An Unsolved Mystery

Lucien sighed and walked forward, face to face with the guard. "I demand entrance." It was fun to demand things. Lucien's sweet, masculine smell drifted over the guard, who became entranced in the lovely scent. "Fine, but be quiet." The man stepped aside. That was easy enough, Lucien decided. Looking to the three and the wolf behind him he gestured for them to come forward. When he did this, though, the guard stood back where he was before.

"Sorry. Can't do that." Lucien's jaw dropped and he spun around, hands on hips. "Well, you're gunna have to." Without warning Lucien pounded the guy on the head, just hard enough to knock him out. Rolling his eyes he looked to the other guards, who were stepping away cautiously. It was nice to be feared. "I vote we go inside, find the horse, and high tail it outta here." With that, he was gone, into the city.

Jade stayed where she was wondering if she should even bother staying in this place. Judging by the attitude of the guards, she would probably run into problems here. It would not be a good place to find work after all. No job was worth being treated the way they were being treated. She let her ball of water dissolve away. "You guys do what you want. I'm out of here." She turned to go.

"Aww no please don't leave. We need your help with the horse. I want to find out whats wrong with it." Ying said to the elf. She explained the whole situation hoping the elf would change her mind.

Jade rolled her eyes but nodded. "fine." She said slightly annoyed. She followed the others into the city, now curious about this horse.

It was time to go find Percy and... the holoform. even though he could live without that annoying nonexistant twerp. Oh, well. The necklace seemed to be a bit of an heirloom and all Lucien could really do is pass it on. Looking around the dark and gloomy city, nothing seemed to be happening. It was all rather boring, although there were a lot of different races hanging around. He could tell by the scent. A far off whinny greeted his ears and Lucien took off, running as fast as he possibly could. Coming to a sharp stop his mouth hung agape at what he saw. Percy and the holoform were trapped inside a large wooden cage, suspended in the air by a tree.

"Good lord."

" cool ride i want to go next" Ying said happily.

"It's not a ride kid, it's a cage. Why on earth is the horse.....and what appears to be your twin up in the air?" Jade asked looking at Lucien. She didn't really care what the answer was, it was wrong either way. Her eyes scanned the area trying to find the person responsible.

Lucien tilted his head to the side, eye narrowing. "I have no idea how they got up there. I just hope that I can get them down." Lucien walked over to the tree and kicked it, getting no movement in return. It seemed to be sturdy enough for him to climb. Figuring that out he scrambled up the tree painfully and arrived at the top where the cage was hung. Gripping the limb with his legs Lucien hung downward and studied the attachment. It shouldn't be that hard to break open, but it was a little ways off the ground. "Anyone have any idea of how to get them down?"

"You could start by shutting up and thinking." This came from the holoforms mouth, Percy looking around with his big black eyes.

"just cut the rope in the branch above your head dummy." Jade said folding her arms.

"then the cage will fall on the ground with them inside. We need something soft for them to land on." Ying said.

"How about this guys brain." Jade suggested in a sarcastic manner.


"No, we can't take out his brain. Were not doctors we would kill him." Ying said seriously not understanding that the comment was a joke.

Yang stood beside his sister and just shook his head. This was going to be interesting.

Lucien ostentatiously leaped out of the tree, doing a flip in midair. His feet hit the ground with a thud and he used his arm to balance himself. "Ying, Yang, elf, will one of you go up that tree and cut the rope when I tell you to?" Lucien could probably support the wieght of the cage for a few moments, not very long though. Long enough to get the horse and the holoform safely to the ground, though. It was the best thing he could think of quickly, under pressure. He couldn't help it if it was a bit lame.

Yang went over and started to climb the tree. He felt bad because he didn't really do much to help out. Once up the tree he undid the knot that tied the cage to the tree. He hoped Lucien would be able to support the weight.

Jade shook her head at the dumb idea but didn't say any thing. She could have just summoned a bunch of water to break the fall. It was fun to watch though and see what kind of ideas they would come up with.

((Jade is a weenie. ))

Lucien positioned himself under the cage, wondering which form would be best. It was either the vampire or werewolf... he went with the vampire because if he couldn't support the weight at least he was indestructible. That was an added bonus. When Yang untied the cage he braced himself, trying to hold it up and let it down gently. "I really fail to see how this is going to work. That horse of yours is extremely fat." Percy looked to the holoform and seemed to glare at him, bunting the holoform with its head. Lucien felt the move and tried to keep the thing balanced.

Lucien sat the cage on the ground as gently as he could, not knowing how to manuever the cage to get it to go down less explosivley than it did. When he looked at the inhabitants of the cage the holoform was on it's butt and Percy was standing nervously on his feet and staring at Lucien evilly. "Well, that was fun."

(( what does a weenie mean? Last time i heard anyone say that it was used as an insult for people who were scared about something. ))

Yang climed down the tree and stood by it. He watched the holoform and the horse.

"So? aren't you going to talk to the horse?" Ying asked Jade happily.

Jade rolled her eyes and looked at the horse. She wondered what was upsetting him. She went over to the horse causously and waited for him to say something.

((Weenie is a general insult coming from him. It's very flexible. lol I guess he should start using a word other than weenie.))

Wow. They think someone can actually talk to me. No one said people weren't ignorant. Percy let out a light whinny and shook his head. Lucien looked at the horse and raised an eyebrow. This was strange. He wondered if Jade was actually talking to Percy. If she was Lucien hoped she didn't corrupt the poor things mind or something. That wouldn't be good. He didn't need a mean horse to deal with.

(( I meant you not Lucien. oh well, i don't really care i was just curious.))

" So noble wind runner can you tell me what your real name is?" Jade asked soothingly. After the horse gave his name she said "these people want to know why you didn't like the boy who looked after you and why you always ran away." It would seem odd to other people to hear her talking in this nice manner. She found animals to be more interesting and worthy then humans. Humans and some other creatures were corrupt and greedy. Animals only did what they needed to survive and were otherwise quite peaceful.

((Lol I noticed that after I reread my post (Occasionally I do that ).))

Lucien raised an eyebrow at the girl, thinking of how strange that was. Maybe she actually was talking to Percy. How strange. Why didn't I like that kid? I'll tell you why I didn't like that kid. He was never careful around me. He was such a klutz, he constantly tripped over things and splashed me with water from my own bucket. It drove me crazy. That's why I liked getting him in trouble. I didn't mean to get him whipped; I just wanted to get him yelled at. Things got a little carried away, I guess.[/i] Percy laid his ears back and looked forward, scanning the outside area. Lucien shook his head. Taking off the necklace his holoform disappeared, a good sign. It was nice to know that he could control something.

" I see. " Jade said smiling. She got up and turned to the others. " He just didn't like how the kid kept spilling water on him. He didn't mean to get the boy in that much trouble. Horses can be moody sometimes and easily surprised. You have to be very careful around them. The boy was too klutzy to be around the horse without bothering him."

"Is that all? It seems kind of a silly thing to get mad over to me." Ying said.

"I understand his reasons for being angry at him. Even though he reacted a bit harsh, I don't think he actually meant to be that much trouble." Lucien studied the horse and then moved on to the cage. It wasn't open yet and Percy needed to get out. The dull thud of running feet came to Lucien's ears and the prince turned around just in time to see a guard approaching. Walking swiftly over to the cage the prince tried to find a weak spot in one of the bars. The guard, looking around franctically, laid his eyes upon Lucien and nearly forgot how to breathe. "You. It's all your fault. You have to help us."

Lucien's eyes lit up as he looked toward the man, momentarily breaking away from the cage. What did he need help with? And why?

"What did you do now?!" Jade asked Lucien sternly. Thinking that everywhere he went there was trouble. She looked at the twins questioningly. "Is he always such a trouble magnet?"

Sounds like someone else i know. Hiowie commented given Jade a knowing grin.

"I don't cause trouble. It just finds me..." Jade said in quiet and defensive tone.

The twins snickered at Jades comment. It did have some truth to it. Since they started traveling with Lucien they got into all sorts of trouble. But it was fun and adventurous. They weren't worried, Lucien managed to get them out safely so far.