The water of the river outside of school caught and reflected the light of the sun as shimmering specks on the blue surface. Watching the water rush by, losing himself in his thoughts, Ian almost forgot what was going on that day. Try as he might though, he knew he wouldn't be able to completely forget what he was about to do. He was about to walk into a trap, and something like that wasn't erased from memory so easily.

The invitation had come a few weeks ago. He was invited to form a party in The World to take on a brand new level as a Beta Tester. The invitation had been received from CC Corp itself, something he though rather fishy. Considering he was involved with several illegal characters and anomalies, he really didn't think he would be the type invited to such an event. The Flashmail had stated that it was an open testing, available to all players, but asking around had revealed that few had been invited, and only a couple more of his contacts had even heard of it. CC was trying to catch him, and he was about to walk right into it.

His chosen party, however, had no idea.

He couldn't tell them. They might not quite understand why he would do such a thing, but he knew he had his reasons. It was a matter that he held close to his heart, something few others were insightful enough to truly understand. Matters of the heart were often dangerous, and this moment was hardly different. Traps set by the Administration were often well thought out, even for as bumbling as CC Corp is. The key to surviving was being smarter, something that Ian knew he was.

Pulling himself from the riverbank, he made his way home. Throwing on his FMD, he quickly assumed the persona that CC wanted. Centrus appeared in the Aqua Capital in an area known as The Rooftops. He had reprogrammed the permissions in this area to only allow those who bore the mark of his clan, the Anima Mundi. This would have been done naturally by CC's Clan System, if the clan existed in their eyes. Survival meant secrecy, secrecy meant survival.He had kept himself from being associated with the clan in the eyes of CC, but whether it was for their survival or his was somewhat of a debate. He was wanted for other reasons, and the Mundi was wanted for their hacks. If CC knew that he was involved with them, it would surely mean increased efforts to find him, not to mention placing them at risk. Today, though, none of that mattered, what mattered was having fun.

From his vantage point atop the city, Cent wrote out a mail that would be sent to the rest of the clan. Those who wished to join him would meet him at The Rooftops, and those who didn't would steer clear of the Chaos Gate for the next 27 minutes. He assured them it was for their safety. From his location, he could see the Knights patrolling the city, looking for him or any other pests that might be out that day. He warned those with obvious hacks to try to keep them under control, under wraps, until they were sure of what was going on. A separate message was sent to Ruikage, with an installable attachment that would allow him access to The Rooftops. They needed to finish discussing the plan. The kid was, after all, the key to their success.

The sky outside of his bedroom window was colored an ominous grey. Light was laying on his bed, his head turned to the side so that he could look at the dark gathering clouds. Deep within his heart and mind, the young teenager wished that today had never begun. His father, the only family that he truly loved, had forced him to go visit his mother's grave. She was the one person whom he desperately wished to forget.

He should have felt bad but, to Light, his mother was nothing more than a corpse rotting in the ground, a bad memory that should remain buried forever. But he just couldn't escape her and so he layed there, watching the growing storm, waiting to see the first drops of rain splatter against the glass of his bedroom window. Eventually, his dark brown eyes moved and slowly fell to rest on his computer. The black screen stared back at him like a shrouded abyss.

Perhaps he shouldn't torment himself anymore, he thought... Light wanted to erase the darkness on the monitor and forget about his bad day, and there was a way to do both. The young teenager lazily shifted himself and stood up from the bed, walking towards his computer desk. He turned on the tower and monitor before sitting down in his chair. There was a flash of light, a few noises, the soft whirring of the electronics. His FMD easily slid over his eyes and hair...

The World was calling to him. It was his escape... Light wanted to see his real family, his clan, the Anima Mundi. Surely they could help to ease his agony and fill the emptiness in his heart. Within mere minutes, the character known as Light found himself staring at the beautiful serenity that permeated the Aqua Capital, Mac Anu. Just the sight alone helped to relieve some of the tension in his body. A soft ping rang out as he received a Private Message. It had been sent from the one person whom Light loved just as much as his father, his adopted big brother, Centrus. "What a God-send...", the Neko mused.

Light quickly skimmed over the message. Their beloved clan leader was asking them to come to their clan's secret area, the Rooftops. Those who did not wish to attend were asked to steer clear of the Chaos Gate for at least half an hour. Just what was Centrus summoning them for, then? Well, he had every intention of finding out and doing whatever his brother had planned for the clan. Nothing could possibly keep him away from it now.

Before wandering into the more social areas of the town, the boy carefully tucked his tail out of sight and made sure that his hat was covering his ears. He didn't want to risk someone outside of his clan finding out that he was with the Anima Mundi. The Cobalt Knights had been after them for some time now, with little success thus far. But even so, Light held no fear of the Knights. This had been proven during his first quest with his clan. It was something that he was proud of.

The Wavemaster casually moved away from the Chaos Gate, headed for the Rooftops. Not long after he'd started walking, a familiar voice popped up in his head and started talking to him.

"Hey, hey! Are we off on another adventure!?", the voice inquired cheerfully.

"Oh, it's you again. Be quiet. I can't be seen talking to myself in public, especially with those blasted Knights lurking about.", Light growled softly.

"Awww, you're no fun! Fine then! We'll talk when just your clan is around.", came the somewhat reluctant consent.

Light smiled gently. The voice in his head wasn't so bad to have around. In fact, it had actually helped him out a lot in the past. But that aside, the young boy soon found himself at his clan area. He warped to the Rooftops and began searching around for the others. Oh, how he had missed Xantos, Teishu, and Aiko... But most of all, he had missed his big brother. His hand wandered up to the blue cat collar around his neck, a present from Centrus himself.

As he continued to search, he eventually came across the person who had summoned him. A large smile broke onto Light's expression while he walked over to stand in front of Centrus. He crossed his arms behind his back. "Hi, Niichan! Long time, no see. How have you been lately? I've missed you a lot. Actually, I've missed the clan a lot too.", he said eagerly.

The cold. I hate the cold.

The simple thoughts resided in none other than Tommy’s head, who was waiting impatiently for the bus to pick him up so he could head home for the day. His iPod played a soft tune, rather than the rock he usually listened to. When the yellow top of the bus appeared on the horizon, he and a few others smiled. Then, just as he thought it would stop, the bus roared past, leaving them with nothing but empty dreams for the bus to come.

Tommy adjusted his backpack straps, ruffled his hair a little, and then changed the song to something that would maybe cheer him up a little. Something disturbed the music, though. A few students turned back towards a young man shuffling forward, who Tommy recognized to be his French teacher. The man had a grave look on his face, one that told all of them that there wasn’t any good news.

“We’re sorry, but you’ll have to try and get another ride today. When the bus was coming…it…it crashed. The roads were slippery. Everyone was okay, though, so at least that’s good.”

His French teacher had never been the one to talk. The man left, leaving the kids to chatter about how they would get a ride home. Some would have to walk miles while others could simply call their parents for the ride. Tommy, on the other hand, simply started walking, his head bobbing from right to left with the tune that he was listening to. The others paid no mind to the young boy who walked away, as the High School students had never talked to him anyways.

In his small jacket, the boy felt very, very cold. He shivered, glancing up at the gray clouds that gathered up in the sky. There was no sun today, no heat, no brightness to blot out the darkness. It was simply one of those days where it would maybe snow or drizzle a bit. In fact, he thought he might’ve felt a little bit of snow hit his head. It felt a little wet, after all.

It wasn’t long before Tommy was opening the door to his house, a good thirty or so minutes later. No one was home except his cat, who sat patiently at the top of the kitchen counter. Its eyes glowed as if it had done something mischievous in the past five minutes. Tommy merely patted on the back, smiled, and then carried it upstairs to his bedroom. The cat purred, rubbing its head against the wet jacket he still wore despite being inside the warm house. Setting the cat down, Tommy set off into his room, throwing his backpack down before closing the door. The cat still managed to slip in, though.

Despite having a small project due the next day, the boy simply took off his backpack and sat at the computer. There was a message that had popped up, a message that was from someone by the name of ‘Centrus.’

Centrus? What a peculiar name and definitely somebody I’ve heard of before…but where? Maybe it’s some virus thing.

Tommy forced a smile as he opened it, revealing a message. Anima Mundi… The student had been focusing on school and grades so much that he had completely forgotten about the online game he still played in the process. ‘The World.’ It wasn’t quite as popular before, but it was still building quite a lot of hype for an online game that had come out years before. It was concerning his clan, of course, and Centrus was…the leader. That at least brought some memories, including where he had heard the name before.

The man was the leader of his clan, a clan that he hadn’t even bothered to try and keep in contact with much ever since the Inferno event. Even then, he hadn’t talked all that much except for a short chat with Viva. Yeah, the one that drowned him in a pool of acid or whatever so they could progress further. It should’ve been Mizu. That would’ve been much more amusing.

Nonetheless, Tommy slipped on the VR goggles, turning on the game and letting himself get drowned in what he called an MMORPG. There were also the thoughts of his partner, who he had rarely talked to for the past month or so. The golden rings came around, revealing him and the open world around him once again. Or, the bustling people that were already shoving past him.

This time, though, when a player shoved past him, he deliberately stuck his foot out, making the player trip. Then, he’d disappear, giggling to himself as he heard an argument break out behind him, followed by an obviously short-tempered person’s shout. Then came the “mean” words and punches. Oh how stupid people were and how amusing things could get!

There Teishu stood, now at the rooftops, which was their relatively new clan meeting area. From what he could see, Light was already there, someone who he had originally met in a quest with a few others from the clan. Then there was Centrus, the one who he had messaged him. He wasn’t recognizable, that much was for sure. He hadn’t seen someone quite with those looks.

Glad to have you back. You have no idea how bored I’ve been! The voice of his anima was welcomed in his head, despite how he was always explained how bored or tired he was. That was Takai for him.

Yeah, glad someone actually reminded me of this place. Teishu smiled as the bear chuckled in his head. At that point, he walked at a slow pace, eyeing the man suspiciously as if he was about to get robbed of all his gold. It was always strange for him to meet new people, especially someone who was leading the adventure they were about to go on.

“What’s up?” the teen asked cheerfully.

(OOC: Please note that due to prior arrangements this quest is for no rewards, even though it could potentially be.)

"Wo-oooooah!"

An abrupt ding caused Xantos to fall off of the teetering pile of assorted debris he'd been sitting on, causing apples, barrels, old thrown out stools, and other various trash to go flying all throughout the alleyway. He'd been so focused on building his clever device that he'd lost all track of The World around him. He'd had the brilliant idea to rig up a trap to greatly annoy whoever next came through the alleyway, and make them start falling all over themselves and oh man it would have been funny.

...NnnnnSnrk? Wha? Pup? I...What the hell were you doing?

"I was setting a trap! What does it look like I was doing!" he snapped at his spirit, his eyes skimming over the message he'd just been sent.

A... trap? In the alley way? ...Pup?

"Eh? What do you want, I'm reading."

Oh, nothing really. I'm just wondering why in the blue blazes anyone would ever even bother to come to this alley. I mean, there's nothing here.

The wolf's eyes paused on the page as he thought about this. "I uh... Well... There's the um... scenic... Ranji?"

Mmph?

"Next time ask me these questions before I start."

I did. Several times. You ignored me.

"...Well that's not my fault!" Xantos threw his arms in the air emphatically. "You're the one who makes sure I don't do this stuff! Huh, it's an invitation from Centrus, I wonder what he wants? And what's this bit about avoiding the Chaos Gate?"

What are you mumbling about?

"Nothing. Guess I better get goooh jeez! That's bright!" Xantos had to cover his eyes, even with the sunglasses dimming the bright silver glare. Pulling back into the alley he poked his head out at a different angle so the sun wouldn't blind him again. "What is that? ...Oh that's unhappy. That's really unhappy." A large number of Knights of War were standing in a semi-circle around the Chaos Gate, a handful appeared to be looking in his direction. He pulled his head back in again, feeling rather much like a prairie dog. "Smurf it all, they must have heard the noise. That's just smurfy."

Xantos quickly piled up enough of the scattered detritus to climb on to the fire ladder, the alley dead ended, so the only ways out were toward the gate or up. And lord knows, going toward the chaos gate was not happening ever. Besides the rooftops were fun. He could have just warped up with the special program Centrus had passed out to the clan members, but he preferred climbing. Besides there wasn't any thrill in warping. Being chased was much more exciting, and the knights couldn't go up on top of the buildings anyway.

Dashing up the fire escape, he heard a shout of "Hey you!" as he swerved around another flight of stairs. Oh he'd forgotten to pull his cloak up hadn't he? "Stop right there, criminal scum!" Yes. Yes he had. Well that was just wonderful. Reaching back he pulled it up over his head, only to be conked on the noggin by three bright red shiny apples that must have fallen in when everything fell.

"Oow," he muttered. The apples bounced off his head and onto the waiting helmet spikes of the knights below, where they got shishkabob'd. It was a rather amusing sight that made the knights look not entirely unlike aliens with little red antennae.

He slowed down as he rounded the last stairs, the knights were busy tripping over the leftover apples. This made him smile. He'd told Ranji it wasn't a waste of time. "Yeah, I sure am a real criminal," he replied, "Heaven help us I might have changed the outfit a bit. Hey Ted, we need to go shut this guy down, he's green. Forget about the other one who's corrupting fields and breaking monsters, this guy's fuckin' green. That's like a capital offense."

The knights seemed to be enraged at this, but the wolf didn't really care. He stepped up onto the rooftops (he'd been here since before it was cool), feeling quite at home. Looking around he spotted a couple others not too far away. He made his way over, jumping from roof to roof, hoping Centrus wasn't mad that his forest had gone up in flames.

As he landed on the roof he called out "Hey man, it was self defense. That forest attacked me, you saw it. I was totally justified in setting it on fire."

Go away, Viva thought, glaring at the player that was coming in her direction, hoping she could will him away. The Wavemistress was crouched on a brick outcropping from one of the side buildings along the river that gave Mac Anu its name. It was not until recently that she'd found that the tops of the city were no longer restricted to her, part of her wondered if it had anything to do with the young man she'd met several months ago, Centrus. It was he who had assumed responsibility for the clan that she'd not been able to care for properly. Just like her puer, in the frantic findings of completeness she'd all but dropped off the face of the earth. All of her internet forums, blogs, writings, even her MMOs had come to a grinding halt that even the best five-star rated vehicle would not have been able to handle the force of the crash with which her sudden drop in activity had come.

Besides the clan had seemed to branch off, each wondering along their own routes, just as they had in the past. Perhaps she had been too highly structured as a leader? Desperatly needing the order in her chaotic life, she channeled it into nearly everything she did. Maybe that had come off too strongly on the clan. Her mate, rather her demon's mate, H4x, he had passed, leaving both The World in physical and byte means. She had been close to him, remarkably so, although most of it could be attributed to their respective demons, who had indeed, "done the nasty" which had resulted in the male host being thrown into Viva's mind by accident. How they managed to straighten it out, the wavemistress had no idea, but they'd both emerged, herself whole and H4x...dead.

Viva had never had the chance to properly mourn her illicit digital lover. She'd been nearly overwhelmed with the process of merging with her demon, the sudden bursts of rage that were unexpected from the quiet girl, the dark and drastic change in her sexual tastes, it had been a trying year for her and her fiancee. One that had ended in marriage. Now she was pausing to take some time to revisit her old hobbies. Just taking a breather from work and family and school.

The first thing she'd done was shed the beautiful design H4x had granted her with and remodeled herself. The wings, feathers and talons stayed, but she'd noticed a strange mark starting to show up on her body. It would be on her stomach one day then the back of her neck the next. It was faint but seemed to be a sort of tatoo. She couldn't make out the details yet, but it was in the tribal style and she assumed it was another side effect of her merging with her demon persona but lacking a puer to balance herself out, right now it was currently splashed across her face, giving her the look of a burn victim. The cloak had been tossed, she didn't care for it anymore, it was a part of her past that held too many scents of memories and she wasn't trying to hide herself anymore. Well not in the personal sense, from CCCorp, always as usual, and right now she was wishing she had it. The black pants had been made form fitting and been given straps that wrapped tightly around her legs and hips, symbolic only to her of how bound she still was to several things, while her shirt was changed again to a open-back, camisole-corset hybrid that was made of buckles and straps more so than anything else. It also allowed her wings to stretch freely and uncramped.

Those elegant black feathered wings however were drawing the unwanted attentions of her fellow players to her. Maybe if she sat still enough they would ignore her and thing she was a gargoyle and lose interest.
"Hey! Lookie at her! She's got wings!" But no such luck.
"Lady! Hey Wavemistress! What event did you do to get those babies!" Viva rolled her eyes, fortunately they were under the impression that the wings were legit items, those thoughts would soon be dashed once she moved from her crouched position, revealing reversed knees and taloned feet. A message 'dinged' in her in-box and she glanced it over, ignoring the growing number of players below her who were becoming fascinated with her appearance. Apparently she'd chosen the wrong time to revamp her outfit to something more exposing of her traits, whatever goons CCCorp had hunting people were out and about en mass, while the alley that she'd come to think of as "hers" was no longer such.

"Pinche cabrones," Viva muttered in regards to her audience as she stood on her perch and looked above her, trying to judge the distances of jumping from where she was standing to the next outcropping, which was the end of a horizontal log that was jutting out of the building to give the impression of being a support which the building had been put up. The feeling that she was playing Assassin's Creed: the Home-Game made her smirk a bit and with a slight grunt she forced herself upwards and grabbed onto the log. Talons scrapping again the smooth wall of the building, she search from tiny holes and crevices that would allow her to gain a hold, a talon caught and with another swift movement she lifted herself up onto the log and from there continued to make her way to the roof.

A small group of people had gathered around the Fist Fighter, one she didn't know and a few she did. Viva surveyed them coolly, crossing her arms in a defensive stance as she approached. The PM that the white haired male had sent out was vague and filled with things she already knew. And from there only being one new creature with them, this wasn't a "getting to know you" meeting. She had only interacted with Centrus once, and she didn't know if she trusted him, wanted to mate him or wanted to pull him into and alley and kick the shit out of him. He was a whole different animal in and of himself, this would have to be played carefully.
"Centrus," Viva spoke, acknowledging the male, sparing the familiar Xantos and Teishu and nod, while mostly ignoring the neko love-child the Fist Fighter had all but bouncing about him with excitement. "What is this about?" Viva did not like being in the dark, especially with people she didn't well know, it raised her raven's suspicions of him greatly and her wings moved slightly, not enough to challenge him, but to let his own thunder bird anima know that she was not in mood for niceties or political bullshit.

Todd was tired. The entire encounter with the Wolf had left him drained, not to mention his brief excursion into hell itself. Normally it would not be a big deal, and he would have long been over the game, but this was different. The wolf had physically marred his character data, creating red scar across the player’s right eye. It was not supposed to be possible, and CCorp would just love to get a hold of Matthias… and delete the character of course. The only clue that he had been given, was a specific set of coordinates and a time when he was to meet the wolf, but he was uneasy. The last thing he wanted was for even more damage to his character, resulting in easier identification by CCorp. If there was one thing for sure, he didn’t want Matthias deleted from the server.

It wasn’t even a matter of his attachment to the character. Matthias was a different person from him. Within the persona of the Heavy Blade, Todd could truly do what he wanted, when he wanted. It was liberating in more than one way, and he needed to protect his escape.

He rubbed an eye as he drove home from work. It was surprising how tiring it could be to teach kids the martial arts. He had only started at the dojo about two weeks ago, but already the toll was being taken on his body, and he knew that he needed to get more sleep in order to get by. However, as the red F-150 pulled into the parking area of his house, he knew that he would be logging into The World. He was going to forget about the wolf for a while, and play the game merely for the fun of it. Getting to his room, he threw on his FMD and assumed the online persona of Matthias.

Once online, he gazed around the bustling town of Mac Anu. It was filled with players of all shapes and sizes, all intent on whatever adventure they were planning on going on today. Matthias wished that he could have that once again. It was once a part of him, until the scar that disfigured his face. Now he was constantly looking over his shoulder for the Knights of War. Because of the slightly changed appearance of his character, they would delete him on sight. It was tiring, having to avoid them at all times. It made trying to operate in the root town next to impossible. Even as he observed the town, a group of them made their way to the Chaos Gate. Just then he received an e-mail.

It was from Centrus, requesting everyone in the Anima Mundi to meet him on the rooftops. If the group was unable to meet him, they were to stay away from the Chaos gate for the next half hour or so. With the large group of Knights there, the Heavy Blade could see why. But even as Matthias thought about that, he realized that the group was gone. Convenient… He thought as he made his way up to the rooftops of the town. From there, it was a simple matter to vault to the one where the group was meeting. Centrus was already there, along Teishu and two other players that he didn’t recognize. Even as he approached, Viva appeared, asking what was going on. Matthias didn’t bother to speak, instead listening to the player’s explanation.

It was like an itch you couldn't scratch.

...except, this “itch” was in the back of Kaylei's head. It was one of those feelings where you knew you had to do something, but you couldn't quite remember what it was. The feeling of walking into a room you had entered to get something out of it, but then suddenly lost all idea of what it was you were supposed to be doing. Reverse déjà vu. Unsettling.

The feeling she had indicated that there was something she needed to do at home, something very important. There was little she could do about it now, though, as she was sitting on a bus heading downtown. Kaylei tried to mentally wave away the itch, imagining rubbery hands forming in her brain, whirling around like the tentacles of octopi, touching all the curves of the inside of her skull in an attempt to “wipe away” the feeling.

It didn't work. Ten minutes of this “meditation”, if it could even be called that, and the feeling was only growing stronger as she moved farther away from her apartment. Another five minutes down the road, the itch was growing into a dull, throbbing headache. Kaylei couldn't bear it anymore: whatever this feeling was, it wanted her to go home. She rushed off the bus at the next stop and stood on her tip-toes, looking up and down the streets for the green lamps indicating a subway station. Thankfully, she hadn't gotten far on the bus, and the Park Place station was just up the street. Kaylei rushed down the stairs, nearly tripping and taking out a few suits who were making their way toward the turnstiles. They brushed off the elbows of their fancy suits, probably Armani or something ridiculously expensive, and made faces at Kaylei, who ignored them unintentionally. She nearly fell again when she suddenly changed direction to avoid a confused tourist struggling to swipe their Metrocard at the turnstile, whipping her own Metrocard out from her pocket simultaneously. Native New Yorker that she was, she was able to swipe and pass through the turnstile flawlessly and continue barreling through the crowds to hurry down the underground passageway connecting the Park Place station with Chambers Street station.

The pounding in her head grew as she traveled farther away from home, from where she needed to be. Kaylei tried to soothe her mind, telling herself she had to get farther away before getting closer to home. There was surely a busker in the Chambers Street station—the sweet sound of a violin was growing louder the closer she approached the station. Normally, Kaylei enjoyed the buskers and the music they made—after all, they had to be good to earn the banner that allowed them to busk in stations. Dodging a few confused-looking tourists looking around at the ceiling, not realizing the music was live and looking for speakers, Kaylei arrived in the station. She stopped for a second, looking at the signs posted along the ceiling, before taking off again, headed for a downtown A train, opting for the express A rather than the local C. The extra few minutes that express would shave off her travel time would certainly be taken gratefully.

The turmoil in her mind seemed to quit almost immediately as the train began moving. Kaylei squeezed into a seat on the train, still trying to swat away the scratching feeling at the back of her head. As lights indicating upcoming stops blinked out, signaling that those stops had been passed, the headache wound down more, spinning down until it was almost nothing. Emerging from the underground passages of Manhattan lifted additional stress from her mind: seeing the Hudson and knowing it was only another 20 or so minutes to her apartment. At the Borough Hall station she stood instinctively, moving to the doors and laying a hand on a pole—Kaylei hardly needed the extra support it gave, as years of riding the rails had taught her how to balance her weight so she wouldn't fall when the train stopped suddenly at the station, but her mind wasn't with her today and she didn't want to risk falling over. As the train pulled into her stop, the Nostrand Ave station, Kaylei rushed off the train, hurrying north up Nostrand Ave.

After three short avenue blocks, dodging cars and running across crosswalks when the lights told her not to, she turned right and walked against the traffic about half a block before turning to the building in which she lived, bursting through the door, and running up three flights of stairs, all while groping inside of her purse to find her keys. She unbolted and unlocked her apartment door, heaving her shoulder in right above the bolt to open the “sticky” door.

The race was on, now: she was home, but the déjà vu feeling was still there. Frustrated, Kaylei threw her keys on the floor and kicked them against the baseboard of her walls. I'm where I need to be, she told the itch in the back of her head. Now what do I need to do?

Frantically, she made her way through the three rooms that were her apartment: kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. Something told her that the bedroom was where she needed to go, which made sense—it was where she spent most of her time, after all. Being in the right location only made her search more frenzied: it was like the game of “hot or cold” that she played as a kid. Am I hot now? How about now?

Finally she spotted the laptop in the corner of the room with dusty game equipment scattered about, and something clicked in the back of her head. Her hand went to the pendant around her neck, in the shape of the ram's head, Aries. The fury in her mind was suddenly calm. Of course.

***

Chase was as familiar to Kaylei as she had ever been, though it had been months (at least) since their last time together.

Upon her log-in, she was greeted by a Flashmail from Centrus. Chase had only met him once, but that had been the last time she'd logged in, so he stood out fresh in her mind. The message seemed urgent enough, and Chase felt like this was the important thing her brain had been telling her to do. Ever since the administration had started really bearing down on hacked characters, Chase had screwed with her character data even further so that her login spot was no longer the default, at the Chaos Gate, but in an alley next to the Pawn Shop. Conveniently, there was also a large crate here which aided the tiny character in her climb to the hideout spot Ryu had chosen for the clan—the rooftops.

It took a minute of scrambling, but the little ram was able to hoist herself up. It seemed she was late... there were already quite a few characters gathered, most of which Chase was unfamiliar with. Sad, she thought to herself. The clan I once led, I hardly know anymore. The only two really familiar faces were Viva and Xantos. The ram sidled up to the mother raven's side and wordlessly touching the silky black raven's feathers in greeting.

Completely silent, with a sullen look on her face, she turned to Centrus, waiting for what was to come.

The Blademaster wasn’t quite sure exactly how to take the flashmail that he had received from Centrus. Certainly, it had been a few days and he had been expecting…something to come up sooner or later, but certainly not something like this. Having some fun, sure, that was fine. Blatantly attempting to get your character caught and deleted for repeatedly mocking a Knight, not quite so good. Okay, so maybe he was overreacting, but he wasn’t really sure about what was going to happen when he found the same knight that he had…well, played around with, and then tormented him some more. He was pretty sure that the other guy would flip out and start to chase after him, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to have a line of escape when he did so.

The teenager took off his FMD and walked over to the door for a moment, peaking out and making sure that there wasn’t anyone around at the moment. If anyone heard him, like they had last time, then there would be much laughter and mockery. He wasn’t quite sure when his cousins would stop giving him shit about that once he had explained it to them (neglecting a few key parts), but he didn’t want a repeat of the same event. So, it was a shut door that would hopefully block out any swearing sounds or talks about King Kong that he may or may not have to do. He shook his hair and grinned slightly, wondering why he was even going along with this…rather insane plan. But that was part of the fun, now wasn’t it? Nobody knew who he was in The World other than his cousin Syb, and he kind of planned to keep it that way. If he wanted to cut loose and get wild now and then he should be able to without much fear of repurcussoins now shouldn’t he? Well, that was one thing that Centrus was helping him do anyways…and perhaps not the last.

It wasn’t like he had anything else to do right now but go along with the insane request and do as the man asked.

He slipped back on the FMD, becoming Ruikage almost instantly as his hands took hold of the controller. It took him a few more seconds to get orientated, because in the time that he had been away someone had bumped his avatar into an alleyway and practically stuffed him into a box. Getting himself untangled from the mess took some time, since nobody was exactly willing to help him, and in fact kept on knocking him back into the pile of crates. He was grumbling by the time that he finally got out of his predicament, and his good mood had, for the moment, vanished. It was a good thing that he had the time to read over the flashmail that he had gotten in order to regain it…as well as wondering, once again, just what he had gotten himself into this time.

The first thing that he had to do was to find the alleyway, and it wasn’t the one that he was in right now. After another minute of reexploring the area around the Chaos Gate, he was able to find it…and the man that he wanted. Not Centrus, although he desperately wanted to talk to him as well. Whatever, the odds were that it was going to be worth a laugh…just as long as he was able to get away. Eyeing the distance between the entrance of the alleyway and himself, he nodded in satisfaction. Thirteen paces. A mischevious glint appeared in his eyes as he called out to a certain Knight a few dozen yards away.

“Hey! Guy who isn’t King Kong! You SUCK.”

Now would be a very good time to leave!

Upon hearing a familiar friendly voice issue from behind him, Light turned away from Centrus. His bright blue eyes took in the countenance of Teishu, a fellow clan member and friend that he had met in his first quest with the Anima Mundi. Teishu had made great efforts to keep the rest of them on track and he could be viewed as the most collected and serious of the group. But Light liked him, nonetheless.

Another smile blossomed in his expression. "Hiya, Teishu. How have you been? I know it's been a while since we first met.", said Light happily.

A semi-loud thud was then heard not too far away from them. Light once again diverted his attention to the source of the noise, only to find that it was another member of their beloved clan. Xantos yelled something about a forest fire which didn't honestly interest the neko. But Light was immensely happy to see Xan again. So happy that he glomped the fox-wolf with intense force, nearly knocking them both off of the roof.

"Xantos! You have no idea how happy I am to see you again... Do you have anymore old yarn balls in that cloak of your's?", the boy asked, giggling softly.

Shortly after releasing the pyromaniac, the young Wavemaster noticed that a girl with ravenesque appendages had approached their growing group. She verbally acknowledged only Centrus and seemed to ignore everyone else gathered on the rooftops. Just the mere feel of her aura was enough to send the neko into hiding behind Xan. Light barely peeked his eyes around the wolf's side, waiting to see what the girl would do. All he knew for sure was that he didn't want to get near her if he could avoid it.

'Woah... She looks as though she would eat a tiny little thing like us...', came Gil's somewhat tense voice.

'Shush. Don't give even more life to that thought.', Light said in response.

Out of the corner of his eye, Light caught sight of another character approaching the clan. It was another whom he had never met before. But this one did appear to be much more timid and calm when compared to the raven woman. The neko's curiosity soon prevailed over his fear. He abandoned his place behind Xan and made his way toward Matthias. With a smile, he introduced himself.

"Hi there. My name is Light. I don't believe we've met before.", the neko mewed.

Not long after he spoke, a small girl pulled herself up onto the roof. Light watched her make her way over to the raven without saying a word to anyone and then she touched the raven's wings. Neither of them seemed the least bit bothered by this action; it was highly likely that they were probably friends from early on in the clan's existance. Since the new girl didn't seem inclined to speak to anyone among them, Light kept himself from wandering over to meet her.

'Not that I'm complaining about your enthusiasm to make new friends or anything, but didn't your precious big brother summon you here for something that is a bit more important right now?', Gil inquired of him.

A dark red blush spread across Light's pale cheeks. Yes, he had momentarily forgotten about the true reason for everyone having gathered there. It seemed he truly was gaining the curiosity and attention span of a feline. With his embarassment still displayed on his expression, the neko casually made his way back over to Centrus' side, glancing up at his Niichan.

"Er... Right. Sorry about that. So, are you going to tell us what's going on?", Light requested timidly, the very end of his tail swaying gently back and forth beneath his cloak.

The kitten that had sidled up next to him was his dear little Light, the first player he had dragged into the shindig that is the Anima Mundi. Cent really didn't know how the cat had manifested, but it didn't matter in the end. Perhaps prolonged contact with the Clan was infectious. That being the case, he felt horrible for Colin. The Wavemaster The World knew as Takua would probably have voices running amok in his mind before the end of the year if he continued spending time with the Fist Fighter. That was assuming, of course, he didn't already. Anymore, Cent corrected himself. We've been there before. Light had asked him if he was going to explain why they were there. It was time to offer an answer.

"Well, kitten, not exactly. What I am going to say is that all of you need to use the Chaos Gate within the next minute and a half. The Keywords are Delta: Unbridled Welcoming Expanse. I'll meet everyone there very shortly. You all have...90 seconds. 94 tops. Just trust me. Later." With that, he leaned back over the edge of the Rooftop, allowing himself to fall back down to the ground below. The streets took no notice of him, mainly because his little stunt wasn't displayed to the public at large. Players weren't supposed to fall from the roof. As such, the game just showed him warping in. The only one who truly experience that moment was the bird grumbling in his ear.

"You really need to not do that again."
"You need to have fun every now and again."

He paused a moment, listening close to the city sounds around him. People nearby were chattering, but what they thought about The World was inconsequential. What Cent was looking for was one specific voice, a single tone amongst the millions, that would let him know that his brilliant plan was in action. A lot of work had gone into making sure that the guard on duty today was in fact "...King Kong! YOU SUCK!" And there it was. Ruikage was working out perfectly as a clan member, and it seemed as if he would do well in the 50 meter dash, as well. As the young Blademaster hauled ass past the alley that Centrus was currently occupying, the Fist Fighter stuck a leg out. As the first Knight tripped over it, the second one caught sight of the man who had done it. How odd, it seemed, that the man they were supposed to be on lookout for would appear at such an inopportune time. They did, after all, have to teach the mouthy n00b who was boss, but they couldn't let this moment pass.

As Cent watched the internal dialogue play out, he faithfully kept time in his head. They were currently at 57 seconds. By the time the fallen guard had gotten up, Cent was already running in a parallel direction to Rui. He only needed to buy 40 seconds to ensure that the entire clan was Gated Out to the field already, so his jaunt was short. Making a harsh left, he ducked through the crowd until he caught sight of the barreling Blademaster, as planned. The two converged, and Cent grabbed Rui by his jacket. Throwing the Blademaster over his back, he tossed an Ap Do onto himself. Hauling ass, he made his way back to the supposedly unguarded Chaos Gate. As the distance closed, he inserted the Keywords into the proper slots, punching the Warp button as soon as it was an option. Delta: Unbridled Welcoming Expanse would soon unfold before him.

And unfold it did. As the blackness faded, it gave way to a beautiful ocean scene. If this were one of his old outings with some of his more questionable acquaintances, he might have even been able to feel the white sand beneath his feet. For now, though, all he could do was enjoy the beautiful, sprawling waves. As he took a look around, he took note of the actions of all his clan mates. He chuckled a little. He really only knew a few of them well. A lot of them were still mysteries. He should use this a chance to get know them. They could probably be quite the surprise.

"HEY! YOU UP THERE!" yelled an irate crab residing near the Fist Fighter's foot. "Since you guys crashed my nap, I'm sending you on errands."

"Well, I know what it's like to have a nap ruined. Sure. We'll help." ["Weak."]

"I'm hungry. The caves should have some food for me. Someone grab me some of that. I could use some money, too. Find me a sand dollar! Oh, and a new shell. Something with a little more flare than this drab old thing."

Cent turned to the clan, spreading his arms wide. "Well, you folks heard the man...er, crab. Let's get on this!"

---------------
Alright folks, there's a lot of freedom on this. Team up with someone[s], and get to working it out. I know it's pretty wide open, but I'm trying to slowly work us into writing again. I'm so sorry I sucked so hard at getting this up sooner. I get one day off every two weeks, so life's been pretty bleh. Anyway, excuses aside, let's have some fun again! Much love to you all. -Cent and Az

Viva glanced to her right for a second as the she registered the light touching of her wings, only one person would do that, and she noted Chase's presence, the woman was as solid and dependable as her anima. The ram-hacked woman had only had a brief encounter with them prior to this but Viva took a rare liking to the woman, there was a seriousness that was compatible with her own, one that could recognize the severity of a situation. Chase stood next to Viva, facing Centrus with an equally serious look on her face that reminded Viva of the powerhouse of solidarity that the ram was.

The kitten slunk up from his hiding place behind Xantos and up to Centrus, repeating the question that was prominent. And they were gifted with a less than satisfactory answer before the Fist Fighter dropped into oblivion.

"Useless," Viva snarled staring darkly at the space that the Fist Fighter had inhabited seconds ago. She shifted her position, and stretched her wings, twisting her back slightly so there was a series of audible pops and cracks that reached from her tailbone to the very tips of her black feathered appendages. Glancing around at the small group, Xantos was as dependable as Chase, even if more sporadic, they would keep up. Matthias and Teishu and this...pet store kitten, she grinned unkindly and leeched a favored line from Riddick.
"One speed, my speed."

There was little other explanation needed. The raven's wings snapped shut and tight against her back and she started running, her taloned feet scratching the brick clay surface of the roof as she launched herself up onto the ledge and then in a release of tightly coiled muscle, through the air and landed hard on the opposite roof top. She did not pause to look back, and continued running across a series of rooftops that somehow came naturally to her anima and she let it lead her. Everything reacting with instinct of her raven. The raven-demon who was blended so closely with her now that one's separate thoughts were indiscernible from the other's.

Fifty-five seconds later the roofs came to an end and she sent herself into the air one last time, her body diving and a the last second anima inspired wings snapping open as her body righted itself and she materialized on the ground below in front of the Chaos Gate, the dive having been a motion of illusion and not an actual act.
"Delta: Unbridled Welcoming Expanse!" she called, her movements hesitant and staggering for just a moment after absorbing the impact from the ground.

She righted herself as her body materialized on the field. She arrived just in time to see that they were being scolded by a crab of all things and had been made into a courier service. Her eyes narrowed and glared hard at Centrus, as if doing so cause him to burst into flames from her anima's upset.

Scowling she delicately picked up the crab that was fussing at them in one of her talons, carefully balancing on the other leg. Carefully turning it over she snorted before dropping it back to the ground.
"Not even enough of you to eat, perhaps if we fetch your lunch you might grow enough to make a stew, what a fucking waste," she turned from the group and started in the direction of the caves that the soft shelled creature had indicated.
"We'll find your shit, but let me find you again and I assure you, you will be lunch. I've not had crab in quite a while, we'll fatten you up nicely."

"Get to the gate eh? Sounds easy enough," Xantos grinned. Sure there were a lot of guards, but that was no problem. It was like those British guys. They look impressive, but they can't really do that much when it boils down to it. "Hang on to your hat Ranji! Oh wait, you don't have one! Vulcan CH!" Raising his staff, he called the blazing phoenix forth into the town. It obviously wouldn't do any damage whatsoever, but it would definitely spook people because you weren't supposed to be able to do that.

As the phoenix blazed low over the city, Xantos lept off the roof of the building. A sudden wave of vertigo and unease hit him, which he recognized as Ranji's. The spirit wasn't much of one for heights at all, as he'd been lectured numerous times, all of which he'd ignored. The wind rushed past his face as he fell, and with a sudden jarring stop, his feet hit the pavement with a force that should surely snap every single bone in his body, if this were real life. "Thank god for no falling damage."

Players and knights alike shouted in confusion and terror as the fiery bird sped around the square, small embers falling off of it but dissolving before hitting the ground. Xantos casually strolled through it all, ignoring everything except the gate. "Unbridled Welcoming Expanse!"

As the gates deposited him in the field, he heard the gentle crash of waves on a beach. "Ooooo, I love the ocean!" Looking around, he took in the area. A beautiful blue ocean sprawled out as far as the eye could see in one direction, coming up to the shore to crash on the white sand. Various shells were scattered about and even virtual seagulls squawked and flew about.

A strange voice drew the wolf's attention suddenly, and as his eyes fell upon the culprit, he froze. Xantos put his hand up to his good ear, "Ranji, I've encountered some kind of demon."

You what? ....Pup, that's just a crab.

"A what? Oh jesus, it's looking at me!"

Pup... It's a CRAB.

"Look at that armor! Even my magic won't break through that kind of defense!" The sun glinted off the angry crab's shell, it's eyes swiveling about at the assorted crew. "I... I don't think I'm going to make it out of this alive!"

...You could probably step on it. Or maybe insult it's mother.

"Do you SEE those massive claws? It could rip a Heavy Axe apart! Oh jesus it's coming this way!"

Look, just leave it alone, surely you have something better to do.

"It's moving so fast!" Xantos kept his eyes locked on the terrifying three inch tall crab, which, incidentally wasn't moving at all. If anything it was staring at him like he was batshit insane. "Guh... Crab battle!"

Oh for the... Look, just shut the hell up and give me that. I'm not in the mood to put up with this shit today.

Crab battle! Ghh... It's got me!

"Hmph. Good. It can have you for all I care. Now, would anyone care to explain just what the living hell is going on here?" Ranji flicked his tail in irritation, a fairly grumpy look on his face. "Someone that ISN'T batshit flying insane? Or a crab?"

-------------------------------
OOC: Okay on grounds that it would be nice to actually have some rewards for once I'm abandoning them on this quest for another faster moving something or other. To be decided. tl;dr no rewards brah.

Light waited patiently, silently, at Centrus' side whilst his dear brother began to answer his question. Unfortunately, it wasn't really anything pretaining to their reason for gathering together. Rather, he relayed a detailed set of instructions about what the clan should do next. Before the young Wavemaster could react, he saw Cent fall backwards off of the roof. Brown eyes blinked in mild surprise. But then the boy remembered to follow his brother's instructions.

"Oh, right... Gotta make it to the Gate before time's up.", he muttered.

Without sparing the time to check in with the other members of his clan, he ran to the edge of the rooftop he was currently on and hopped off towards the stone walkway at the bottom. If he had actually tried this stunt in real life while wearing his character's heeled boots, there was a very high chance that he would have been severely injured and possibly even killed. But in the World, Light merely materialized on the street below.

Almost as soon as his feet touched the ground, the Wavemaster broke into a mad dash in the direction of the Chaos Gate. Fortunately, just moments before, Xantos had summoned a massive phoenix into the root town, which had pretty much distracted all of the citizens. All Light had to do was carefully swerve and avoid slamming into anyone around him. He was well aware that he couldn't afford to take it slow or even pause to let someone pass him by. The boy reached the Chaos Gate with few precious seconds left to spare.

"Delta: Unbridled Welcoming Expanse!"

Numerous, glowing golden rings encircled the boy, transporting him out of Mac Anu altogether. His vision was obscured by darkess for less than a moment. When he next opened his eyes, he found himself standing on a warm beautiful beach. There was a nice breeze blowing across the shore. It gently played with his cloak and his fluffy tail. The small charm attached to his blue cat collar, given to him by Cent, jingled softly. Light smiled happily as he stood there, merely watching the blue waves roll back and forth from the ocean.

'Hey, Gil? Do you think cats can swim?', he inquired pleasantly.

'Eh... I don't know about that, but let's not give it a try. Pwease, Light? Spare me from looking like a partially drowned rat.', his anima answered.

Light began to chuckle lightheartedly at his anima's use of words. However, his guffaw was soon interupted by a bout of angry yelling. His ears twitched as he looked around for the source of the noise. Only to find that it was a small crab resting near Centrus' foot. The neko slowly wandered closer to them and knelt down on his knees to inspect the crustacian, his tail flicking back and forth. It probably wasn't the smartest move on his part.

"Get away from me, you pathetic feline! Make yourself useful and do what I told you to!", said the crab, snapping his claws in the general direction of the kitten's nose.

With a small yelp, Light scrambled back to his feet, which was a tough task since his white heels were constantly sinking into the sand with every movement he made. He stumbled and eventually caught himself on his brother's shoulder, clinging to Centrus like the child he was. His tiny petite form was shaking slightly, his long fluffy brown tail quivering between his thighs.

'Wow... That crab is such a meanie.', Gil voiced his opinion, trying to calm his other self.

Eventually, the kitten recovered himself enough to speak.

"Cent-nii... Would you like to work with me this time? We can go and find the crab a new shell along the shore. Oh, and we should take Xan-nii with us too!", Light said, looking up at the Fist Fighter, awaiting his response.

Ruikage was sure as hell glad that Centrus had a plan in motion, but he wasn't really sure why they had had to pull the Knights away from the chaos gate. Maybe the clan couldn't go through unless the Knights were distracted? He wasn't sure how much he liked that. I mean, sure, he'd called one of the Knights King Kong and a variety of other things had happened, but that didn't necessarily mean that he was a horrible person now did it? No, he really didn't think that it did. So now he was aiding someone get his (perhaps Ruikage's as well?) clan into the Gate when they were being watched for by the Knights. Well, that was just...something that he'd have to look into. After all, Centrus hadn't really seemed that evil and hackerishous, so it was quite possible that the clan had just gotten onto the bad side of the Admins. Actually, come to think of it, Centrus had said something like that when he had first started looking into the Anima Mundi. Funny how things seemed to slip his mind like that.

Well, for now, he'd go along with what he had gotten himself into and start trying to figure out whether or not this was really the right clan for him. Sure, it'd be great if it was, but he also didn't want to be on the run from Admins for the rest of his life in The World. But whatever, it did allow him to have a ton of fun now didn't it? He hadn't really thought that this was going to be that great when his cousin had sent him The World and told him to start playing, but now...well, as always, it was the people around him that made it all worthwhile. He smiled to himself as the Fist Fighter promptly hauled the Blademaster's entire body onto the man's back and took off with all the fury of an Ap Do. Well shit, that was one way of making sure that you could get to the Gate without any interference. In the back of his mind, he wondered just how quickly he could get King Kong fired, or at the very least buried in an avalanche of paperwork.

After all, if he knew anything of bureaucracy, it was that they loved paperwork.

However, the thought of paperwork (and indeed, pretty much anything else) faded away the moment that his eyes hit the ocean. Well, not literally, or at least not for a few seconds, because it didn't take him all that long to go sprawling into the water as Centrus apparently forgot that the Blademaster was there. Unsure of whether or not he should be amused or pissed off, he hauled himself up and out of the water to face a rather...well, irritated crab. Not sure how to take that either, the boy scrambled out of the next wave and back onto the beach as he tried to think. The...crab had said something, something about errands. Oh god, was this one of those 'fetch me...' quests that he'd heard horror stories about in regular RPGs? He'd heard things like “Go get me that book!” and then the book in question (probably some doom book) was all of five yards away. And then you got experience for it. At least, in this, you only got experience for slaughtering monsters, just like you should.

Muttering to himself about how he'd gotten dumped on the ground, he tried to figure out where everyone was doing to go and what they were going to do. Figures that they'd have to do them all, but there were a few that didn't seemed to be getting touched. So, why not take one?

“I'll take the Sand Dollar. Anyone want to come with me?”

((OOC: No rewards for me on this one))

==Real World==

Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

”Ugh… why is my alarm set on a Saturday…?”

A shaky hand slipped out from beneath the thick comforter as Sigmund felt around his desk for his alarm. Fingers brushed the metal surface of the device before knocking it off of the surface to the floor below. Even after falling about three feet to collide with the thin apartment carpeting, the cursed thing continued to ring at maximum volume. With a groan of protest, Sigmund tried again to reach it, but it was out of range, and he was forced to push his comforter back to let the light from the window shine in his eyes. Grumbling and rubbing at his offended sight, the boy climbed out of bed and slapped the snooze button on his clock. Kicking it under the bed as he stood, the boy stretched his arms and glanced around his room, wondering what time his alarm had been set to go off and for what hellish reason.

After a second of trying to pull the answer from thin air, Sigmund finally dropped down to his knees and started digging around beneath his bed for the clock. It took a minute to find the blasted thing amidst clothing, old shoes, and the occasional box. When was the last time he had cleaned out from under his bed again? Still, after a few minutes he managed to find it and shake off the dust that had somehow clung to it during its temporary immersion in the dark depths. Checking the clock, he saw that it was set for ten in the morning. Too late for school, but he had set the alarm for some reason…

Then it hit him; he had planned to spend the day playing The World. The week had been difficult due to school-related overload, and as such Sigmund had been unable to log in for the majority of the time. However, he had set his alarm so that he would get up early enough to get some good gaming in. Immediately upon recollection, Zeich moved over to his laptop and powered it up, his headset already plugged in and waiting for him to slip it on. The teenager did so quickly and waited for his login screen to pass, not even bothering to get out of his pajamas; it wasn’t like he was going anywhere that day. He would spend the day in The World.

==The World==

Golden light flashed as Zeich appeared in Mac Anu’s Chaos Gate square. Yellow-brown eyes glanced over the immediate area in an appraising look as the Wavemaster tried to find someone interesting to claim as a partner for a day. However, his muzzle crossed into a frown as he realized that something felt wrong. Players were huddled in groups, speaking hurriedly and quietly like something was going on. Knights of War, the Administrators of The World, were patrolling the streets around the Chaos Gate. Zeich tilted his head, his ears twitching in confusion as he strode forward to ask about the recent events. Unfortunately, an armored hand on his shoulder whirled him around and he found a halberd pointed at his throat.

“Hey, I found another hacked PC!”

“What the hell… look, I’m not a hacked PC. Check my name in the player databases, I won a custom character contest. This is a completely legal character.”

The Knight held his shoulder firmly as he pulled up a menu, scanning through the names and checking his notes. After a moment, the Administrator released him and nodded. “Zeich, Wavemaster, custom PC. Yeah, you check out, kid. I’ll make sure you get a marker issued so that similar mistakes don’t happen, alright?”

“It’s fine, I can see why people would immediately jump on me. I don’t look like most players. Just curious though… can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Just some hacked PCs running around, showing more activity today. No worries, just enjoy the game.”

“Alright, good luck with your search.”

Zeich shook his head, amused at the guard’s uptight nature. He couldn’t stick around for a simple chat? Of course, they were on patrol and he’d likely get reprimanded if caught talking, so maybe it was for the best. The Wavemaster shrugged and started to head into to the town when a flashmail beeped in his window. Surprised, Zeich opened it, wondering who had sent it, and found the name to be garbled up. Tilting his head, he read through it carefully, his ears twitching thoughtfully.

It was certainly an… interesting message. Zeich found himself amused and wondering if it was some sort of mini-event that a group wanted him to come to. After all, wolf-boy clearly was directed at the only person with a custom PC. Clearly he was still the center of attention, and all because of a character contest! Grinning to himself, Zeich decided he’d go along with this person, whoever he was, and join him for this “crab attack.” It sounded almost fun, anyway. The Wavemaster turned to the Chaos Gate, input the given keywords, and was whisked away in a burst of light.

Zeich reappeared in the field that the keywords had directed him to, stumbling as his feet hit the loose sand of a beach. He fell face-first into the lapping waves, his muzzle soaked instantly and his vision blurred by the salt water. Pushing himself to his feet with a groan, he brushed the sand off of his outfit and looked around, wondering what had happened. The Wavemaster saw a group of players gathered not far off, and hoped that one of them had been the person to send him a flashmail. He approached them confidently… until he noticed that they were talking to a crab. Zeich blinked in confusion, but hurried forward to see what was going on.

“Hey, what’s going on? I heard something about a crab attack…”

Viva put a frustrated hand on one hip and narrowed her eyes at the group. This loitering was pointless and agitated her raven. It agitated her. And an agitated Viva was a danger to everyone. Growling she stalked back over to the group, targeting two of the newer players that she was unfamiliar with. The kitten and a young man who had just appeared on the field.

She snatched the kitten player who looked more and more like something would eat him for lunch, with such force that she yanked the child off his feet, and then turned to the all too commonly hacked wolf boy and in her most severe voice that channeled all the rage and frustration of a mother who was at her wits end,
"You two and Chase with me. Now," Viva didn't need to yell, but kept her voice dangerously soft but firm. Without waiting for comfirmation from the wolf as she turned to the remaining of the group. "Matthais, Xantos and Ruikage, find that damn sand trap. We'll see to it that the grocery shopping gets done." She had the sneaking suspicion that Centrus would be of no help here and her voice let no room for argument.

With that she began to drag the kitten by the air in a random direction that her anima sent her on muttering to herself about crabs and indecisive players.
"So what do you do runt?" she turned a sharp look to the child, Light was apparently his name. "And you, Zeich, am I saying it right? A long "e" yeah? How'd you get dragged into this?" her gaze drifted, less sharp now. Less smoldering now that they were moving with a purpose.

Light had been waiting for a response from their clan's leader when he was suddenly pulled away, having to let go of his Niichan's arm and struggle against whatever was holding him. It was then that he realized his feet weren't touching the sand anymore; he was hovering above the ground. Whoever had grabbed him was obviously not going to tolerate any funny business. Then he heard Viva's voice and knew he had been snatched by the lady raven.

'Oh, God... What did I do to deserve this?', he thought to himself.

'Some neko we are. Getting caught by a bird. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Kind of ironic, really.', surmised Gil.

The boy yelped, wondering why no one, even Centrus, was trying to save him. Then again, it was probably in their best interest. Better him than them, as it were. This clan needed to work on strengthening its bonds just a little more often. He gave up his fruitless struggling and hung limply in Viva's hold as she started to walk away, stealing two other characters along as well. Eventually, she looked at him and inquired about his class or so he assumed that was what she meant.

"First of all, it isn't runt. My name is Light.", said the boy, trying to keep his tone calm and collected. "I'm a Wavemaster."