The Chosen 13 (Chinese Zodiac RP - PLEASE JOIN :D )

I suddenly froze as Raymond started to cough after starting to talk. Was he alright? "Um, we don't have to go on a walk tonight. I mean, if you're not feeling well..." I noticed that he looked sick. What was the matter with him? I mean, I've never gotten sick. I've always thought it was an adaptation for The Chosen Ones to not get sick. Was he really one of them? Had he been poisoned some time and it was slowly tearing up his insides? Well, whatever it was, he didn't look good. "Maybe you should go back to your house..." I said nervously.

"No, it's alright." Raymond chuckled "Like I said, it's just a cough. Besi--" SNAKE SENSES TINGLING!!!!1!!
"WATCH OUT!" Ray screamed and jumped on Mai as a flying knife almost got both of them. They both fell on a bush as Asclepius fell from his pocket.

"Hnf. I knew the poison wouldn't make that much effect." a cold and heartless could be heard from the entrance of the forest. Raymond stood up just to see the silhouette of a giant scythe. "Vasir! Beautiful night, isn't it?" Ray laughed as he recognized the woman with silver hair.

"Wait... Did you say poison?" Raymond thought back... Thinking about, he did ate a lemon from Vasir's tent, but she wouldn't be crazy enough to poison her OWN merchandise. Also, it didn't taste bad at all.
The knife..., Asclepius said, while thrown on the floor feeling weak, Remember the knife she threw at you? I think the tip was poisoned.

I turned back to him and gave him a doubting look. "Are you sure? I mean, it doesn't sound good." Suddenly, my ears went backwards at another sound. Sakura, only a few feet away from me on the side of the path started to scream MAI! LOOK OU- She was cut off as Ray shoved me over, off the path, almost landing on Sakura who jumped out of the way just in time. "Ray, what the heck are you do-" I stared to protest angrily, a hiss almost seeping into my voice when I froze as I heard another person. "Hnf. I knew the poison wouldn't make that much effect." I felt a chill go down my spine. It hit me the wrong way, sounding like nails on a chalk board in my ears. It was heartless and deadly. I looked up, my eyes wide open and I saw a figure with a scythe. "Oh my god." I said in the smallest voice that was possible. Mai... We... have... to... get... out... of... here... right... NOW... I heard Sakura's voice slowly rise from quiet to yowling. Poison. Who was this person? But I already knew. She was a Protector, probably here to kill both of us.

"My Lord, Vasir... You do know that poison isn't a very charming way to kill people, right?" Raymond said, feeling the acid tearing down his insides slowly. Asclepius was just curled on the ground. You... Idiot, let's get out! The.... T-The poison!, he mumbled while trying to hide behind Ray.

"Grrrrrr!!" Vasir growled, losing pacient with that cursed person. "Raymond... I'm going to make a cloak out of your hide!!" she screamed as she ran towards him with her scythe hungry for blood. She almost slashed Raymond in half, but, luckly, he jumped on the right, seeing his reflection on the blade. "Hey, you're right... I do look sick." he mumbled, while examinating himself on the deadly weapon. Vasir quickly removed the scythe from the ground and tried to slash Ray again, only to have her attack dodged again. However, Raymond was feeling extremely weak because of the poison, and Vasir caught him right when the lethal liquid is kicking.

I stared at the scene in front of me, and it took a moment for me to realize what the heck was happening, then I kicked into action. I didn't care if Raymond's little circle kicked me out. A Protector was a Protector, and Protectors were something that I hated. I stood up and brushed myself off for a moment. Sakura, stay right there in the shadows. I heard a surprised hiss. [/i]What?![/i] I gritted my teeth determinedly. I knew that you'd just disobey, but I want you to know that it'd be better if you stayed there. Sakura knew what I was going to do. WAIT! MAI! YOU CAN'T EXPOSE BOTH OF YOURSELVES AND PUT YOU IN DA- "Save it for later." I lunged forward and did a diving roll then stood up in front of Ray. "Ray, stay right behind me." I hissed under my breath so that only he could hear. Then I turned to Vasir. "Leave him alone." I hissed dangerously. Since Sakura was hiding, she couldn't sense any aura on me. She probably thought I was a normal human, just acting brave so that I could earn more love from Ray. Wrongo. I was doing this for my kind.

"Hunf!" Vasir growled, then she charged her scythe for another attack "Fine! Then you'll both die!"
"Mai, look o--" Raymond threw Maia to the side, only to be hit on the left shoulder by Vasir's weapon. Everything was paralysed.

"Gaahh!!!" Asclepius screamed on the floor while puking blood and Raymond fell on his knees, bleedind from both his mouth and shoulder.
Vasir started charging up another attack, this time aiming for Ray's head.

Ray... Don't... Do this...., Asclepius weak and painful voice echoed in Raymond's head.
I have to...
Don't... Please...
I don't care!

Raymond's iris shrinked and his pupil becoming a needle. Then he pointed a finger with his right hand, then Vasir's attack was interrupted. "What... What're you..." she mumbled, not being able to move a muscle.
"Go take a walk..." he mumbled and pointed at the center of the forest where Vasir started running towards it "Hey! How can you-- Get back here!!" she screamed while running towards more deep of the forest.

Ray just chuckled, then he sat next to a tree, feeling very weak and bleeding. Asclepius just crawled next to his friend, also puking blood.

I felt the world turn as Raymond shoved me to the side. I was not weak and useless! How dare he shove me away! I wasn't some little human girl weakling that had no defense whatsoever! I killed people before, and I can do it again. I struggled to stand up, and managed to just in time to see Vasir walking away, unwillingly though. As if she had no control over her body. Was that his power? I looked over at Ray and he was pointing a finger towards where Vasir was headed. As soon as I couldn't hear her anymore, Ray just simply chuckled. Beside him was a snake, puking blood. I bit my lip and walked over to a tree, pushing my forehead against it and closing my eyes, trying my hardest not to just blow up in Ray's face.

"You..." Raymond tried to stand up "...You better leave... She may return at any second... Run..." but he fell on the ground again.

The snake was just breathing heavily while still puking blood.
Great... Now we have three ways of dying. Wether by poison, by this wound or by years. I feel so comfortable now., Asclepius said, sarcastic even on the edge of death.
People say that you see your life before your eyes... But I see nothing... I feel cold., Raymond thought while sighing.

I suddenly uttered a long, sharp cat hiss of annoyance and anger. I whipped around, my eyes blazing.
"You. You think, that I am useless." I hissed, a growl seeping into my voice. "What you did was stupid! You're already half-blind you dimwit, and then you got poisoned today, and then, not only that, but you throw me out of the way to take the blow of that scythe? I was trying to protect you." I couldn't believe this. Why did he think that girls were helpless? "Now, if someone is trying to protect you, then let them do it! Don't act all brave and such and then just shove them out of the way! Girls can do things too you know! Girls can actually fight! Girls like me! What you did was stupid, so utterly stupid that I might just as well leave and let you suffer here! I put all of the work of my whole life out of the way, trying to stay unseen! I just blew it all! If you hadn't thrown me out of the way, I would maybe have been able to kill that girl, and then stay under the radar! Well, here's a news flash. I DIDN'T! You had to shove me out of the way, and now they know what I look like! When she comes back, I'm going to fight. Oh, I'm going to fight alright, and when I do, she's going to know who I am!" I ended with a large growl and I whipped an arrow out of thin air and rammed it into a tree with all my strength. The tree shook with the force and a few leaves fell.

There was a silence and then I held my head with my hands. "What am I thinking. You're already half-dead for a few reasons I know and a few reasons that are unknown... And here I am, shouting at you." I whipped around and gave him a glare. "But don't you even think for a moment that this means that you're not stupid and that I forgive you."

Raymond just stared at the girl shouting and shouting. For a while, he and Asclepius would stare at each other confused then shrug.
I think she's angry at you., Asc commented, while looking at Mai.
I think she's going to kill me.
I think she'll never forgive you.
I think she likes me.
I think we're both screwed.
I think I can sense Vasir's hatred aura getting near.
I think I'm hungry.

When Maia said that she should left Raymond and Asclepius there, he just chuckled "Fine then. One less mouth to feed, right? I'm already dead, anyway." he said, trying to be more confortable while sitting next to the tree. "Just so you know... I haven't thrown you to the side because I think you're weak. That woman wanted to kill ME, not you. I couldn't let someone pretty like you get in the middle of our game of cat-n-mouse." he concluded, trying to stop the bleeding of his wound with part of his jacket.

Then suddenly, he coldly stared at her "I don't need your forgiveness."

I frowned harder as he started to talk about him being dead anyways. I hated this. I hated Protectors. I hated the world. "I'm not pretty. I snapped when he finished, even after he said he didn't need my forgiveness. "I'm not pretty at all. I'm a lethal killer. Want to know how many people I've killed? If I hang around, it may slip up to 20. I don't care if you don't need my forgiveness. I don't care if you hate me since I shouted at you now. I am going to stay here and fight that girl off, and you cannot sway me." I said, my eyes connecting with his, cold determination hidden in them. "If it's up to me, you're not going to die." I told him angrily. "I'm not what I seem." I hissed and then glanced back at where Vasir left. He'd have to learn the truth eventually. I hoped that with all the cat hissing that he'd realize it, but he seemed slow to actually believe that I wasn't a human. Sakura, is Vasir near? I felt Sakura search and then she responded. Right near. Sounds like she's angry.

"Hmm... I like lethal girls..." he mumbled, chuckling again "Well, if you care about me so much, then you should help me then kick Vasir's arse later." he commented. Asclepius just rolled his eyes.

--

"Son of a..." Vasir growled while standing up as she fell on a bush. If the bush weren't there, she might have been running towards the forest more. "When I get my hands on that crawler... I'll... I'll..." Vasir mumbled, her face getting red as a tomato. She grabbed her scythe that was on the ground and went towards the entrance of the forest, thirsthy for their blood.

I rolled my eyes at his comment and then nodded. "It's not that I care about you so much, as your species." I said, nodding to the snake on the ground next to the boy. "I knew from the start." I said, and then turned back around. "I'll help you with this though, since I hate what she does." I added. Then, facing the direction our attacker would come from, I got ready to take my bow and arrows out. Carefully, I allowed my teeth to grow sharper, my claws too. My senses keen, I crouched low to the ground. Sakura, remind me never to allow a boy to ask me out. Sakura replied in an amused voice. Will do.

"Well... I'll get out of here then." Raymond mumbled, grabbing Asclepius by his tail and slowly walking out of the forest, but with great difficulty.

--

"I can sense them..." Vasir said when she got near the forest entrance. She stared at the girl looking at her. Vasir quickly noticed that she was a Zodiac. Cat. However, Vasir's hatred was coming from Raymond, so she wanted to finish him first, THEN with the girl. After looking around, she didn't see Ray anyway.

"Where is he?" she asked, in a calmer voice, then she exploded "Where the heck is Raymond?!?"

I looked around in mock surprise as Vasir roared out where Raymond was. I stared at her with wide eyes, acting innocent. "Oh, you're asking me!" I exclaimed. "I thought you were asking that shrub over there. You know how Protectors are sometimes, talking to inanimate objects." Ouch. Sakura said with approval. "He's not here right now, but if you want, I can take a message for him. Would you like that message shipped through air or on ground?" My friendly, joking demeanor immediately sunk into hostileness. "Sorry to tell you Vasir, but Ray doesn't want to see you right now as you can tell."

Before Raymond could leave the forest, he stopped and looked behind, hearing the echos from Vasir's voice. She's no doubt freakin' out.
What's the matter, Ray?, his thoughts were interrupted by a bleeding Asclepius on his arms, Dude we have to go... I don't feel my tail any longer.
But I don't like her having to face Vasir alone...
Didn't she made it clear to us that she's no weakling? Besides, acting like a hero won't make you any hero.
I'm not saying I should go and fight, I'm just saying... I dunno. I feel bad. Vasir isn't a normal Protecter.
Asclepius growled, Ray, you're wounded, poisoned and bleeding!

Raymond said nothing, he sat on the ground, making his snake fangs appear.
What're you doing?
I'll use my own poison to remove this one., he then bit himself on the arm.

----

Vasir shook her head. "I don't have time for your bullcrap. Tell me where he is... Now." she said, more serious and cold, starting to lose pacient. She held her scythe tightly, ready to use it whenever the girl would make any suspicious moves.

(So Ray doesn't really know that Mai is a Chosen One yet, right?)

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


I grinned evilly, staring at the girl in front of me who seemed to get angrier and angrier. "Your kind never learns, do they? You think that you can get whatever you want, slashing open the chests of Chosen Ones willy nilly. It's like... your world is free. Limitless. That's how it's been all your life, right? Limitless. Well, it was limitless until you met me." I snarled and suddenly whipped a bow out of the air along with an arrow, and then shot it in a swift movement. The arrow was aimed right towards Vasir's heart. Then, the millisecond after the arrow left my bow, I dived in cover of a bush and then peeked over. My hood fell off of my head and my ears were exposed in full view. I knew that Ray wouldn't see. He was long gone, unless he was stupid enough to come back, but I think I told him off hard enough that he knew that he shouldn't come back.

Ray, you crazy bastard! But you're a genius, said Asclepius laughing, If you managed to fill your body with your own poison that you're immune to it, the other poison will be forced to leave.
I'm not as idiot as I look, Asc.
You had me worried that I wasn't your spirit.
Hey, that's MY line.

---

With Vasir's quick reflexes, she already knew before that the girl would shoot an arrow at her. With her scythe ready, she quickly placed the shiny blade in front of her and the arrow broke in half as it hit the holy material of the Moon's Soul. "Stupid brat..." Vasir whispered, trying to remain calm. She knew that the Cat wanted to make her angrier, that would only give her more chances to shoot at her.
"Here, kitty kitty..." she said and with great power, slashed the bush where the girl threw herself in half.

I hissed under my breath as I heard the arrow twang against metal. She had good reflexes, almost too good. My ears lied flat on my head as I slunk through the underbrush, and suddenly I heard a frantic scream from Sakura. Mai! Dive to the right! But I was already moving before she had finished speaking. Rolling over to the right, I barely missed being slashed in half by the blade. I ran quickly and silently through the bushes, shifting into cat form so that I could move without being seen easier. Then I shifted back to my half form, my tail twitching beside me, my breathing rapid. I noticed that some of my hair was cut at a sharp edge. Did she really just cut my hair? I was that close to being chopped? I knew that I could use my power in a pinch like this, but I liked to save that for desperate situations, when it was really needed. Right now, I wasn't in any physical trouble or mental trouble, and I was fit. I wanted to actually kill by bow. The taunting voice of the Protector echoed in my ears. "Got to be quicker than that." I huffed under my breath and whipped two more arrows into the air towards my attacker, immediately turning into animal form and dashing through the underbrush to a new location. If I needed to, I could take this to the trees. The canopy of the trees were dark, and I had spent a lot of time mastering tree climbing and jumping from branch to branch.

Vasir was quick enough to just dodge her arrows. Tsk, I hate distance weapons, she thought to herself in disgust and followed not the cat, but the leaves and bushes that were following, cutting each one in half, but no blood was coming from it. She then slashed a tree in half, making it fall and tremble the floor.

"Hey, Vasir!" an annoying but familiar voice could be heard from the direction of the dark forest. Vasir looked and it was really the one she was expecting. "Yo, how's it going?" Raymond arrogantly smiled and blinked at Vasir, only to make her angrier. "Raaaaaaymond!!!" she screamed.

"Hey, before you do anything..." he paused "I know your sister."
Vasir freezed in her place. He knew of Vasir's sister? The one she always hid to protect from harm?! How!? He might have just be joking... Maybe to threat her, however, she never mentioned anything of a family. She always said all her family was killed.

"Yeah... I know her way too well." Ray chuckled, his arrogant words echoing on Vasir's head, telling exactly what he meant by all that talk.
"What are you---"
"I know that she's wee-wee on the head..." he commented. Wee-wee on the head?! How dare he say that of my sister?!

Vasir's sister wasn't exactly mentaly sane. She was actually pretty crazy...
"Yup... And guess what." Raymond continued, not even letting Vasir breath "...I told her that there were ghosts on her clothes.... And that she had to take it off if she wanted the ghosts to go away."

Vasir's face turned from red to purple. "Y-You.... You WHAT?!", she roared, not knowing if she could believe in him, but his words were coming out perfectly, no flaws. That means....
"And she obeyed like a doggy... 'Oh, no... Ghosts! Ray, take them from me!'" he continued, making his voice sound like from a girl and making gestures of arms shaking here and there.

I was prepared to shoot another arrow again, but I noticed Vasir wasn't coming for me. I was disappointed about this. I had been looking forward to a good fight. "Aw, c'mon." I moaned, shifting back into a human. My ears were still there though, lingering from the sadness. I was lucky that I wanted to bring my cloak, or else I'd blow it all. I already had blown it all though, risking myself to protect Raymond. Suddenly I heard voices and I stiffened. Was Raymond with Vasir? Did Vasir find him? I hissed under my breath and shifted into the animal form, Sakura joining in with me almost instantly as we raced towards Vasir's scent. This didn't turn out as I expected it would. Sakura thought mildly. You think? I shot back. I dashed underneath a tree trunk and then suddenly stopped. Right up here. I told Sakura. We crept towards where the two were, Raymond staring coolly at Vasir. What were they... Were they talking about Vasir's sister? "Sorry to break it to you, but now isn't the time to talk about siblings." I muttered under my breath. But what Raymond was saying actually was... well, let's just say pissing Vasir off.

"I'm... I'm... I'm going to use your skull as a cup for my water, Raymond!" Vasir exclaimed running towards him with her scythe ready to cut him into pieces. Ray suddenly took out two silver bracelets that envoloped his whole arm and defended against Moon Soul's attack.
They were both brawling to see who could stay pushing the other one longer and none of them were victorious.

"H-How can you still move after the poison and the wound?" Vasir mumbled, their faces just a few cm away.
"Well... The snake always finds its way to survive..." Raymond arrogantly said while smilling. His forked tongue came out of his mouth and started swinging here and there next to Vasir's face. His tongue was pretty long, so it managed to reach the Protecter's face while making a hissing sound.
"Grr... You own me two years of my life, Raymond..."
"And you own me a bag of hallucination poison..." Raymond said. He did wasted almost all his glandula of poison to remove the previous poison. It would take some time to restore it.

I rolled my eyes. It seemed like these two had a feud that had been going on for some years. Well, it's determined now which Zodiac he is. Sakura said mildly when Raymond's forked tongue came out of his mouth. I glanced at her for a long time. Ya think? I replied. I had determined that Raymond was the snake Zodiac as soon as he had shoved me into the bush to avoid Vasir's blade, and the snake fell out of his pocket. He doesn't know about me though. Not that I know of. I replied. When would I be able to come out of hiding? I was not going to act all pathetic like I had been. I wasn't going to be shy in front of Raymond anymore. Once someone made me angry once, I wasn't shy. It's like I kind of got to know them better when I vented my anger at them, and then I felt comfortable around them. No more nice girl. But of course, you could possibly convince Raymond that this was all a dream and that you didn't remember any of this. Sakura offered. That is the worst idea I have ever heard. I said back. Trotting back a little bit, I then shifted back into a human, my clothes were somewhat dirty though, but I didn't care. It wasn't like I would use them any more. I walked out of the underbrush and into the small clearing, a safe distance away from Vasir in case she got angry at me for taunting her and whipped her scythe at me. I stood there, waiting for them to notice me. I didn't care if they exchanged words for a while. I was just comfortable standing here. Sakura was in the brush behind me, hidden from view.

After a while that both were brawling, suddenly, they both jumped, with Raymond heavily breathing and his shoulder started bleeding again. "Oh, crap... It opene--" he would finished, but he saw the shadow of a crescent moon on his head. He looked and saw Vasir's giant scythe ready to cut Raymond's head like wheat. She swinged her scythe to cut his head but he managed to thrown himself on the grass. Vasir's scythe slashed a tree instead.

"You're giving me nervers, Raymond... This'll end here and now." Vasir growled, but in a more calmer way.
"Didn't you say you would kill me after you've killed every other Zodiac?" Raymond said.
Come to think of it... Vasir was breaking her promise. Even though her hate for Raymond was intense, she managed to survive all these years without chasing that annoying bug, then she suddenly broke that promise.

I tensed when I noticed Raymond started bleeding again and Vasir took advantage of that. If Ray had been a normal human, he would have been dead by then, but Chosen Ones were... special. I reached for my bow and arrows, but then I froze when Raymond said something. "Didn't you say you would kill me after you've killed every other Zodiac?" the words echoed in my ears. Kill me... after you've killed... other Zodiacs... I shut my eyes tightly and then gasped for breath, silently but sadly. He gave a bargain. A selfish bargain at that. He was willing to let others die before he died. He was willing to let the Protector kill me before him, put his life higher than any other. It was as if he wanted to be utterly alone. I clenched my hands into fists and then shot a glare at Ray. They didn't notice me. I didn't care. If Ray was that selfish, then he didn't even need me to help him. Suddenly I shot off into the undergrowth, Sakura by my side, both of us as cats. He didn't even notice that I was there in the first place. Ray didn't seem like the kind of person who would say that. I mean, he might be stupid, but to place his life above all other 12 people, allowing 12 people to be killed before he was... If it was possible, I was crying in cat form. I'm not much of a crier. In fact, I never cry. This was the first time in years that I felt water coming out of my eyes. I didn't think of anything but getting back to the barn, falling asleep and forgetting this whole thing. I didn't want to ever meet up with Ray again, and if he tried to be friends with me again, that was his death wish. It didn't take long to get back to the barn, and I ran in without stopping and flopped onto the hay. Shifting back to half form, I curled up in a little ball and brought my hands to my head. How could I have been so blind? Mai, it's not your fault. Sakura said, but she was affected too by my emotions. I finally managed to speak. "I hate him."