Shyve

Story:

War. Humans have been consumed by it since times long before anyone could remember or retrace. However, in the world of Shyve, wars might be slightly different from what one is used to. In a place where the most commonly used weapons are still swords, and medicine has remained relatively undeveloped, the main focus of power was kept on another facet: the army, rather than their weapons. More specifically, each soldier’s powers.

This is not surprising. One out of every two children are born with power over one of the five elements, and are thus called wielders. They have power over one of five elements: fire, water, air, earth or lightning. While wielders of all elements are equally common throughout the world, it has been indeed proven that there is some slight inheritance factor, although it’s not decisive. It has also been noted that, due to their generally similar personalities, wielders of same elements tend to group together, although, again, nothing is a hundred percent certain.

Due to their advantage in combat, most, if not all of the armies and nobility are composed by wielders. Slowly, a monarchy and noble families were formed, until the word came to be as we know it. While most wielders dedicate their life to the military, normal people live their lives by doing other jobs in their countries. There isn’t a significant barrier between the two facets of the population in most countries, so life progressed quite happily and uneventful.

That is, until the predictable arrived. Nobles wanted more power. Countries wanted more money, a better life-style. And the obvious and easy way to obtain it was war. Conquering other small countries, expanding the territory they could rule over. The main threat was represented by the country of Starlan, which possessed both an ample territory and a fearsome military based power. They were known to be already making plans for war with several neighboring countries, even with the peaceful country of Phyrle. The recently deceased king had left no direct successor to the throne, so not much military activity was taking place while a course of action was being decided. Anyone with the slightest relation to the royal family had the right to try and become king. Currently, there are five possible candidates to the throne, casually each of them wielders of a different element, and each of them with the respective part of the population that thinks they would be best suited. The higher ups of the military have decided to form a council composed of the five candidates, and let them choose the country’s actions in the most likely upcoming wars. Whoever makes the better decisions and leads Phyrle towards victory will be named king, and be granted the right to continue to rule over the country.



Countries:

Phyrle (Fear-leh) It's a country located south of the continent. Its territory consists of everything below a mountain range and deep forests that acts as a natural defense. The main cities and capital with the royal castle are located towards the middle, and are surrounded by fields and fields in which people work. A big river that comes from the mountains passes a few kilometers to the right of the main cities, though some of the working fields, and continues into the ocean. To the south there is a wide area of coast, where some small fishing towns are located. Traveling from the coast to the north end of the country by horse would take three to four days.

Starlan Phyrle's north border is part of Starlan's south border. It's area is about twice as the aforementioned country though. The big cities are, again, located towards the middle with surrounding working fields. However, it also encompasses part of a desert towards the north, and several parts of forest towards the east and west. There is a major river flowing through, that again comes from the mountains, but it crosses the country diagonally, flowing through the east border, passing through the capital.



Plot:

In this RP, you either play as a character from Phyrle or Starlan. These two are obviously headed into conflict, and as of now, either of them has the same chances of winning.
For Phyrle characters, the five candidates to king are open for playing, as are other members of the military/noble ranks. In Starlan, the same applies, although obviously there is only one king.
Normal human characters can be accepted, but their charge in the army would be non-fighting posts, such as strategists or such.
Character forms must be all PMed to me, if they're posted here, I'll just ignore them.



Ranks of the army:

These are the ranks of the military organization from highest to lowest. The king is obviously above all of them, and in Phyrle's case, the council formed by the five candidates is above them. All these ranks are fighting charges though. People dedicated solely to non-fighting posts will have to say what job they perform so in their forms.
Also, for the ranks that have numbers between parentheses, those numbers are the limit of people that can occupy that rank. The others don't have numbers because the limit would be too big, so I see no need to put it here.

- General of Army (1)
- General (3)
- Lieutenant General (5)
- Major General (5)
- Brigadier general (10)
- Colonel
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Major
- Captain
- First Lieutenant
- Second Lieutenant
- Sergeant Major of the Army (1)
- Command Sergeant Major (10)
- Sergeant major
- First Sergeant
- Master Sergeant
- Sergeant First Class
- Staff Sergeant
- Sergeant
- Corporal
- Specialist
- Private First Class
- Private

- Water candidate (taken)
- Earth candidate (taken)
- Air candidate (taken)
- Lightning candidate
- Fire candidate

PS: Candidates, the king of Starlan, and Generals are allowed to be epic :3



Elements:

As it was mentioned before, wielders have power over one, and only one of the five elements. However, what kind of power they have over them varies form person to person, and usually evolves with training and age. For example, two people can be fire wielders, but one's power can be setting things on fire with his gaze, while the others' power can be turning their own body into flames. However, all powers should have their strengths and weaknesses balanced out, and their strength should be relevant to the character's background and age.
Also, wielders with power over the same element tend to have the same kind of personalities. Fire wielders tend to be the rash, aggressive type, who act without thinking too much. Lightning wielders tend to be rather direct, have lots of energy, and can be quite unpredictable. Earth wielders tend to be realistic, practical and very stubborn. Water wielders tend to be calm and collected; they're very hard to surprise as they usually just go with the flow of things, although this does not mean they are lazy or uninterested. Air wielders tend to be very unfocused, and generally do not like staying in enclosed places, or in the same place for way too long.

Characters of all elements will always be accepted, but since all are supposed to be equally common, I would appreciate it if we could keep an even number of wielders for each element. Also, for the sake of originality, I'd rather like it if we tried not to repeat powers too much. There are endless possibilities, so try to be creative~



Character form:

For wielders:

Code:

[b]Username:[/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b] (Ranging from 18 onwards)
[b]Appearance:[/b] (pictures please? Otherwise, be very descriptive~)
[b]Country:[/b]
[b]Rank in Military:[/b] (If King/Candidate, say so here. If follower of one or another candidate, also say so here. Keep in mind that age and rank should be dependent of one another. You won't get a high rank in the military the moment you join.)
[b]Element:[/b] (Put which of the five elements, and describe their power.)
[b]Weapon of choice:[/b]
[b]History:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Others:[/b]

For normal people:

Code:

[b]Username:[/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b] (pictures please? Otherwise, be very descriptive~)
[b]Country:[/b]
[b]Job:[/b] (If job in the army, say so here.)
[b]Weapon of choice:[/b] (If any.)
[b]History:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Others:[/b]

Accepted Candidate Profiles:


Username: Shiro
Name: Arlyn Rhovent
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Appearance:

Spoiler:

Arlyn has big, silver eyes that always seem to have some kind of shine to them. His hair is a light blond, with locks of grayish white here and there. His usual outfit consists of a dark blue short-sleeved shirt, which has a thin, silver line running down the middle (it's actually a zipper). A thicker, golden line runs down the middle of each half created by the zipper. The sleeves reach a little above the middle of his arm (not forearm), and they form this little bag of air before their brims are secured tightly with black belts. Undet this shirt, he wears a tight-fitting plain white one, which is only visible because it's sleeves reach a little lower than the dark blue ones. The bottom of the shirts is held by a thick black belt, under which the white shirt is visible again, since the dark blue one's sides are longer than the center. Underneath, he wears tight, but not too tight black pants, over which he wears brown boots with a black belt near the end that reach a little below his knees. He also wears black, fingerless gloves that fit tightly around his hands, but not around his wrist. Underneath them, two tightly fitting dark blue wristbands are barely visible since they reach a little higher up his forearm. Finally, he usually wears a pale light-blue cape that reaches a little below his mid-back. It's wrapped around his neck like a scarf, but it falls down his back and a little in front of his shoulders. It's held in place by a round silver pin that carries his family's emblem.
(In other words, basically like this: [x])
Country: Phyrle
Rank in Military: Water candidate
Element: Water.
Arlyn's power consists basically of being able to control the element of water down to a molecular level. This means he can will these molecules to form links between them or to disperse, thus being able to control water in all of its forms (water, ice, and steam). However, controling water is the easiest for him, almost as if it was another limb. Ice is harder, and steam is the hardest, since the water molecules are basically everywhere and on constant movement. He usually uses high-pressured water or sharp ice for offensive, and steam for defense or a means of escape. A lot of steam can be created from a relatively small quantity of water, so it's a good way to blind one's enemy. Also, when being surrounded by steam, he can tell where everyone is, since they are like blank spots without free molecules of water. He can also use ice as a barrier, although it has to be really thick to serve this purpose, since he can't alter the hardness of the element.
Lastly, his powers reach their peak during nights with a full moon. At these times, he's also able to use an ability he normally can't. Humans are basically made of about ninety percent water, that is dispersed throughout the person's body. Arlyn can will those molecules to move, hence making the person themselves move. He can only do this with one person at a time, and his attention must be fully focused on that person. Also, since it's the water moving them, whoever he uses this on can try to resist by mere physical strength, making it even more exhausting for Arlyn to control them. The most he's been able to hold this up until now during perfect conditions (no resistance, absolutely nothing else he needed to think about) has been a little over ten minutes.
Weapon of choice: His usual weapon is a kusarigama (the chain is just a chain though, without those two strange bits), which is basically two small scythe-like blades attached to eachother by a relatively long chain. He usually uses them as separate weapons, the chain held securely in a loop at one side of his hips. However, he's been known to be able to use the chain in many creative ways, usually taking his adversaries by surprise.
History: Arlyn was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His family was the wealthiest after the king's own, his father, Drek, having been the late king's younger brother by merely one year. Hence, he always lived with jealousy at having lost to his brother, often recurring to beating his wife, and Arlyn at times when he was little. However, that stopped when his mother left, and now he doesn't even remember, although he will react violently and panic if someone raises their voice at him in a threatening manner.
Other than that, his father made sure that he received the best of the military training, and also education. He barely left the mansion to train, and at times on small tasks, since his father decided to home-school him with private tutors. However, other than those obligations, he always got whatever he wanted, by merely asking his father for it. Hence, he never really applied himself at anything, not understanding why he should. If he could have anything he asked for, there was no reason to make an effort.
The king died a couple of months after Arlyn's eighteenth birthday, which barely made him eligible as a candidate to the throne. The moment he heard the news, his father stopped being so complacent and started demanding effort from him, denying any of his requests if he didn't try his hardest to get the title of king. Thus, Arlyn came to hate this little campaign to decide who would get the throne, since it exploded his little bubble, which he was quite content with. He has no interest whatsoever in ruling people, in his opinion, he needs no one but himself. However, until he inherited his father's fortune, he'd have to abide by the older man's rules.
Personality: Briefly explained, Arlyn is a spoiled brat. He's not used to being denies anything, and will react negatively if anyone tries to do so. He's stubborn and doesn't usually bother with people he doesn't want anything from. He doesn't like people who contradict him either, and, thanks to his upbringing, he has a feeling of superiorness to others, even his elders and people in high ranks in the military.
He firmly believes that money can buy it all, including happiness, which his family did nothing to prove wrong.
Others: He has a pet eagle owl.





Username: Ceonn
Name: Koudo Kurushimi
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Appearance:

Spoiler:

Country: Phyrle
Rank in Military: Earth Candidate/General
Element: Earth
Koudo has the ability to shape earth at will. He can do this without even looking at the earth he is shaping, and can manage to move it with his mind. He can have the earth levitate on its own, due to a connection he makes with it. Until this connection is broken, the earth he's shaped is not affected by gravity. One of his most famous abilities is to create Earth soldiers out of the ground. He directly controls each of them, and they are shaped like normal soldiers, but are far more resilent due to the earth that makes them up. If he moves his hands in the direction he wants his earth to move towards, his speed is increased twofold.
Weapon of choice: Koudo is famous for his ability to swiftly kill his opponents before they can even close in on him. despite this fact, he can fight quite easily hand-to-hand. He knows a few forms of martial arts, but his style is quite brutal, and leaves him with quite a few openings.
History: Koudo, from a young age, has been a quite proficient wielder. Unlike most people around him, he was able to to cover not only the basics, but he also taught his own mentors unique ways in how to use them. He is the son of the kings late sister, Litra, but is one of the unknowns within the family. She was adopted into the royal family without the ability to weild due to the previous kings fondness of her. Publicly, his mother never claimed she had a son, keeping him a secret. Perhaps she realized the king would never obtain any successors, and planned to gain power by taking the throne for herself upon her brothers death. Koudo would have been an obstacle to that end, for the kingdom would favor him due to his ability at wielding, which his mother had none of.
Either way, upon her death, two years before the kings demise, Koudo was quickly recognized as one with royal blood. Due to his mothers inability to wield, and the rising suspicion of her deceit, he was passed over as the next ruler despite his exceptional abilities. By this time, he was 21 years old, and had invented new ways to wield the element of earth. These new ways earned him recognition in the peoples eyes as a powerful wielder, and his candidacy was reopened as a possibility.
As for Koudo himself, he was trained from the start of his life to further his abilities to learn how to kill. He is a strategic and tactical prodigy, able to turn around a battle like he was some sort of miracle worker. Although, of course, he holds weaknesses in his heart as well. For one, despite all his success, and how most would expect someone of his rank and regal blood to hate dealing with the people, it is in fact to the contrary. He loves his people, and believes in preserving the lives of the innocents. This could be considered his true weakness, as he is willing to sacrifice whatver he has to save an innocent citizen from harm. He feels it his natural duty, considering he owes his success to the people, for his candidacy for the throne wouldn't be considered without the love of his people. He himself knows better than anyone though. His position as a candidate simply has him as a figurehead for the support of his people. He knows he won't receive the title of king, and in fact, he likes it better that way. That doesn't stop him from standing by his kingdom's side at all times.
Personality: Koudo is a mystery. His mind is wrapped in thought at all times. This could be related to his upbringing, but when asked, he wont say why. He highly dislikes any who brings harm to innocents, part of his country or not. He is not the sort to walk into danger without a plan of action, regardless of his incredible abilities. He is quite stubborn, this being seen as a good and bad trait by most. He won't shirk from his beliefs, but people say his stubbornness will be his undoing someday. He realizes he is thought of as quite intelligent, but decides not to pay any mind to people who attempt to stroke his ego. He is tough to approach, and getting on his good side is next to impossible. If you manage the difficult feat of becoming his friend, you'll find he is quite loyal to those who stand by his side.
Others: Most authorities feel he is untrustworthy due to who his mother was, and as such do not back his candidacy. He was mostly put up in order to fill the slot. In reality, he is actually a General with an Earth candidate's mask.





Username: Kira
Name: Tzafrir Verkano
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Appearance:

Spoiler:

Country: Phyrle
Rank in Military: Air Candidate
Element: Air; Tzafrir can create gusts of wind of varying strengths. He had used this power while he worked at the smithy to keep fires from going out. It was a bit easier than using the bellow (the thing that blows air). He also experimented with creating small tornadoes, experimenting with hot and cold air to see what else he could do. It also came in handy to blow up the skirts of girls as he walked past.
Another way he uses wind is with his sword, coming up with creative ways to make the slashes of his sword even more dangerous. His style is quite unique and he had beaten any swordsman that had challenged him in town. However, he still doesn't think he's good enough to face up to any in the royal army ((though he probably could because he's quite good)). Tzafrir can create gusts of wind strong enough to cut through things. This is one of the things he does in combination with his sword, and it comes in handy against opponents who have a farther reach than him. He can stay out of their reach, slash at them, but instead of hitting them with his sword, the gusts of wind extend from the sword and attack.
Weapon of choice: Sword
History: The late king's brother (who has also passed away) had a son. This son, Alexander, never wanted to marry and never planned to take the throne. He did have a lover, and with this lover he had a son which forced him to marry her. The three of them lived in Alexander's large home although he disliked it and always had an excuse to be out of the house. He never spent any time with his wife and child. One day there was a skirmish which they thought would be nothing, and so they sent Alexander and a few of his men to take care of it. However, the skirmish escalated into something much worse and violence erupted out. In all the fighting, Alexander lost his life. Tzafrir was only two years old. With no one alive to keep them tied to the family, Tzafrir and his mother were kicked back out into where she had come from. Tzafrir's mother was devastated and used her son as an emotional crutch to try and end her sadness. She doted on the boy, doing her best to make sure he would grow up to be a good man. Things were going fine, and the two were able to survive on the meager income she had, but soon the emotional crutch that Tzafrir provided was gone. He wanted to leave the house and live life on his own, not knowing anything about his father, however his mother did not take well to hearing the mention of his father. His mother was thrown into grief as she remembered the past and locked herself in her room, not letting anyone in and didn't eat or drink anything. After three days the of the crying eighteen year old Tzafrir could hear through the door, it went silent. He thought she might just be asleep considering she hadn't slept at all because he could hear her crying at all hours, but he could tell something was off. Tzafrir forced the door open only to find that his mother had committed suicide by hanging herself. He knew it had to be because of his father and then determined that he would find out who this man was to make him pay for hurting his mother.
Tzafrir moved out his mother's because he did not wish to stay in the home where his mother died, and went to the smithy where he worked. The blacksmith understood the situation and let Tzafrir live with him, letting him stay in an upstairs bedroom. At the smithy is where Tzafrir learned how to wield the weapons he made, but he favored the sword. Tzafrir admired those of the royal guard who wielded swords with such mastery, and he practiced day in and day out to become just as good as them. After his twentieth birthday, a messenger on a horse came to the smithy with the news that since the death of the king, who had no sons to take the throne, they were gathering candidates for the thrown. And he was one of them. Tzafrir couldn't believe that he was actually a prince. When he asked how this was possible, he was told that the late king's brother was his grandfather. Tzafrir's next question was about his father. The messenger told him that Tzafrir's father, Sir Alexander, had died in battle. With that information Tzafrir realized that his father's death was what caused his mother's grief. (Of course, Tzafrir had no memory of his father when the man was alive because he had been too young.) The messenger continued to tell Tzafrir that he had no come with him to the castle where he would be living from now on. Tzafrir had no other choice but to go with the messenger. Mounting his own horse, Tzafrir followed after the messenger to the castle.
Personality: Tzafrir is hard working and diligent. The blacksmith drilled him over and over to make sure his mind would not wander as it was prone to do. When Tzafrir has nothing to do of importance, his mind wanders from one thing to another and he wanders around himself. The good thing about the smithy, is that he was always moving from one thing to another and would keep himself busy. Now at the castle, he finds himself with nothing to do except wander aimlessly about the castle. Nothing good ever comes of that and the royals in the castle usually become easily annoyed with him especially since of where he came from. Tzafrir is very kind though, and just brushes them off to go about his own business and not get himself into even more trouble.
Others:

A sigh.

The main hall of the castle bustled with activity, guards and nobles rushing from one place to another, some -most- carrying stacks of papers, while others simply looked to be in a hurry. It was to be expected, really. With a fearsome country such as Starlan on the verge of starting a war, and the current lack of a ruler for the kingdom, even more ruckus and chaos would be acceptable. It had to be given to them that things were actually progressing smoothly, albeit hurriedly. Two men that had been rushing in opposite directions bumped into each other, sending a rain of papers flying throughout spacious room. Soon scrambling onto their hands and knees and trying to recover their own papers, it acted almost as a chain reaction. People stopped to look, yelling and arguing over who owned which papers, the distracted people slipped on some of the papers and sent even more flying towards the tall roof, which slowly, almost mockingly, made their way onto the already messy floor, evading the many hands that tried to catch them gracefully, almost as if they had a will of their own.

An annoyed roll of eyes.

He almost wished he was an air wielder at that point, only to knock off more of those papers and cause an even bigger mess. At least this was entertaining, rather than the usual uptight manner in which things were handled in the castle, or in the entire army and nobility, for that matter. Another sigh. Watching people slipping, falling, bumping into others and into columns and walls, papers flying, and the fighting and yelling that ensued from all of that was only entertaining for so long. It quickly became more annoying than anything. Could these people be anymore useless? He didn't think so. At least, until someone -a fire wielder, obviously- accidentally got too angry, setting all the papers into flames that soon licked viciously at the bases of the columns and walls. More yells, more chaos, until some water wielders finally used their powers to put the fire out, before it could escalate any more. He could only assume they had tilted their heads and connected the two lone neurons that adorned the inside of their heads. Then again, the water also served to ruin the few papers that hadn't been scorched by the flames, and to make the floor even more slippery, causing several more falls.

Eyelids fluttering closed.

He had had about enough of these people's stupidity. Arlyn turned away from the veranda he had been leaning on, watching the events taking place in the hall down the stairs that elegantly escalated both sides of the room, and united in the middle of the hallway he was standing on. He turned to his right and started walking, sighing yet again when he heard more screams and the sound of something shattering. Maybe one of the expensive vases that had decorated the castle ever since before any of the present could remember, maybe one of the statues that, although sturdy, broke upon contact with the floor if they were managed to be tumbled over. He didn't know and he didn't care, really. It wasn't him the one who was going to have to pay that, after all.

Arlyn stretched his arms above his head, relaxing once his limbs were back to their usual position hanging at his sides. Why did he have to do this again? Oh right, his father wanted him to, and he didn't want to be left out of his will. Not like he had any other sons or daughters, but that old man would find a way. He frowned, running a hand through his unevenly colored hair. So troublesome. He didn't want to become a king. It just meant having a lot of responsibilities on you. It was easier to just stay as a particularly high-class noble. Life was easy. Yet another sigh. If they were going to freaking gather all of the candidates to the throne, they could at least do it punctually couldn't they? Oh right. Everyone here was incredibly stupid and useless.

Maybe he was being prejudicial, but no one he had seen had so far had done anything to prove him wrong.

Continuing his lazy stroll through the palace's hallways, he eventually found the inner gardens. At least this was something he had wanted, unlike all the other places he had stumbled across in the gigantic castle. He took a step outside, and moved two of his fingers into his mouth, letting out a big breath of air, creating a loud, high-pitched whistling sound. As soon as he lowered his arm, a screech could be heard in return, and the sound of flapping wings replaced the previously silent garden. Everyone must've been to busy being useless to take some time and enjoy the small green area. The large bird made its appearance in the sky after a couple of seconds, its wings flapping quite majestically until it landed on the arm Arlyn held out for her. He granted her a small smile, caressing the yellowish and brown feathers that covered Anne's back. Her golden eyes stared intently at him, before letting out a small noise form the back of her throat, shaking her feathers back into place.

Eagle owls weren't usually so tame, but she had been specifically trained and bred to be his companion, so this behaviour was only normal. Then again, she would regain her ferociousness and wild instinct with anyone else. Arlyn slowly lowered his arm, giving her time to flutter her wings for a mere second, and change her footing to his shoulder. She was still young so it was possible, but within a couple more years, she would be too big to be able to do that.

He continued his stroll through the castle, waiting for anything to happen, anyone to tell him the meeting of the five candidates was finally starting. At least now he had some acceptable company. The owl on his shoulder gained some looks from passersbys, but he wasn't fazed in the least. He was used to the attention for his strange hair color, and because this wasn't the first, nor the last time he walked around in public with Anne.

He heard yet another yelp, and the fluttering sound of papers being thrown into the air. His hand was raised to rub his temples, if only to prevent himself from hitting his forehead with it. Trust these easily distracted people to cause even more ruckus. Made him wonder who the heck wanted to become king, all powerful ruler of this bunch of useless, retarded people. Definitely not him.

Koudo was busy as usual, moving through the castles long halls. He was on the way to the inner gardens, looking for a chance to relax after a long morning with the townsfolk. A woman needed him to take care of some damage to her house after an earthquake earlier in the day. After he had managed to take care of that, he had to run a bunch of random errands for a few people he had helped out the day before. He didn't care much for the castle, and the only one that lived there that he communicated with as a friend was Arlyn.

Their situations were similar after all, both pushed into shoes they didn't want to step into. Both Koudo and Arlyn hated the idea of becoming king. The difference between them was Arlyn actually had a shot, while Koudo's chances were slim. When he reached the garden, he witnessed Arlyn whistling for his bird. Koudo liked the bird as well. As a wielder of earth, he felt bound to it by tight shackles. Every time he saw it he wondered what it would be like to fly.

He walked forward, breaking the feeling of wonder in his heart to say,"Good to see you Arlyn. How has your day gone so far?"

((doh))

((You put Kasai in one place instead of Koudo, ceonn. =3))

Tzafrir leaned against the trunk of the tree from where he sat on one of its thick branches. His eyes were closed as he rested there, legs straight out on in front of him, crossed at the ankles, with his arms folded across his chest. Before hand he had been practicing his sword fighting skills all morning in a corner of the practice grounds where no one would bother him. He had been up with the sun to get in lots of practice before breakfast. Now it was nap time. However, his nap in the lovely gardens was interrupted when he heard someone whistle. With a quiet groan, Tzafrir blinked open his eyes and yawned as he stretched out his arms. He looked around to find the source of where the whistle came from as he sat up on the tree branch. After searching for a moment, he spotted a lovely bird flying down to perch on a boy's shoulder. Tzafrir recognized the boy to be Arlyn; a young blonde who was the water candidate. To Tzafrir, that boy was a spoiled brat who wasn't too happy with the reality check he had received. It seemed that with the new responsibility that things weren't going his way anymore and Arlyn wasn't very happy about it.

Now that he was awake, Tzafrir stretched out once more before hopping out of the tree. He landed on the ground without hardly making a sound, a light wind swirling below him as he used it to lighten his landing. With a glance at the position of the sun and a growl from his stomach, Tzafrir deemed it was time to eat something and headed for the kitchen. On the way there, he wondered what they would have available for him to eat. Those in the kitchen were kind to him, probably seeing him as less of a noble and more as one of them. After all, Tzafrir wasn't raised in the castle but out with the "poor". It was the nobles who looked down upon him because of his upbringing.

As he walked along, he heard someone speak to Arlyn and saw it was the earth candidate. it was just his luck that the route he was taking to the kitchen put him by the two other candidates that were wandering the castle. He tried to avoid eye contact with them so he could get to the kitchen without being bothered by them. There was really no point in talking to those who would look down on him.

((Late post is late D: Sorry~))

Arlyn's head snapped up when he heard that familiar voice that was coming from a little further ahead in the hallway he was currently walking. His silver eyes locked on the tall figure approaching him, his tattered cape fluttering with the man's every step and move. His gaze remained uninterested, although his expression revealed he was truly somewhat relieved to the older man. So far as he knew, Koudo was one of the only... decent people in the castle. Not like he particularly liked the other. He was too nice. Worrying about other people's issues only served the purpose of slowing down the achievement of one's own goals. Why would anyone help others without receiving anything in return? It was something he never understood, and he didn't have any kind of interest in doing so either. At least Koudo understood the feeling of being shoved into all of this mess unwillingly, as different as their reasons were.

He gave a curt nod in acknowledgement of the other's presence, stopping his walk so he could talk properly with the other. "Koudo. Aside from the constant bother that being here is?" He raised one of his eyebrows a little, wondering if such a question was really necessary at this point. Neither of them wanted to be there, he saw no reason for him to have even a chance at having a good day. "Truthfully, it has been terrible. As per usual." His eyes closed, and one of his hands raised to cover them, the tips of his fingers massaging the sides of his temple at the same time. He didn't even want to remember all the chaos that had ensued in the main hall. It made him want to punch some of those people. Not that he would anyway, they were plain unworthy of his time.

"Any news on the gathering or whatever it is they said they were forming with us... candidates?" The last word was spat out of his mouth as if he was disgusted just by saying it, his hand having been lowered from his eyes at some point. Unworthy title, waste of time and effort, it was just making his life harder. Hopefully whatever they were supposed to do would happen fast, so he could prove his... grade of interest in the position being offered, and perhaps some people would come to their senses and let him go back home. Maybe he'd need to screw some things up, but that was no problem. He wasn't planning to put in any effort from the beginning anyway.

He winced at a sudden skawk emitted by Anne, followed by a strong flap of her wings that served to lift her off his shoulder, and also to raise a small air current that ruffled his hair and made him narrow his eyes to avoid the strong breeze. The bird was soon flying towards the other end of the hallway, screeching happily as it flew around a familiar figure. "Tzafrir." There was no mistaking him. Anne was only tame around one other person that wasn't Arlyn, and that was the air candidate. His brows knitted together in a frown, watching Anne trying to tease the other in a playful manner.

He had never liked Tzafrir to start with. His upbringing was poor, he was merely the son of some noble and a peasant, yet those stupid, good for nothing high-ranking militars had the brightest idea of clumping him together with someone of Arlyn's status. He stopped for a second to think whether he should call Anne back, or just walk over and retrieve her himself. If he called her back, there was a slim -close to nonexistent, but still there- chance that she wouldn't come right away, and he didn't need anything worsening his mood further. On the other hand, ig he went over himself, Anne was sure to return. However, he'd have to move on with the spite that, however indirectly, that... peasant had made him lose time.

In the end it was just a whistle, albeit a particularly loud and annoyed one. The owl's head snapped up, and she returned to stand on Arlyn's shoulder. With a short glare in Tzafrir's general direction, he turned once again, quite abruptly, much like an animal indignantly raising its tail at an offender. His short cape flew with the action, slowly falling back onto its rightful place as the youngest candidate as of yet stormed away through the hallway, not really caring if he had cut his "conversation" with Koudo. He just wasn't in the mood, not in the slightest. Right now, he just wanted to be alone until whatever had to start concerning candidates started. At least when he was alone he didn't have to deal with anyone else's presence.

Koudo replied quickly, noticing Arlyn's mood wasn't at its best. "No news as of yet. I'd rather not waste my time with a meeting anyways." Koudo didn't really mind Arlyn's bad attitude or hatred of commoners. He didn't exactly have the easiest of upbringings, for a noble. He absentmindedly noted the Air Candidate Tzafrir walked past them. Koudo hadn't had the chance to talk with him as much as he had to talk with Arlyn. He had heard that Tzafrir was from the city, and was thus, a commoner. Koudo didn't really care about these things, as he had decided long ago the people were equal to him in every way. It at least stuck that way in his heart.

Tzafrir was different than any average person though. Koudo disliked how he was being rudely treated by the nobility. One thing was for sure, his chances seemed to be slim on getting the throne. that was something Koudo could relate to at least, though he had no idea whether or not Tzafrir even wants the position in the first place. Come to think of it, he didn't even know about what type of person Tzafrir was, besides being able to wield air, which was a given. He watched as Anne flew over to Tzafrir. Koudo could see from the look on Arlyn's face that he didn't like that one bit. Sure enough, one moment later Arlyn whistled for his bird to return to him and he began to walk away. At that, Koudo simply just muttered, "You could stand to be a little nicer." under his breath and turned towards Tzafrir.

Koudo simply smiled and said,"Try not to mind him too much, he's not exactly the kindest person." Most people thought him to be the type to highly dislike Arlyn. This was not the case. Nobody is perfect after all. "You might already know me but I'm Koudo, the Earth Candidate. Nice to finally speak with you."

Tzafrir looked up when he heard the squawk of a bird and saw Anne flying over to him. She was one of the few things in this place that actually liked, though to Arlyn's dismay. Arlyn certainly didn't like the fact that his bird liked someone other that just him. Tzafrir couldn't really say that he didn't take some delight in Arlyn's annoyance at this though. He smiled at the bird who flew over to him, holding an arm up to protect his face from the flapping wings. She would do this often so Tzafrir had gotten used to it and laughed lightly as she did so. Though the playful bird was soon called back by a loud and annoyed whistle from Arlyn. As the trained bird she was, Anne returned to the one who called her.

Tzafrir continued on his way, heading for the cafeteria. The earth candidate, Koudo, approached him with a smile as Arlyn left. To be honest, Tzafrir was glad Arlyn was walking away because he didn't really want to be around the kid. At least Koudo didn't look down upon Tzafrir because of were he grew up. Koudo said not to mind Arlyn much, which was what Tzafrir planned to do. He preferred to stay away from annoying brats like Arlyn.

"Yes, I heard of you," he said in reply to Koudo, "it's good to speak with you as well. Especially someone who doesn't look down on others."

Koudo's attitude about everything was a bit better than the other nobles of the castle. Tzafrir could at least talk to him without seeing that look in his eyes. That look that said you're inferior and you should be put in your place. It was an annoying look to see.