Role Playing!

[Jason]

Erk watched the hawk drop its letter and headed back to the group. They had just finished reading it through, so Erk took the letter and read it. He frowned, then burned the letter in frustration.
"I don't trust her, but we don't seem to have much of a choice."
The hawk landed about twenty feet from the group on a dead log and sat watching them. Erk looked over at it, then back at the group.
"What do we do?"
"I go," said Sarala.
"Do you think you can trust her?" asked Doelcm.
"I don't have a choice. If I don't go, then everyone will die."
"You know, I hate evil villians and their plans. They are never afraid to do stuff that is morally wrong."
"So we're decided then? Sarala goes?"
Heads nodded in somber agreement.
"Well, I'm altering the deal slightly. I don't trust that lady, so we accompany Sarala to the castle."
"But . . ." protested Sarala.
"No 'buts' about it. We're coming."
Erk turned and walked over to the hawk, which flapped its wings and continued to stare at him. Crouching down in front of it, he spoke.
"Okay, look. You're a freak and I hate you, but that's beside the point. I'm sure that if you can see what this thing sees, you can also hear me. So hear's the deal. Sarala will come, but we're coming too. We'll wait outside the castle while you talk to her, but I don't trust you enough to send her on her own. And if anything happens to her while she's talking to you . . ."
Erk brought a flame to his hand and flung it against another dead log ten feet away, which exploded in sparks and flying pieces of deadwood. Erk looked back at the hawk, then got up and walked back to the group. Gathering their stuff, the group headed off towards the castle, a dark mood enveloping them all.

[Lady Jillith]

How easily they fall into my trap, Lucrecia thought. By trying to defy me, they follow my plan exactly. The queen, watching through they eyes of her hawk, saw the group steadliy making their way towards her castle.

"It'll be fine. Stop worrying," Sarala said to Erk.
"Sarala, you're going to meet with the most evil person on this planet; how can you say it will be fine?!"
"It will be hard, certainly, but I think I'll be okay. After all, I have all of you to help me."
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, everyone except Sarala was engulfed in imprisoning blackness. The fire and darkness generals appeared beside her and pulled her off her horse. As they tied her up, Lucrecia and Lord Temor entered the scene.
"Hello, princess. How nice of you to drop by," Temor sneered.
"But we seem to have some uninvited guests," Lucrecia said. "We can't have them spoiling our little get-together, now can we?" Pointing her finger to the black mass encasing the group, she shot a beam of purple light. Before her eyes, Sarala saw her friends disappear.
"Let's see how the little light-child does without her protectors."

(occ: This would be where everyone gets sent back to Earth. If I messed up anyone's plans for the story, I can change this.)

[rr339]

" Ha ha ha ha...they are gone...Just as planned! I knew that they wouldn't leave you to come here alone. Its alright Sarala, they didn't belong here. See, how easily I can dispose myself of your friends. You are nothing, but bad luck...anyone that you come in contact with suffers. Don't you think that you should allow everyone to be free and happy? You existance is nothing but sorrow and pain. Think of Shilm, He suffered so much just to see you protected, but there wasn't anything you could do, but to feel his light be extishguished. Your friends, since the very beginning they have suffered so much to help you, but now...seeing how benelovent I am i have sent them back so that they don't suffer anymore. I shall take you to your parents, but first Temor block her powers, we don't want her getting out of hand." Said Lucrecia as she sat next to Sarala in the wagon.

"yes my queen" said temor.

temor grabbed Sarala by the arm and then began to block her powers, just as her parents powers have been blocked.

"As soon as we finish with this place we will move on to the next planet, so don't worry...we don't plan on being here forever, remember that we travel the stars to dominate all!!! ha ha ha ha ha." Said lucrecia to Sarala in an empty cold voice.

[Jason]

Erk blinked as bright light flooded his vision. He sat up, and looked around. No trees . . . buildings. Modern buildings. Where . . . he was home! But . . . what had happened? Had it all just been a dream? He looked in a window, and his hair and eyes were still blue. So, it hadn't been a dream. That evil monster had sent them home! Erk clenched his fist in anger. How could she? Sarala . . . he had to find a way to get back. But how? Erk tried to bring forth his powers, but they seemed to elude him. Almost within his grasp, but not quite. He looked back down at the ground and saw the others just starting to wake up. Even Tarak was with them, looking very confused and scared, and understandably so. He'd just been thrown off his own world into a new one.
'What do we do? Sarala, can you hear me? Sarala?'
No answer was forthcoming.
Erk hung his head in defeat. What could he do? He was who knew how far away and had no way to get back. No way to go help her. Erk pounded his fist against the wall, again and again and again. He couldn't stop the tears that flowed down his face, and he kept hitting the wall. Doelcm walked up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey."
Erk stopped hitting the wall and hung his head. He turned his back to the wall and sunk down, crying. Doelcm sat next to him and tried to consol him, but eventually just sat there, staying with him as he let out his anger, frustration, and grief. Tarak watched with both sadness and confusion, and eventually came over and stood next to them, watching the goings on around him. Emiko was nowhere to be seen, either transported to a different location or had wandered off. Kor, however, simply stood there. There was something different about him . . .
"We must work quickly."
Everyone's head snapped up. Kor was talking, but it was Shilm's voice!
"We don't have much time. We must quickly gather what we can and return."
"Shilm?! What . . . how . . . return? How can we return?"
Erk jumped to his fee.
"How can we get back?"
"I will take you back, but it will be very draining. First, we must gather what we can. Do you have any weapons you can bring? Any supplies?"
"I have some stuff we can take," said Doelcm. "Some canned goods that should help. Those things last forever and you can get quite the meal out of them."
"Good. We will need plenty of food. How about weaponry?"
"Hmm . . ."
Erk paced, completely focused on getting back.
"I might know of some weapons we can use. Lets go to my house."
The group turned and headed off towards Erk's house. They were all still slightly unnerved by the way Kor's eyes glowed and spoke with Shilm's voice, but they took it in stride, happy to be partially reunited with a friend whom they had thought lost forever.

[rr339]

"Sarala...I have heard that there is a crystal that exceeds in power, but only certain people are allowed to attain it. That was Shilm and yourself, but since Shilm is dead...you are the only one at this time that can obtain it. So, tell me Sarala where is this crystal? We are going to go and get it, and when we find it you are going to get it for me, and then I can have its power...if you do this for me I promise you that your parents shall remain unharmed, and you really don't much going for you my dear...you don't have your friends, or the hope of ridding yourself of the darkness. So...will we do this the easy way or the hard way? You have to choose now!" Said Lucrecia, as she stood in front of sarala and her family in the dungeon.

Sarala, looked at her parents and tried to read an answer, but they only gave her a look of confidence.

Sarala knew that whatever she chose would be accepted by her loving parents.

Lucrecia turned to syfe and the time general and said, you shall start the first phase of the invasion, i will send you to the world where sarala's friends are. Make sure to give them a good homecoming and make sure to destroy anyone that opposes you. Go and claim that planet for your dark queen. Lucrecia whispered as she sent the two generals with some henchmen to the erk, and doelcm's planet.

Sarala was caught up in her decision making that she didn't know that Lucrecia has sent some general to pay Erk and doelcm a visit.

"what is your decision hon?" said lucrecia as her eye became white and her hand were filled with a black light and she looked at her parents direction.

[Jason]

As they hurried off to Erk's house, Erk and Shilm/Kor talked.
"So, how are you here?" asked Erk.
"When Lucrecia drained me of my energy," said Shilm, "Kor entered my mind and created a space within himself where my being, my essence was able to escape to. My body is dead, though can be revived, but I still live on here, inside Kor."
"Why didn't you let us know before?"
"I couldn't. I've been in a semi-comatose state until we arrived here. The power that was necessary to transport us here was no small amount, and that much energy flowing around awoke me."
Erk pondered on this for several minutes.
"Erk, can you still access your powers?"
"I've tried, and they're there, but I can't get anything. It's like they're floating just out of my reach."
"Hmm . . . this doesn't bode well. If there's one thing I do know about that woman, it's that she won't be content with just staying on her world. She's likely to invade other worlds if we don't stop her soon."
"How do we do that?"
They arrived at Erk's house, and he let them in. Doelcm began collecting food stuffs from the pantry (Erk's parents were gone) and Erk went with Shilm/Kor into the back room to get some of the guns that they kept there, along with Erk's swords and other similar weapons.
"Are you proficient in the use of these weapons?" asked Shilm/Kor, picking up and looking over one of the blades.
"Yeah. I spent years learning to use the things. I'm also good with these."
Erk picked up a pistol from off it's display shelf.
"What is that?"
"It's called a gun. It shoots stuff. Kinda like a bow, but better."
"Interesting. As to how we stop Lucrecia, we must get to her, and that would mean returning to my world."
"And just how do we do that? You've got no body of your own, and you were the one who dragged us there last time. And you even said it takes a lot of energy and power to do that."
"Indeed it does. More so than any normal person can produce. To try that on their own would kill them."
"Then how did you do it?"
"By tapping into the light."
"Tapping into the light?"
"Yes. Light is a near-infinite energy source. By tapping into it, I am able to utilize it's power to do things I normally couldn't. However, only those who can manipulate and use light can tap it it's power."
"And can you do that from Kor's body."
"No."
Erk sighed. "Then I guess we're sunk."
"No. You can do it."
"Me?"
"Yes. You no longer control only fire. When Sarala's power joined with your own, you gained the ability to manipulate light. Remember how you changed? Not only did your fire change in color and texture, but also you changed, and are continuing to change."
"Yeah, my hair and eyes, I know."
"You still are continuing to change. Have you not noticed?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look at yourself."
Erk looked in a mirror that his parents had hung in the room. At first, he didn't notice anything. Then, as he continued to look, small changes became apparent. His features had changed slightly, he had increased in build, and his skin had taken on a fairer shade. He had always sported a good tan, but even though he had been walking around in the sun, his skin had lightened some. He looked . . .
"I look like you and Sarala."
"Indeed. As you now gain control of light, you begin to take on similar features as us. You will continue to do so as you grow in strength, over time. Now, as to accessing your powers here on this world, you need to focus. Though, I wouldn't recommend trying inside."
"Yeah, probably not a good idea."

[The Honourable Ninja-san]

(OOC: I think that we should be in this world for a little while, not just pop in, pop out.)

[Jason]

(OOC: We're not going back yet. I'm planning on having an army show up at our doorstep soon. Don't worry, it'll be fun. )

[Lady Jillith]

"Time's up, love," Lucretia said. "What have you decided? Your crystal or your parents?"
With one last look at her mom and dad, Sarala replied, "I will go with you to find the crystal."
"Smart girl. We will leave immediately."
True to her word, Lucrecia left the room and the dark general grabbed Sarala's arm again and took her to where horses and supplies were waiting.
"I thought you would make the right choice." The dark Lady got on her horse. "Now, which way?"
Sarala pointed north. How am I going to get out of this?

[rr339]

The Dark Queen, the Princess of light, Temor, and a small army headed to the north where Sarala had pointed where the Crystal was held. Their travel led them to the tall snowy mountains. Sarala was shivering due to the extreme cold weather.

"Love, are you cold? Oh, that is right since you don't have use of your powers you can't keep warm." Said lucrecia with a smug look on her face. "Tell me if we are going in the right direction, convince me that you are telling me the truth and I will get you something to keep you warm."

Sarala nodded as she was shivering. Then with shaking hands Sarala pulled out the map and showed Lucrecia where they were heading.

"Excellent!! Now I will keep my part of the bargain." "You come here!" Yelled Lucrecia at one of the henchmen.

A man came running up and knelt before her.

"Yes, my Queen?" siad the Henchmen.

Lucrecia blasted the man, and all that was left was his clothing, Lucrecia picked it up and threw at Sarala. "here you go, keep warm dear, you are very, very special to me" Said lucrecia as she looked into Sarala's eyes.

"You are an Evil woman!! I can't believe that you killed that man!! I will find a way to stop you." Said Sarala.

"please dear, there isn't anything that you can do to stop me, and if you are planning on having you friends help, well....it won't happen they might already be dead."

"You awful woman!!!!!" Sarala's eye's began to light up, and Lucrecia was able to feel a power come from Sarala.

As soon as lucrecia saw that Sarala got some control of her powers, she Shot a beam of darkness to her head, which made her pass out.

"Temor my love, I thought that you blocked her powers!!!" Said lucrecia in a stern voice.

"I did, but with such a strong emotion she was able to break the block" said temor.

"well then, make it stronger, I don't want this happening again, YOU GOT IT!!!" yelled Sarala.

The caravan continued to where Sarala said the Crystal was, and Temor began to use stronger magic to block Sarala's powers.

[Jason]

Out in the field behind Erk's house, Erk and Shilm/Kor continued to try and work to get Erk's power released again. Doelcm and Tarak sat on the porch, talking. Doelcm had tried to get her powers to work, but also to no avail. They have been trying for an hour.
"It's no use. At this rate, I might as well buy a lighter and some gasoline," said Erk as he sat down on the ground.
"You need to focus more."
"I'm already focusing!"
Shilm/Kor hung his head and sighed.
"Perhaps we should take a break."
Just as Shilm/Kor was sitting down, a huge explosion rocked them. After picking themselves up off the ground, they looked back to see a fireball rising about a mile away. Suddenly another explosion rocked them, and another fireball rose into the sky. And behind the fireball was a spreading cloud of darkness.
"So soon . . . I didn't expect them to arrive so quickly."
"What?" Erk looked at Shilm/Kor. "Them . . . you mean . . . no."
Doelcm and Tarak came running up to them.
"Hey, is that what I think it is?" asked Doelcm.
"It is," said Shilm/Kor. "Lucrecia's generals have arrived and begun the invasion."
"No!"
"How can we stop them?" asked Erk.
"I don't know. I haven't any use of my powers, nor do either of you. But we must do something."
Erk looked down at the knife in his belt, along with the pistol just recently added.
"Well, we've got something. Let's go see what we can do."
The group turned and headed off, moving as quickly as they could toward the fireballs hanging in the sky.
A few minutes later, then found themselves forcing their way forward amidst a crowd of people running the other way. Then, in the distance, they could see both Syfe and the dark general, along with an army that appeared to be unending.
"How do we stop them?"
"We give it our all."
Suddenly, they heard sirens coming up behind them. Turning to look, they saw several police cars pull to a stop. Officers jumped out and aimed their weapons at the advancing army.
"H-halt! Stop where you are!" shouted an officer with a bullhorn.
Instantly, a flurry of arrows arched towards him. The officers huddled down behind their cars until the arrows stopped, then looked back up. Suddenly, one of the cars exploded in flames. Erk looked to see Syfe laughing as he chucked another fireball. Another car exploded, and officers dove for other cover. They had no chance to shoot back, and the army contiuned to advance, killing all in their path.
Erk ducked under an alcove and moved forward, keeping the laughing Syfe in his sights. He drew his pistol and crouched, taking aim. He pulled the trigger, but Syfe moved just as he did, and the bullet merely brushed his hair. Syfe turned to look for who would disturb him.
"Hey, Erky."
Erk growled.
"Don't call me that."
"Aww, why not? Something wrong with me saying 'Hi' to my pal?"
"I'm not your pal. Never plan to be."
"Hmm, your loss."
Syfe threw a fireball at Erk, who rolled out of the way. As he came up out of his roll, he brought his pistol up and took another shot. Syfe simply moved out of the way and threw another fireball at Erk. About now, Erk's temper was running high. First the loss of being able to protect Sarala, and now an invasion of his home . . . Erk let out a cry of fury and reached down inside himself and grabbed the power that was residing there. It tried to escape, but through sheer force of will he grabbed it and brought it to him. Flame sprung to his hands, but not fire alone. Intermingled unlike before was light. Pure, white light. Blue flame and white light twirled one with another, creating forms none of them had ever seen before. Syfe's eyes widened in surprise.
"You've pushed your limit too far, Syfe. You all have."
Erk threw his hand forward, and a beam of fire and light flew from his hand and struck Syfe in the chest. Syfe flew backward and crashed into a building. Erk blasted downward and lifted himself into the air. Arrows flew at him but incinerated several feet in front of him. Erk began throwing balls of light and fire at the advancing army, destroying the entire front ranks. The officers, who had earlier dove for cover, began to open fire on the advancing army, leveling nearly as many as Erk was. Not all the luck was on the side of the defenders, though. Several officers lay unmoving on the ground, arrows sticking out of them. Several buildings were burning, adding to the chaos. Other people, civilians, were now getting into the fray, throwing rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and whatever they could get at the enemy soldiers. Some people had brought out guns and were unloading them into the enemy ranks. Several of the citizens also fell, some with arrows and others with spears and javelins in them.
The fight continued for on an hour. The officers, who had been reinforced by more, with more coming from neighboring cities, and the citizens were just managing to keep the strange soldiers at bay, using the supieror guns. However, they were tiring, and the army seemed to have no end. Erk was taking a break from the fight, nursing a few scraps and cuts from close calls he had recieved while fighting. Doelcm was looking over some of his other wounds, helping to wash them, since she still couldn't use her own power. Try as she might, she couldn't. It seemed a strong burst of emotion was necessary, and so far the only thing she felt was sadness. Sadness at everything that was happening, at the destruction that was happening before them and being unable to do anything about it.
Shilm/Kor walked up to them. He had been in back, watching the progression of the fight. He had been coordinating with one of the police chiefs. They had, at first, been hesitant to accept their help. However, after seeing Erk resuce one of their officers from several soldiers when he would have otherwise died, they had decided to ally with them.
"Has anyone seen the dark general or Syfe? Since the fighting started, there's been no sign of them."
"I don't know, I haven't seen them. Now that I think about it, it is odd that they haven't been here," said Erk.
"I'm not sure that's a good thing," said Doelcm. "I wonder where they are?"

[The Honourable Ninja-san]

Doelcm tried again and again to reach her powers, but they always slipped away from her. Doelcm kicked a building wall in frustration. If horror and sadness over the deaths here wasn't enough, what was?
"How can the Dark Queen be sending so many people? That has to be tiring," Tarak commented, looking around a corner at the spot where soldier's had been appearing. Almost as soon as he said this, a gap appeared in the flow of men.
"Hey, they've stopped coming!" Dolecm exclaimed.
"At least for now. The Dark Queen may send more once she recovers her strength," Shilm/Kor pointed out.
The police officers now definitely had the upper hand. They were using tear gas, guns, riot shields, and whatever else they could. Many soldiers, scared by guns and suffering from the effects of the tear gas, were starting to surrender.

[Jason]

As they were resting, dark beams flew out of seemingly nowhere and struck several of the police officers in the chest. The fell to the ground, limp. More dark beams flew out, striking officers and citizens and sending them to the ground. The enemy soldiers, seeing the officers falling to the ground, took heart and began to attack anew. Erk jumped up and began flinging fireballs at the advancing hoarde, but before he could do much, a beam of dark flew out and struck him in the shoulder. Spinning around, he landed face-first on the ground, his shoulder throbbing, then numb.
"Erk!"
Shilm/Kor, Doelcm, and Tarak ran over. He was vaguely aware of them standing over him as he felt a coldness moving through him. It continued it's way through his body, extinguishing the flame in him. Faintly, he heard someone talking.
"Reach for the light, Erk."
"Wha?"
"Reach for the power of the light."
Erk focused, using what remained of his strength, and searched for the power of light. Surprisingly, he found it rather easily. It seemed to have no end. Bracing himself, he tapped into it. Light flooded him, smashing into the darkness that was permeating him and driving it back. But so great was the influx of light that not only did it beat back the dark, but a sphere of light extend from Erk, engulfing everything for a 100 yards. The enemy soldiers shrank back and wailed in fear and agony as the light burned into them. The officers and people who had fallen stood up, fully healed, and those who were still fighting were filled with a new energy. They renewed their assault on the beleagured enemy soldiers, driving them back towards the breach from which they had come.
Suddenly, a hole in the ground opened underneath the enemy soldiers, catching several of them. Other holes began to open, catching even more. In other places, the ground was rising, throwing the soldiers around. Barricades for the officers to hide behind sprung into being from the concrete ground, and walls went up all around the enemy soldiers, trapping them in a circled area. Erk looked back over his shoulder and saw Doelcm concentrating, her hands moving swiftly as she moved the element and matter around her to shape them into something new.
"Yes!"
Erk jumped back up, the light bubble beginning to fade, and launched fireball after fireball into the retreating soldiers. Then he saw both the dark general and Syfe hovering near the portal. Erk threw two fireballs simultaniously at them, and they ducked back into the portal. What few soldiers remained fled through the portal. Erk and Shilm/Kor ran up to it. Erk reached out and, using the power of light, shrunk the portal down to the size of a small car, and then placed a barrier on it so that nothing could come through.
"There. We're finished."
The looked back to see stunned and weary people emerging from cover, looking in both awe and fear at the four of them who now stood before the portal, Doelcm and Tarak having joined them.
"Well, seems we've got a crowd," said Doelcm.
"Indeed it does."
"We must hurry," said Shilm/Kor. "We haven't much time. Let us collect our supplies and go."
"Wait," said Erk. "Couldn't we get some help?"
"No. They do not belong in my world."
"But you pulled us into your world."
"Yes, but you were the ones whom I sensed would be able to help us. If they go, they will not return."
"How do you know that?"
"Probability."
"Huh?"
Before Shilm/Kor could respond, Emiko came wandering up.
"Hey guys, what's up?"
The others just kinda looked at her, not quite sure how to respond.
"What?"

[Ranger Melinda]

Emiko stared around, and tried to figure out what had been happening. She had run off to her own house as soon as they had gotten home to bring back a backpack full of canned food, and also a bow, a sling full of arrows, and a sword.
"thought we might could use these." she said showing her pack to everyone.
"so, can i have an explanation of whats been going on?"
together, shilm/kor, doelcm, and erk told her of what they had been up to, and what all was going on just now.
"sorry i couldnt have been here. dont think i would have been much help anyway, so its actually probably for the best that i wasnt"
"we were actually just about to leave and get our own stuff when you came wandering up so that we could go back through the portal and help out sarala."
"well then, lets head off through this portal and help her out. i think i have enough food to last us a good long while, and erk, you have your swords and whatnot right? well then, seems like we be all set, so lets head off."
with that, they all steped through the portal and into....
(OOC: someone else can figure out where exactly they end up, i'm not certian where you wanted them to end up)

[Lady Jillith]

Sarala slowly woke up. What odd dreams she'd had. Something about her friends being in this strange world with tall buildings lots of yelling people wearing unusual clothing . . . clothing like Erk and Doelcm had worn. They'd been sent back to their own world! Sarala was relieved; when her friends had disappeared, she hadn't known what had become of them. Now at least she knew they were not dead. She shuddered to think of the battle they had been through, but at least they survived.
Then Sarala remembered something else. "Reach for the light." Had that been her? Earlier, she'd tried to contact Erk but couldn't. Erk, are you there? she tried again. No answer. The princess sighed. Maybe she'd really been dreaming.
Sarala?
Erk! Is everyone alright? I saw the battle. Where are you?
I don't know;we were sent back to earth, but we've come through a portal. I don't recognize this place. Sarala, are you okay?
For the moment at least. Lucrecia is forcing me to take her to the Crystal.
"Ah, it seems that the child has woken up." Lucrecia's voice came out of the darkness. Sarala opened her eyes. They seemed to be in a cave. "Now we can continue. Which way?" the evil queen demanded.