Fate, Eternally unavoidable...

[Brooser]

Kaz blinked as he stepped out of the inn and into the sunlight. Well, at least the previous night's rains had stopped...

He walked down the cobblestone strees, passing squat stone houses and vendor's carts. He eyed the fresh fruit hungrily, but restrained himself. No...stealing things was his sister's thing. He wouldn't stoop that low, even if Kai would. He would get money his own way...if he could think of a way...

Kicking a rock that lay in his path, he put his hands in his pockets and turned his eyes downward. He therefore nearly fell over in surprise when he ran into someone.

[Agentcat3]

Darik was walking along the street, his eyes down at his Grimoire.

"Let's see," he said to himself. "In order to create a proper wand, I need to find a willow tree. But...they don't grow in these parts!"

He looked up to see where he was going, and it was then that he ran into someone.

They both fell to the ground.

"Ohh, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going...Phineas always said to concentrate on all around you, but I guess I havn't grasped that concept yet..."

Darik picked up his Grimoire off the street and then helped the guy he bumped into up.

"Are you ok?" Darik asked...

[Brooser]

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine...thank you," Kaz said, rubbing the back of his head as he stood up. He looked at the boy, who looked the same age as Kaz. "Er..." he started, then stopped, then kept going. "I'm Kaz Misaki, by the way," he said, extending the hand that wasn't holding his staff.

[Agentcat3]

"Oh, hi, I'm Darik...Just Darik," Darik replied, shaking Kaz' hand. "Erm, you carry a staff...Are you a wizard?"

[Brooser]

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Kaz said, laughing. "Well, sort of. I'm not very good. What about you?" he asked, noticing Darik's grimoire for the first time.

[Agentcat3]

"Well, yeah, actually," Darik replied. "More of an apprentice, really... I'm on a mission to obtain the four magick tools - the wand of air, the athame' (dagger) of fire, the chalace of water, and the panticle of earth..."

He pulled his pack from his shoulder, tucking the Grimoire inside...

"I havn't met any other wizards my age...what kind of stuff do you know?"

[Brooser]

"Ah, well, I've been teaching myself, so I'm going by what I know...I've been doing mostly elemental stuff. And a few small healing spells..." He shifted the strap of his satchel into a more comfortable position. "I've got an older sister, too...her name's Kai. I'd watch my pockets around her, though." he said, smiling wryly.

[Agentcat3]

"A theif, eh," said Darik. "Well, I've met some very interesting people since I became an apprentice...My best friend is actually the strangest I've met...he's a werewolf, but a very peculiar one..." Darik paused... "I'm hungry...Would you care to join me?"

Kaz stared at the ground

"Uh...," said Darik... "You're broke aren't you...I'll pay...It's the least I can do since you...um...well...I'm not gonna leave you out here hungry and alone...C'mon"

Darik began to walk towards the bakery, without looking back to see if Kaz was following...

[Brooser]

Kaz followed, somewhat surprised by Darik's offer. Well, wasn't that nice of him. There should be more nice people in the world.

He thought again of his sister. Kai was really something...even though she was a theif, she would never hesitate to give to the needy. Kas smiled and shook his head, then kept walking.

[Agentcat3]

At the time when Darik and Kaz were heading off to eat, on the other side of the town, a figure cloaked in rags carrying a staff with a sapphire gem atop it staggered through the open gate. It looked around at the cheerful villiage, moaning slightly at the brightness of the buildings and trees and flowers. This being was a creature of darkness. It raised its staff into the air, summoning its minions from the earth. Those resting in the town's cemetary rose from their grave, and staggered toward their ruler, the Zombie Master.

Meanwhile, Darik and Kaz were at the bakery, eating fresh bread with cheese and meat.

"So, how long have you been practicing magick?" Darik asked through a mouthful of food. "I've been doing it since I was 13...that was when my parents sent me to Wizard Phineas...he's my mentor...I just wish I could see my parents again...they live so far away, though...Where do your parents live? Did they decide that you should be a wizard?"

Darik noticed a sadness in Kaz' eyes.

"What's wrong...Is the bread bad?"

[Brooser]

Kas shook his head. "No, it's not that..." He sighed. "My parents died in a fire when I was 15. Don't worry about it, you couldn't have known." He fell silent for a moment, then shook his head and continued, determined to stay emotionally secure, at least for now. "Anyway, I only just found out I could do magic a year ago...so like I said, I'm not very good," He said, attempting to laugh. "I've taught myself ever since then,"

[Agentcat3]

"Um...sorry about that...bringing up the parents and all..." There was a long silence.
"This is really awkward," Darik suddenly said. Suddenly the golden wristband that Darik wore began to glow. Both boys looked down at it.

"This is how Wizard Phineas keeps in touch with me...," Darik explained. "It's like a portable crystal ball, that you can wear on your wrist."

Phineas' voice came from the wristband - "Darik!," he shouted. "Darik, I have sensed a magickal disaster on the horizon. There are dark forces at work, Darik. A team of my wizard colleagues are forming a fighting force. This evil has the power to rule the world. I want you to get as far away from town as possible, but leave through the back...Be carefu..."

The line cut short.

"That can't be good..." said Darik.

Suddenly there was a scream from outside.

[Brooser]

Kaz looked up, alarmed. Able to take over the world? That wasn't good...

He looked at Darik. "What should we do?" he asked.

(sorry it's short, I don't have much time)

[Agentcat3]

The scream had suprised Darik, too.

"Um, we could escape," suggested Darik. "Or, we could go check out what's going on...then we escape."

There was a silence, and then another scream.

"I wanna know what's going on," said Darik, pulling out his Grimoire. "If there any problems, we both know some basic magick, right?" He stared at Kaz...

[Brooser]

"Right," Kaz said, nodding firmly. Even though he was usually pretty quiet and unsure of himself...when it came to doing the right thing, his courage often surprised even him. Ah well. He gripped his staff tightly.

[Agentcat3]

The two teens sprinted outside, only to get toppled by fleeing citizens.

"This, I could do without," remarked Darik.

Finally, the crowd cleared, only to be replaced by the destructive scene that lay ahead. Zombies, the Undead, stalked the town, slowly. Fresh corpses lay upon the ground, having been bitten by the Zombies and becoming infected...Some were starting to rise. In the center of the mob was the Zombie Master. His staff was raised high into the air. He looked towards Kaz and Darik, and pointed his staff at them. They looked at each other nervously.

"Well, we've seen what's going on...How 'bout we escape now, eh?" said Darik, his voice shaky...

[Brooser]

"But...we can't just sit and watch...okay, how about we escape, then think of a plan?" Kaz said nervously, eyeing the man. He didn't look too friendly...

[Agentcat3]

"Plan. Right," Darik said, his eyes gazing glumly at the ground. "Wizard Phineas said to go out the back..."

The boys looked behind them, where the back stone wall of the village lay a few yards away.

"We should sprint for it," suggested Darik. "The zombies aren't fast." He looked at the Zombie Master. "Him, though...we can't be sure of..."

[Brooser]

Kaz nodded, then looked back at the Zombie King.

"Let's run anyway," he said, then broke into a sprint, checking to make sure Darik was following.

[Agentcat3]

Darik and Kaz ran side by side, getting closer and closer to the wall. At last they reached it and began to help each other over. Kaz was halfway over the wall, and Darik waited for him to help him up. He looked back, wondering why the Zombie Master had not attempted to chase after them. Kaz reached down to hoist Darik up, and they were soon safely over the wall.

[Brooser]

"Okay," Kaz said, panting. "What should we do now?"

He glanced back in the direction of where the Zombie Master probably was, though Kaz obviously couldn't see him now because of the tall stone wall. However, the stench of the zombies' rotting flesh was pungent against their noses, and Kaz held his shirt over his nose to breath better. If anything, they could give the Zombie Master some air fresheners...

[Agentcat3]

Darik opened his Grimoire., flipping through the pages until he found the section he was looking for...
"Well, on the subject of Zombies," he said. "My book says that salt can stop voodoo zombies created by a type of poisonous drug...but then again, there's the chance that the guy out there is not a Voodoo sorceror, so he must be a Necromancer, so instead of the zombies being puppets, they are actual deceased people...This is confusing..." He paused, wiping sweat from his forehead. "The only way to defeat them would be to disconnect their brains from their nervous system...We could shoot pebbles into their skulls, damaging the brain, but there are so many, and it might not work..." He looked nervously at Kaz..."We're gonna need reinforcements..."

[Brooser]

{Read 'Silent Forest' to get a full understanding of the story from this point on...}

Before Kaz could respond, he noticed three figures coming their way. One of them was a werewolf and one was an older man, neither of whom Kaz recognized. But the other person, a girl that looked a bit older than he, was someone he knew...very well, in fact.

"Kai?" Kaz said quizically, running up to her.

"Kaz! Hey, what are you doing here?" Kai asked, greeting him with a tight hug. Kaz pulled away from her.

"Well, we're, uh..." he looked at Darik for help, wondering how he was going to explain this. Before he could say anything else, Kai wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"What on earth is that god-awful smell?! It smells like rotting corpses..."

Kaz and Darik exchanged glances.

"Funny you should say that..." Kaz said hesitantly, then sighed. "Well, long story short, there's a giant zombie army behind this wall, and we can't exactly do anything about it...not just the two of us, anyway," he said hopefully, looking up at Kai. She sighed.

"God Kaz, I'm not even going to ask how you managed to cause this..." she said, then continued before Kaz could protest that he didn't cause it and that it was because of a Zombie Master that the town was now full of walking stench. "But okay, I'll help you out. And so will they," she added, looking back at Garou and Corte, "Right?"

[Agentcat3]

"Sure," said Garou. "So this must be the Wizard Kaz you spoke of, eh? He's already met my buddy, Darik."

Darik walked up to the group, first saying hello to Garou, and then turned his attention to Kaz and Kai.

"Well, you see," he began to explain, "This isn't our fault. There's some crazed Necromancer back there, and we just don't have enough power...We were gonna chuck rocks at the zombies, but there's just too many..."

The group was silent...Then Garou said, "Well, any ideas? Anybody? Anyone at all" Corte coughed, making himself known to the group...

[LtFudge]

((Oh, thanks for the pressure. Anywho...))

"How big is this army? If it a dozen or less, we can take them. Otherwise I suggest vanishing into the sunset." Corte said.