Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Iaran grinned happily, "Yay! Let's start!" she immedietely stood back in a fighting stance. "I'm gonna try a new dance, so give me your best shot!"
Thinking of a new type of dance, Iaran began to hum to herself. Swinging her head like a pendulum, she slowed down until time itself seemed to flow with her. Whoa! A dance that can slow down time! she thought to herself.

((Yay! More random dances))

[Ria, be careful you do not start to give other characters actions and speeches that they have not said or done. Menai did not call for the fight to end, for example, and Malea may not agree to things being stolen from her in a fight. These could possibly be taken as Power Hogging or godmodding, as it is commonly known.]

The librarian looked up as a pile of books landed on the table with a little cloud of dust floating out from underneath. Her owl eyes blinked behind her large, round glasses and said, "Yes?"

"I'd like to buy these," said the breathless, dark-eyed girl that looked back at her.

"Buy them?" said the librarian, astounded. Her glasses slipped off her hooked nose slightly. "Surely you know that you can't buy them, only borrow? This isn't a bookshop!"

"Well, yes," said Karmina, a slight grin approaching her face. "Only I'm on the Squad and I need these books. Chances are I'll lose them or damage them so when I come back the books won't be in a condition to be read by anyone else." She smiled. "And we're meant to pay for damages, so I thought I might as well buy them."

The librarian blinked. "That's a new argument," she commented, "but I have to say no. We can't make exceptions, even for such unique - "

"Karmina!" The girl looked up to see the leading Songstress Lenne. "If you want books you could just ask me." Her golden laugh rang out. "Come with me - and I'm sorry about this wayfaring student of mine," she smiled at the librarian, who nodded. Lenne was generally liked, a strong, talented woman with a kind smile to spare for everyone. She was named after one of the most famous Songstresses of the past and was proving herself a rightful owner of the name "Lenne".

Karmina apologised to the librarian before darting after Songstress Lenne. She followed the elegant woman down several corridors, into a school teleporter and outside of Lenne's private rooms.

"Here," Lenne said, picking out a few volumes."These should be all you need."

Karmina handled the leather bound tomes gently, before reading the titles. Dance of the Sphere, Upon Being a Songstress, The History of Song and Dance and A Guide to White Magic. She looked up curiously with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Dance of the Sphere is a in-depth volume to using the powers of the Songstress sphere to the maximum: you will need them in this mission despite what your mother says.

"Upon Being a Songstress goes through dances that do not need the sphere as well as ones that combine the powers. I am sure these will help you a great deal. Being a Songstress is practice, like your mother has taught you. You can go nowhere without the practice, but you may well need a combination of magic and your own knowledge.

"The History of Song and Dance is purely for your own reading. It does talk about people who have discovered certain dances but have been lost. Very interesting book.

"As to the last one - I heard you had taken that job and I thought I might as well provide you with the necessities as a second White Mage. There is no need to learn more than the bare necessities for this journey as a White Mage. Better be a professional Songstress with some knowledge of healing powers than good at neither.

"I must compliment you on your choice of White Mage. It suits you well." Lenne smiled and Karmina glowed in silence at this praise. Praise did not come easily from Lenne, kind as she was.

"Thank you for these," Karmina said, standing up and doing a curtsey to please her teacher. "I will look after them well."

"Not if you damage them like you told the librarian," Lenne laughed. Neither mentioned the possibility that she would not be back at all. "I like the second and third books best, so take care of them well. They are spare copies I have." Lenne had an extra copy of just about everything.

Thanking her teacher again, Karmina gathered the books and placed them into her bag. The White Mage sphere sat snugly at the top. Finally, it was full.

Malea held her breath, and hoped she would not hurt Iaran. She took a quick deep breath, blinked, and shot her gun at her left leg, so if it hit, she would be able to heal it with her black mage powers. why did i leave that sphere in my room! She yelled at her self. She saw the bullet head streat for her leg. if she didnt do something, it would be a direct hit. She closed her eyes for a second. she must have done something to stop it... she thought.

Menai smiled at Iaran's enthusiasm, before turning to see Malea addressing her. Her excitement suddenly mounted.

"I'd love to accept guidance from an experienced black mage, Malea," she answered pleasantly. "I'm Menai."

She pointed her long staff at first Iaran, then Malea. She was unsure. Not really confident. But she was saved the necessity of having to do anything when Iaran started dancing. Menai frowned in concentration. Iaran was doing something to everything. But what?

She was startled when Malea aimed for Iaran's left leg, and wished she had brought her white mage sphere, so she could heal somebody if there was any damage done.

(before she shot the bullet): "nice to meet you!" she said back to Menai, smiling. "Lets get this started"

~~~

(after): Malea opened her eyes slowly, and saw that Iaran was doing something. The bullet fell to the ground right in front of her. She steped back in shock. "woah! what did you do?" She asked.

((Well firstly, Lillie, I called for the fight to end and everything seemed to have worked anyway. And Iaran is a Thief, she's stealing something so I can't ask for permission exactly. But thanks for the advice))

Iaran smiled at Malea and Menai, "I experimented and managed to create a dance that slowed down time." She grinned happily, "Then I just kicked the bullet out of the way. Oh and I have plenty of potions so you don't need to worry about healing magic." Iaran showed them her pouch she always kept, "I just put things that I steal in here."

((Was that okay? Oh and time magic isn't godmodding, it isn't permanent and I'm not trying to make Iaran all powerful. It requires alot of her strength to do.))

Iaran sat down, tired after dancing so much. "I think I'll go for a walk now, all this dancing is tiring. I'll be back later." Then Iaran gathered what she had brought and exited the hall.

********

Iaran slunk through the shadows in the corridors, she wasn't feeling as chirpy as she had been in the morning. I wish I could write home and tell my parents that I got into the Selected Squad Iaran thought glumly, "If only I actually HAD a home! Or parents for that matter!" Iaran grew slightly angry, she had been an orphan for as long as she could remember.

"So many people were sent here by their parents. They were forced to have certain jobs and forced to learn about their jobs. I really pity them, and yet I feel almost the same as them. I could have chosen any job, but I was almost forced to be a Thief, living on the streets and all." Iaran kicked a wall angrily, "I don't see why people are so uncomfortable with others learning "their" job; i mean, all the people in this school have a job. And if they were forced to learn it, why be annoyed that someone else is going to learn it? I actually want to work with another thief, or with Karmina as a songstress."

Iaran hung her head glumly, she had been having these thoughts for years now, so why worry about it now? Because I'm part of the Selected Squad now and nearly everyone on the squad either hates me, doesn't know who I am, or doesn't mind me.....

With that last thought, Iaran leant against the wall and slowly sank down, putting her head in her hands she began to cry. "It's just so unfair."

((I've been meaning to make Iaran do this, to give her a little more character))

[I apologise Ria. I misread the post and thought you were directing it as Menai having said it. I'll be making this my last post for the day as being on PPT for a few hours is obviously getting to my head.]

Setting her bag down in a corner of the room, Karmina changed swiftly into her leotard, tights and shoes. She slipped on a loose skirt as well before beginning a series of stretches and leaps about the large room. It was the same one she had been that morning and an upbeat piece was playing to warm her up.

Considerably warmed up, she switched clothing into her Songstress dress. The tightfitting dress was really not her style. She sat down to peruse Dance of the Sphere while catching her breath.

Introduction

Songstresses have a history of capturing an emotion through their music and sharing this with the world. Music is commonly believed by Songstresses to be the power that unites all people. This view could be argued by those with other jobs but is accepted by those who work with music in any way, shape or form.

Not only can music bring peace, but the powers a Songstress uses can be amazing indeed. A true Songstress can cast ailments upon an enemy with ease should she take the care to master the powers. Masters of these are able to have a hundred per cent success rate which is considerably higher than any other job that is known to Turies.

However, a Songstress is unable to kill using these powers, nor can she heal herself. The one way around this is to master another sphere in which the Songstress may adapt to in an emergency situation, should she be so unlucky as to have one befall her.

This book will cover the dances needed to disable an enemy and songs to heal comrades.

NB: Magical Mambo and Magical Masque are two powerful dances that are not covered within this book, being too complex to include. They may be found in the books "Magical Dances Volume I" and "II".

Karmina vaguely wondered why Songstress Lenne had not given her those two books as well. Maybe they were too valuable. She could probably buy them in town at some later date. She skipped the Contents and move onto the first dance.

Darkness Dance
"Dark for a moment is dark forever."

Perhaps the most simple dance that will come naturally to the person who owns a Songstress dressphere, one need only think of this dance and it will begin. The aim of the dance is to cast a temporary blindness upon all enemies, throwing them into a pit of darkness. This will last for as long as one is dancing.

She cross-referenced the information with Upon Being a Songstress and found a relevant extract.

To aim correctly, think very carefully of the subject who will have the darkness directed at. When you have a mental image of the enemy, you will be able to direct more darkness at them.

Another technique is to understand what it is like to be blind oneself. When one can grasp the fear of darkness wholeheartedly, you can instill that fear into the enemy. This, however, requires a higher level of training and is generally not necessary for the Darkness Dance.

Perfect, she thought. All I need is a subject to fight against.

She thought of Iaran as a person to attack and felt guilty. That morning they had talked like friends getting to know each other, but it seemed to have been a long time ago. She looked at the ceiling. It was high noon. Was it really such a short while ago? she wondered, placing the books back into her bag. Right now she did not like Iaran very much, but the girl did not seem to notice. She was too busy making friends with everyone.

Her lip curled. This was why making friends was such a hassle, it was better to be by oneself. She smoothed down the dress thoughtfully. As a member of the Squad, she had found out from Lenne that she was to wear the official garment to meals today for some reason or other. The idea of being recognised made her cringe and yet filled her with pride.

Being a Squad member had better have its perks.

[Yes, Shadowfare, an Alchemist can mix items together to create a better effect. ^_^]

[*claps* Bravo! Apparently Lillie has done some research. I couldn't have described it better myself.]

It was almost lunchtime. Dila sighed. Maybe she would get some brainwaves with some food. Dila shrugged and exited the room, careful to look like someone else. This would be a great chance to see if her disguise worked.

Entering the dining hall, Dila spied one of her friends, Nira. She went up to Nira, and bumped Nira, almost knocking her off.

'Watch who you're knocking, you klutz!' Nira glared and walked off in a huff.

Dila could jump with joy. It worked! Nira didn't suspect a thing!

Dila grabbed her lunch. Burgers, fries, and juice. With coleslaw too. Ew. Burgers. It was too oily for her, but Dila forced it down anyway. She figured she needed nourishment to get her brain working.



Elily jumped out of the bed with alarming speed after glancing at the clock. Lunchtime! She wanted to run out of the room, but then the armour hindered her. Elily grumbled, before reaching for her Gunner's sphere.

Instantly, the spherechanging took place. Elily pushed her sword into the floor, letting it disappear back into the underworld. Her armour melted away and was replaced by her Gunner's outfit. Her two guns appeared, and Elily caught them. She was back in her Gunner job!

It didn't matter anyway, as a member of the Squad, she now had to wear her official job outfit in public places.

Elily ran out of the room, pleasantly surprised over the sudden increase of speed. It wasn't long before she appeared in the dining hall. Elily grabbed her tray of food, and took a seat at the last empty table. There were several empty seats at the table. Elily made a mental note to wave at any squad members who entered to invite them to sit with her.



Dila had been watching Elily from afar the moment she entered. She was wearing her official Gunner's outfit. A sharp, painful pang of irritation and jealousy stabbed her. Dila's eyes followed the Gunner as she took her tray of food and sat down at the table at the other side of the room.

Dila looked down at her coleslaw. Honestly, what was she lacking? She did well in the final test, though she almost withdrew out of the second test. But the final test was worth the most marks, right? And her personality definitely beat Elily's. Dila was sociable, and she was popular. She knew how to get things her way. She knew how to be sweet and polite.

How could she lose to Elily?

Dila looked up at Elily again, her green eyes flaring.

Menai looked at Iaran as the girl disappeared. Then she turned to Malea, her smile returning.

"I don't suppose you could teach me anything? I'm not very confident right now," she said. Annoying, really, how she had never known what it is to be able to attack.

Elily picked up her burger and bit into it, thinking about everything that had happened this morning.

She made Dila mad by telling her off. Jabbing her guns into Dila's face didn't make the situation better.

She got chosen as a Squad member.

She made friends with the squad members. Well, not exactly close friends, but then at least they knew each other to speak politely to one another. At least she was already friends with Andy, Iaran, and Menai. Malea and Rosa Christie seemed approachable. And Karmina...yes, she kept on meaning to speak to Karmina, but never really had the chance to. Hmm. Maybe if Karmina appeared in the dining hall, Elily could invite her to sit with her. She could get a conversation starting then.

And what of Dila? Elily hadn't seen her since the announcement of the results. Elily looked around the dining hall curiously, and her eyes locked with the same pair of green eyes that once stared at her with jeer. There was something...different this time, and though she couldn't interpret the look accurately, she had a feeling it was going to be unpleasant. Elily uncomfortably lowered her gaze down to her lunch, wishing fervently that one of the squad members would come in at this moment. Dila was obviously not the only one staring at her.

Menai glanced up at the big clock on the wall, and was surprised to find out late it was.

"Er... I think we can save my teaching for later. It's time for lunch," she said to Malea. Gesturing for Malea to follow, Menai made her way to the dining hall.

[Long time no post, I've got a lot of catching up to do... T_T ]

Andy felt a stirring in his pocket and it shook him awake. He sat up and reached for the sphere. The vibration seemed to come from within the little fist in the center of the sphere...

"Hm..." he said, examining the sphere... "Here goes nothing."

He placed the sphere in between both of his palms, and with a flash of light surrounding him, he felt energy surging into his body, obviously from the sphere. The light enemating was so bright that it almost blinded him. Through his half-opened eyes, he could see that the sphere disappeared into thin air and that his hands were now empty, but the light was still there.

The gun in hs pouch then began to tremble and as Andy pulled it out, it slowly but surely evaporated. His suit was also starting to morph, his black suit melting away quickly and replaced with a new one consisting of some fur and mostly tough leather complete with a kind of strange marking at the shoulders and sides. His black boots were replaced with a leathery brown one, to match his suit.

"Ooh, leather... nice choice..."

A helmet with 2 large horns formed on his head and his hands were now enclosed with a pair of sharp claws. He also noticed that he seem dangerous to himself, as he could probably poke his eye out with those things...

"Note to self: refrain self from scratching an itch anywhere near head..." he said to himself...

The light faded quickly and he found himself back in the same room. He took a glance at the clock in his room and realised that it was time for lunch. He wondered whether to go out in his new suit or not...

[By the way, if anyone would like more detailed information on their jobs (abilities and attacks which can be learnt), feel free to PM me or to ask. I'll be more than happy to help. ^_^ ]

Elily polished off her burger in a matter of minutes, keeping her eyes firmly on her food. She certainly did not like the number of stares she was getting every moment. A few of the looks were friendly, accompanied with warm smiles, but most were cold. Could it be because she was in her Gunner outfit, and not her school uniform? Or could it be because they thought she wasn't fit to mix around with them anymore, after getting picked? Whatever the reason was, Elily disliked getting looked at for extended periods of time, it was as if she was wearing a 'dunce' hat or something.

Elily glanced up yet again at the door. Couldn't Menai or Iaran come in now?! she thought desperately. This tension was killing her. People whispering and secretly pointing...scathing looks...this really was too much for Elily to handle.



Dila, who had been spying from the distance, snickered silently. It was obvious that Elily wasn't enjoying this unwelcomed attention. Had Dila been chosen, she would have probably used the attention to her advantage. My, that bratty girl certainly didn't know how to appreciate what she had gotten. Dila rolled her eyes. Fancy feeling uncomfortable about getting chosen for such a hot thing! Dila imagined herself being surrounded by several equally popular students, all sitting at a table together at lunch, making jokes and gossiping about others, and laughing together. Sitting alone while secretly looking around was just not her cup of tea.

But then, that would never happen to her. Not after what happened this morning. Dila tried her best not to cringe at the painful memory. She was evidently still smarting over the fact that Elily had beat her. How could the professors choose the little wimp over someone as powerful as her? How could they forget her? Maybe they overlooked her name?

But...what if...what if Elily was in no shape to be in the squad? The professors would certainly have to choose a new Gunner for the Squad, won't they? And that new Gunner might just be her!

Eating really DID give her ideas, after all. Dila smiled.

Time to teach her a lesson she won't forget soon...

Malea's stomach growled. "hehe, i guess im hungery." she said blushing. She didnt have a big breakfast, so she was starving. She followed Menai down to the dining hall. She took her lunch, which consisted of two hotdogs, frys, and a drink. When she entered the room, she got wierd stairs from eeryone. She realized that she was still in her gunner outfit. She heard people wispering things like...

didnt she ust to be a black mage? how did she become a gunner...
wait! i know her! but...what is she wearing?
wow, a new gunner...

She closed her eyes and blocked out all the noises. When she opened her eyes, she saw Elily and Menai. "Hey guys!" she said, waving to them. She quickly walked up to them. "want to sit together?"

((I would love more info, Glass Miracle. I'm scrolling the sites, right now, by the way. :wink: I know of the usual FF stuff, but not about the job system.))

It was lunchtime and the great hall was filled with youngsters. Light shone through the great windows. Students stepped up and down, retrieving food or simply greeting others.

A young student, black hair with green eyes suddenly burst through the mass. Some would recognise him as a young berserker.

He looked around, nervously, then spotting Elily and the others easily. Like if he was on an important mission, he ran to her table with some dignity.

"Miss Elily? Miss Menai? Miss Malea? I was asked to find the White Mage of the Squad."