Takashi

"Let's wing it!" the RP

Definitely interested in this.

Guardians Rising

This sounds interesting. I take it we'll be playing as new recruits? Will our characters know about their gift at the start of the RP, or will it begin with them learning about it?

In the Shadows, Exposed!

I'm interested in making an electric elemental character.

Dragon's Oblivion (High-Casual)

Lurking for now, but I do want to check out that OOC.

Predator of the Flame

"It is no trouble at all," Taldo replied as the girl began to regain her composure. Still, it didn't seem normal for people to be on the verge of passing out "every now and then" so he didn't quite take her word that she was ok. Phoenix or not, Taldo had no intention of leaving an exhausted young woman on the side of the road alone. "Forgive me if this sounds a bit presumptuous," he continued, "but please allow me to walk you back to your home. My business here is not urgent and it would be a grievous wound to my conscience to know that I abandoned someone in need."

Taldo gave the woman a pleasant smile and offered her his hand to help her up. "Oh, and before I reveal myself to be bereft of all courtesy, my name is Taldo Reynis. Feel free to simply call me Taldo." With that, he felt that he had fulfilled his moral obligations. If the woman refused, that would be the end of it. Still, his mind had been so saturated with death and vengeance lately that he thought a simple walk would be enjoyable.

Predator of the Flame

There was plenty of chatter in the streets -- merchants shouting their sales pitches, parents berating their unruly children, young couples exchanging their sweet nothings -- but nothing about any phoenix hunters. In fact, nobody seemed to talk about the phoenixes in general, as if it were some kind of taboo. Taldo even went so far as to ask a merchant where he could find a phoenix-feather quill, but the man just looked at him like he was crazy. Taldo was now beginning to realize how difficult this job would be. The hunter could be literally anyone, and he didn't expect her to just walk about the streets flaunting her identity. This would be a game of patience indeed.

Just then, a woman bumped into him, seeming to be quite off-balance. "Oh, it's fine," he began in his usual pleasant demeanor, but as he got a look at the woman something seemed off with her. "You... don't look very well," he said with legitimate concern. "Perhaps you should sit down for a minute. Here." He guided her away from the flood of people and to a quiet patch of land just off the main street. "Is everything alright?" He asked as he eased her to the ground. "Perhaps I could get you some water." Her face seemed to be a bit more red than the others, though he had to admit that skin pigment in humans could vary as wildly as phoenix feathers. Did she have a fever? He couldn't tell; they were all rather cool from his perspective.

And now that he thought about it, why was he going out of his way to help a random mortal? He had a job to do. While he was helping this woman, the hunter could slip right under his nose. Well, it couldn't be helped now. He had already offered to help her. It would be inexcusable not to see it through.

Predator of the Flame

Taldo stared with blank eyes at the mound of ash before him, a pile of soot that had once been one of the most regal creatures in the world, a defiled carcass that had once been his friend. It was still difficult to believe that nothing would spring up from those ashes even after they had completely dried from the witch's spell. Was that the glow of an ember beginning to smolder? No, just the sun's rays playing a trick on his eyes. A single bottled up tear forced its way out of his eye, but quickly sizzled away as soon as it touched his torrid feathers. "My friend..." he began, his somber voice belied by by the furious conflagration erupting about his feathers, "I'll not forget the color of your flame. I'll sear her eyes with all of the colors that she has seen fit to remove from this world. You didn't know me as a violent creature, but if you still exist in some form in another world, watch me. You will see the part of me I have chosen not to show for so many years... and she will see just how terrifying a phoenix can be."

With that, Taldo took a deep breath, opened his beak wide, and, with a horrendous screech, unleashed a torrent of flame on the pile of ash before him. Somehow, that which was already burnt and withered was reduced to an even lower form, an even more severe state of incineration. Yet, as the blackened ashes were caught up by a breeze, Taldo's flames subsided. "If you cannot be reborn as a phoenix, then return to the earth. Perhaps one day your cycle will begin again." His mourning complete, Taldo spread his scarlet wings and took flight. He would put an end to this travesty. He would find her, learn her weaknesses, and make her feel the pain and fear of mortality that she had inflicted on so many of his brethren.

* * *

Taldo walked amidst a crowd of mortals in a small but lively town. Most of them weren't such bad creatures. They were short lived, yet the somehow managed to make the most out of their brief existences, living more in one lifetime than many phoenixes did in a dozen. Their productivity was indeed an admirable trait, but perhaps that was also the very reason the phoenixes were compelled to destroy. Taldo seldom felt that compulsion and had never personally burned down a human settlement, but those few times he did feel the urge, it was insuperable. His mind ceased to function and his heart was overcome with an insatiable lust for destruction. These waves always passed, though, and even if he hadn't felt such a sensation in many years, he understood why his brethren needed to destroy. It was simply their nature.

His train of thought was interrupted by a ball to the head. "I'm really sorry mister!" a hapless child called out, peaking from around a corner, unsure whether he dared to approach the stranger whom the ball had just collided with.

Silently, Taldo leaned down to pick up the ball, looked at the child, and then grinned. "You should try to be more careful," he said in a soft voice. "Not everybody has a head as hard as mine. You could hurt somebody." Realizing that the stranger wasn't going punish him any further, the child retrieved his ball from Taldo, gave a half-sincere nod, and then ran off. Taldo afforded himself a quick chuckle, but then took on a more serious expression as his eyes and ears scanned the streets for any sign that the hunter may be near.

Buzz's Plot Search :3

Predator of Flame looks interesting.