[Roll]

[ooc]And now, continuing from Karma's post so we can add depth to the story....[/ooc]

Welf, Maria, Dante, and Cuattle were all lost in thought. Sitting amidst the trees as a feeling of chill began to feel warmer to them (whether it was because they lost all sense of temperature, or that the storm had passed was not known), they stared into the trees, and didn't notice that Angela was slowly blinking her eyes open. With her mind in a daze, and her eyes a bit out of focus, her first reaction was to stay where she was until everything went back to normal. Until then, she moved her head ever so slightly, and looked straight at a patch of red. Then, perhaps out of instict, she slowly reached out her hand to touch his knee. The shock of being touched by someone made Welf jump distinctly, which caused everyone else to jump, as well as Maria dropping Drake ("Sorry!"). Welf looked at the hand, which lay very limp on his knee, and looked further on to see the person who lay it on him. Poor old Angela was still laying on the ground, but she was now facing him, and looking at him.. even touching him. ...At that point, realization hit him, and he smiled, and got so excited that he whooped once; after which, he blushed (but you can't really tell) and just smiled. Angela then opened her mouth to speak.

Angela: "..Hi Welf..."

Her voice was soft, weak, and sounded as if she were close to death.

Angela: "...Are you alright Welf?..You look like stained glass.."
Welf: "Huh? What's wrong with you..? Your spell must have done a lot to you, hasn't it?"
Angela: "Huh? What spell?"
Welf: "You know. The storm of ice, the blizzard of coldness, the... um... rain of crystalized water!"
Angela: (huh?) " Um...what?"
Maria: "Angela, he means that you cast the spell that basically killed almost all of Branek's forces back at the town, and perhaps the town itself. Of course, he has to be joking, because that kind of magic only exists on the lost island of Shunshou."

Angela was a little perturbed by this news, and by the fact that she said "killed", and also by the fact that there was a yellowish blob speaking to her. If they only knew..

Welf: "No, I'm pretty sure she cast that spell herself. In any case.." He turned his head to look at Angela, and looked at her with tear-stricken eyes that were hidden to everyone else but (suprisingly) herself. "I'm just glad your back with us, instead of in 'that world'.."

If she could have only moved, she would have hugged him then. But since she could just barely see, she settled with smiling at him, and rubbing his knee softly with her hand which seemed to almost be a caress..

Angela: "...but what did happen to me? And why are there 6 blobs here? Did Gabriel and the others return to us, Welf?"
Welf: "No, they haven't. But you did cast a spell, and it made you fall asleep, sort of."
Angela: "What do you mean?"
Maria: "Maybe I can answer that. You see, Angela, if you actually did cast that spell (heaven knows how you could have done that), you probably had to use all of your magical energy to do so. So, with that in effect, you probably had to concentrate so hard, that you literally lost your mind temporarily."
Angela: "....so... I have magic..?"
Maria: "...Yes, you do have magic."
Angela: "Well, that's definitely new.. but now, who is everyone else that is here?"

And they proceeded to introduce themselves accordingly, all except Drake, who remained next to Maria. Angela inquired about his name, and eventually got a discontented answer from Welf. She understood Drake's presence, but she wondered about Cuattle, and Dante. She slowly started to get up, and though Welf requested that she still lay to rest, she sat elegantly on her legs. The blobs were now gaussian blurs, and she could tell the difference between each of them. She looked at Cuattle for a moment, and then at Dante. Soon, she opened her mouth to ask about something, but Welf interrupted her.

Welf: "So, now that the spell is finished (and you can tell, because it's warmer), what should we do?"
Angela: "...I think we should get back to the town..."
Maria: "But what about.. the 'thing'?"
everyone except Angela and Maria: "Huh?"
Angela: "I know, Maria, but that can wait a little bit. We need to take everything one event at a time, and right now, I have a feeling that we should go to the town.."
Maria: "...Well, alright."
Angela: "So is everyone going to come, or not? Any objections...? No? Alright then!" She stood up very suddenly. "Let's go!"

Everyone stared at her for a moment, and it wasn't long before Angela collapsed. But, after constant refusals to let someone carry her or anything like that, they finally continued.


As they walked, Angela walked a little faster, and caught up with Maria and a muzzled Drake. After getting her attention, Angela began to ask about the lost island of Shunshou.

Angela: "What did you mean by the 'lost' island of Shunshou?, Maria?"
Maria: "Don't you know the story?" Angela shook her head no. "Well, the story is about a beautiful island, blessed with happiness and beauty. There were kings and queens, but they weren't really necessary. Unfortunately, near the end of the story, the island becomes destroyed because one of the kings is corrupt, and he completely strips the land of it's life."
Angela: "So that's all?"
Maria: "For the most part. But it's just a story, after all, and I doubt it exists."
Angela: "Yeah, me too.."
Maria: "..Are you alright?"
Angela: "Yes, of course I am. I'm just a bit tired, that's all."

And as they continued to walk, Angela felt that Welf watched from a small distance. She knew the truth would come out sooner or later, and that she would have to reveal her life to someone sooner or later. Until then, though, she would not tell, and there would be no one to tell them for her. As for Cuattle, the little psychic friend, (^._) he would not invade her private thoughts... not yet, anyway. So they would journey, but no one knew how it would end..

[ooc]...btw, Led, Master, if you want Angela to get to know Cuattle or Dante better, as in, make them more.....budy-buddy, be my guest. ^-^; She'll be ok with it, and I'd be more than happy. She loves animals (among almost everything else in life..), so she'll love to be friends with Cuattle. Anyway... Goodnight. [/ooc]