[Saber's Edge] Episode 1: Blaze of the Heavens

"Whoa!" Rufus gasped, tripping over something.

From Antonio's perspective, it was as if Rufus fell into a valley, when Rufus simply landed flat on his face.

Antonio whirled around, hearing the thump of Rufus' fall. He furrowed his brows before standing from his spot.

"I'll be right back, guys." Antonio shouted over his shoulder as he ran to Rufus' location.

"Urgh..." Rufus moaned, getting back up. He had a headache from the impact.

"Are you hurt at all?" Antonio asked as he helped Rufus up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rufus replied, slowly getting up. "Um... who are you?"

"I'm Antonio Falkion, SABER Commander," was the reply. Antonio hesitated before continuing, choosing his words carefully. "Have there been any... strange occurences around here lately?"

"Nope." Rufus replied, getting back up. "Anyway, I've gotta make my way back to Kreisan..."

"Okay then..." Antoniosaid as he felt Karya pulling on his ear. Sure enough, the Nyxie was trying to pull him towards something she had found.

"... What's the matter?" Rufus wondered as he watched the Nyxie tug on Antonio's ear.

"We found one of those SABER whistles buried under the sand!" Karya squealed as she released Antonio's throbbing ear. "This way!"

Antonio followed the Nyxie to where Callisto and Baleus were uncovering the strange object. It was indeed the same as the contraption he had seen Lindsay with in the clearing. Which meant he was close to whatever she was up to now.

"What's that?" Rufus wondered, looking at it closer to inspect it.

Sleipnir leaped out of Rufus' phone. "Looks interesting." he commented in a deadpan tone, surprising Rufus a litt.e

"Not completely sure, but it sends off a high pitched sound only SABERs can hear. That sound makes five SABERs in the immediate area go on a rampage, yet my SABERs weren't affected by it. Maybe because they're recruited...?" Antonio began to ramble, talking more to himself than to Rufus. Baleus shook her head, sweatdropping a little.

"Perhaps... though there is very little difference in data when a SABER's recruited." Rufus began to ramble as well. Sleipnir's response? He pretended to faint from a brain anerusym.

"There could be other clues in it..." Antonio murmured to himself as he heaved the machine out of the sand. It was heavy, especially for one of Antonio's stature, and quite bulky as well. He stumbled backwards with it, revealing more of its design and lowered it to the ground. On its side were a few buttons, each a different color. Antonio also noticed a hatch door that led to a secret compartment in the middle of the machine.

Antonio was now excited as he slowly explored the intricacies of the device. Karya flitted near Baleus, face worried. Antonio took a step back, taking note of the command screen on its side.

"I don't think you should mess around much more with that thing..." Karya muttered, with Baleus nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, I'd be worried too." Rufus added. "I'm guessing there's a self-destruct mechanism in there."

"Most likely. But it hasn't been used. Maybe it was forgotten here..." Antonio murmured. He was about to turn it on its side when it fell apart into little pieces. "..."

Baleus shook her head. "Nice."

Antonio sighed and shrugged. "Well, my interest is lost now." I'll just have to pay attention to the news, Antonio thought afterwards.

Rufus simply cursed. "Oh well, I'm headed back to Kreisan. See ya."

With that, he began to walk away towards the city, Sleipnir following him.

OOC: I think its time I got a bit involved.

At Kreisan, a boy who appears to be about 17 walks into the city. He has blasted back white hair, red eyes, and is wearing a white leather duster with jean pants, a band T-Shirt that says 'Two-Fisted Death Push' and black sneakers. His skin is rather pale. The boy wipes some sweat off his forehead and sighs. "Sheesh! its a lot hotter here than it is up north! The heat really makes me miss home. Right, Archer?" The phone on his belt blinks a bit. Out from it springs a Warlock. It looks at the boy and shakes his head. "Quit your whining, Helios. You may be from the north, but it was YOUR idea to come here. We could have stayed in Valhalla, in your father's nice warm study, sipping whiskey but noooooo. You had to go on a SABER adventure! YOU had to find yourself!"

Helios chuckles a bit. "don't you mean YOU could be sipping whiskey? And I don't recall you trying to stop me." Archer stands dumbfounded. "Well.....I....I just wanted to see what the bars were like down south!" Helios gives archer an eyebrow. "Sh-shut up, ya brat!" Archer returns to Helios's phone and Helios continues to the inside of the city.

"So... Now what?" Baleus asked as Antonio returned Callisto and Karya to his PDA. Antonio rubbed his temples, frustrated. There had to be some sort of clue here. He sat down, stumped. Karya's voice echoed out of the PDA in an electronic voice.

I could ask around for clues. I know a few SABERs.

Antonio considered Karya's offer. He didn't particularly want her to fly off alone, but if she could get answers... "Go for it."

Karya flew out of his PDA, flitting away somewhere. Antonio instantly regretted letting her go on her own, and followed her fleeting figure towards Kreisan.

OOC: Welcome, Carl. Before I forget, there's a limit on the use of Leader-tier SABERs; they reduce your party size to three, and you can only use one.

It was almost a hop, skip, and jump to Kreisan, where Rufus entered his code into a door on the city wall. It immediately let him in, to a sight he didn't want to see. "Rufus!" a young woman shouted.

Rufus facepalmed to see Lucy and Beal in front of him. "Skipping off again, huh?" she accused him.

"It's Saturday, and vacation time." Rufus reminded her.

OOC: Thats okay. Helios only has one SABER, and that's Archer the Warlock.

OOC: Alright. Just be aware that he's capable of recruiting.

"Vacation my ass!" Lucy replied. "You're coming with us."

"Wait, what?!" Rufus shouted. "Why do I have to listen to you?!"

"Because if you don't..." Beal threatened, cracking his knuckles, "You'll skip the ER and go right to the morgue."

"Not on my watch!" Sleipnir shouted, leaping from Rufus' phone.

"So you finally got yourself a SABER, huh?" Lucy said. "Going to battle me?"

"I don't have a commander license." Rufus shook his head. "I'm not fighting you."

Sleipnir leveled his gaze at Lucy, who was unfazed.

As the group continues arguing, Helios and Archer walk out of a bar with multiple beer glasses being thrown at Archer. "AND STAY OUT!" a voice yells out at Archer. Archer just flashes the guy the finger. "Ah, your mama's so stupid she tried to climb Mountain Dew!" Archer yelled back in retaliation. Helios shook his head and sighed. "what is it with you and starting fights, Archer?" Archer chuckles and smiles. "I can't help it. I love generating vast ammounts of anger and butthurt." Another glass wizzes by Archer's head. Archer turns around and yells back into the bar. "YOU MAD, BRO?!" He then turns around and follow Helios. As they walk near the enterance, they see Rufus getting hassled by Lucy and Beal. Helios grows serious. "oh boy, that does not look good. We should help him, Archer." Archer gives Helios an eyebrow. "Why? let that dork take care of himself." Helios shoots Archer a death glare. "we're helping him and that's an order. Understand?" Archer backs up a bit, actually intimidated by Helios. "G-Got it, Helios." Helios looks back to Rufus. "Get into the phone and wait there till I bring you out. I don't need you agrivating the big guy over there." Archer nods and returns to the phone. Helios then walks over to the group and clears his throat. "Excuse me, but is there a problem here?"

"No, there isn't." Rufus replied, taking this chance to get away.

As Rufus began to walk away, though, Lucy shouted, "Not so fast!"

Holding out her phone, Aphrodite materialized. "You ain't going anywhere!" she called, cracking her knuckles.

Sleipnir was quick to respond, auto-equipping his Cavalier patch. "Oh, wanna fight, huh?" he taunted.

"Sleipnir, no!" Rufus called, but it was too late.

Aphrodite equipped her Boxer patch and prepared for battle.

Helios shook his head and sighed. "Man, people down south just can't get along, can they....Archer." Archer materializes next to Helios. "Waddaya want, Helios?" Archer crosses his arms and Helios looks a the scene. "If it gets too rough, pacify them." Archer nods.