Reaching Salvation: Post-Acer Part 1

Erika's eyes lit up. "...Steak?"

Joey smiled. "Steak."

---

OOC: I'm off for the night.

Erika didn't squeel, she merely showed happiness at recieving a nice meal, then tackled her boyfriend with a kiss.

---

OOC: Kay.

Joey was quick enough to put the plates down before he was tackled. He now laid ontop of the sand, with his girlfriend on top of him, before kissing back.

---

OOC: Last Post. Had to do some last minute printing out of notes, so I decided I might as well.

After a few minutes of making out, Erika pulled back. "Let's eat before they get cold."

Noticing that Erika had left, Kira poked her head out of her house, looking down at Luke. "A-Are you staying th-the night...?" she asked cautiously, wondering if she had to prepare two beds instead of one.

"Uh... Yeah, if it's okay with you," Luke replied. He had said he'd visit after all, and this would be an opportunity to catch up on lost time.

------

Tom made his way into the village, wondering if Nathan needed help.

"N-No, I'm happy you're staying!" Kira smiled widely, glancing back into the house. When it came to bedding, she could make a frame from branches, and moss was comfy enough to lay on, but she only had one blanket. Oh well, she supposed that if she'd survived the winter with it, she'd survive spring without it, especially since Luke radiated heat.

"Thanks, Kira," Luke smiled. "Do you need a hand with anything? You don't have to worry about blankets for me or anything. Just if you want a hand arond the tree-house, I'm on call."

Well, that settled that. "Um...n-nothing really, everything pretty m-much takes care of itself," Kira admitted, laughing a bit nervously. Taking a vine down to the ground and moving closer to Luke she pointed away from the village. "Um...if y-you walk a few minutes that way, there's a place to clean y-your clothes or bathe or get a drink or wh-whatever, but I-I guess water still hurts y-you, right? I-If you get lost o-or something, the treehouse is th-the biggest tree in th-the forest, so it's not too hard to find..." she trailed off, trying to think of anything else Luke would need to know.

"O-Orange juice! You like orange j-juice, right...?"

Adeline stood just outside the graveyard and pulled out her pocket watch. She summoned a bird spirit to take the watch to the middle of the graveyard, being careful not to drop it suddenly. She closed her eyes and activated her Flow, creating a "zone" around the graveyard. Anyone around probably would have seen human-like figures moving around the zone, with one figure standing in the middle, where the watch was.
Adeline's body fell limply, although anyone who has been in the village for a while knew that it wasn't something to worry about yet.

"Yup," Luke nodded, grimacing at the thought of washing. "I hate showers, but even I have to take 'em when I can. They're a necessary evil, albeit one that hurts like hell."

Christina saw someone drop to the ground and freaked out. She threw off the covers and stood up, causing the pain in her side to erupt. She ignored it, and ran outside to figure out what was going on.

"I-I'll grow some oranges then..." Kira nodded, looking towards the washing area. "Um...j-just don't g-go there in th-the morning... Since th-that's wh-when I usually g-go a-and th-that would b-be...b-be...a-awkward..." she trailed off, laughing nervously as she started pulling at her braid.

"Okay, fair enough," Luke said, nodding at his old team-mate.

Noticing Christina up and about, Heidi followed after her, grabbing the back of her shirt when she noticed that she was heading to the graveyard. "Oi, go back t' bed before I kick your ass," she threatened, not wanting the girl to get in Ade's way.

---

"Th-Thanks..." Kira mumbled, wandering off to find a warm spot to grow some oranges.

"But that girl... Adeline.... she's like... dead or something!!" Christina stuttered. "Aren't you going to do something?"

Luke waved.

"See you in a bit," he called, looking down at his meager possessions. His sword, a hunting knife, a lighter, a matchbox just in case a small booklet on what to do in various serious situations, a length of rope, some snap-hooks, and his old belt of throwing knives, meticulously taken care of, but not used since the tournament.

"Ade's been dead," Heidi grunted, almost ashamedly. "It's nothing to worry about."

"What? Is she a zombie or something?" Christina said, terrified.

Joey nodded, getting back up so they could eat. ...Although, I wouldn't have minded staying like that a little while longer...

Heidi's grip on Christina's shirt tightened. "Don't you dare treat her any differently!" she snarled. "She's about as much of a freak as the rest of us!"

"I wouldn't do that!!! She's my friend!" Christina said.

Heidi laughed hollowly, dragging Christina back to the Church. "Friends? Friends hurt each other. In this world, there's no friends. There's allies and people you need to protect. Friends is just an empty word. You know what it means? Nothing."

Christina glared at her. "Friends is a word that means everything to me." she said angrilly. "You can say what you want, but it's not going to change anything."