Souls of the Sand

[Clif]

Black eyes slowly scanned the vast landscape that was made up of sand Only the howling winds were there to accompany the entity walking across the dunes, his feet leaving trace of his whereabouts only seconds before until the desert simply erased them to never be recovered, denying proof of any living thing having been in existence in the sands. The sandstorm was mild, the winds weren’t strong enough to move sand at a swift enough pace to cause damage; the potential to cause flesh-wounds was a well known possibility to the draconic Pokémon as he calmly averted his eyes from the horizon to the object he was carrying.

His clawed hands held the corpse of a flygon, both its body and the black scales of its murderer were covered in fresh blood. Looking over the deceased, the injuries that it had sustained were very clean-cut and minimally damaging to the entire integrity of the flygon’s anatomy; only a slash mark of three claws was present on its neck, otherwise anyone without a view of said injuries might be puzzled as to why the green and red Pokémon was dead until closer inspection.

After a prolonged travel through the sand dunes and blinding storm, an enormous rock-face became vaguely visible in the distance. One could tell from the distance that it was riddled with caverns; many pokemon that hadn’t made their homes directly in the sand used to take residence within the natural structure. The black charizard approached one ground-level opening and walked inside, opening his wings to shake of any sand that had possibly stuck to him. Approaching the back of the cave, a purple ominous glow came from a large pillar-like object that seemed to pulse energy as it dimly glowed. Gradually, an unearthly presence was felt as the charizard set the flygon down a few feet away from the base of the stone and backed away.

The new presence remained formless as it forced its thoughts into the dragon standing within range of the stone, ~Good. This will suffice for now – we will move you to the savannas to collect more. Surplus is always a good thing when experimenting...Good work, dismissed.~ In response, the unnamed charizard gave a nod in obedience as he felt the voice fading away. Turning away from the stone in the far back of the cave, he moved towards the entrance and lied down to guard his secret from the rest of the desert.

[Ren]

Blood red, nearly glowing eyes watched as a large black dragon flew towards a rock formation of sorts. It had another, much smaller and dead dragon with it--food, the umbreon assumed.

Once she had heard the dragon coming (though she smelled the blood before she heard it) she dug herself a nice little hole to hide in. She was not prepared to fight a charizard, and this was the only place to hide in such an open area.

(Why she in the Desert, she knew not. She wandered around many odd places nowadays.)

After a few moments, the dragon pokemon left one of the caverns, the one on the ground. How odd...that wasn't long enough to consume such a meal. That meant he was either saving it for later (which was highly unlikely, since another creature would find it by the time he returned) or was feeding something else.

Curiousity surged though Luna as she pulled herself from the bed of sand, not bothering to shake herself off. It was futile; sand was constantly dancing around her, so that would not do a bit of good.

She averted her gaze to the sandy carpet, so not to get any sand in her eyes, and began her trek to the cavern that the Charizard had exited. Something was there, she could feel it.

Not once did it occur to her that it could be dangerous.

Once she finally got to the cave, she was greeted by the coolness that came with darkness. (If only by a couple of degrees.) While nothing was at the front of the cave, Luna could still feel something, so she slowly made her way to the back.

Her rings glowed slighty of their own will as she reached the back of the cave. There she saw a large pillar, one that glowed also. Her eyes widened as she gazed at it, the energy in the atmosphere making her feel small and insignificant.

By the Pokegods...what had she found?

[Clif]

The stone dully pulsed purple energy as Luna approached it, as if to be aware that another being had entered its presence. An extremely subtle shade of purple filled the cave from the stone to just behind the umbreon, scanning the newcomer swiftly and easily before the shade receded back into the stone so that it wouldn't be easily spotted from the outside. After a moment of dimming its glow, the stone seemed to be unresponsive, uninterested in the umbreon for now.

Shortly after the stone falling inactive, a secondary -- possibly familiar feeling would wash over the canine pokemon, followed by slow footsteps that were accented by claws clashing with the ground, making an easy sound to pick up for any pokemon with two ears in the cavern. Stopping a non-threatening distance away, the new entity spoke, "Hm...it's strange finding you here. I hope you're as glad to see me as I am to see you..." a calm and cool voice spoke out, slightly echoing against the cave walls as a green scaled charmeleon stood there with his arms crossed awaiting a reply.

[Ren]

Luna wasn't quite sure what to expect when the purple glow strengthened. Her body tensed, switching to a defensive stance. Her head whipped around as if on a swivel, trying to figure out what was going on.

Thankfully, the dulled once more without any harm coming to her. She kept her eyes on the stone anyway, only to make sure she was safe. (Though, what could a rock do to her, really?)

Her gaze didn't remain there long, though. The presence of another being caught her attention. Not in a negative way, though--a warm feeling of excitement and recognition overcame her. "C-Chancol!" she exclaimed, running towards the Shadowlord and lessening the gap between them. She stopped just in front of him, an expression of pure happiness on her face.
She sat down in front of him, tail wagging happily, not really sure what to do next or how to greet her Shadowlord but pleased nonetheless.

((Congrats on your new Super Modly-Powers~!!! What did Wynn give ya?))

[Clif]

The dark-green charmeleon smiled as Luna turned and recognized him, nodding as she called his name. "So good to see you again, Luna, you've been gone for quite some time now. I trust that you haven't been hurt badly or anything? I wouldn't want one of my friends getting any trouble without some form of retribution..." his voice was very cool and even toned, but not emotionless. As a follow up he gave his canine friend a gently, brief hug, a rare expression of emotion that was shown by the charmeleon, a sign of trust and relaxation -- for ever since the rebellion against him so long ago, trusting another soul was quite hard considering how many have the lust for power.

"Now, tell me, what brings you to the desert?" he asked, walking to the edge of the cave and taking a seat against the slightly sand-cushioned ground.

[Ren]

"I'm fine," she replied only after looking over herself once to make sure. The affectionate gesture was not something she expected, but it made her very happy. (If it were possible for the dog to get any happier.)

His next question caused her to settle down a bit. "Hm...I guess it was just curiousity. There was this big black Charizard, and he came here. So I just followed him," she replied rather lamely, laughing at the end of her answer. But it was true; the umbreon always had a fascination with the dragon pokemon species.
She nodded towards the pillar. "And then I found this."

Her gaze was on him again. "What are you doing here?" she asked. She knew he wouldn't be here unless it was important. Was he interested in the glowy rock too?

[Clif]

Chancol nodded, "Good to know that you've been able to keep yourself protected easily." His eyes kept contact with hers, smiling as she explained herself, "Well, luckily this time curiosity didn't get the better of you. That charizard is more of a..." he paused, thinking of the right word, "...lets just call him a friend of mine. He's helping me with an experiment of mine. I can't go out without everyone knowing that the Horde is up to something, so I have him do my work for me. He's actually quite friendly once you befriend him, but before that its quite the opposite."

Turning back to the stone once again, Chancol motioned to it, "For now, I'll tell you that's somewhat of a node of power of mine -- for the brief time we were in the Elemental Stone Caverns, I learned some about what I can use them for. I'm still exploring new ways I can use them but what I have discovered is useful. I came here because I plan to move this rock to a different location -- if you look at it closely, it isn't part of the rockface, ground and fire pokemon made somewhat of a holster for it a long time ago before this was made. Probably anyone who was part of it has forgotten about what they had done here, so I need not worry about anyone else knowing about this without my permission. I trust that you won't betray me, so my mind will be at ease. Do you have any other questions?" he finished, looking from the glowing stone to Luna.

[Ren]

It was a relief to know that the Charizard was a companion of Chancol's; he looked pretty tough.

Luna's attention was once more on the mysterious rock as she listened to Chancol's explanation. She had many questions, actually. Like, why and where the rock needed to be moved. Also, if she could be any assistance in the moving of it. But she didn't ask these questions.

"How is this useful to you?" she asked, eyes moving towards the oddly colored charmeleon. Of course the rock radiated with power, that she knew, but what did he need this power for?
She turned to face him fully. "I mean...if it's not my place to know...I understand..." She knew he wouldn't be angry with her--a lesson learned through experience--but even he had secrets that she did not have a right to know.

[Clif]

((Sorry about the late reply! Spaced out!))

Chancol smirked, leaning his head to one side briefly before responding, "Well, I can't go into specifics, but they help me learn the potential boundaries of my power -- my abilities will probably won't have to do anything with them in the future, but its good to know what kind of extensions I'll have to assist when the time comes." Yawning silently, the charmeleon stared at the stone as he continued, "Yeah, these things will become known to you on a need-to-know basis, I must keep this information closed away as best as I can for now for fear of outside threats. I don't know how vigilantly the Light has been working but I wouldn't doubt they've been keeping an eye on the Horde."

Thinking for a moment, Chancol spoke up one last time, "If you want to go back to the Fortress, I'm going to be bringing this stone back to base eventually -- I may not be able to tell you what they're for, but I can show you a few preparations I've made for figuring out these things; that is, if you want to see..."

[Ren]

Luna nodded in agreement at his words; they didn't have to worry about the other side. The Light had been pretty quiet...

Her ears twitched when he mentioned the Fortress. Of course she'd like to go back! And she'd very much like to see these "preparations".

"Yes sir!" she exclaimed, meaning she would like to see.

((S'kay~ And sorry mine's kinda short...and crappy. Right after I get done saying I want to get on more, the teachers give me four tests to study for...two of them honor's classes...It's like teachers wait until the end of the year to pile stuff on me... ))

[Clif]

The fire-lizard chuckled at the eageness of his umbreon-friend, a smlile on his face,"Well, I don't know if you're used to teleporting with me, but it is quite an odd feeling at first. Is it safe to say that you have a strong stomach and are comfortable with dark, closed spaces? 'Cause where we're going isn't at all illuminated by the natural light from above..." he asked simply, his head tilting to the side slightly. Meanwhile, dark energy began to concentrate around the charmeleon, some of it making a trail towards the large purple pillar.

[Ren]

Luna shook her head. "Nope! I'm perfectly fine with that!" she replied. Granted, she didn't have that much of a strong stomach, but that was with blood. She didn't have a problem with dark places, though. She actually was more comfortable in darker places. (Possibly because of her species, but who knows?)

She was very curious about where he wanted to transport the stone, and would go even if she was uncomfortable with those things. And as he said, she had never teleported with him before so she really wanted this experience.

[Clif]

With an entertained chuckle, Chancol gave a nod confirming that he understood her. The dark energy swiftly flooded the room, but then slowly concentrated about the charmeleon, umbreon and the stone in the back, leaving much else of the location alone. With a very subtle exhale, the dark stone began to deteriorate into what looked like a flurry of black sand. Once the large object was gone and out of the way, the shadow energy began to pick at Luna's form, "Now, don't worry, this is normal...don't fight it or else you may find a part of you missing on the other side..." he reassured, watching his friend's form slowly disappearing. "Just as a forewarning -- you'll probably find yourself unable to really feel your own body, but you'll be able to think for possibly a few seconds in between now and arrival. Just relax."

[Ren]

While watching the stone turn into sand was very interesting, something she had never seen happen in a short amount of time, it wasn't quite as amusing when it began happening to her. Her heart beat quickened as she began to panic slightly. But the words of her companion were heard, and she did not want to loose a limb--or anything else for that matter.

She took a deep breath and relaxed as she was told, letting the process continue. Not feeling her body was okay with her...it was the least of her worries. She just wanted to make it in one piece.

[Clif]

((I apologize about the really late reply ^_^" exams coming up and had a practice one today))

The charmeleon dawned a childish smirk as he saw Luna begin to panic from her sudden passing from he physical form. He was about to speak up once again to calm her, but he nodded his head in satisfaction, "Good -- most can't keep from panicking; I'll see you on the other side..."

As the last of the umbreon dissolved, Chancol began to work on himself, his own form disappearing much quicker than Luna's. Both Luna and Chancol were completely dissolved about the same time. It took a couple moments, but the two arrived at their destination in a burst of dark energy. 

The first noticible detail of their destination was the lack of any natural light, as the charmeleon had brought up earlier. The only source of illumination was the violet stone that had been in the cavern with the two ealier.

Once their eyes came into focus, they'd be able to see four more large stones, yet none were glowing like the first one, all of them dull and uncut, leaning up against an earthen wall. The only one to have been refined was sitting in a cut hole in the floor of the room. "I know you can't see much just yet, but more detail will come to you eventually..." Chancol stated, his toe-claws clicking on the floor.  

[Ren]

((Ew! Exams! Oh jeez...mine are coming up soon too...))

It was...quite odd. The mode of travel, I mean. Very exciting and interesting, but strange too. Oh the Shadowlord never ceased to amaze her! What an amazing ability!

She made sure to move her legs, just to make sure they were there, and then tried to look around. It was quite dark, but her eyes adjusted quickly. The glow from her rings as well as the stone helped a great deal. Now she could just make out four more stones, though they didn't glow like the one they had found in that cave.

....where were they, anyway? She moved her head a bit when Chancol spoke up, sucessfully locating him in this dark place. She made a small noise so that he would know she heard him, but had nothing to say in response. There was one rock that was not against the wall, but was resting in a hole of sorts. She moved closer to investigate.

[Clif]

"The stone won't hurt you, so feel free to get a close look at it. I'd much rather not tell you exactly what the purpose of it is, but in the long run it'll help me augment the speed in which I explore exactly what my limits are with this dark power," Chancol took a couple steps in the same direction as Luna as she approached the stone, just so he didn't have to throw his voice across the room to speak to her -- despite the fact that small noises echoed fairly well in the enclosed space.

"Believe it or not, we're still in the desert. I can't afford this to be so close to so many curious, yet semi-loyal eyes. Knowledge is a very powerful thing, whether or not one can decipher what it means -- what didn't exist before becomes the known unknown, where further knowledge will be sought after. I'd rather for that not to happen. By anyone." His tone was fairly serious, but he knew that he could trust the umbreon for most matters -- she was more of a friend than a subordinate to him, even Chancol knew that a couple friends here and there would help keep his sanity in check.

[Ren]

It didn't bother her that much that he didn't want to tell her--it was useful to him, and that was all that mattered. Though, the Dark Power he spoke of...she was aware of it, yes. She had seen its use, or at least a fraction of its usefulness. She was quite curious as to what else her friend could do. (It was, as far as she knew, unusual for a fire-type such as Chancol to have dark powers. He was quite an interesting character, that she couldn't deny.)

Luna's eyes widened in wonder as she looked around; they were still in the desert?! She listened as he finished his statement, and nodded in agreement. "That was smart; it would be awful if someone stumbled upon these." He had a very valid point: she knew well of these "semi-loyal eyes". This information could be used against him, and that would be a horrible thing.

She decided then not to ask more questions about these mysterious rocks. She knew of their existence and that was more than enough.

The umbreon turned and gave him the equivalent of a smile. "We'll just have to keep this a secret, then!" she told him. "That way, there will be no seeking of knowledge!"

[Clif]

((Ugh, sorry about the short post! Having a little bit of blockage in the brain atm ))

Chancol smiled and laughed, "Good, you're still the loyal friend I remembered you to be. I dunno how I'd be able to manage my sanity without a few good friends like you, Blade, and Zeelo. Tell me, have you seen anything out of the ordinary during your travels? You've been gone a while and I'm just curious as to any interesting tales you might have; in addition, what brought you to the desert of all places? I don't think I had ever asked you," an entertained look occupied his face as his head tilted to one side in curiosity.

[Ren]

Luna's ears drooped a bit, a small sound that could be interpreted as a laugh slipping from her mouth. "Actually...I was looking for someone, and on the way I just happened to see my brother." She looked away from him--there were probably things she should have been doing, things that would benefit the Horde, but she just had to find (or, try to find) Zeelo. Unfortunately, she had been unsuccessful. But at least she found her brother!

Happiness returned to her. "He wasn't mad, like I thought he'd be. We were fighting, you know, and then we made up! He actually had a mate and some pups of his own, too! I'm an aunt~" she explained excitedly.

"As for why I'm in the desert, I really was just curious about the big black charizard flying over here. Good thing I'm a dog, or curiousity would've killed me!" She laughed at the small joke.

She seemed solemn once more in a blink. "I havn't seen anyone from the Horde in a long time...I don't know where anybody is. But I'm really happy I found you--or rather, you found me! And I'm glad that you're okay; I was worried, you know."

((Don't try and look for that. Totally just made it up, though her brother was a character I used to play as. I no longer use him, though. I just hooked him up with another character I don't use anymore and then gave them kids so Luna was actually doing something.))

[Clif]

((I'm really, really, really sorry about the late reply; exams are going on now and work has me on the weekends, so relaxation time is very scarce at the moment -_-'' but soon for me it'll be all over and I can take a long needed breather))

Chancol opened his mouth to speak as Luna’s countenance portrayed her guilt, but he silenced himself as she brought her mood back up with talk of her brother, smiling instead. In all honesty he didn’t care what she did as long as it didn’t have to do with betrayal – in fact, the more she seemed detached from the Horde, the better an observer she would be, not exactly a spy due to the fact that he didn’t want her to specifically hunt down intelligence.

He gave a nod of congratulations as she continued on to tell her little joke, chuckling some as he listened, “Just remember, that charizard knows of you, so don’t be afraid to approach if you need anything. He’ll be able to take care of you if need be.” His eyes scanned about the room, a habit he had gotten into as a subtle paranoia of possibly being betrayed again had buried itself within his daily thoughts – it didn’t have a terrible grip on him, but it was enough to always keep him on his guard.

Looking back at Luna, he hesitated before speaking up one last time, “Hey, Luna, I know this sounds very strange, but would you help me test out an ability of mine? I have developed it in theory, but I don’t exactly know if it would work in the field. I completely understand if you don’t want to.”

[Ren]

Knowledge that the charizard was an ally made her very happy indeed. It was better to be on the big dragon's side than against it, after all. Luna beamed at the thought of having some support.

When she noticed Chancol's eyes searching the room, she looked around too. She didn't hear or smell anything, but she checked to make sure. Was someone else there, she wondered. That thought was pushed from her mind as her friend spoke up once more.

A new ability? Her tail started wagging in excitement--there was a way that she could help him? How good!

"Of course!" she repsonded cheerfully. "I'd love to!" After a pause, though, her tail ceased its movement. "Um...it's not gonna hurt, is it?" she asked carefully. She'd help him regardless, but it was nice to know ahead of time so she could prepare herself.

((Grr~ Exams! I hope you do good!))

[Clif]

The shadow-empowered charmeleon smiled as Luna eagerly complied to his request, nodding in gratitude as he took a step closer to the umbreon in a casual manner, rolling his wrist as he began to speak, “You still amaze me as to how much you contrast to the rest of your peers in the Horde, I can’t honestly say that any one else matches your loyalty and upbeat attitude.” He reached out with a clawed hand and gently pet Luna, his smile still visible as his tailflame brightened the area a little more, “That reason alone is one why I wish not to lose you – your kind soul has had quite a positive impact upon me. This ability hopefully will provide a sort of ‘teleport’ for you, the only restriction being that you’ll be able to teleport to one location, by my side.”

Chancol took a small time to think about his response to her question, breaking eye-contact, “Well…I can’t honestly say that it won’t hurt. Obviously I haven’t had a good enough reason as to give someone else this power, so I don’t even know any effects if any it might have on you…” Shrugging he looked back at his friend with a weak smile, “Are you still sure you want to do this? ‘Cause I’m not twisting your paw on anything – feel completely free to say no,” his voice, although fairly stoic, had a slight undertone of emotion that the Shadowlord rarely portrayed.

[Ren]

Her eyes closed and her ears relaxed against her head as Chancol pet her. She felt her body warm up a bit; she didn't think she was that special. She was, as he said, not like the other Horde members. She didn't like hurting others--or fighting, for that matter--and she certainly wasn't brave or anything. She was just Luna.

But that was enough, according to him, and it made her very happy to hear that from him.

She shook her head after his next statement. "No no no! I didn't mean that! Of course I still want to!" she exclaimed. She put her dog-like grin on. "I'm a big girl! I can take whatever you throw at me! Bring it on!" she assured him.

A new thought occured to the umbreon. "Besides, this way we won't loose each other again! If we get sepparated, all I have to do is do that little teleport thingy and there you'll be!" It was very exciting indeed.

[Clif]

Chancol smiled calmly as Luna continued with her dedication to assist with the development of the new technique, "Thanks, I really do appreciate it. In the long run I plan to develop this in order to somewhat 'recall' certain Horde members in order to defend me if needed -- you won't be part of this group unless you truly wish to be, the recall would be more involuntary on your end." His explanation was accompanied by a small gesture of both of his fists being closed and apart from one another, and as if to portray the idea of teleportation, his right hand opened up swiftly and closed itself after moving swiftly closer to the other one. "Let us begin," were his simple words as he nodded in understanding to the umbreon's optimism towards the new technique.

Slowly at first, but with increasing speed, the area around the charmeleon darkened, and obvious contrast forming between just above his scaled hide to a step away from him; his eyes were closed in deep focus as the shadow-energy began to respond to his thoughts and willpower. The energy concentrated itself at his feet eventually, drifting towards Luna in a smooth manner, the speed fairly slow, but due to their distance it reached the umbreon in fair time. Eventually as the ritual continued, the form of the energy shaping itself from a wide river-like current to a fairly thin circle that encompassed the umbreon. After a moment of what seemed to be idleness, the dark energy became active again, extending lines from the edges of the circle to each of the umbreon's feet, each forming a perpendicular line to the direction that Luna was facing. Finally, the circle constructed lines that bisected Luna into left and right, while the other front and back, forming a cross under her.

After having formed the initial pattern, it seemed as if more energy flowed from Chancol to the rest of the dark pattern on the ground, the flow becoming more of a torrent rather than gentle flow. "Remain as still as possible, I don't know what movement might do..." he stated calmly, his eyes still closed. "You're going to feel a little strange, it's intended; if you feel the need that we stop you must let me know quickly, 'cause it'll take me a little to stop..." Chancol knew from just experimentation that swift burst exposure or withdrawal of the concentrated shadow energy could end up to be fatal to some regular pokemon, and although he hadn't experimented with his own subjects, he assumed that it had less fatal, but somewhat damaging effects.

[Ren]

Luna watched his clawed hands intently as he demonstrated teleportation to her. She nodded in understanding, pondering over what had been said to her: of course she wanted to be part of that group. She wanted to protect him too, really she did. But she'd be much more of a hindrance than help.

She opened her mouth to tell him this, but paused when he said that they were going to start now. She didn't kow what to expect, so she prepared herself for anything.

The process was horribly slow. First her surroundings grew dark, and in turn her rings glowed a bit--as they often did when it was dark. After that a dark energy made its way towards her. She couldn't see it, but she felt it.

Then things were idle for a moment, and she relaxed a little. But then it became active again.

Part of her wanted to run as panic took over her once more. And right after that, as if he sensed her uneasy feelings, Chancol told her to be still. She complied, not knowing what dangers lurked if she moved but obeying anyway.

As he had said, a strange feeling did come over her. It's wasn't bad or painful, just strange. Maybe slightly uncomfortable, but not as bad as she was expecting. She wondered if she could speak during he process, though decided against it. He needed to concentrate.

[Clif]

Chancol found himself relaxing as the process continued, feeling less of a panic coming from Luna, the shadow energy providing somewhat of a link when in this large of a concentration -- a fine tuned empathy if you will -- to pick up on her emotions. As time passed, the amount of visible shadow energy began to concentrate more around the umbreon rather than the Shadowlord, his effort put into perfecting the process once was apparent as he remained unmoving, his only thought to complete his current task at hand.

Gradually, the link between the pool of shadow energy between Chancol and Luna began to fade, but the circle and basic pattern about Luna remained strong and active. The dark purple -- almost black -- ring flared up as the apparent transfer ended between the two, the energy appearing to act upon its own at this point; the Shadowlord of course was still in control, his stance unmoving and his eyes remaining closed as he commanded the demonic power. With a very subtle hum coming from the ring of darkness, it began to drain itself into Luna where it had made connections to her paws; the larger cross that had been formed under her now made a rectangle that connected the spots where her paws were, then two diagonals formed to connect each opposite vertex. In essence, the slightly more complicated design was to balance out the distribution between each part of Luna's body.

[Ren]

((I'm so so sorry it took such a long time for me to reply! At first I had to think of a sufficient (and not crappy) way to reply to this. And then I went to the beach...with no internet connection. But I'm posting now, so all is well in the world. ^^))

The umbreon resisted the urge to move her legs. She felt a tingling sensation in her upper left paw, one that was slowly creeping up her leg. A frown fought to control her face as she glared slightly at her foot, comanding it to stop. Unfortunately, she was destracted from the feeling by an itch on her nose.

Luna let a small puff of air escape her lungs in a frustrated manner, trying not to move too much. If she didn't think about it, it would go away. Right? So she let her mind wander, trying to ignore the slight discomforts.

She glanced at Chancol and wondered how he was doing. Would this drain him of needed energy? Would he be tired after this? Would this even affect him at all? She could tell he had practiced this, so maybe he was used to it.

[Clif]

((Don't worry about it -- I apologize for my delayed response; life has been way busy from family business stuff to taking care of school debts, final transcripts and other college things I hope I'll be able to reply quicker in the future! ^_^"))

The charmeleon found himself feeling somewhat drained after this process had been going on for such a long time, he hadn’t expected that it would take this much energy out of him. Luckily, the ritual was on its final moments, the pattern of shadow energy on the ground seemed to become thinner as it drained itself into Luna.

Slowly, the outer circle that had formed around Luna began to fade -- the energy draining from the furthest points, and slowly running like a lit fuse towards the points where the cross under her began. Eventually, the shadow energy flowed into Luna still, the last remnants of the pattern under her following a similar behavior as the outer circle had. Once the ritual had finished,
Charkol opened his eyes, both irises dully glowing green for a few moments before they faded, taking a seat on the stone floor of the chamber that they were in.

The shadowlord panted calmly as he noted the exhaustion he had caused himself, hoping that he'd remember to perform future practices of the ritual when not in an exposed area. "Luna..." he began, still catching his breath, "...please tell me how you feel right now. This is both new to you and me, if there's anything you can describe about any strange feelings during and after the process, from pain to a tickling feeling -- try to remember as much as you can."

[Ren]

((Don't you worry about a thing! ^^ I understand completely. Life is busy!))


As soon as Chancol sat down, Luna moved her legs to relieve them of their "asleep" status. Then she sneezed, then laughed at herself. She sombered up though when she heard her name come from him. "How I feel...?" she repeated, walking towards him and taking a seat beside him. She titled her head up, looking at the ceiling as if it had all the answers.

How did she feel? She lifted her paw experimentally. She felt different somehow...she just couldn't figure out how. "Right now I feel...odd," she commented. Her eyes widened. "But not in a bad way! It's kind of a tingling feeling right now," she amended. She then went on to talk about what she felt during the ritual:

"It the beginning I felt kinda weird too, but it was a different kind of weird. It was like...hm...it was like...numb. I felt numb, but I felt like I was being invaded, you know? Well, I guess I kinda was!" she laughed a little there. "To be a little more specific, you know how it feels when blood rushes to your head? It felt like that, except it was slow and it wasn't just going to my head. It was going everywhere. And it wasn't blood, either. It was something else moving through my body." She paused, finally turning her ruby eyes back to the Shadowlord. "I didn't feel much after that...well, my leg fell asleep towards the end, but I don't think that really counts."

She waited a moment before asking, "Are you okay?"