It was a horrible night for those unfortunate enough to be walking the streets of Motor City. The rain was coming down hard, the wind was up and it was difficult to see much of anything with the lights repeatedly going on and off. For the most apart, the streets were deserted but sadly for the petite black haired woman, not empty enough. There were still a few groups of thugs taking shelter in the various pubs and dives and every time she seemed to walk past such a place, it was like a dozen pairs of eyes would be staring directly at her. It was not a place that she enjoyed visiting all that much these days but this was where she found herself, struggling to make her way through the rain, while the wind bit straight through her thin kimono, causing her to shiver with cold, while her feet were already saturated. Leliana could not have picked a worse night to have chosen to go for a walk but as always, she had found it difficult to sleep and had left her hotel room to simply try and make herself tired.
A sudden screech was able to break her out of her thought train and she looked up to find a group of thugs attacking someone in the middle of the street. It was hard to make out through the weather but from she could tell, there were at least five or six of them and although her first instinct was to just run in the other direction. Leliana just could not do it and instead reached towards her key chain and raised it to the sky, her shout was masked by the rain but the magic still seemed to work. A large black furred lion appeared by her side, Luxray, one of her many spirits and the perfect one to deal with such a threat. His fur crackled with energy and with a single nod from the mage, he roared and charged towards the group, surrounding himself with electricity and hurling himself in to the first thug he found, sending the coward flying and sending him crashing him in to the ground, paralysed.
The rest of the group quickly turned around to face the lion but with a powerful roar, Luxray unleashed a powerful discharge of energy that struck the entire gang, travelling from one target to the next. They all shouted and convulsed in pain, dropping to their knees and twitching, becoming paralysed alongside their team mate. The lion, however, did not finish them off although he did deliver a few double pawed hind kicks to them, knocking them out and stopping them from doing any more harm. Once the job was done, he would then turn towards the downed figure, nuzzling them with his nose, before looking up towards his mistress with a concerned look in his eye.
Leliana did not hesitate then and quickly sprinted forwards and quickly crouched down towards the figure, who certainly looked worse for wear. A female by the look of it and in a condition that caused the mage to frown in unhappiness from the sight. With a motion of her head, Luxray came forward and Leliana helped drape the woman over his strong back, before the pair of them quickly sprinted towards the first spot of cover that they could find, which turned out to be an old abandoned warehouse in this case. It looked like an old car manufacturing plant and would be more than enough for what Leliana needed. She and her spirit would then carry the unconscious figure along until they found a chair and gently placed the figure on it.
She was a pretty woman, with pink hair and a pair of twisted horns on her head although sadly she was in rather rough shape at the moment. With a sigh, Leliana would dismiss Luxray and then pulled out a second key, summoning her support spirit, Sylveon. The feline like spirit took one look at the horned woman, before quickly turning her head towards Leliana, furiously nodding her head, asking for permission to help. The petite mage quickly did so and Sylveon got to work, opening her mouth and singing a calm, soothing song which released a type of energy that surrounded the woman, healing her wounds and recovering her strength. Oh, how Leliana loved her spirits singing and with a soft smile, she would gently start to strike the cream coloured creatures head, which instantly caused a happy twitch of her spirits ears.
When the song was finished, the woman's eyes would open, revealing a brown pair of orbs. She would instantly jump and try to stand up but Leliana gently stood up and gently pushed her back down.
"Please don't move," she said softly, "You've taken quite a beating and my spirit has only just finished healing you. It's important that you take a few minutes to rest."
"Ok, I'm sorry," the pink haired woman answered, looking incredibly nervous but starting to relax, "The last thing I remember is being attacked by those men. I don't know what I did to make them so angry but they just started hitting me. I did my best but they just overpowered me."
"Realm? You're a spirit?" Leliana asked gently, softly taking the ram looking figures hand and holding it to help keep her steady.
"Yes," the spirit said with a nod of her head, "I'm the ram, Aries, one of the twelve zodiac keys. I take it that you are a summoner, Miss.....?"
"I'm Leliana," the celestial spirit mage answered, "And yes, I'm able to summon spirits although the celestial world that they come from is different. The world that they live in is a sad, desolate place I'm afraid, so they've made contracts with me in order to share our world."
"How tragic," Aries replied, "I'm sorry that they've had to suffer so much but I can tell that you're a kind mage from the way they act around you." A soft but nervous smile crossed her face as Sylveon jumped in to the ram's lap, nuzzling her head against Aries.
"Now, now, Sylveon, be careful," the purple eyed mage responded, having to smile as well at her spirit's show of affection to their new friend.
"It's all right," Aries said, her smile starting to fade as she spoke, "It's nice to meet some friendly people as I've had some trouble lately. Everything I seem to say and do here is wrong."
There was something about that which struck a chord with the mage and her grip tightened a little on the ram's hand, "Listen to me, I know exactly how you feel. I find myself thinking that kind of thing all the time. I just feel like I can't do anything right but that's not true Aries. There's so much that we can do in this world, just by helping others and lending a hand where we can. The world can be horrible but if we work hard then perhaps we can make it just a little bit better."
Sylveon gave a happy cry at that point, before suddenly disappearing, happy that she had completed her task and returning to her world.
Aries seemed to be doing some serious thinking on the other hand and after about a minute or so, she gently slipped her hand out of Leliana's grasp and then placed a key inside it instead. "Here, please take this, Miss Leliana. My previous owner no longer has any need of me and I'd like to make a contract with you, if you want me."
"Are you sure?" Leliana asked in surprise, "There are far more powerful and brave mages out there who are surely more deserving than me of your key."
"What matters most is the heart, not magic power of a person," Aries said simply, "I don't like to fight, Miss Leliana and I'm sure that you don't either. I want to help people as you do and I feel like I can do that best with you as my owner. Accept it, as a thank you for saving me and as a promise to help you in your cause."
With a smile and nod of her head, Leliana took Aries's key and placed with the other on her key chain, "Thank you, Aries, welcome to the team."
Happily, the ram smiled and then vanished, returning to the celestial spirit world, leaving the mage with a new spirit and friend, to aid her on her journey.
Leliana would not spend not any more time in Motor City and would quickly head for the exit of the town. After the disgusting display that she had witnessed tonight, she honestly didn'y want anything more to do with the place and made a swift vow not to return. Fortunately, the rain had stopped by the time she exited the warehouse and the clouds parted to reveal a bright full moon. With a slight smile on her face, the celestial spirit mage would focus her thoughts on the future and wherever her topsy turvy journey would take her next.
(1528 Words)
A sudden screech was able to break her out of her thought train and she looked up to find a group of thugs attacking someone in the middle of the street. It was hard to make out through the weather but from she could tell, there were at least five or six of them and although her first instinct was to just run in the other direction. Leliana just could not do it and instead reached towards her key chain and raised it to the sky, her shout was masked by the rain but the magic still seemed to work. A large black furred lion appeared by her side, Luxray, one of her many spirits and the perfect one to deal with such a threat. His fur crackled with energy and with a single nod from the mage, he roared and charged towards the group, surrounding himself with electricity and hurling himself in to the first thug he found, sending the coward flying and sending him crashing him in to the ground, paralysed.
The rest of the group quickly turned around to face the lion but with a powerful roar, Luxray unleashed a powerful discharge of energy that struck the entire gang, travelling from one target to the next. They all shouted and convulsed in pain, dropping to their knees and twitching, becoming paralysed alongside their team mate. The lion, however, did not finish them off although he did deliver a few double pawed hind kicks to them, knocking them out and stopping them from doing any more harm. Once the job was done, he would then turn towards the downed figure, nuzzling them with his nose, before looking up towards his mistress with a concerned look in his eye.
Leliana did not hesitate then and quickly sprinted forwards and quickly crouched down towards the figure, who certainly looked worse for wear. A female by the look of it and in a condition that caused the mage to frown in unhappiness from the sight. With a motion of her head, Luxray came forward and Leliana helped drape the woman over his strong back, before the pair of them quickly sprinted towards the first spot of cover that they could find, which turned out to be an old abandoned warehouse in this case. It looked like an old car manufacturing plant and would be more than enough for what Leliana needed. She and her spirit would then carry the unconscious figure along until they found a chair and gently placed the figure on it.
She was a pretty woman, with pink hair and a pair of twisted horns on her head although sadly she was in rather rough shape at the moment. With a sigh, Leliana would dismiss Luxray and then pulled out a second key, summoning her support spirit, Sylveon. The feline like spirit took one look at the horned woman, before quickly turning her head towards Leliana, furiously nodding her head, asking for permission to help. The petite mage quickly did so and Sylveon got to work, opening her mouth and singing a calm, soothing song which released a type of energy that surrounded the woman, healing her wounds and recovering her strength. Oh, how Leliana loved her spirits singing and with a soft smile, she would gently start to strike the cream coloured creatures head, which instantly caused a happy twitch of her spirits ears.
When the song was finished, the woman's eyes would open, revealing a brown pair of orbs. She would instantly jump and try to stand up but Leliana gently stood up and gently pushed her back down.
"Please don't move," she said softly, "You've taken quite a beating and my spirit has only just finished healing you. It's important that you take a few minutes to rest."
"Ok, I'm sorry," the pink haired woman answered, looking incredibly nervous but starting to relax, "The last thing I remember is being attacked by those men. I don't know what I did to make them so angry but they just started hitting me. I did my best but they just overpowered me."
"Realm? You're a spirit?" Leliana asked gently, softly taking the ram looking figures hand and holding it to help keep her steady.
"Yes," the spirit said with a nod of her head, "I'm the ram, Aries, one of the twelve zodiac keys. I take it that you are a summoner, Miss.....?"
"I'm Leliana," the celestial spirit mage answered, "And yes, I'm able to summon spirits although the celestial world that they come from is different. The world that they live in is a sad, desolate place I'm afraid, so they've made contracts with me in order to share our world."
"How tragic," Aries replied, "I'm sorry that they've had to suffer so much but I can tell that you're a kind mage from the way they act around you." A soft but nervous smile crossed her face as Sylveon jumped in to the ram's lap, nuzzling her head against Aries.
"Now, now, Sylveon, be careful," the purple eyed mage responded, having to smile as well at her spirit's show of affection to their new friend.
"It's all right," Aries said, her smile starting to fade as she spoke, "It's nice to meet some friendly people as I've had some trouble lately. Everything I seem to say and do here is wrong."
There was something about that which struck a chord with the mage and her grip tightened a little on the ram's hand, "Listen to me, I know exactly how you feel. I find myself thinking that kind of thing all the time. I just feel like I can't do anything right but that's not true Aries. There's so much that we can do in this world, just by helping others and lending a hand where we can. The world can be horrible but if we work hard then perhaps we can make it just a little bit better."
Sylveon gave a happy cry at that point, before suddenly disappearing, happy that she had completed her task and returning to her world.
Aries seemed to be doing some serious thinking on the other hand and after about a minute or so, she gently slipped her hand out of Leliana's grasp and then placed a key inside it instead. "Here, please take this, Miss Leliana. My previous owner no longer has any need of me and I'd like to make a contract with you, if you want me."
"Are you sure?" Leliana asked in surprise, "There are far more powerful and brave mages out there who are surely more deserving than me of your key."
"What matters most is the heart, not magic power of a person," Aries said simply, "I don't like to fight, Miss Leliana and I'm sure that you don't either. I want to help people as you do and I feel like I can do that best with you as my owner. Accept it, as a thank you for saving me and as a promise to help you in your cause."
With a smile and nod of her head, Leliana took Aries's key and placed with the other on her key chain, "Thank you, Aries, welcome to the team."
Happily, the ram smiled and then vanished, returning to the celestial spirit world, leaving the mage with a new spirit and friend, to aid her on her journey.
Leliana would not spend not any more time in Motor City and would quickly head for the exit of the town. After the disgusting display that she had witnessed tonight, she honestly didn'y want anything more to do with the place and made a swift vow not to return. Fortunately, the rain had stopped by the time she exited the warehouse and the clouds parted to reveal a bright full moon. With a slight smile on her face, the celestial spirit mage would focus her thoughts on the future and wherever her topsy turvy journey would take her next.
(1528 Words)
