Raven: Emerald Fist - chapter IX

Chapter IX: Battle in the Woods

Mechyena stepped backwards, its heavy paws nearly slipping in the wetness that was its own blood. Its organic mind was surfacing now through the human-made mist that had clouded it before, causing the huge Pokèmon to whine, whimper and back away as the man standing in front of it raised the whip another time.

Lash!
“You useless, USELESS hound!”
Lash!
“I send you on one, simple, easy mission: get the birds. Yet what-”
Lash!
“WHAT did you do?!”

All Mech could do in return was let out another yelp of pain as the iron-barbed whip licked its flanks and back, now laid open into tatters.
“MESS UP!! THAT’S WHAT!!”

The Master was a dangerous looking man at the best of times but now, with his eyes blazing, spittle spraying from his mouth and sweat rolling down cheeks flushed with scarlet anger he was nothing short of terrifying.

Mechyena whined again in an attempted apology, but all it got in return was another brutal lashing across its powerful forelegs and tender muzzle. It tried to back up even more but found itself already up against the wall, swaying on splayed paws. What had it done? It had only obeyed the orders given to it: kill the big bird and capture the little ones. Why was Master beating it? Had the other men told it wrong?

Finally the Emerald leader took a step back to regard the effects of his efforts, but the malicious look in his eyes and coiled strength in his corded muscle didn’t fade. He stepped in close, holding the whip now coiled in one hand at his side while the other reached out and grasped Mech under its broad muzzle, raising its now pathetic-looking head to look at it eye to eye.

A near-mad smile tugged the corner of his lips upwards and he threatened,
“Make another mistake and you’ll get a lot worse punishment, ShadowSteel. Last time all you did was put us on a timer by killing Articairion. This time you’ll do better… by doing a much more minor mission. This one will be more… familiar.”

* * *

I walked south towards Goldenrod, Violet and the National Park, Jay analysing a text on the evolution of the Airion twins with growing interest.
Crick… Crack… Snap…
I halted abruptly and spun on my heel, eyes scanning the trees bordering the track with amber eyes. The sounds had stopped.

Up ahead Jay sighed, “There’s nothing following us, trust me,” and continued to walk on.
I frowned and started up again; following the pattern I’d been going through for the last hour and a half.
Crickcrack, crack snap click.
I resisted the urge to scream. ‘Patience, patience… I HAVE NO BLOODY PATIENCE!’

Crickcrickcracksnapclick-a-dee-click!
“Yarg!” I finally cried, spinning furiously and connecting my fist with something less than solid.
A deafening cry went up from the bushes and a hissing bundle of amethyst tumbled out onto the path, long bladed wings spreading akimbo in the dust.

“Ha! I told you!” I boasted to Jay, who peered over the top of his light-weight book with vague interest.
“That’s a… a…” he rummaged around in his pocket before producing a metallic red Pokèdex and aiming it at the creature that was very slowly levering itself to its feet.

“Mydral. The little dragon Pokèmon.” I said in time to the Pokèdex’s mechanical voice, “It inhabits wooded areas close to- WHAT?!”
While I was ready to go on with what my ‘Dex had told me earlier about this lovely bundle of joy, Jay’s droned out a statement about its hunting styles and ability to get prey out of trees with a simple headbutt move.

I decided to let it rest in the face of this new problem as Mydral finally gained its feet.
“Mah-dren-drilyaaaaa…” it wheezed, doing its best to glare at me but only managing to look pathetically weak.
It was then that I noticed the first of the wounds. Long, oozing cuts that sliced through its violet skin seemed to be infected on the Mydral’s hide, swelling horrendously and making the Pokèmon look like it’d been through some sort of war.

I tried not to feel guilty but, damn, I was. Those gashes were just the right length to have been created by a Houndour’s teeth and claws, more specifically, Hades’ teeth and claws. Mydral was dying of blood poisoning because of my little night excursion. Of course, I could always…

“Polienix, go! Peck attack!” I ordered my Pokèmon, flinging her light blue Regenball onto the path.
I’d returned her earlier when she’d fallen asleep on my shoulder and nearly fallen off, and now my friend exploded from her ball in a flash of scarlet.

She took a second to orientate herself before flapping hard to gain more height and then plummeting down towards the wounded dragon Pokèmon. Mydral gave a strangled screech at her approach, but it was too weak to do more than let off a few sparks that scattered uselessly off Polienix’s powder blue wings.
WHAM!

Contact! The baby bird’s hard beak rammed into Mydral’s flank, lifting it clear off the ground and throwing it three metres. It landed, protesting weakly, on its back and squirmed there in the dirt for a little longer before finally regaining its feet. Hurt golden eyes met Polienix’s innocent black orbs as it challenged her to do her worst. Then it collapsed.

“Pokéball go!”
I tossed one of my last two Pokèballs through the air and it bounced neatly off Mydral, opening in mid-bounce to pull him up inside as a beam of red. The ball landed. Shook. One, two, three times. And then…
CLINK. Mydral had just been too weak to resist. Peck alone had down the trick. I couldn’t help but grin, not only had I just got myself the chance to undo the damage inflicted on it but if Mydral was as powerful as it had seemed to be yesterday I’d just caught more than a major asset to my team.

Jay sighed as I shot him a triumphant look, admitting defeat with a sigh and the closing of his book.
“So,” he said, “Send it out.”
I shook my head, “First tell me why my Pokèdex gave a diffe-” I clamped my mouth shut, “Uh, I mean… sure, sure I’ll send it out.”
He raised his eyebrows at my hurried cover-up of last night but said nothing… although I could tell it would come up again later.

From the shiny orb I held in my hand shot a beam of red, spreading and melding to create the shape of a grumpy-looking little dragon. It looked like it wanted to shock me sky high, but at the same time I could see the weakness that chained it to the ground. Weakness the actions of both myself and my Pokèmon had inflicted upon it. Without thought I whipped out potion and berry and held them out to it, tipping back the bottle so as to make sure he got every last drop even as it gagged on the bitter taste.

“Drrriiiiiiillll…” it complained as I moved the bottle away, moving onto an arrogant sounding “Ma yirill dral!”

I raised an eyebrow, “Sorry, didn’t understand a word of that.” I held out the berry again, “Eat this.”
Mydral sniffed self-righteously as if I had insulted it but held out its sharp-taloned hands to accept the berry. It sniffed the fruit, maybe curiously, perhaps just suspiciously, as I aimed the sensor of my ‘Dex at it and hit the statistics button on the left.

“Level 19 Mydral, male, knowing the moves Thundershock, thunder wave, tackle, double team, headbutt and growl. Arrogant temperament.” it chimed, descriptions of each move my new Pokèmon knew displaying on the small screen.
“Level 19, huh?” Jay commented, “I’m surprised you managed to catch it - it must have been pretty badly wounded before it bumped into us.”

His sea green eyes never left my face as he spoke, gauging my reaction. So, he was suspicious now… I covered up the grimace from the thought of hurting something that badly and then leaving it to die from my face with a quick ‘He’s a he, not an it’ and ‘I guess I only caught him because I’m perfect!’. I was glad Jay didn’t know me too well yet; otherwise he would have known that my normal reaction would have been to simply shrug.

“Humph.” something snorted from knee-height, “The stupid humahn girl thinks she is perfect! I, Rahijin, shahll show her true perfection, better thahn ahnything her mindless slahve dog could do!”
I looked down to see Mydral sitting catlike in the dust and staring up at me with golden eyes that glittered with unrepressed self-importance. I’d managed to capture Mr. Ego!

“ ‘Slahve dog’?” I imitated, “You mean Hades?”
He snorted haughtily, “Nahmes given by humahns hahve no relevahnce. He is ah slahve ahdn ah dog. Ahnd,” he lifted his violet chin two proud inches higher, “He wins only by chahnce.”
Man! This guy reminded me of a vain Sarski, constantly preening himself - only with words rather than beak.

“If you’re so strong,” Jay speculated smartly, keeping his expression carefully blank although I could see his eyes dancing, “How did you end up with all those wounds?”
I felt my stomach sink, ‘Uh oh…’ while Mydral, Raijin I suspected, gave my companion the dirtiest look I’d ever seen.
“The girl ahnd her puppy were lucky,” he spat venomously, “Ahnd she kicked me.”

Suddenly I found myself on the receiving end of that same angry dragon stare as well as Jay’s questioning look. I’d meant to keep the whole creeping-out-at-night thing silent but if he asked I really couldn’t lie. It wasn’t one of those things I would do, not unless the person I was lying to was on my ‘most hated’ list. I prepared myself, ready to spill it all…

But he never asked. Instead his expression changed to a knowing one and Jay swapped his interest down to my newest Pokèmon. I decided it was probably best to do the same.
“Look, Raijin - or whoever you are - how about we test that so-called strength of yours on the next thing I battle, eh?” I suggested, “Then you can gloat about your amazing strength; not now!”

Mydral turned away so he was facing the way we had been going before his appearance had stopped us. Scornfully he looked back over his shoulder, as if we were barely worth his attention.
“I’ve no need to prove myself, pahthetic humahn.” he hissed coldly, “You will see, Rahijin can defeaht anything without his foolish trahner’s help.”

Needless to say, he didn’t stay out of his Pokèball for much longer after that.

We travelled at a steady rate for the next three hours, myself capturing a jumpy coward of a Spinarak while Jay committed his whole Airion tome to a seemingly photographic memory as we passed over the border between routes 37 and 36 and met the place where the road split.

Jay wrinkled his nose, “Goldenrod or Violet?”
I bit my lip, I had been intending on going straight to Goldenrod like it were some sort of homing beacon but Violet would probably be more economical, so to speak…
“Um, well, I think…”

I glanced up at the sky in attempt to make the decision easier and realised just how dark it was getting; and not due to dusk either. A grey tide of cloud was creeping its way up the west side of the bright blue sky, appearing almost as it were brushing the carpet of green that marked the bushy vegetation that lined most routes. The temperature was sinking rapidly in typical autumn style and it suddenly occurred to me that Violet was that much closer than Goldenrod. Yet another reason against my typical city-girl instinct…

“Hey, watch out!”
Question: what’s small, obnoxious and twig-like that enjoys disrupting the thoughts of others? Can’t figure that one out? Well then, consider yourself lucky this would-be-enigma of a creature was ready to tell…

As I dodged a rock solid looking Metapod that had apparently just sprung itself from its Pokèball, a boy stepped out into the path.
“My name’s Alan.” he announced as if knowledge of this fact was essential to survival, “And I challenge you to a Pokèmon battle for ¥512!”

I looked him over for some sign of his Pokèmon battling prowess but found only what I had originally seen: a skinny little stick of a kid with pale skin, blue cotton shorts and a blue t-shirt with the faded pattern of a Bulbasaur on the sleeve.

He adjusted a dirty ‘Celadon Cactori’ cap on his mop of black hair and frowned at me, “Well?”
I blinked, “Are you new to this?”
“Started half a week ago in Goldenrod. Been moseying around here ever since. Like it makes a difference.” he responded with a shrug.

I weighed my odds: some little kid with a Metapod and who-knows-what versus me, Polienix, Hades, Raijin and Spinarak. Sounded pretty good, really.
“Fine.” I decided, not realising that the minute I had looked this guy in the eye battle was compulsory.
He replied with a smirk, “Sick ‘em, Metapod.”

The bug Pokèmon that had nearly knocked me flat only a minute before wriggled its painfully slow way over to sit in front of its trainer, giving me plenty of time to plot. ‘A bug, eh?’ I mused, ‘I still haven’t lived up to my own challenge and used Raijin in a fight but he’d hardly have a type advantage. Same goes for Arina, she won’t have a chance being such a coward…’
I glanced from Pol to Hades’ Pokèball, pondering.

In the end I chose the latter of the two, hoping to use the experience he gained batting off Pidgey and Ladyba earlier. It took me a while to find his Pokèball inside the chaos of my overstuffed pocket though and by the time the sturdy shape of a Houndour had materialized on the ground the enemy Metapod had already hardened. Twice.

I growled, sure that that was against the rules, but the newbie that I was could hardly quote the league guidelines to prove it. Instead I just ground my teeth together and hoped that Hades could teach this guy a lesson.
“Houndour, tackle attack!” I ordered angrily.
“Dour!”

His charcoal head whipped around to face his opponent, blunt orange muzzle aimed straight at the hard green carapace of the cocoon creature. With a canine battle cry Hades launched himself forwards, thick silver claws slicing up the ground into a substance not unlike cocoa powder that instantly reminded me of the insubstantiality of my breakfast.

“Wait for it…” Alan advised his creature, “Just wait… wait…. Wait…”
Houndour ploughed on, as determined as a pet after a stick, blindly running where he had been ordered to go…
“MEGA HARDEN!” my opponent cried, bouncing up onto his toes. Metapod glowed in response, raising its upper body and letting out a rain of sticky-looking thread. The stuff was yanked back as it reached the end of its lead, splattering onto Metapod like glue and hardening onto its body. There was a sound like a crushed soda bottle and the light faded, revealing a much harder looking bug.

Realisation hit.
“Hades,” I yelped, “You’ve got to-”
I stopped in mid-sentence as my Pokémon suddenly sliced his speed. For a second I thought he’d put one and one together and for once made two; but as he dipped his head to the ground I remembered a brief lesson my mother had taught be on Houndour - they had extremely poor vision that only improved with evolution. Hades had lost sight of the motionless Metapod and was now searching the grass for its still form! And that single design defect had saved him from a harsh knock on the bug’s solid carapace.

He sniffle-sniffed as way toward Metapod, getting closer and closer with tail wagging up a storm. So close… just a few feet, no, one foot, no, half a foot…
Metapod reacted.
Swinging its extra-hard body the cocoon Pokémon rammed itself into Hades’ head, sending the puppy falling back with a yelp.

With a growl he stuck back right on target, sinking sharp canines deep into Metapod’s body. Threadlike cracks spread from the points of impact in a web like pattern as our enemy thrashed wildly, letting out strange whirring noises. It shook itself as hard as a near immobile bug could but Hades’ grip was like iron and he just would not let go.

Despite his Pokémon’s nasty predicament Alan kept a surprisingly clear head.
“Metapod,” he commanded, “Stringshot attack at close range!”
“Quick Hades, let go and MOVE!” I countered wildly.
But my Pokémon ignored me, biting down even harder as the cracks widened, bearing a tiny sliver of what looked like wet black and white tissue paper to the elements. Metapod, however, was completely respondent to its trainer’s commands and sent a spurt of that same liquid thread at my puppy Pokémon.

At the last second Hades tried to escape but the goo hit him, solidifying on his body like silly string and impeding his movement. And Metapod kept firing, was it trying to encase him in that stuff? Whatever it was planning, it was hardly beneficent for Houndour. I needed a plan and fast!

“Wait…” I muttered, then turned it into a shout of, “HADES! Use Ember on the string Metapod is firing! You remember the burny attack, right?”
Apparently so, luckily, and ruby red flames forked out of his mouth, flickering and flicking like an Ekans’ tongue. The hungry fire found its mark with devastating precision and caught the long length of string as easily as if it were doused in petrol. It zipped along the line, hitting both combatants but doing much more damage to the type-weak Metapod.

In a blind panic the creature tried to twist away, throwing a loop of String Shot around it that instantly went up, surrounding it in a burning prison. The heat distorted the air above Metapod as it screeched and writhed; I couldn’t help but pity it. Apparently Alan felt the same way.
“Metapod, return!” he called in defeat, bringing his roasted bug back to the refuge of its ball, “The round goes to you. Change Pokémon!”

       Even as he spoke he flung a distinctive red and blue Great Ball onto the field, the beam solidifying into a humanoid creature. It was tan in colour, with a canine-looking face and a long, slender tail tipped with a bushy brush of fur. It held its tail between two chubby fingers and flicked the olive-dipped tip dismissively in my direction.
       “Smeargle, the painter Pokémon. It marks the boundaries of its territory using a body fluid that leaks out from the tip of its tail. Over 5,000 different marks left by this Pokémon have been found.” my Pokédex told me. I considered this for a second, then decided that I really didn’t have that much to lose. And, after all, I had promised/challenged… Grabbing Raijin’s Pokéball from my pocket I hurled it onto the field.
“Raijin, tackle attack!” I ordered as soon as his paws hit the floor but the arrogant little creature just scoffed at me.
“Don’t be stupid, humahn.” he sniffed, “I cahn mahnahge myself!”
       Switching his attention away from me the electric dragon powered his legs and shot at Smeargle full speed. As he ran his body seemed to flicker, splitting into one, two, three, even more Mydral that kept the same pace and target.

“Double team, huh?” Jay commented to himself, eyes glued to the battle, “This should be interesting…”
“Smeargle, don’t let it hit you!” my foe commanded, “Stop it in its tracks with a rock tomb attack!”
Raijin’s confidence seemed to flicker a little at that choice of attack but he continued his charge even as the canine artist held up its tail and flicked a few drops of green paint into the air. Globules met globules as the acrid substance joined together in the air, hardening and darkening into…

“RAIJIN!” I cried, “Rocks, damnit, rocks!”
Too late! The huge boulders plummeted at the charging electric type, shattering the fake copies of him like glass as they smashed into the ground.

BAM BAM BAM! The barrage seemed never-ending, but through it all I could still see a purple streak. Expertly, Raijin swerved around stone after stone, using a flutter of his huge leathery wings to propel himself up onto the top of an upright rock. Claws bit deep and he shot forward, sending a quick Thundershock slamming into a panicking Smeargle, its body going into wild convulsions as bright sparks shot through its system.

Fighting against the odds, the now blackened Smeargle ripped itself out of possible paralysis and, takings its long, rope-like tail in both hands, flicked the paintbrush tip at Mydral once again. He didn’t have the time to react even with the speed boost of his agility and was caught hard in the side by a furious burst of flame that flicked him backwards through the air.

“Yeah, Smeargle! Flamethrower it again!” Alan cried simultaneously with my own yelp of “Raijin, use your tail to stop that attack!”
Raijin, squirming to regain his feet in the battle-muddied earth, shot me a death glare and flared a wing to right himself. I scrunched my eyes shut as another bout of hungry flames sent my Pokèmon reeling back, wishing beyond wishes that he’d just obey me. Luckily (or perhaps not so), despite the heavy damage he’d received, the purple dragon flipped back from the blow, landing on one of the rocks left by Smeargle’s Rock tomb and glaring down at the other Pokémon.

“You ahre ah fool, Smeahrgle.” he scoffed, raising his chin and looking down on the normal type as if it were inferior, “No-one cahn defeaht Rahijin!”
Even as I resisted the urge to slap my forehead in humiliation Mydral leapt forward again, opening both giant wings to full spread and gaining swift height from two strong flaps.
“Smeargle, use your-”

He never got to finish that sentence. Raijin jerked his wings flat against his side and plummeted headfirst into his foe, hardy skull smashing smack-dab into the centre of its chest. It was thrown down and back by the blow, sent skidding over the sandy terrain to end up at Alan’s feet. For a second it convulsed, trying to get back up, but gave into darkness and fainted.

For a second myself, Raijin, Jay and Alan were silent. Then Alan sighed and shrugged.
“Good battle, I guess.” he conceded, returning his fainted Smeargle and digging around in his pocket, “Here, ¥512. The Spoils of Battle rule says you earned it.” I accepted my somewhat ill-gotten gains, squealing with excitement on the inside as I pocketed the cash.
“Thanks.” I responded, doing my best not to A) smirk or B) sound smug.
He waved a childish hand at me, “Yeah yeah, I’ll beat you next time.”
“You wish!” I called after him as he spun on his heel and trotted off in the direction of Violet city.

Raijin looked up at me as I zipped up my pocket, his gold eyes so damn smug I wasn’t sure whether I was going to kick him or just laugh from my first success.
“Now you must ahdmit it, humahn.” he pointed out, turning his gaze to examine his golden talons as he tilted them to catch the light, “I ahm ah superior fighting force.”
“A superior fighting force who got himself charred.” said Jay, unable to resist flashing a I’m-going-to-laugh sort of smile.
Mydral huffed, “Thaht wahs mere chahnce. A flahmethrower ahttahck wahs hahrdly expected.”

“Isn’t that the point of having a trainer?” Polienix suggested, “So you don’t have to decide every move you pull?”
She winced as he shot her an icy glare.
“Shut up, child. You don’t know whaht you’re tahlking ahbout.”

It went on like that for maybe thirty seconds more before I whipped out a trusty Pokéball and promptly returned said dragon.
Jay smirked, “On reflection, you’d have done better not to catch him, eh?”
I just growled, “He’ll end up beneficial, I swear.”

We tramped on for maybe another half hour, never catching up with Alan but not really caring. I let Arina and Hades out of their Pokéballs and Jay released Magenix, Fidranger and Cerberus for some exercise. We talked a bit, about training and catching and travelling but mostly my companion just read out extracts from his ‘Airion leaflet.

By the time the sun was dipping low in the sky and the lights of civilization were flickering through the trees I’d learned that there were two different forms of Articairion: the peaceful recovery-based bird that Pol’s mother had been and the more hawk shaped and somewhat smaller attacking kind. There were plenty of other little things too but those were the ones that stood out in my mind most. If Polienix was to evolve did I want her to become the attacker or the healer? Did I even care? Did she care?

My mind twisted over these details again and again until they became a mass of exhaustion and Jay had to grab me to stop me from tripping over my own feet face-first onto the first stretch of pavement marking the being of Violet city.
“You alright?” he inquired as he let me stand freely and snatched his book from where it had fallen.
I gave him a quick but probably not too reassuring smile and nodded.
“Just tired.” I told him truthfully, patting Hades on the head to tell him the same.

Jay nodded in reply and returned Magenix, who had been chattering like a parrot, and Cerb, who kept trying to wander into the bushes and lead the way into Violet, Fidranger by his side.
“It’s bright.” a sleepy Pol noticed as we entered, “And brighter than that other place.”

She was right: Violet city was bustling with life in the early hours of twilight. Restaurants full of happy people cast puddles of golden light out onto the grey-paved streets and each corner was marked with a street light in blue hues. Past the restaurants and the neon lights of the packed yet lonely nightclub nestled identical houses with two floors and tiny gardens out front. I had yet to see the gym, which I believed to be flying-type based, but I could just make out the shape of the ancient Sprout Tower, which enticed an inwards groan from me. Jay was going to want to see that, I was sure.

But obviously not right now, as he was steering us towards the Pokémon centre that was not too far ahead. My head twisted and my feet slowed as we passed a squat building marked with the Johto League symbol but Jay kept walking and I could see very little in the dark. Was that a trainer podium I saw on the roof? Well, whether it was or it wasn’t I was going to have to wait ‘til tomorrow, so that’s what I did.

Sarski
Peacock Pokémon
HT: 2' 4"
WT: ???
Type 1: Flying
Ability: Bewitch (uses its beauty to bewitch the opponent and occassionally have the same effect as attract - 30% chance, opponent must be of opposite gender)
Evolution: N/A
Obsidian: It has an obsession with cleaning its wings, often spending hours preening. It thinks very highly of itself but will go into hiding to cover a glitch in its beauty should it loose a feather.

Pearl: An extremely vain creature, this Pokémon thinks itself above hunting and other mundane tasks. As a result, the species has a dwindling population due to the large figure starved.

Author's Note
      Eh, oops? Fool that I am, I've had this chapter finished for nearly two weeks now but, after posting it on SPPF, I completely forgot to send it here! Sorry! ^^;; All I can really say is at least it's here now... right?
      For any forum-goers who have noticed my current lack of posts, this is due to my obsession with the game I got yesterday: Pokemon Colleseum. I've played for ten hours already, which says nothing for my social life aside from that it is non-existent. Not that that bothers me particularly, it means I have more time to study for exams and basically do whatever I want in solitude. One day I may regret it, but that ain't now. ^.~
      For those who are worrying about me from my last Author's Note (in which I was extremely depressed and, on reflection, I realise it shows quite badly through my choice of words) I have to say I really am okay now... Just feeling extremely sorry for my father, who has paired himself up with some sort of prostitute. That baby-thing was born last month, making it almost impossible to be his own, and it wasn't early either, never having to go into the Intensive Care unit. Hmmm...

Anyway, not wanting to bore you on silly little details about my somewhat turbulant lifestyle, I have a question. The next chapter, almost finished and weighing in at around twenty pages long, is presenting a problem. Would you, oh wonderful readers (no, that's not sarcasm!), prefer if I posted it as one whopping great giant of a thing or if I lopped it in half and posted it seperately? I'm asking because I'm not entirely sure myself and I figured that it'd be best if those acutally reading had a say in things. Use the review button to give me your opinion if you want or, alternatively, e-mail me at black_steel9@hotmail.com. Thanks to all those who give their valued opinion, it means a lot!
Have a good pre-exam break,

~Obsidian

P.S. As of today, I have decided to include a "link of the chapter" in my Author's Note. Chapter nine's is Pokefiction forums, a place where I have been dubbed super moderator. We review each other lots there and it has a great atmosphere, so I decided it would be best. To go there, just click on the chibi Blade pic! ^.~