((Responding to the following:))ιƲɴλρરίɱε wrote:
...She was preparing to return to her cottage when she heard the softest rustle of the brush on her right. A soft gasp freed its self from her throat.
Eliza wasn’t alone.
Kougu's breath caught in his throat as he heard a noise nearby. Dark Alliance? Unlikely... The footsteps were too soft for any of their soldiers or security, yet not stealthy enough for a spy or ninja. All the same, there was a black sheep in every organisation, DA included. He could never be too sure. Kougu winced as he braced his hands against the ground, suddenly aware of the fact that his palms had been badly shredded when he had tried to break his fall on the descent of the icy mountain. The dirt pressing into the gory wounds burned like blue fire, but Kougu did not cease his attempts. He managed to scramble half way to his feet, then his legs began trembling violently, his aching muscles unwilling to hold his weight after the long, gruelling flight they had endured when he had been trying to evade the Dark Alliance members... Kougu bit his lip, using the pain to distract himself as he pushed away from the tree and began sprinting. The second his first foot hit the ground, Kougu's legs buckled. He tried to catch himself, and by some miracle succeeded at the last minute, landing on one knee with his palms on the ground like an athlete on his marks. Kougu glanced around in urgency, then calmed himself with a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a moment, and the next moment he was gone, vanished from sight. Kougu released a relieved sigh and flopped down on the ground, staring peacefully up at the canopy of leaves above. The early morning sunlight twinkling merrily on his pale face gave a sense of serenity and tranquility, as though the world had been gilded in liquid innocence... Kougu's muscles released all their tension as his mind slipped into a daydream, his nerves calmed by supreme confidence in the barrier he had cast over himself. He had maneuvered the beams of light around him with flawless accuracy to make himself seem completely invisible, as well as solidifying the air particles around him so that his exhausted body could come to no harm. Kougu stared blankly and unseeingly up at the thick green leaves above, the dappled pattern of light reflecting on the glossy surfaces of his midnight blue eyes, yet not making it all the way through to his mind. Kougu was already in a world of his own, creating imaginary patterns with the shapes the light created, and slipping into a world all his own, completely unaware of reality. Kougu had a tendency to daydream alarmingly often, and it made sense really... Everything was so much more peaceful in his mind. Their was no death, no betrayal, no evil... Nothing but complete innocence, honesty and peace. Things that could never be possible while human beings walked the earth... Kougu had long since come to terms with the fact that all his childlike dreams would remain just that, dreams, for the rest of eternity... The only thing he could do would be to fight against what he saw as wrong, and uplift what was right! Since he could not stop war and create peace, then next best option had been to join what, in his opinion, was the right side. Yet he had no intention of meeting them... The Rebels. Not because he didn't trust them, no, it was far more complex than that... It as because he did not trust himself not to harm them. No, simply joining their alliance would be too simple, and too risky. He would have watch them... Much as he hated the word,
spy on them in order to find out their ideals... Then he would initiate his own plan to help them. Of course, none of his futile schemes were of any use when he knew nothing about The Rebels. Perhaps they were just a myth? Perhaps they were all individuals, not an organisation at all? He didn't know, he didn't understand... All he knew was that the Dark Alliance was wrong, and that he would have to do his best to stop them.
((Apologies for all the typos - my poor keyboard is pretty much ready to throw in the towel...

Hehe!))