Land of Hope (Mature/AU/CC/UC/Slash)

[~Ruby~]

I'll post a Tess part tomorrow! I haven't forgotten, just being a little stressed out, lol.

[Anna-Liisa]

Kyle

I hear Alex walking behind me. I regonize his footsteps because I've been with him a long time. Alex is someone I know and depend on. He's like a brother and I enjoy being around him. He sits down on a rock.

"Kyle, You really shouldn't do that when I'm not here to put them out," Alex says. "It's not safe; for the villagers or yourself," he adds and started to put out the fires. I roll my eyes and continue my punching. Left, right, left rigt, kick.

"A little bit stressed?" Alex asks and I look at him, stopping for a while. I shrugged and sat down on the grass. "A bit," I admit and sigh. "I just had a bad dream and well... Something like that." I say and look at the sky.

"And about practicing without you being here - it's only when I practice with the necklace. Today I just wasn't...myself, that's all. That's why the fires..." I mumbled.

It was true. Usually Alex didn't need to put out any fires while I had a practice. Only when I used my necklace. I couldn't control it at all and the first time I almost burned down Honoo if Alex wouldn't've been there. Once Alphonse almost hit it... Almost. But that was a long time ago. After I got the necklace and before he left. I get back up and continue.

"If you have something to talk about, go ahead and talk. I can listen while I do this."

- - - -

Erica

I'm walking at Honoo, looking for the others of out little group. I had a meeting in my mind. I knew Nicholas was going to come, but the others needed to come too. We needed to make a plan for finally destroying to group of the Chosen one's - or whatever the called themselves. We were stronger. But whenever we attacked them alone, they beat us. So maybe together... Hm. I see Ili and walk to her. Great, one of them found.

"Ili," I say to her.

"Erica," she says and looks at me, but right after it she looks away.

I let out a sigh and make an eye contact with her again. Why is she always this nervous? She knew I wasn't going to harm her because she was part of us.

"There will be a meeting at Restora. Tamara has been informed and I'm sure she will inform Alphonse. Nicholas is probably there already... But I'm gathering the rest of us there now. Will you help me?" I ask.

Usually whatever I asked was something that everyone obeyed. I wasn't a mind manipulator like Tamara, but I think I was a leader type like Nicholas. Maybe that was a good thing. Someone needed to control this group on different people.

- - - -

Tamara waiting for an Alphonse post, but since Magik isn't here for the weekend, I'll just wait for that.

[Fehr'sBear]

-Alex-

I kicked at the rocks in front of me as Kyle sat down on the grass beside me. As much as he thought he was fine, he did need me around in case something went wrong. He hadn't had any control over his power when he'd first recieved it. That fact made him so unlike me, who, since I was so calm and collected, could control my power from the first time I had tried.

He mentioned having a bad dreamed, which caused me to mutter to myself, "Aren't we all," in a low voice no one could hear. Then he'd gone back to throwing a furied barrage of fists at the unsuspecting sky.

I kept a hand near to my necklace, just in case, and lifted myself from the uncomfortable position on the rock; instead sitting and leaning against a dead tree. I placed one arm behind my neck for support and lay there, again thinking about the dreams.

"If you have something to talk about, go ahead and talk. I can listen while I do this," Kyle said, after he'd resumed his frenzied attack. Taking a chance to talk about this dream to the one person that would understand, I opened my mouth.

"I've been having this wierd dream lately," I responded, closing my eyes in an attempt to remember the details. "It always involves a regular dream; usually taking place in Honoo. But then, this...faceless woman - almost a sillhouette - appears out of nowhere, and I feel...almost, complete. I can't make any sense of it," I concluded, opening my eyes to look at him.

[~Ruby~]

ILI

"There will be a meeting at Restora. Tamara has been informed and I'm sure she will inform Alphonse. Nicholas is probably there already... But I'm gathering the rest of us there now. Will you help me?" Erica asks.

I’m more then half tempted to refuse but instead I nod my agreement.

Erica is one of the group’s unofficial leaders and she’s good at it. She can take control of a situation with ease and is confident to give orders. I, on the other hand, can barely string together a few words without turning into a stuttering mess.

“Daniela is in town somewhere,” I mumble, attempting to be helpful. “I don’t know where the others are.”

[~Ruby~]

TESS

As I wandered around the market place, I could stop my thoughts turning to home. I never thought that I was miss Alycsum, having always dreamed of leaving there as a child. Being made an outcast of my homeland hadn’t been the way I dreamt of leaving but it was the way it happened. I can’t help but feel bitter over the treatment that I and the others received, the names we were called.

I am not a freak. I’m special and different and probably a hundred times better then all those people that chased us out of Alycsum. And I have a purpose, a destiny, a reason for living. Something that a lot of those people lacked.

As we walk past a fruit seller, Michael stops and searches through the fruit before finding what he was looking for. After paying the merchant, he bites into the Targonberry and moans in pleasure. I watch with an amused smile. That must be the most delicious Targonberry in the lands judging by Michael’s reaction.

“What? Can’t I enjoy a piece of fruit now and again?” Michael asks.

“No, of course you can. I just think that maybe what you need is a woman and not a piece of fruit.” I say with a teasing smile.

[magikhands]

Alphonse

"Good morning," Tamara comes near and interrupts my solitude. "Listen, I heard Erica was going to invite the others to Restora...Will you be there?"

I close my eyes and try hard not to let out a loud sigh. Tamara held a strong power but she had little confidence in herself and her abilities. Sometimes I wonder if she joined in with us just so she could have people to call family, or maybe so she wouldn't be alone.

She had taken to me quite quickly, easily following me around everywhere. It wasn't as if she was a pest. Her company, most of the time, was welcomed, though I'd never voice it. But there were times when I wished her presence was not lingering, like now.

Opening my eyes, I turn to her and nod. "Yes. I will be heading down that way shortly." I pause and look her over. Knowing her like I do, I can tell she was anxious for my answer. I could hear it in her voice, the way her eyes wouldn't quite meet mine.

"Would you like to join me?" I ask, knowing that even if I hadn't asked, she would have followed me to Restora.

[Anna-Liisa]

Kyle

"I've been having this wierd dream lately," Alex says. You're not the only one. "It always involves a regular dream; usually taking place in Honoo. But then, this...faceless woman - almost a sillhouette - appears out of nowhere, and I feel...almost, complete. I can't make any sense of it," he continues. Faceless woman? Hmm... Well, that was strange. But then again, I wasn't sure what normal dream was, anyway.

"Do you feel like she's special? I mean... Like she's the one for you? You said you felt like you're almost complete...so maybe she's the one for you," I say and sit again. I don't feel like training anymore, since the whole 'weird dreams' topic was brought up again.

"But you know...Seeing weird dreams is normal. I see them all the time. And they're even more weird than yours," I say and let out a small laugh. "Really weird."

Especially when it included fire, kissing your own brother and other... weird situations. I shake my head and look at Alex. "I'm sure you'll meet her soon."

- - -

Erica

Ili nods, and mumbles: "Daniela is in town somewhere, I don’t know where the others are." I nod and look around. "Let's search Honoo. I can go there," I say pointing at left "and you can go there," I say pointing to the right. "Meet me here in half hours."

I start walking to the direction I chose and watch the people who pass me. I knew Samuel could've looked like an old woman if he wanted to...so I never knew where he was or what he looked like. Something just tells me that he is in the town somewhere. I pass a fruit seller, where I see a guy and a girl talking to each other.

'At least he knows good fruit.'

I walk into an alley and jump on top of a building without being seen. I could watch people from there and find what I am looking for. It would be easier that way.

- - -

Tamara

"Yes. I will be heading down that way shortly," Alphonse says and looks at me. I looked past him and nodded. Somehow I feel quite nervous around him often. He is a fire user... and fire is always a dangerous thing. Not that I minded dangerous, but fire is a different thing.

"Would you like to join me?" he asks me. I try to look like I considered the offer, but I know he sees right through me.

"Yeah, I would've been going there anyway, but company isn't a bad thing," I say and walk a bit further. "Tell me when we're leaving," I add and walk to the cave to get a few of my things. It went qute well, I guess he was already used to me following him around. But I wasn't used to him disappearing in the mornings like this morning. I sit down and wait for him to inform me when we would leave to Restora.

[magikhands]

*Michael*

“No, of course you can. I just think that maybe what you need is a woman and not a piece of fruit.” Tess smiles at me.

I respond with a scowl and finish the fruit before taking her arm and continuing on our way through the market. I didn't like to discuss that part of my life, not even with those I saw as family, and Tess well knew it which is why she'd made that comment. I was a private person with my feelings which were a jumbled mess at times. The chaos inside of me, I will admit to only myself, actually helps with my ability of destroy things. The jumbled mess of my emotions feed my power and seems to strengthen them.

My thoughts turn to my brother Nicholas. It's been awhile since I've seen him, which is a good thing. I still can't figure him out. He went to the Dark Siders for no apparent reason. But then, Nicholas has always had a dark side to him, even as kids. He loved to feed off my inner turmoil and cause me all sorts of trouble.

Turning my attention to Tess and away from Nicholas I ask, "So, now what?"

[magikhands]

*Alphonse*

I wait several minutes after Tamara leaves me, trying to absorb the sight before me before it's gone for another day. My thoughts drift back to Kyle and the strange relationship we have. How is it that we are so different, yet I feel so drawn to him? We harbor the same power over fire. In fact, I feel stronger when I'm near him. It's been too long since I've seen him, since I've felt that rush of powers through my veins.

Growling, I turn from the edge of the cliff and walk to the entrance of the cave where I know Tamara is waiting.

"Let's get going and find the others." I call to her before turning and start down the trail.

[StormWolfstone]

~Nicholas~

Restora

A bush of blood red thorns emerges from the ground just next to where I'm standing and I sigh, rolling my eyes. I knew without looking who it was that was coming to interrupt my moment. Yet, I wasn't angry, why should I be? He was one of those people that was going to help me get my greatest desires.

"Be careful. They bite," Jack says moving up beside me, "Plotting your next move, I assume?"

"Jack, I'm always working on perfecting a plot. However, this time I was just thinking on how much enjoyment there will be during many parts of this plot." I raise my hand, pointing at the bush and with a simply thought, watch as it explodes and is only ashes on the ground. "We have so much to do and I for one can't wait to get started dishing out the disaster." I smirked as I looked over at him.

"Any idea where the others have run off to?" I ask, knowing that more then likely Erica has already begun the gathering of our little flock. I can't help but turn and let some of the destructive energy I have hit a nearby rock.

I have a sudden thought and put my arms over my chest, "You know, I've often wondered if you would be able to control the types of poisons your plants create. Have you ever enjoyed testing out that possibility on the unsuspecting goody goods?"