Secret of the Medallions

[Roland Karloseth]

Karloseth saw Tori come running up and snickered a bit, then bowed to Sensai. Once he bowed back, Karloseth turned and walked away, going the same direction that Tori was coming from "Finally decided to show up, eh?" He said as he walked past her.  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

"At least I wasn't out getting smashed last night," she returned. "Hey, where are you going? Don't we have..." Tori sighed. They wouldn't tell her anyways. "Sensai, why is Karloseth leaving?" she asked in confusion, glancing after him. She caught Tokk's glare out of the corner of her eye and resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. Instead, she ignored him with what she thought was a dignified air.  

[Roland Karloseth]

"Karloseth is excused from training today, as is everyone else who would like to be. I don't want Karloseth getting all banged up before tomorrow" Sensai said.  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

"Well if you leave him alone with his girlfriend for more than five minutes today, he sure will be," she muttered, loud enough for Karloseth to hear.  

[Spifflicious]

Tokk bowed his head. "Thank you, Sensai." Then he sat on the ground, causing a nearby stone to overturn. He crossed his legs again and closed his eyes, clearing his thoughts for another bit of meditation. He didn't mind Connell's presence, as the man was usually quiet and lost in thought.

He breathed slowly, focusing on each breath carefully. In... out... in... out...  

[Roland Karloseth]

"Haha, well, why do you think I'm always in a good mood?" Karloseth called back. He took off running back to his room. When he got there, there was a note on his bed.

Karloseth,

Here is the deal. Tomorrow is the day of your big test. Your options are as follows: 1) You pass the test and you never see your girlfriend alive again. 2) You fail, and she is handed over without problem. The choice is up to you.

Karloseth read the letter three times before his brain registered what was going on. Once it clicked, Karloseth was still in shock. He just sat down on his bed and stared at the wall, not even thinking...  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

Tori stood awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. On every day off she scheduled something for herself to do, a trip to the spa maybe, or, with lots of planning so no one would see her, a trip to the library if she was lucky. But this was so sudden... she had nothing to do. She looked at Tokk and recalled the latest book she was reading, about ancient relaxations techniques from around the world. She'd been having trouble sleeping lately, and was hoping it would help. Which explained why she'd slept in this morning. She didn't quite get meditation, though... and Tokk did it all the time... She slowly walked up and sat down between Connell and Tokk, a little closer to Connell, and pretended to shut her eyes, but was actually watching Tokk beneath her eyelashes, hoping to learn from observation.  

[Spifflicious]

Deep in his calm, Tokk felt another body near him. He sighed slowly and gently, then pulled himself back to reality. Opening one eye, he saw Tori sitting there just as quietly as Connell. Surprised, he closed his eye again and spoke softly. "You're disturbing my air a bit, Tori. Why don't you go primp yourself or something..." He knew it sounded a bit harsh and maybe even cold, but he was focused and she confused him. He exhaled again slowly.  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

"I'm not that obsessed with my appearance, you know," Tori told him softly, trying to slowly match her breathing to his so he wouldn't notice. "Can't I just enjoy a quiet moment?" She honestly wasn't surprised at his hostility towards her. Tokk had never liked her, and that dislike had only grown with age. She didn't dislike him, per se, but his hostility often made her defensive and snarky. She had read thousands of books, but she still couldn't read people. "I'm just... trying to figure out what you're doing..."  

[Spifflicious]

Tokk just sighed, shaking his head slightly. "I am -clearly- trying to meditate - something I wouldn't expect you to understand by any means." He didn't understand how she had been accepted anyway. Then he remembered with a frown: her lineage. He had read all about her long history of Medallion keepers. That's how she had gotten in. A default.

He breathed out again. "Run along now, or be still. Close your eyes and focus on something other than yourself, and maybe you'll learn a thing or two." Usually a people person, he wasn't quite sure why he had held such a long-going hostility towards her. Ever since she had arrived the winter before...  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

Tori's temper flared at that. She wanted to chew him out so badly for hypocrisy, but resisted. You think you're better than I am because you think I think I'm better than everyone else. Instead, she concentrated on slowing her breathing even more. She closed her eyes fully and tried to let her mind "go blank and yet be filled with the nature of all things in perfect serenity, the rhythm of life," as her book had described it. She could think about one or the other, but not both at the same time, and that's what mostly confused her about meditation. She wondered what Tokk thought - or rather didn't think - about when he meditated.  

[Sentama Lin]

Connell was readying to touch either one of them. While he wasn't blessed with their strength or speed, he didn't need them to win. A simple shove, or a light jab would be enough to push them back. Giving life energies was his main role in the team; his abilities were quick enough to heal injuries in a pinch. However, he can also steal them when in trouble.

Upon sensai's entrance, however, Connell simply straightened up and bowed politely to his teacher before returning to his seat underneath the tree. He always sat there, and it always seemed to everyone that he will always be there, always repeating the same words in his head. Something irked him, however, about today, and he wasn't quite sure what it was. Life energies just felt different.

"It's strange..." He muttered to himself as he looked at Tori and Tokk, and wondered where Karloseth was. He stood up for a second and approached Sensai in a slow, quiet, manner, as was his fashion.

"Sensai, do you feel it too?" He asked. "There's something odd in the air today, and it's not caused by the tests tomorrow."  

[Roland Karloseth]

"Why yes, it does feel like something is amiss. I do wonder what it could be... Although, it does make me happy that you can feel that." Sensai said as he glanced at Tokk and Tori. "I haven't the slightest about what it could be though."

((I'm gonna fast forward to tomorrow guys. Big post is gonna be big.))

Karloseth sat up out of bed. He grabbed his gloves and walked to the combat arena, where his test would take place. Upon arriving, Sensai looked at him and said "Karloseth, your late for your own test. This is unexpected. And you look horrible, what happened?"

"Huh? oh, I'm fine" Karloseth muttered. "Don't worry about it."

"Alright, if you say so. Go on and get out there, I'll be out to test you in a few seconds."

Karloseth walked into the arena and looked around. He saw Connell off to the side, ready to rush in should someone be injured badly enough. He scanned the crowd and saw both Tokk and Tori. Tori seemed a bit disinterested, While Tokk glanced at him and smiled. Karloseth simply nodded in return.

It was then that Sensai walked out. "Today, I will judge the worth of Karloseth to be one of the Medallion Wielders. Get ready Karloseth, here I come." Sensai said and charged.

Karloseth only parried the attacks and didn't attack back. Suddenly, he missed a parry and caught a particularly vicious attack to the eye. In reflex, Karloseth yelled and maxed out the power of his gloves in one attack. The attack sent Sensai flying into a wall, gravely injuring him. "I... admit defeat. Good job... Karloseth..." He said before passing out. Karloseth passed out as well...

He awoke later in his room. He reached one hand up to his eye, and noticed that it was a fake. His hand traveled down to the medallion he was now wearing, and Karloseth simply stood up. He was in shock, and didn't show any emotion. He was robot-like, in a way. He walked out to the training grounds, as there is where he went everyday.  

[Red Glacier]

Rain stood on a fence near the training ground. he starts making music that sounded of flutes and violins. a few birds land on his shoulders and listened as he made the music. he begins walking down the fence. "Hello Karloseth. heard about the fight.......congratulations"  

[xDarkPisces]

Tokk awoke slowly. Something didn't feel right.

Granted, not much feels very good to many people laying on a stone slab for a bed, but that's not what bothered him at the moment. His mind felt constricted, slow. Blearily, he rose from his bed and stumbled into the bathroom to wash his face. What was it Sensai had said the day before? Something about things not feeling right...

Tokk rubbed the dusty from his eyes and left the dorm, heading for the training ground.

After Karloseth's test that morning, something hadn't set right in Tokk's stomach, and he had returned to his room to sleep it off. Now, as the afternoon sun blazed down on the dry earth of the sparring ring, he found he felt no better. He gripped his medallion, which remained hidden beneath his ragged scarf. What the hell was going on..?