Without lifting a finger hundreds of small fire butterflies just appeared and were fluttering through the air. "W-what?" A man said as he fired his gun. But instead of harming Seigi the bullet just passed through her hitting the behind her. Her body was once more entirely composed of fire. "You!!- You're a fire spirit!" As he finished the sentence the butterflies descended on all the men around here and exploded violently ending their lives. She looked around at the buildings with a pained expression. " I do not wish to cause this town anymore harm. I have to save what I can and give a place to return to for those who manages to survive this ordeal. The explosion seemed to catch the attention of some more traitors nearby and they came to surround her once more and this time it seemed to be around thirty. They looked at her and what was once the bodies of the men who surrounded her earlier. "It seems I don't have to search as much as I thought." She breathed in deeply and a fire order rang out, but the bullets passed through her harmlessly. None of them had the power to use an element, but she knew some within the 200 soldiers who betrayed their nation knew how to use the fire element to an adept level. Again without lifting a finger the ground around her began to catch fire and the men now panicing as they realized they were unable to do anything against her. They stood no chance as fire swept their ranks, sending out the occasional scream from being cooked alive. As the last of this group burned away she noticed a presence that she should have felt earlier. It was that of a spirit. Out of curiosity she headed towards it without exiting from her Fire Spirit state.

When she arrived she ran into an ordinary man who held two daggers. "Who are you? I sense a spirit, but you seem to be an ordinary human...?" She looked over the man and made a not as she looked over the daggers once more realizing they were stained with blood of a recent foe. Her gaze did not have to shift far from him to see two dead bodies that wore the fire nation uniform. "I see... You do not seem to be a foe for now. But, I still wish to have my previous questions answered."

Needs to be colored... Had to go =d

Fafnir emerged from the flames to find himself inside the town and he was shocked by what he saw. Bodies litered the streets. Men women and children all lay where they had fell- some burnt beyond recognistio and others hardly marred. The sticky smell of death and cooked flesh filled the air and Fafnir almost retched. Taking deep breaths through his nose so as to lessen the smell, Fafnir took a few catious steps onwards but was stopped by a sudden massiv influx of heat coupled with an enormous explosion a few blocks shy of Fafnirs position.

That was the sound of lots of people dying at once Rakesh noted with something akin to amusement. Fafnir didn't know exactly how Rakesh knew that, but he felt a chill run down his apine nonetheless despite the heat. The knives in his hands were still slick with blood but their weight as a reassurance as he attempted to lacate someone (or anyone) in order to find out what was going on. As so often happened to Fafnir though, he didn't have to go looking for trouble because troule found him.

A woman rounded the corner in front of him from amongst the flames. Before Fafnir could say or do anything, the woman got the first word in. "Who are you? I sense a spirit, but you seem to be an ordinary human...?"
That was a shock to Fafnir but he kept his surprise hidden thanks to the desert cloak he wore that showed only his eyes. Peering closely at the woman, he realised that something was amiss. But while he was pondering that, she spoke again. "I see... You do not seem to be a foe for now. But, I still wish to have my previous questions answered." Fafnir was silent for several seconds following her second statment and realisd there could be problems if he remained silent any longer. So he decided to feign ignorance to her first

"I'm sorry miss, I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. You sensed a spirit? I'm afraid I don't understand hat you mean. I havent seen any ghosts since I arrived here, although it wouldn't surprise me if there were given the horrific events that have taken place here." He gestured to the streets filled with charred bodies with a wry grimace. Looking back at the woman, Fafnir had questions of his own. "Speaking of questions, what on earth is going on here? is there a war going on that I don't know about?"Hot

Fafnir resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Raksh's comment, whic he assumed was directed at the womans appearance.

No, seriously. She's Hot. As in, she's on fire

Blinking in confusion, Fafnir looked at the woman again. Only this time, he realised that it wasn't the firelight from the burning town that made her look like she was bathed in fire. she actually was on fire. Feeling stupid for being so slow on the uptake, Fafnir hesitated. "Speaking of human... you aren't a human either are you?"

sc= 509

The way the stranger spoke assured her guess was correct. He wasn't on this battle field from the start. He asked if there was a war he did not know about going on within the fire nation's lands. "These men you see before you are traitors... Deserters. They wish to return to the ways of the old king. The villagers attempted to fight them back, but it seems it was to no avail. I'm here to eliminate the traitors." She answered his question with little hesitation, but still alert around the man who stood in front of her. His presence was something unusual... He sure didn't appear to be a nomad either. "Speaking of human... you aren't a human either are you?" She laughed. "No my dear boy, I'm not human and by what I meant earlier I do not mean ghosts and you know that as well. I sense a strong elemental spirit presence around you. I also know it is not of fire origin. Which certainly makes me curious as to what you are doing here..." She looked over him again. "But what is weird is I also sense human from you..." As she finished another large bang roared from the background snapping her mind set back to the reason she originally came. "It seems you have no intention of aiding the traitors... So why not help me instead? There are at least 150 soldiers presence in the village still. Be warned as there are some skilled elementalists among them. But from what I can sense from you... You won't have too much trouble." As she finished they had been found. "Signal the others! There are two others still alive and fighting!" One man from the group split off and was now running towards what was most likely towards his superior or other soldiers. "Fire!" The remaining 16 of the group began to fire at the pair, but as what happened before the bullets from their guns simply passed through Seigi. "By the way, my name is Seigi. I'm the queen of the fire nation." She simply said without second thought. She knew it was typically dangerous to randomly hand out your name like that, but she knew if this man was somehow connected to a spirit he wouldn't attack a fellow spirit honorably. She grinned foolishly as she walked towards the group of men, each step leaving a fiery outline. "You men were foolish to do such a thing... You killed so much innocence... They were even people of your own nation!" Flames erupted from her body as she finished talking and as they did they formed into a large phoenix. She stopped some distance away from the soldiers now who were panicking a little as they realized their bullets caused no harm. "You! You're the queen aren't you?!" She laughed. "You just figured that out? You should have heard rumors about me then. If you somehow survive, you will not be unscathed." With that the phoenix shot forth and the men scrambled trying to escape the oncoming attack. Their efforts were futile as the phoenix swiftly and fully engulfed them in powerful flames. "Oh dear... Seems the man who broke off from earlier has escaped. I believe we should follow him, though if you have no will to be in this conflict I understand." She said while taking off the direction the messenger went.

(Sorry for the short post and low quality... Sick and tired xP Didn't want to hold things back though.)

Fafnir stood silently beneath his cloak as he listened to the woman's explanation. She made it clear that she knew about Rakesh's presence- although obviously not the specifics. It seemed that Fafnir's initial guess of walking into a war wasn't too far off the mark. It was more like a civil war. It seemed the Fire Nations politics were in a shambles for such large portions of it's military to act out on it's own like this. He was in the process of pondering what sort of King would allow such frivolity amongst their underlings when the woman announced that she herself was it's King. Or rather, it's Queen. He smirked to himself beneath the black fabric covering his face. How appropriate that a fire spirit of all things was also the ruler of the burning nation. Fate certainly seemed to enjoy it's little jokes.

What wasn't a joke however was that the woman- no, Queen- no, Seigi informed him (quite casually) that there were one hundred and fifty more fire nation soldiers within the town and they now viewed both he and the Fire Queen as enemies to be destroyed with extreme prejudice. As if to add extra emphasis to that point, a sizable group of fire nation soldiers emerged seemingly out of nowhere and wasted no time in going on the offensive. However the charge was short lived and ended in disaster for those involved as Seigi simply countered with a single burst of flame that took the shape of a a flaming bird before colliding with the soldiers in a fiery explosion of death and carnage. One man alone escaped the carnage, running off into the town presumably to warn the rest of his company as to the threat they now faced. Seigi simply moved off in pursuit of the man. Seigi called back to him as she went, informing him that he had the option to not follow and avoid further conflict. Fafnir was still for a moment, thinking over his options and having a brief internal discussion with Rakesh. The entire process took all of about 3 seconds before he sighed and followed after Seigi and the man ahead of her.

Within minutes Seigi had led them deep into the town, where the man they had been following was nowhere to be seen. Somewhere in the twisted maze of rubbish and debris he had managed to give them the slip. By now, the flames from the initial attack had died down, leaving a multitude of smoking pits everywhere the eye could see. Every one of them a potential hiding spot for a sneaky foe. At the very least, it made for a low visibility battlefield. Perfect for guerrilla tactics and surprise attacks. At that moment, as Fafnir passed a particularly dense pillar of white smoke, a lone figure burst out of it, a two headed axe held overhead in order to bring it's blade down upon Fafnir's exposed back. The axe began it's descent and Fafnir's black cloak was torn to pieces. A fountain of blood issued forth from the assailants mouth and the axe fell from his numb fingers to clatter uselessly at his side. In Fafnirs hands was a red blade held in reverse. The blade had pierced the mans abdomen and now poked through the other side. With the sickening squelch of flesh against steel Fafnir withdrew the blade and swept the blood from it's surface with an elaborate flourish that ended with the blade returning to a holster hidden beneath the remains of his tattered black cloak. With a frown, Fafnir reached up over his shoulder, taking firm hold of the cloak and tugged it free, letting it flutter away to settle on the ground some distance away. Without the full body cloak, Fafnir could now be properly seen for the first time. Dressed in long black pants with silver accents and a shirt and coat of the same design. He also wore two sword sheathes on his back which held identical red blades. at his waist he wore a belt of wickedly sharp throwing knives.

There was a brief moment of relative peace as the man's lifeless body crumpled to the floor, leaking blood profusely from the hole in his lower torso. Then, with next to no warning another 60 men emerged from over a dozen of the smoking pillars. But Fafnir wasn't their only target, as half of the contingent formed a loose circle around Seigi. As for the other half, Fafnir now found himself surrounded in a similar fashion. The distance between Fafnir and Seigi was at that moment close to one hundred meters so sitting back and letting her massacre them in one fell swoop like she had previously. Dropping into a combat stance, Fafnir steeled himself for the inevitable fight. He wasn't disappointed as a heartbeat later half a dozen men rushed him from all sides. Stepping forwards, Fafnir grabbed the closest man and, using his foes own momentum as leverage, flipped him over his shoulder, straight into the blade of another enemy. The two men sprawled to the ground- one impaled, the other trapped under the weight. But Fafnir was already onto his next opponent. Spinning on his right foot, he brought his left leg through the air so his heel slammed into one of his attackers face. The man pinwheeled in the air for a moment before Fafnir followed up with a straight punch that broke multiple ribs and sent him skidding away from the center of the conflict.

Fafnir was at the center of a whirlwind of fists and feet. Very quickly, he'd killed or otherwise immobilized a third of the rogue soldiers forces. The two thirds that remained however, were those who battled with the fire element infused with their weapons and bodies- those that Fafnir had just dispatched were only grunts- a warmup. "Alright, lets take it up a level" Fafnir announced to the onlooking soldiers. For any close observer his eyes (previously storm grey) were now a vibrant electric blue. Electricity briefly played about his body from top to bottom and back again before the next wave began it's assault. The first one to come wielded flaming gauntlets. Fafnir sidestepped the first strike, whipping one of the knives from his belt and slicing along the entire length of the mans arm- slicing through flesh, muscle and sinew, rendering it useless. He completed the maneuver by pivoting and releasing the knife, but only after flooding it with lightning. The electrified throwing knife rocketed through the air- catching one of the soldiers in the chest- causing it to implode violently.

Fafnir then had to leap backwards as the spot where he had been standing moments ago was engulfed in wicked red flames that still nearly seared him with the emanating heat. As he landed, he then had to roll sideways in order to avoid a flurry of fireballs that crashed into the ground mere inches behind him. Rising from his roll, Fafnir leaped to his feet and drew both of his blades together. No sooner had he done so than two more men fell dead- both victims of his blinding speed and the long reach of the blades. Lightning flooded down the length of the blades as Fafnir engaged his next opponent. He sliced through the weapons, flesh and bone of all those who tried to match him in close range combat. Within minutes he'd docked their total by another 12 members. That left only 18 of the original 30 and they were keeping their distance. A hail of fire forced Fafnir backwards and then weaving from side to side to avoid lances of fire and gunfire. Leaping high into the air, Fafnir brought both baldes back over his right shoulder before swinging them diagonally together. The air rippled around the blades as a tremendous wave of crackling white lightning arced through the air towards a group of 3 men. One man took the brunt of the attack and was evicerated like a hot knife through butter. The other two were caught in the ensuing explosion as the wave of lightning hit the ground like a land mine.

Fafnir landed on one knee, both blades stuck point first into the ground before him. He remained motionless in that position for several seconds. A stunned silence pervaded the battlefield until the ground itself began to thrum. The nearby men looked about their feet on confusion and trepidation. The thrumming grew more intense and a low hum could now begin to be heard. The noise grew in pitch until suddenly a dozen pillars of blueish white light- condensed lightning- erupted from the earth beneath each of the mens feet. Each man unlucky enough to be targeted by the attack simply ceased to exist- burnt to a crisp and then vaporized in an instant. That brought the total to 6 men who were aghast at the travesty that had just befallen their comrades before their very eyes. It took two more of their number to be cut down before they realized they too were still in danger. Fafnir vaulted over a particularly large and desperate fire blast as he killed the third to last man. He spun both his blades together in front of him to deflect a barrage of fire orbs before cutting down the second last man. Finally, the last man turned and ran. sheathing one blade, Fafnir reversed his grip on the second before throwing the blade like a javelin.

The weapon caught the man in the back at the base of the spine. The man collapsed- dead on the spot. Fafnir wasted little time in collecting the weapon as well as the throwing knife he had used earlier and sheathed them after wiping them off on the dead men's clothes. Looking around, Fafnir found himself at the center of a ring of bodies that looked like discarded dolls thrown aside by a 3 year old. With an internal shudder regarding the death he'd just been a part of, Fafnir turned to observe how Seigi was faring against her own opponents