The warmth blissfully covered Takara's body like a blanket on a bitter winter day. She felt every inch of her slowly unwind beneath it. The only annoyance was the steady, but surely, trickle of sand that was finding its way into her black, chibi-skulled bikini. She popped one lazy eye open & glared at Jack & Taronis.
"Are you done yet?" she asked huffily.
The both looked up form their work and grinned. They had caught Takara by surprisewhile she was in deep meditation & tanning. They were almost done burying her.
"Almost. Just need to do your feet." Taronis said as he tickled one naked foot. Takara would have been obliged to kick him it Jack wasn't sitting on her legs. Jack grinned at her attitude as he put the last bit of sand around her big toe. "Done!"
"Finally!" Takara shouted as she sat up quickly, nearly catapulting the guys off of her. Taronis pouted.
"You could of at least let us take a picture!"
"Yeah..." Jack added in.
"Shove it..." Takara grumbled as she stood up indignantly and shook off the loose sand. She then began patting the sand off her theigh.
Jack chuckled. "You know. You could have been stuck in a much worse situation..."
"Really? How?" The dragoness growled as she shot him a quick glower. Jack grinned & pointed at something behind her.
"You could be stuck on a roller coaster."
Taronis looked over inquisitivly & very soon doubled over laughing. Takara turned to scan the area of the amusement. An exaggerated movement on the loop of a roller coaster caught her eye. It was Rem, hanging upside-down, on the broken roller coaster.
"HI TAKA!!" she heard her yell.
Takara chuckled and mimicked Rem. "HI REM!!"
With a final smirk, she went towards the water to rinse the remaining sand off. The breeze coming off the ocean was cool & soothing. The mixed scent of salty mists and sand tickled her nose. The crashing tide was an off rhythem, yet relaxing, roar. A sheet of water slid towards her and enveloped her ankles. The foam stuck to her feet and began popping away as she wadded further in until she was waist-deep.
Takara took a deep breath of the atmosphere. This peaceful vacation was bliss. Heaven. Sometimes, humans didn't realize how much they should take advantage of this. Takara's and the group's lives was an eternity of looking over your shoulder and living on battlefields. It got old really quick, despite it making it interesting. Most of the would say they wouldn't trade it for, mostly, anything; though that didn't keep it from forming knots the size of baseballs from stress. And yes... moments like this were few and far between; they did not last long.
Takara thought htis grimly as she submerged her forearms into the water. She watched lazily with detachment as the sand floated off. A frown instantly drooped her features, after a moment. The elements must have heard that last thought, because the moment her hands touched the water she sensed something. Something big, powerful, and malevolent. The overwhelming sense of a very strong energy source. Never a good combo. The water seemed to ripple beneath the surface. Sort of like the effect of light bouncing off the water & onto a rock ledge; or the shadow of steam or smoke. Aura.
Takara narrowed her eyes. The whole realization took only a few seconds. Suddenly feeling like a rabbit in fox territory, she went to remove her arms and retreat quickly to the safety of the beach. But something in the water brabbed firmly onto her wrists. They felt like huge hands. Takara's eyes widened. Before even instincts could kick in, she was pulled like a ragdoll into the belly of the ocean.
Taronis and Jack gawked at the spot Takara once stood.
"TAKA!!"
Before they could react, a human-shaped blur whipped past them. As it came to the water's edge, it tranformed into liquid, turned into a blob, and flew into the ocean in a jet stream of water.
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The instant they saw Takara submerged from their view on the roller coaster, they felt their stomachs knot .
"Taka..." Kai hissed as she wiggled out of the seat. Being the midgit of the bunch she was the first one out. The others followed a splitsecond later. She Rem, Kioshi, Luichen, and finally Aergan droped from their seats. They heard people scream around them as they fell. It it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, there would have been some smug faces.
Kai landed on the railing and slid down until her foot caught a corner. She jumped off into the sand. The others were right on her heels. It only took them a few seconds to reach land. They sped down the beach, dust particles kicking up from their heels. They saw Sotaru fly past Jack & Taronis, his body morphing into water and shooting into the ocean. Kakairo & Kioshi skidded to a halt as the others, including Taronis & Jack, dove into the water. Both hated water with a passion & would more likely get in the way of the rescue. But both echo-ed the other's thoughts: they HATED waiting while not doing anything to help. Zaira stopped right next to them.
"Magic...," she breathed out. "...in the water... they have a mage."
Kioshi & Kai looked at each other.
"s**t..." The angel whispered with a hint of despair. A mage could do a lot of harm if they knew what they were doing & who they were fighting. He felt Kakairo's aura shoot up. If the mage was controling the water, maybe a little whirlpool action could pull the mage's concentration off. Energy formed in her palms, it began making small swirl in the water. Though before it could progress into anything more, a strong grip covered her wrist & distracted her.
"Don't!" Kioshi said sternly.
Kakairo spun to glare at him. "Why the hell not?!"
"You could could them all. Think, oni." he responded with a reasoning tone.
It only made hot-headed cat demon more irritated. "Well we can't just stand here!"
"Nor can we use our powers around humans. Its completely agaisnt the regulations with the Committee."
Kakairo stared at him in disbelief. "When did you give a heck about regulations? Don't tell me you're reverting back into their lap dog."
The angel tightened his jaw, hinting to her that she had pushed a really big button on his nerves.
"Since it became part of all of your well-beings. You & everyone else is already on their hit list, Kai. One blow here and they will take you all out."
Kakairo growled and yanked her wrist from his grasp. She knew she shouldn't be yelling at the poor guy. But her stubborness blind-sided her of that fact for the time being. "I'll be sure to give that excuse at Takara's funeral!"
Meanwhile, Zaira was using her water powers to sneakily control the currents & push the others towards the shore.
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Takara squirmed under the invisible grip that held her about 15 feet or more under water. She even sprouted her wings to get more power, but she might as well be attached to a rock. She pulled, kicked, wiggled, & flapped her wings but to no effect. She wanted to scream but was scared to let out any air. Her lungs felt like a bunch of needles were inside them. She needed air. Every inch of her called for it. She felt the blood rush into her ears, her estatic pulse pounding like a bass in her eardrum. The dragoness had to escape soon or it would be too late....
